Kite Surfing & Kiteboarding

We all flew kites when we were kids. and if you've managed to stand up on a surf or windsurf board then kite surfing should just be a question of putting the two together, no? If you've already tried kite surfing you're probably smirking right now. A power kite is about five square metres in size, can be flown in wind that would have windsurfers safely tucked up in a bar, and is strong enough to pluck you and your board from the sea and whisk you through the air before dropping you back down. With a bit of work this may even happen because you want it to.

Learning all this is a matter of days, not hours. In the words of the British Kite Surfing Association: 'typically it takes at least three days just learning to get up on the board once you have mastered the kite flying and body dragging, which will take most people new to it at least another three to five days.' Those of us who have difficulty chewing gum and walking at the same time can add a few more days to that estimate.

The good news is that you can break it all down into the component skills and master each of those before attempting to bring them all together. For beginners the best way of starting is safely back on terra firma. Standing around in a field flying a big kite may not be everyone's idea of an adventure sport but it's a lot easier to learn there than while balancing on a plastic plank with the ocean trying to yank your legs out from underneath you. A lot of schools recommend that you start by flying smaller kites, then move up to the big boys. That's sound advice, but remember that as well as size there is another key difference between the types of kite. Once upon a time all surf kites were two line, meaning you only had two control lines to worry about at once. Now a lot of surfers/flyers prefer the degree of control offered by four lines, so if you are going to end up quad line surfing then it makes sense to practice with the right number of bits of string right from the start.

Even when you've mastered flying a full-size power kite it's not yet time to put that together with the board. The next step is body surfing, where you get used to launching the kite in the water and using it to control where it takes you. Body surfing is the nice name for this, body dragging is more accurate.

Board skills are the last part of the equation and here there's no doubt that surfing or windsurfing experience is going to stand you in good stead. If you've never boarded at all beforehand, then don't be surprised if the school starts you off on dry land with a board set on a pivot. It may look like the boarding equivalent of air guitar but there are distinct advantages to picking up the basics on dry land. That's coming from someone who made their boarding debut by spending an entire day falling off a windsurfer into a freezing lake. If you're ready to board, you've got your head around the control lines and you've played at being a menace to shipping while body dragging, then it's time to point yourself at the waves and grab air. And fall off, naturally.

Which is a great moment to mention that some kites are designed to be relaunched from the water - ask your friendly kite surf vendor to show you which ones.


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