Extreme Sport: KiteSurfing
With KiteSurfing you will feel the adrenalin pumping through your veins while experiencing an exhilarating and breath-taking ride.
the next 3 photographs were taken with my Nikon L840 same day and Kitesurfer.
As a strong irritating wind chased all the disappointed bathers back to their rooms, the kitesurfers who loves this kind of weather and anticipate this for days or even weeks, grabbed the opportunity to practice their sport. This was when I had the privilege being introduced to this sport, watching an athlete gliding through the rough waters, pulling off some amazing stunts. We stood on the 3rd floor mesmerized by this athlete’s stamina and ability.
KiteSurfing is a surface water sport, where you use a kite, wind and a board to ride the waves and even perform some tricks. The athletes use the power of the wind and must be quite versatile as this sport use a combination of the following disciplines: windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and paragliding. Controlled flying is the biggest attraction of the sport, while board grabs are tricks the riders perform while jumping.
Equipment needed for this sport will be a power kite, flying lines, control bar, a kite harness, kiteboard, wetsuit, helmet, personal flotation device and a GPS. The size of the kite will depend on the strength of the wind. Stronger winds need smaller kites. It is important to know your weather and especially the winds as this plays a vital role in your safety as Kitesurfer.
Gjisbertus Adrianus Panhuise from the Netherlands is the originator of KiteSurfing as he received the patent for KiteSurfing in 1977. In 1999 it became a mainstream sport, and this year it was part of the Rio Olympics. Speed and distance records has been set over the years. Rob Douglas reached a speed of 55.65 knots and Francisco Lufinha a distance of 874km from Lisboa to Madeira.
In South Africa KiteSurfing is also becoming more popular and Cape Town boasts with fantastic seas and perfect weather and Durban a good runner up. There are quite a few KiteSurfing competitions and tours throughout Africa. The links below have all the information you need.
http://www.saka.co.za/
http://www.kitespotters.co.za/
Hope to see you in the waters Kitesurfing soon!
I tried it in Tarifa last May and wow... how difficult it was :P I barely made it to the water, first on the agenda is how to handle the kite. The funniest part was to meet there all those kite surfers from all around the world. They are like a sect, they have seen each other in some strange and remote spots and share tips and memories and all, they are a nice bunch, a true cosmopolitan elite.
Thank you for your reply herverisson. You are a lucky man! We can go for lessons here but will rather leave this to my boys to pursue although surfing is what the are really into, and not living at the coast makes it a dream only practiced on holidays. I hope to see some posts of you becoming a pro.
Kitesurfing is an amazing and exciting sport that combines elements of sailing, windsurfing and wakeboarding. It is a great way to enjoy the beauty of nature by challenging yourself in extreme sports. I have been into this sport for a long time and all my equipment was bought at Xtreme Expert Kiteboarding Shop as I trust only professionals. Also if you are in Portugal, here you can take kitesurfing lessons.
You're right, kitesurfing always looks too extreme for me. More than once I have seen guys jumping about 100 meters into the sky, and this really scares me. Although I'm sure their emotions are very cool