A Unique Water Sport

By Zackery Westfield


Kite boarding is a fantastic surface water sport where a person is on a small surfboard or a kiteboard and the wind pulls him through the water. Kite boarding is also known as kitesurfing. The kiteboarder or kitesurfer uses a board which may or may not have foot straps that bind him to the board, along with a large controllable kite which propels the rider along with the board across the water.

Various innovations have been made to the kite design and it is now equipped with safety release systems and comes with instructions. There are various riding styles too such as wakestyle, freestyle, waveriding, freeride, cruising and jumping.

It is better if you take lessons before you start out as it is quite a dangerous sport and by taking lessons you will get familiar with the equipment. This is not going to take you too long as you can be up and riding on the water in as short as a few hours.

A kite boarding rig can be quite costly around $2000 and more whereas the lessons could cost you up to $150. Initially, you are sure to drop your kite a number of times and your kite is sure to take a lot of beating. When you join a kite boarding school you will get to meet a lot of other beginners to practice with. Most of the kite boarding schools have plenty of beginner packages for students and these are quite cheap. It is very difficult to learn just by reading a kite manual or browsing through the internet. You will have to learn through an instructor how to self launch your kite, how to rig your lines and also relaunching your kite, to kite safely and to go upwind and so on. Sometimes, you may even drop your kite and lose your board and should know what to do.

A kite boarding kit is available in every shopping mall at surf shops. After getting one, you need to get some firsthand instruction from a proper tutor and soon you may even be able to perform some freestyle tricks too. Summer is the best time for kite boarding but there are a few who prefer to go during the cold winters too. Your kits must be in excellent condition of a good quality and naturally, you need a lot of waves too, to enjoy your sport.




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