Dare to Kiteboard

Bay area residents take note, Spring is finally here, and that means Kiteboarding season is here. Already, my phone is ringing, e-mails are pouring in and I am running around getting everything ready for what will be the biggest year ever in a new and evolving water sport. I teach Kiteboarding in the Bay Area, and right now, I am a very busy guy.

By Nat Lincoln
Published: May, 2006

Bay area residents take note, Spring is finally here, and that means Kiteboarding season is here. Already, my phone is ringing, e-mails are pouring in and I am running around getting everything ready for what will be the biggest year ever in a new and evolving water sport. I teach Kiteboarding in the Bay Area, and right now, I am a very busy guy. 

Kiteboarding, also known as Kitesurfing, is the fastest growing water sport on earth. Four-years-ago only a handful of people knew about, or had ever seen the sport. But today, given a windy day, you can see numerous kiters riding under the Golden Gate Bridge, and launching 40 foot jumps near Crissy Field. Kiteboarders are blazing around the sponsored race course at the Sir Francis Yacht club, and shredding the tops off of waves at Ocean Beach.

Kiters and soon-to-be kiters are making the drive inland to the Delta where they find warmer, mirror-flat fresh water and steady reliable winds all spring and summer long. The Bay Area is a huge adventure park perfectly placed to give you the ride of your lifetime. 

Do you have a sense of adventure and can you fit a new obsession into your life? Are you ready to go new places and add new groups of friends to your world? Kiteboarding might be your thing, but it is definitely not the sport for everyone.

The people who want to try this sport are adventurous. They thrive on catching air, speeding along the water and turning fear into fun. They are ready for a time commitment and interested in the equipment and the culture.

To be honest, 95% of the population won’t, and shouldn’t, pick up a power kite. It’s not for everybody. It’s one of the most physically and mentally challenging sports, and if not taken seriously, it’s beyond dangerous. But if it’s taken seriously, the rider will have some serious fun.

Kiteboarding takes board sports to new levels combining the ability to ride on water, snow and even land while allowing the rider to control speed, direction and even altitude. They cruise without motors or assistance from anyone or any thing other than the power created by the wind in their kite.

Learning requires lessons, time and patience. Nobody was born with the necessary skills to fly a power kite, and self trial usually ends up in accidents and injuries. Kiteboarding is not a strength sport as much as a finesse sport and, as such, women do as very well, often better than men when learning. Expect to spend a few hours on land with a land training kite followed by safety training, and then it’s off to the water for an experience like no other.

Kiteboarding has a reputation as dangerous and being extreme, and it can be, but I assure you it is neither unless you make it that way. I have taught pre-teenagers and seniors in their 70s to kite and, like most things, it totally depends on the person and their approach.

Kiteboarders differ in what they want from the sport. A lot of people are coming into kiting from a wakeboard background and are pushing the sport to new levels of technical tricks equal to and greater than that done behind a boat.

Some are migrating from windsurfing, while others who surf are using the kite as a vehicle to get themselves out to waves they previously couldn’t paddle into.

Course races are being sponsored weekly on Thursday evenings at the Sir Francis Yacht club in The City.

Annually, there has been a King of the Bay contest held in late summer at Third Ave. in the South bay. This contest brings some of the best Kiteboarders and Windsurfers in the world to the Bay to compete with local talent and to bring different area groups together for fun and bragging rights. The action is very up-close and fun-to-watch regardless of whether you know how to do the sport or not.

Stores dedicated to Kiteboarding have opened up around the bay offering equipment, lessons and information, and are easily found by doing a search on the Internet.

As for the cost, expect to spend a couple thousand dollars between lessons and new equipment; however, there is a market selling used gear, which can save you serious money. Because the gear is light weight and packs up small it makes the sport very portable, and people are traveling all over the world on kiteboarding vacations. In fact, the Bay Area is well-known in the kiteboarding community as a serious vacation destination.

Kiting equipment is very specialized and has evolved very quickly. Most riders have a couple kites, a board and a wetsuit, which all fit easily into the trunk of most any car and even on the back of a bicycle. They also wear a harness, which connects them to the kite and takes the load off their arms, allowing them to ride for hours without major arm fatigue. Many riders wear floatation vests and helmets for additional safety. There are those want to accessorize their gear and make a fashion statement, so they wear colorful surfing board shorts over their wetsuits with tops to match, but we’re not judging.

No matter what your style is or what your goals are there is a lot to get out of the sport. The season for this intense wind and water sport is here. Get ready for the ride of your life. Kiteboarding is the most fun you may ever have in a rubber suit.