Learn to kitesurf – Are kitesurfing lessons really necessary?

Kitesurfing or kitesurfing is the latest water sport that is taking the world by storm in the new millennium. If you’ve seen anyone kiteboarding, you know that this sport not only looks amazing, but it’s also fun to watch. Many kiteboarders were captivated and obsessed with learning this sport after seeing it for the first time. “…but it looks so easy” is a common statement I hear from students who thought they would be riding in the three hour lesson. The truth is that kitesurfing is not that difficult. It’s multitasking wakeboarding and flying a kite. And learning to launch and fly kitesurfing kites safely takes some time. A minimum of approximately 3 hours of class time is a must. There is no bunny hill in kiteboarding; any second the wind can pick up and you’re in triple black diamond. The first goal of new kitesurfers should be safe and independent.

Some things you might look for that make learning much easier include: a lesson spot with lots of shallow water, boat/jet ski support, and radio headsets. Deep water makes relaunching the kite more difficult and often has more waves to splash in your face. Boat support will cost extra, but it’s worth it as you’re practicing with the huge kite pushing you around in the wind, walking back is a waist of valuable time and energy. In a 3 hour lesson you could easily finish 3-5 miles downwind from where you started, no problem if the instructor follows you in a boat. Lastly, radio headsets, without one your instructor will be yelling at you and you’ll be trying to hear instructions over the sound of the wind and lapping water.

A kitesurfing lesson will begin with a discussion that includes considerations of the launch site, wind theory, and equipment terminology. Also, we will take a look at the equipment and talk about the functional parts of the kite: the control bar, the kite leash and the harness. Here special emphasis is placed on the security systems incorporated into the control bar and the kite leash. Although it’s not the fun part of the lesson, the safety information is critical. We should practice releasing quick releases or security systems several times. In case of an emergency, we must fully understand them.

Next we will learn how to set up and launch the kite. This first kite can be a small foil kite or training kite (usually for land use only), or it can be a small inflatable kite (the kind used for kitesurfing). Again, not super fun but mega important. Inflatable kites are mainly run on 4 lines; being 100% sure that we understand how and where each line connects is critical. A poorly armed kite is dangerous. If you start with a trainer kite you won’t cover this yet as trainer kites are often simplified 2 line systems and also launch quite differently than inflatable 4 line kites. The idea of ​​starting with a small kite is that the smallest kite will not have too much power, as most people take a while to understand how, when and why the kite pulls hard or soft. Once we have control of the smaller kite, it’s time to move on to a larger kite.

We now have a set of skills that we need to master before trying out the board for the first time.

These kite control abilities include:

• holding the kite still (both with two hands and one hand)
• fly the kite with one hand while carrying the board
• stroke the kite through the power zone and stop the kite at any given position
• stroking the kite through the power zone continuously
• relaunch the kite out of the water after a crash
• performing directional board drag (technique to retrieve your board)
• floating on the back while staying square to make a kite and fly with one hand
• put the table while holding the floating position

The kite stroking skills listed above are done in the water, as this technique ignites the kite, if done on land the kite is likely to knock you off your feet. In the water this is fun and includes some splashing. On land this would be frontal plantation and hard impacts. Is not safe.

This is a very simplified version of what a lesson could look like and I would say this is the minimum amount of instruction that everyone wanting to get into the sport should have. After understanding the basics, you can buy equipment and continue practicing kiteboarding. The reality, in my experience, is that many people are not 100% comfortable at this point. Most people take a total of 6 to 10 hours of lessons before going out on their own. If you are interested in getting started in kitesurfing, you can look me up, just Google Air Padre Kiteboarding.

Hope to see you in the water!