by Marisol Dayton

Created on: July 24, 2010

Kiteboarding is a crossover sport that has gained tremendous popularity in the last few years.  Kiteboarding uses a power kite with one of a variety of boards to skim riders across the surface of water, snow or land. 

There are three basic essential pieces of equipment for kiteboarding – a kite, a board, and a harness.  These three are available in a large variety to suit a number of skill levels and wind conditions.  It is always best to consult a kiteboarding expert when choosing equipment, to ensure purchasing the right equipment for the locale’s wind conditions and for the rider’s skill level.

There are two kinds of power kites – leading edge inflatables and foil kites.  Leading edge inflatable kites are also known as inflatables, LEI kites or C-kites.  They are made out of nylon and have an inflatable plastic bladder across the front edge of the kite.  Smaller bladders also run perpendicular to the main bladder.  Inflatable kites are very popular with kiteboarders because float when dropped in the water making relaunching easy, and because they respond more quickly and directly to the rider than other kinds of kinds.  Traditionally, LEI kites do not depower very easily and a two-kite set-up has been used – one kite for power and one for deceleration.  However, in 2005 a modified LEI kite was developed.  Called a Bow kite, or flat LEI kite, it is shallower than a standard LEI but offers a greater range of power and is easier to relaunch from the water. 

Foil kites, despite their name, are made of fabric.  They have air pockets called air cells which help give the kite life.  A fixed bridle gives the kite its shape.  Foil kites are made to depower more easily than LEI kites, allowing kiteboarders to use one smaller kite rather than the traditional two-kite set up needed when using traditional LEI kites and giving the foil kite a wider range of wind conditions in which it can be used.  The newer Bow kites have a comparable range.  Foil kites do not need to be manually inflated.  They are designed as open cell or closed cell varieties.  Open cell kites use a constant airflow to stay inflated but cannot be relaunched from the water.  Closed cells use inlet valves to hold the air in the cells and stay inflated even while in the water. 

A kite harness attaches the rider to the control bar.  The harness takes much of the strain

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