What is Kitesurfing?

Kiteboarders use inflatable kites tethered to harnesses to glide through water and air.
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Kiteboarders use inflatable kites tethered to harnesses to glide through water and air.

Kite surfing, also known as kitesurfing and kiteboarding, and sometimes as flysurfing, involves using a power kite to pull a small surfboard, or wakeboard on water. Kitesurfing is an exhilarating and energetic sport. The current speed record over a 500 meter (1,640 ft) course is 77.4 kilometers per hour (41.79 knots) held by Olaf Marting.

A kitesurfer stands on a board with foot straps or bindings and uses the power of a large controllable kite to propel themselves and the board across the water. Howerver, this simplicity also makes kitesurfing challenging. Your body is the only connection between the kite and the board and you have to control them both at the same time: piloting the kite in the sky and steering the board on the water.

The sport is still in its infancy but is rapidly growing in popularity. In 1998, there were probably less than thirty kitesurfers worldwide. In 2006, the number of kitesurfers has been estimated at around 150,000 to 200,000.

The sport is becoming safer due to innovations in kite design, safety release systems and instruction. Many riding styles have evolved to suit different types of riders and conditions, such as wake style, wave riding, freestyle, jumping, and cruising.

Other variations of using kites for propulsion include kite landboarding, snowkiting, kite buggying, kite jumping and using kites to propel a sea kayaks.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia