Kites Used For Kiteboarding

The kite or aerofoil is the center of your kiteboarding kit. It is what lifts you out of the water
and what moves you forward. It is also what helps you to steer and what you need to be
able to control to be able to stop. Manufacturers are going in two main directions with kite
designs. The first direction is more specialist designs that focus on a particular area such as
lift for jumpers or size versus power for high speed. The second direction is producing all in
one type kites that can do almost anything good enough for many people.

Leading Edge Inflatables

These kites are inflated and have section across the front leading edge and other sections
front to back. They do take some time to inflate before they can be used but have the
advantage of floating when they are in the water and keeping their shape without the use of
the wind.
One of the problems with this type of design is that the bladders can be damaged if the kite
hits a solid object. It is popular because it is the easiest type to re-launch from the water and
will float making them ideal for beginners.

Foil Kites

These foil kites do not have bladders and use the wind to keep them inflated. They use a system
of lines to give the kite its shape. The open cell design can deflate very quickly and cannot
be re-launched from water. A newer closed cell design uses a valve system to slow down
deflation and to enable in water re-launches.

Kiteboarding vs. Windsurfing

There are a lot of similarities and a lot of differences in kiteboarding and windsurfing and
while people devoted to either sport might say that their sport is ‘better’ the reality is that
both sports are great fun and millions of people around the world participate in them.

Which Is Harder To Learn?

It is general accepted that kiteboarding is easier to learn. The main reason is the difficulty
that beginners have in windsurfing staying on the board when trying to move and change
direction. This is probably one of the reasons that so many people that try windsurfing do
not end up taking it up. In both sports one you ‘get it’ it becomes much easier and much
more enjoyable.

Which Is Less Expensive?

The general rule is that kiteboarding equipment is cheaper but the increased popularity of
both sports has significantly reduced so called ‘beginner’ equipment. Lessons can be about
the same price per hour of instruction but generally kiteboarding takes a lot less time to
learn to a level where you are able to confidently operate on your own.

Transportation and Storage

This has been a major reason that kiteboarding has become so popular. It is much easier to
transport equipment as the kiteboards are significantly smaller and the kite, harness and lines
pack down into a very small space. Windsurfing requires the ability to transport large pieces
of equipment that will not fit inside a car and can attract high fees if you are travelling by
plane.

How Fast Will a Kiteboard Go?

When you learn to kiteboard, the sensation of travelling over water at speed is thrilling and
indeed many people spend money on new equipment and traveling to the perfect places to
try and go just that little bit faster. There are a group of avid kiteboarders that have being
raising the world kiteboard speed record over the last decade or so and can regularly exceed
sixty miles per hour on measured speed runs.

The current fastest speed is 56.62 knots or an amazing 65.16 miles per hour. This was done
in the south of France by Alex Caizergues on a 500 meter measured course. While this takes
specialist high performance equipment it is possible to reach significant speeds with normal
equipment that many people have. This because of the ability of sail powered craft to move
faster than the wind. This is because when traveling at an angle to the direction of the wind
the faster we move the faster the apparent wind will push us.

There are many factors that affect our speed including the kite we use, wind speed and
how smooth the water we are kiteboarding on is. As you learn the best way to use your kite
and kiteboard to extract the maximum amount of speed in the conditions available you will
experience that perfect feeling of having everything come together and powering through
the water faster than you had thought possible. If you want to know our actual speed then
a GPS unit or kiteboard speedometer can give your actual speed so that you can have some
data on what actually makes you go faster rather than what feels faster.