Flat Water Kitesurfing
This is one of your most regular kitesurfing activities; basically, you glide over the water using your kite to pick winds as your means of propulsion. No matter what are your wind, water conditions, mastering this style is a fundamental trait. Note: just because it’s a basic of kitesurfing, it’s no less fun or uplifting. Spending hours gliding over calm waters is just about the most satisfying experience for any practiced kitesurfer.
Wave riding
Wave riding is a little different from flat water kitesurfing in that here you are actively seeking the waves which along with the wind, makes you glide over distances. There is an additional skill level to discover when it comes to riding waves maneuvering the kite and jumping at the right moment to ride the waves hitting them at the right angle in order to make it happen. Wave ride kitesurfing is the most spectacular side of the sport, the most skilled kitesurfers are always developing new techniques and acrobatics taking the sport to new levels.
Check out these amazing riders:
Guinness World Record, kiting 19 meters (63 feet).
Rider: Rodrigo Koxa
Location: Nazare. Portugal
Freestyle
Anything goes. The open style is greatly used for competitive events and is a free-format style meant for developers to showcase their skills. Broadly considered, it involves the technical use of the board and the kite to reach heights enabling the rider to do either big jumps, rotations, board offs and other tricks. Smaller twintip boards and kites with good boost ability and hangtime are mostly employed in this open style kitesurfing although developers are not limited in the use of the different kites and boards. Sponsorships from the sport industry manufacturers drive the open style competitions to new heights each year. Check out this freestyling video:
Surfkite Freestyle
This is a variety in the many kitesurfing activities. This discipline consists in completing tricks with a regular surfboard and a kite. Many of these freestyle tricks are well known among the surfing circles. Tricks include rotations, big airs and Varial 360 without straps, Air style also called “Oldschool”. This style is super relaxing in that once you find your groove with the perfect waters, the right winds and the perfect power zone, you’ve achieved the frame for doing your most conventional tricks, the ones that you love to do which need no further development but that you love to re visit time and time again. Big jumps with long hangtime and your most beloved tricks such as board offs, walking on water, sliding, flying, etc.
Check out these great videos of Freestyle and Air tricks:
Free-ride
Freeride is anything that you want it to be and the most followed part of the sport. Most boards sold today are designed for freeride. It’s about having fun and learning new techniques.
Wake style
Tricks and aerials, using a wake-style board with bindings. Now, instead of being pulled by a boat and doing tricks off the wake of the boat, the wakeboard kitesurfer is pulled by the kite on shallow waters even on the beach surface with very little water. Wakeboard kitesurfing may also include tricks and jumps involving ramps or piers.
Course racing
The name is self-explanatory, it’s a speed competition by which the kitesurfer races through a closed circuit in the least time while racing other kitesurfers. Course racing is similar to a yacht race in that it takes place along a course, it entails both speed and tactics but using a kitesurf board. A big kitesurf race makes for a very exciting spectator sport seeing how experienced kitesurfers try to outpace and out maneuver each other.
Speed Style
Speed events and record events are all about finding what are the possible limits of endurance of kitesurfing. Speed styles often take place at special locations with booths set up for organizers or officials to measure speeds, altitudes, air time of maneuvers, etc. Special directional boards, light equipment, special kites are the preferred gear used to set records. Boards are often longer than regular twin-tips and carry much bigger fins for difficult maneuvers.
Big air jumps
Getting air. Reaching altitudes by putting air in between the surface and the kitesurfer. You can reach regular low air (anything above 3 feet) with a regular board and kite or super altitudes with kiteloops for big air time. This style may also include various aerial tricks. Broadly speaking, Jumping is considered a subset of Freestyle riding.
Did you Know? …. That Nick Jacobsen achieved the world record for the highest kite jump measured by WOO Sports on February 19, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa, during a session with 40-knot winds. Jacobsen’s jump reached 28.6 meters high, with an airtime of 8.5 seconds!
After watching these intense kitesurfing video styles, it’s time to get Kitesurfing lessons and become a wind addict!
