Kiteboarding: What You Need to Get Started

This extreme sport is great for adrenaline junkies, but the right equipment can make kiteboarding both safer and more enjoyable.

You’ve seen them at the beach, skipping over the tops of waves – and sometimes getting a lot more altitude than that. Maybe you’ve seen video of the pros, pushing the envelope with the latest tricks. You watch kiteboarders catching some serious air, and you say to yourself, “I have got to try that.”

What will you need to get started?

Well, right out of the gate, you’ll need pretty good biceps – or at any rate, you’ll have them by the time you’re done!

Just kidding, sort of. In fact, you don’t support your whole body weight using just your arms – the harness you’ll wear takes a lot of your weight.

But kiting does require a lot of upper-body muscle, since your arms will be all that’s controlling your kite – and the force of the wind that it channels. If you’re already experienced with, for example, windsurfing, then you probably have the upper-body strength you’ll need to kiteboard successfully.

Now for the tools. As a beginner, you’ll need a board, a kite, the control bar, lines, harness, and safety equipment. You’ll probably also want a life jacket and a wetsuit. Cost: $600 to $1600.

You can reduce your costs by purchasing used equipment. End-of-season sales or 1- to 2-year-old rigs can cut your costs by 30% - 50%. Just be sure that you thoroughly inspect used equipment for safety. You can easily get hauled up into the air 10 or 20 feet, or more – and at that point, you don’t want your rig to fail you.

Also, important safety and ease-of-use advances have been made in recent years, so you won’t want gear that’s more than 3 years old, no matter how well it has been maintained.

Here’s what to look for in your equipment.

Kite: Power kites for kiteboarding come in a wide variety of sizes and designs. The three main types are:
Leading Edge Inflatable (LEI or simply Inflatable). This is the earliest design, and is still being refined and used today. Inflatable cells help the kite keep its shape in the air, and help it float when it hits water.
Bow (also known as Flat LEI). Bow kites are more maneuverable and can be adjusted to a wider range of wind conditions compared to traditional LEI kites.
Foil. Foil kites are made from a sheet of fabric with a fixed bridle at the leading edge to maintain its shape. The advantage of a foil kite is that it does not need to be inflated prior to use, unlike LEI kites.

Since 2006, a hybrid of Bow and LEI has been developed, often called Hybrid, Supported Leading Edge or SLE. This is also sometimes called Second-Generation Bow. This type of kite is easier for beginners to handle than the earlier bow kites, which had a reputation for being less stable than their LEI brethren, and requiring greater arm strength to control.

The exact size, shape, and characteristics of your kite will depend on your weight, the common wind speeds in the area where you plan on kiting, and your level of expertise.

What you want to look for in a kite is one that is easy to launch, will float when it hits water, and is then easy to relaunch from the water. Also, you’ll want your kite to have modern depowerability, an important safety feature. Recent models have greatly improved depowerability compared to older versions.

Control Bar: The control bar, as its name implies, is what you’ll use to control your kite. This is a lightweight but solid bar, made of metal or composite materials, to which your flying lines are attached. Most control bars also attach to the rider’s harness by means of a chicken loop, which prevents the kite from getting away from the rider even if he loses his grip.

Because the control bar, while lightweight, is heavier than water, it’s a good idea to have a float attached to it. These usually appear right above the harness. Control bars are usually designed specifically for a particular brand and model of kite, and therefore are not interchangeable.

Lines: The flying lines of your rig are strong, lightweight cords which connect the kite and the control bar. They come in a variety of weights suitable for different wind conditions. Most modern kites are rigged with a 3-line, 4-line, or 5-line configuration. In the past, 4-line rigs were considered too complicated for beginners to use, but recent advances have pretty much eliminated this problem.

Harness: The harness attaches the rider to the control bar. The main benefits are (1) safety, since the kite can’t get away from you; and (2) greater ease of use, since the harness supports much of your body weight.

Though the kiteboarding harness superficially resembles a windsurfing harness, the kiteboarding version is much more robustly built. A windsurfing harness, if used for kiteboarding, is likely to break very quickly, resulting in injury.

There are 3 main styles of harness for kitesurfing:
The Seat style of harness, which has loops for your legs, is the most popular among beginners. This style supports your body weight more fully, and moves the forces down to around your hips and legs, which are used to supporting your weight.
The Vest harness combines the benefits of a lifejacket and a harness in one piece of kit.
The Waist harness is used primarily by more advanced kiters.

Board: Kiteboards come in many shapes, sizes, and materials. (Some boarders even use old surfboards with footstraps added on.) A popular style for beginners to learn on is the twin-tip board.

Lifejacket: It’s a good idea to wear a personal flotation device, or lifejacket, while kiteboarding. It might save your life if you happen to get hauled out into deep water, farther than you could swim back to shore, or if you get knocked unconscious by a bad fall.

Some vest-style harnesses or impact vests (which protect your torso from injury during falls) also incorporate flotation capability. But if you have a different style of harness, you’ll want to wear a lifejacket too.

Wetsuit: A wetsuit is an important part of your kit – even if the air and water temperature seem warm.

The combination of wet skin and clothing, along with high winds, can cool your core faster than you might think – even on a warm day. And hypothermia can reduce both your physical strength and coordination, and your ability to make good decisions – which can reduce your ability to control your kite safely.

Also, the wetsuit can provide protection against scrapes in case you are dragged along the sand.

Many kiters wear shorties, or a wetsuit that protects the core body temperature while freeing the arms and legs.

Safety equipment: Many kiters also carry the following safety equipment. Remember, although you think of kiting as a near-shore activity, you’re dealing with powerful forces of nature, and you can be blown out to sea far faster than you might think. You can also be blown into obstacles – trees, power lines, and so forth – on shore. Properly equipped, you’ll increase your chances of surviving such a mishap.

Helmet: To protect against blunt-trauma head injury – in case of a bad fall or collision with an obstacle.

Impact Vest: To protect the vital organs of your torso from impact injury.

Safety Knife: Folding knife which you can use to cut yourself free of tangled lines, or to release the kite in the event that your safety-release system fails. Many harnesses have a small pocket intended to hold such a knife.

Signalling Devices: Can aid rescuers in finding you, if you are blown out to sea. These can range from something as simple as reflective tape on the top of your helmet, to a cell phone carried in a waterproof pouch, to a small EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) attached to your harness.

Kiteboarding is challenging, exhilarating, and it gets the blood pumping. No question, it is as fun as it looks. And with the right equipment, you can get that adrenaline rush – while still reducing your chances of serious injury.