Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25179
Watch a kiteboard i ng video from 1999 and the moves are already laughably old school. Buy a new kite and it might be obsolete before you even get it off the ground. "It's like the Wild West right now," says pro kiteboarder Robby Naish of Maui, Hawaii. Kiteboarding is growing and changing incredibly quickly. It's easier to learn than wind- surfing; and because it requires less wind, kiteboarding is possible anywhere there is water and consistent wind conditions of at least 10 knots. Innovations in kite designs have also made it eas- ier than ever for people to get started. And a growing number of adrenaline junkies like surfers, snowboarders, windsurfers and wakeboarders are tuning in to kiteboarding as cross training activ- ity for these other sports. The notion of using a kite to pull a boarder across the water was spawned in the early 1980s by an ingenious young Frenchman named Bruno Legaignoux. "Bruno was holding this T-shirt in his hand and the wind just blew it into a beautiful arc shape," says Martin Kirk, pres- ident of the Hawaii Kiteboarding Association, Maui Chapter. "That's when the lightbulb came on in his head." From that idea, the Wipika marine wing kite was born and patented in 1985. With inflatable supports, the kite was designed to be easily launched (and relaunched) from the water-an innovation that paved the way for kiteboarding's speedy growth. Throughout the next decade, Legaignoux and his brother Dominique continued to experiment with their kite, using it to power canoes, catamarans, water skis and ultimately a surf- board. Meanwhile, a few adventurous watermen and windsurfers in Europe, Hawaii and the US mainland began to tinker with and refine the use of kites with boards. Among the most notable kiting forerunners, Cory Roeseler and his father Bill turned heads as they experimented with kites in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge in the late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, pro windsurfer Manu Bertin and legendary waterman Laird Hamilton boosted the sport into the spotlight by kiting off the coast of Maui. In addition to the inflatable wing, kites are becoming both lighter and larger enabling boarders to learn and ride in lighter wind conditions. Because less wind is required to power these kites, there are more kitable days and riders are improving much faster than in the past. Today, riders with only a couple years of experience under their belt are on the pro tour performing moves that were unimaginable in the past. In the late 1990s, big air was a boost 10 feet off the water. Now, to go "big" you have to boost four times that high. A handful of years ago, riders just wig- gled around as they boosted through the air. Today, pros are starting to nail complicated techni- cal air moves like the KGB, a back roll with a behind-the-back handle pass. As the sport continues to evolve, two main kiteboarding camps are emerging: trick riders and big air riders. The trick riders are concentrating on technical moves similar to wakeboarding, such as grabs and flips. The big air camp lives for huge boosts that often produce vertical jumps of 40- feet plus. Meanwhile, a third, smaller niche is developing: wave riding. More experienced riders with good wave knowledge are kiting in the surf. A few experts are pulling radical moves that traditional surfers can only dream about, like boosting over unmakeable closeout sections to drop back in for a barrel with the kite lines running through the top of the wave. HOW TO GET STARTED "LEARNING HOW TO FLY A POWER KITE IS 90 PERCENT OF IT," SAYS RYAN LEVINSON, LEAD INSTRUCTOR FOR WEST COAST KITEBOARDING IN SAN DIEGO. LEVINSON REC- OMMENDS MASTERING THE DYNAMICS OF WIND AND KITE FLYING WITH A SMALL TRAINER KITE BEFORE POWERING UP TO A LARGE KITEBOARDING KITE THAT IS CAPA· BLE OF PULLING YOU OFF THE GROUND. ONCE YOU HAVE THAT WIRED, HE SAYS, A SENSE OF BALANCE, BASIC LEVEL OF FITNESS AND PATIENCE ARE ALI. YOU NEED TO START