Kite surfing or kiteboarding as some call it is the fastest growing water sport in the world, with Large kites flying along coastlines all over the world including the UK.
The most extreme of water sports, kite surfing fuses three other extreme sports: windsurfing, wakeboarding and power kite flying. It is easier, faster and a lot more exhilarating than any other water activity I have ever done that’s for sure.
There is a lot of disputes about where & when kite surfing was invented, with some kite surfers claiming it was France and others saying it was Hawaii. I believe it was France however the Hawaiians took to the sport a lot faster with the perfect wind conditions they get but, no matter where kite surfing came from, there’s certainly no arguing that Kite surfing has taken off in a big way in the UK alone in last twenty years. (yes it’s that old now)
The concept of kite surfing is relatively simple: kite surfers use a small Twin tip board (very much like a Wakeboard) with straps and are powered along the water by a large power kite the size depending on the wind strength and can range from 5m -19m in size. The Kitesurf kite is attached via 25m-long Dyneema lines to a Control bar, which the rider uses to steer & depower or Power the kite. This type of Water sport allows you to cruise across the water at vast speed, jump as high as a 3 story house in what feels & looks like slow motion, as well as perform triple loops or spins, only once you’ve got good control of the Kite, speed and power! Kite surfing is a sport for extreme thrill-seekers who love water, waves, speed and a whole lot of power in their hands.
It truly is a sport that you can learn at a BKSA kitesurf school and within two weeks look good at. Unlike some other water sports like Windsurfing, Kite surfing has a very fast learning curve.
Other watersports you can do take a lot longer to learn and also cost a lot more A few examples listed below:
Windsurfing – The learning curve is slow, It takes most windsurfers months let alone weeks to get in the harness and push upwind on a windsurfer and years to learn jump and rotations.
Wakeboarding – Great Sport! love it but it’s costly, The wakeboarding equipment is less of an outlay at first but you have to pay each and every time you want to go wakeboarding, A cable wakeboard park pass will cost you upwards of £1000 a year or £25 for an hour’s ride. The boat will be even more expensive £25 for 15mins! So expensive but a very good watersport to get involved with.
Paddleboarding – Can be quite cheap to do and very easy to learn, however, it will get boring fast and is not an extreme watersport.
With the right training, you can get up and Ride in two days kitesurfing, We teach every day we have the wind in the summer and Students have both fun and finish up after two days with good runs on the kiteboard from 50 meters -200 meters
Go on get out on the water this season.
For more info on Kitesurfing or kitesurfing lessons go to https://www.s2as.com/
Surface2Air sports
Thanks for reading
S2AS Team
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