The Essential Guide on How to Get Started and Learn Kitesurfing

Imagine that you had a few sessions with some light wind on a flat water and you learned to do a few things with kitesurfing undervisning your kite and your board. Now imagine that conditions change, wind picks up, and waves begin to roll in.

“The only reason we all didn’t die in the beginning is because we were already watermen,” Montague said. I first experienced the power that both Moore and Montague were confronting a few years ago, on an overcast day in Providenciales, in Turks and Caicos. The promise of kiteboarding is that a wind strong enough to draw small whitecaps from the water can take you on a magic-carpet ride. Interestingly enough, every student who showed up for their first kitesurfing session KNOWING NOTHING about this sport FAILED to start riding on the DAY 1. And they usually end up taking extra classes and paying more. So, when will YOU begin to see yourself as a kitesurfer?

How to Wing Foil in Light Wind | Duotone Wing Academy

Posture-intensive kitesurfing can even improve a long-term back condition. Kitesurfing is one of the best extreme sports to rejuvenate your work-tired body and mind for weeks to come. A foil kite is made of ripstop nylon and has air pockets that give it lift and provide it with its arc shape.

This is another slightly more challenging step to learn in kitesurf. One thing you can easily do to get ahead of the game is try the individual elements of kitesurfing before you go – namely power kiting and cable wakeboarding. “It’s exactly the same position on the board,” says Nasser, “so you just need to understand the kite. We all know that mother nature is unpredictable as well as surroundings change. Some places might be shallow, crowded with people strong winds while other places might be uncrowded, deep waters with light wind and waves.

In 1994, Moore went to France as part of a seven-week European kiting tour. He watched as one of the other performers, with a paragliding sail at his back, made a controlled landing on the water, then used the sail to pull himself through the waves to shore. Sideshore winds run parallel to the shoreline but not fully over the beach shores. These are great winds for more skilled riders because they often keep wave action uninterrupted and allow for easy outbound and inbound riding. When the kite is over your head, you will feel a bit of a pull.

How Much Wind is needed for Kiteboarding?

You need just the right size kite for the conditions. There was plenty of wind during my trip but it tended to be too blustery in the morning, making those times a bit of a write-off. But don’t expect to go that high just yet – even professional kitesurfers don’t expect to go upwards of 100ft after years of practice. Both Mike and Maarten are trained experts who have been kitesurfing for quite a while. There’s also no definite answer to how high you can jump. If your kite flies away from you, you might have to swim to find the control bar or even swim back to shore. Although a life vest is a valuable tool, nothing beats strong swimming skills.

Set up a kite

Simply letting go of the bar will drop you out of the sky, and likely cause you to lose control of your kite. When you do land, engage the safety releases or strategically put your kitesurfing kite down. When you are kitesurfing and you want to make a turn, lower your board and riding speed by steering the kite up and steering the board upwind. Do not do this too quickly because then you are jumping, we will get to that later. When slowing down the board you will notice that the complete board will touch the water, or even go under it a bit.

If you live nearby a kite spot, go check it out on a windy day when kitesurfers are out! Observing kiters while they are preparing, going in and out of the water and riding will help stimulate your brain. This brain stimulation will help you connect dots later on in your course as well give you ideas of questions to ask to better understand what is actually going on. Even though you might wish for ideal learning conditions the flip side is that less than ideal conditions will better prepare you for the world of kitesurfing! Well, an important skill in kiteboarding is “flexibility and adaptation” both physically as well as mentally.