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Enthusiasts on both coasts and on waterways in between are slipping into a harness, strapping their feet to a kiteboard (similar to a wakeboard) and skimming across the water, propelled by an inflatable kite. With practice, they can go airborne.
The sport has been popular in parts of Europe but didn't begin to take off in U.S. waters until the late 1990s with the development of an inflatable kite that floats and is easy to relaunch from the water. Kiteboarding requires less wind and physical strength than windsurfing — maneuvering the kite is about as strenuous as steering a car. And after 12 hours or so of instruction, a person with absolutely no boarding or kite-flying skills can be up and riding, says Cori Bison of New Wind Kiteboarding in Hood River, Ore.
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As one of the fastest-growing water sports, kiteboarding now has a pro circuit and several magazines dedicated to it. The pros focus on freestyle jumps and aerial turns, and hit speeds of up to 40 mph. But new, more advanced lightweight equipment is propelling the sport from extreme to mainstream. And many of those novice boarders are content to just cruise and stick to smaller jumps.
Last summer, Trip Forman saw 3,000 students come through his Cape Hatteras, N.C., school, Real Kiteboarding, and judging from advance bookings, he expects that to double this season. His three-day Zero to Hero Kite Camp can "take a person from rank beginner to self-sufficient intermediate," he boasts.
"The sport popularizes itself," he says. "When you first see it, you're completely in awe."
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