The use of kites for propulsion dates back to the 13th Century (kites dates back to as early as 478 BC), attempts at combining kites with other platforms such as canoes, skis and roller skates continued through the 19th and 20th Century. It was not until the development of multiple control lines by George Pocock in 1826 that kites could be piloted, instead of merely being used for propulsion. A landmark arrived in 1903 when Samuel Cody crossed the English Channel using a kite powered canvas boat. This was the beginning of the traction kite…
Kites had been used to propel craft across land, ice and water for some time. They required an initial thrust of air to take off, but once in the air could stay up under their own power. Early kites that had been designed for use on the water had to take off initially from the land. Once in the air, kites can generate their own wind. The effect of a kite flying across the sky produces ‘apparent wind’. Apparent wind is faster than actual wind, multiplying the natural available wind force by up to four times! This effect has caused some beginners to traction kite flying to underestimate the pull of the kite, sometimes causing injury.
Further developments continued through the ’70s and ’80s with the improvement of the flying lines and kites which saw the efficiency of the kite designs rise. The most important of these were water launchable kites, the first of being the Wipika, first developed in 1987. The Wipika consisted of a floating kite which could be launched even after having crashed into the water. As you can imagine, it was using these kites in the 1990s that caused kitesurfing to take off. Further refinements to these foil kites gave birth to the sport of kitesurfing in its current form in the late ’90s.
Kitesurfing is a relatively new sport that has only reached mainstream popularity in recent years. From the handful of pioneers developing the sport in the late ’90s, it has exploded in popularity to well over 200,000 kitesurfers from all around the world. The sport first took off on the coast of Maui, Hawaii pioneered in 1996 by Laird Hamilton and Manu Bertin. Maui was also the first place to hold the first-ever kitesurfing world championships, despite some of the competitors having only just started kitesurfing some months before!
The apparent simplicity of kitesurfing has helped the sport to take-off quickly. Maintaining control over the kite and kiteboard simultaneously proves a great challenge to most! Newcomers to the sport are recommended to take kitesurfing lessons from a qualified instructor.
Today, a plethora of equipment is available from popular manufacturers including Cabrinha, Airush, Naish and North. Beginners can purchase kitesurfing packages containing everything they need to get started. For information and advice on kite surfing visit S2AS, we even have kite surfing schools, based in Poole, Dorset