KITEBOARDING. OF COURSE, KNOWING HOW TO SWIM IS ALSO A MUST. WINDSURFERS, AND PEOPLE ADEPT AT READING THE WIND, AS WELL AS WAKE· BOARDERS WILL LIKELY HAVE AN EASIER TIME CATCHING ON THAN TOTAL LANDLUB· BERS. WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE FASTEST (AND SAFEST) WAY TO GO FROM SPEC- TATOR TO PARTICIPANT IS TO TAKE LESSONS. WITH PROPER TRAINING, THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN BECOME COMPETENT FLYING A KITE WITHIN 3-6 HOURS AND CAN BE ON THE WATER RIDING WITHIN 10 HOURS. BEYOND THAT, AFTER A YEAR OF REGULAR RIDING IN GOOD WIND CONDITIONS MOST KITEBOARDERS WILL BE CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO START TRYING TECHNICAL MOVES AND JUMPS. KITEBOARDING SCHOOLS AND CAMPS ARE STARTING TO SPROUT UP IN WINDY PLACES AROUND THE US. LOCAL KITEBOARDING CLUBS AND WINDSURFING SHOPS ARE A GOOD PLACE TO START SINCE THEY CAN DIRECT YOU TO QUALIFIED SCHOOLS AND INSTRUCTORS IN YOUR AREA. FOR ABOUT $200-$300, A HALF·DAY OF INSTRUCTION (INCLUDING RENTAL GEAR) WILL GET YOU STARTED IN THE SPORT. FROM THERE, YOU MAY WANT TO ENROLL IN PRIVATE LESSONS ($65-$100 PER HOUR) TO HELP YOU MASTER THE SKILLS NEEDED TO START RIDING ON YOUR OWN. GEAR THE WORLD'S HOTTEST KITEBOARD SPOTS CABARETE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TARIFA, SPAIN LE HAVRE, FRANCE PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO KITE BEACH, MAUl, HAWAII, USA CAPE HATTERAS, NORTH CAROLINA, USA COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE, OREGON, USA CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA DAHAB, EGYPT PAROS ISLAND,GREECE LAKE ARENAL, COSTA RICA MARGARET RIVER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA HELGOLANDISLAND,GERMANY • THE WIND IS FREE. KITEBOARDING GEAR IS NOT. PLAN ON SPENDING $1,700-$2,500 TO GET PROPERLY RIGGED UP. THE LION'S SHARE OF YOUR INVESTMENT WILL BE IN KITES. FIRST, YOU'LL NEED A MINI TRAINER KITE ($45-$250) USED TO HONE YOUR KITE FLYING SKILLS ON DRY LAND. YOUR MAIN KITEBOARDING KITE WILL BE A LARGER, MORE EXPEN· SIVE ($800-$1,500) VERSION OF THE TRAINER. THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF KITES: INFLATABLE AND FOIL INFLATABLE KITES FEA· TURE LARGE AIR TUBES THAT FORM THE KITE'S SHAPE AND ENABLE IT TO FLOAT-MAKING WATER LAUNCHES POSSIBLE. FOIL KITES HAVE NO FRAMEWORK AND RELY ON THE WIND TO FILL THE KITE. THE INITIAL LAUNCH MUST BE MADE ON LAND BUT ONCE FILLED (MOST USE SPECIAL VALVES TO TRAP AIR IN THE KITE) SKILLED RIDERS CAN RELAUNCH FROM THE WATER. IN GENERAL, INFLATABLE KITES ARE MORE POPULAR BECAUSE THEY OFFER MOST OF THE HIGH PERFORMANCE FOUND IN FOIL KITES WHILE BEING MORE USER·FRIENDLY. THE KITE SIZE YOU CHOOSE DEPENDS ON YOUR WEIGHT, SKILL LEVEL AND LOCAL WIND CONDI· TIONS. YOU WILL ALSO NEED FLYING LINES ($90), A CONTROL BAR ($115), SAFETY LEASH ($25), AND A HARNESS ($60-$125) TO ACTUALl.Y FLY THE KITES. KITEBOARDS ($600-$900) ARE AVAILABLE IN TWO DIFFERENT STYLES: DIREC· TIONAL OR BI·DIRECTIONAL DIRECTIONAL BOARDS ARE SHAPED LIKE A TRADITIONAL SURF· BOARD BUT WITH FOOTSTRAPS MOUNTED ON THE DECK. THESE KITEBOARDS ARE MUCH MORE STURDY AND DURABLE THAN SURFBOARDS, SO DON'T TRY TO MODIFY YOUR OLD STICK. BI·DIRECTIONAL BOARDS ARE ALMOST DEAD RINGERS FOR WAKEBOARDS WITH FOOT BINDINGS AND TINY FINS ON BOTH THE FRONT AND REAR OF THE BOARD. BOTH TYPES OF BOARDS CAN BE USED FOR ALI.·AROUND KITEBOARDING BUT TECHNICAL RIDERS USUALLY PREFER BI·DIRECTIONAL, WHILE WAVE RIDERS GO FOR THE DIRECTIONAL BOARDS. YOU'LL ALSO NEED A LEASH ($15). DEPENDING ON THE WATER TEMPERATURE AND WEATHER CON· DlTIONS, YOU MAY NEED A WETSUIT AND BOOTIES ($250) OR JUST SURF TRUNKS AND A RASH GUARD ($70). A HELMET, LIFE JACKET AND GLOVES ($120) CAN BE HELPFUL TOO. IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING OUT, USE YOUR INSTRUCTOR'S TRAINING KITES AND EQUIPMENT. LEARNING TO KITESURF CAN BE PARTICULARLY HARD ON GEAR AND ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF IT, YOUR SKILLS WILL QUICKLY OUTGROW THE BEGINNER EQUIPMENT. 54 ·PRICES ARE AVERAGE AT TIME OF PRINTING.