KITESURFING
WHAT IS KITESURFING?
Kiteboarding is a sailing sport and consists in harnessing the power of the wind with a controllable kite while propelling across the water on a board, usually symmetric and similar to a wakeboard and called twin-tip board. After some concepts emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, some designs were successfully tested, the sport received a wider audience in the late 1990s and became mainstream at the turn of the century. It has freestyle, wave-riding and racing competitions. The sport held the speed sailing record, reaching 55.65 kn (103.06 km/h) before being eclipsed by the 65.45 kn (121.21 km/h) Vestas Sail rocket. Is it a sport that combines the ballet of kite-flying, with the poetry of surfing? Sort of. But, in many ways, kitesurfing is so much more than that. The first thing you should know about kitesurfing is that it’s actually a specific style of kiteboarding. Wait, we can explain.
Kiteboarding, you see, is a surface water sport that brings together elements of snowboarding, wakeboarding, windsurfing, paragliding, skateboarding, and gymnastics. The patent covers, specifically, a water sport using a floating board of a surf board type where a pilot standing up on it is pulled by a wind catching device of a parachute type tied to his harness on a trapeze type belt. Although this patent did not result in any commercial interest, Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise could be considered as the originator of Kitesurfing. Although the name includes surfing, kitesurfing does not need waves, the wind is the only force needed to power you along. Flat water locations such as Camber are favored by riders looking to perform freestyle as the water is smooth so easier to take off and land on. With the large range of conditions to ride in, whether ‘surfing’ in the waves, going for big jumps, taking out a GPS for a speed records, learning a new freestyle trick or on a long distance adventure kitesurfing never becomes boring or repetitive.
Kitesurfing, however, differs slightly from kiteboarding in that it uses a standard surf board which more often than not has no bindings attached. Stylistically, kitesurfers focus more on the riding of waves than hitting the big air and even bigger tricks that feature in the world of freestyle kiteboarding. Kites with inflatable tubes are used to produce the pull from the wind. The inflatable parts of the kites help hold the shape and also allow the kite to float and therefore be re-launched from the water. Kitesurfing requires a location with wave breaks, while kiteboarding can happen anywhere with water and be anything you want it to be. That being said, nobody is going to shoot you down if you say “kitesurfing” when you mean “kiteboarding” or vice-versa. People who do this sort of thing are a pretty chilled bunch, more often than not. It uses standard surfboards or boards that have been specifically shaped for this purpose. The kiteboard used is made of composite wood or foam material. The boards are equipped with sandle-like straps which enable the rider to fasten their foot to the board and also allows to easily detach from the board. Despite the name 토토사이트웹 , it doesn’t have to involve wave surfing – kitesurfing can be done on mirror-flat lagoons, as well as in choppy seas or big waves. All you need is wind and water.
