Waterstart

How to nail your first waterstarts

Up to this point, you've been flying the kite, body dragging, and learning how to manage power. With the waterstart, you finally begin riding.

To successfully waterstart, you need to coordinate your movements and manage your kite's power correctly. Let’s see how to make it happen!

Before you start: safety rules

Make sure the downwind area is completely clear.
Keep a safe distance from other riders.
Be comfortable with kite relaunching and body dragging.
Know your safety release system perfectly.
Choose a simple spot with minimal waves and steady side-shore wind.

Kitesurfer: Julie riding a Steez Wood Flex twintip and a Display kite.

1. Find your position in the water

Walk into the water until it reaches your waist, then lean back and float on your back with your knees bent.

Bring the board in front of you, almost perpendicular to the wind. Keep your legs bent. Stabilize the kite at the zenith while bringing the board to your feet using the handle of your twintip. Insert your front foot first while holding the handle firmly with one hand and keeping an eye on your kite while steering it with the other hand (move your hand closer to the center of the bar for better one-handed control). Then insert your back foot.

Take your time to position your feet fully into the footstraps. Grab the bar with both hands again. At this stage, remain balanced with the kite at the zenith and your body fully engaged. Be careful not to accidentally move the kite toward 11 or 1 o'clock, as this can easily throw you off balance and leave you sideways in the water.

You should be completely in control of your position, with the kite at the zenith, the wind at your back, and the board perpendicular to the wind before initiating your waterstart. Practice mastering this neutral position.

Important:

Never take your eyes off the kite during the entire maneuver. You should be able to find the footstraps blindly with your feet.
Maintain line tension, especially in light wind, by keeping some pressure on the bar. Just enough to feel light tension in your hands. If you oversheet, the kite will sit too far back in the window. If you don't sheet in enough, the kite may stall. Find the right balance and continuously adjust in gusts. In stronger wind, the kite naturally remains more stable at the zenith.

2. Send the kite through the window: finding the right amount of pull

To perform a successful waterstart, the goal is not to generate as much power as possible, but to create the right amount of pull, at the right moment and in the right direction. To do this, it is essential to maintain line tension as explained above and to maneuver the kite through the wind window (see the basics of kite flying).

Without tension in the lines, it becomes difficult to steer the kite properly. The kite may even stall. Stay focused on maintaining pressure on the bar.

Understanding the required power

The amount of power needed depends on the wind strength, your weight, the size of the kite, and even the water conditions. This is why preparatory exercises such as boardless waterstart simulations, body dragging, and dynamic kite flying are so important: they develop your ability to feel the pull rather than relying on a specific kite position in the window.

The goal is to learn to recognize the sensation of enough pull to lift you out of the water without throwing you off balance.

How do you send the kite through the window?

The starting position mainly depends on the wind strength.

In light wind, you can start slightly on the opposite side of the zenith (for example at 1 o'clock if you want to ride left, or at 11 o'clock if you want to ride right) to allow the kite to pivot further and dive deeper into the window. This generates more power.

In stronger wind, starting from the zenith is usually sufficient. Diving the kite too aggressively could create excessive pull.

The ability to adapt the kite's starting position to the conditions is an essential skill, especially when the wind becomes light or inconsistent.

In all cases, avoid starting with the kite already too low in the window: it will have less room to accelerate and will generate less pull.

Using your body as resistance

As the kite begins to pull, your body should create slight resistance to convert that pull into forward movement.

This is especially important in light wind, where you need to let the kite build power while maintaining enough edge resistance to avoid simply being pulled toward it.

Synchronizing the kite and the board

Before initiating the waterstart, bend your legs to bring the board closer to your body.

The idea is for your body and board to form a compact and stable unit. However, avoid curling up too much: you must keep enough range of motion to extend your front leg when standing up.

For a first waterstart with your right foot forward, for example, you can dive the kite from 11 o'clock toward 3 o'clock. This movement generates progressive pull that helps lift you out of the water.

As soon as the power becomes sufficient:

gradually extend your front leg;
keep your back leg slightly bent;
allow the board to accelerate in the direction of travel.

Kitesurfer: Julie riding a Steez Wood Flex twintip and a Display kite.

3. Managing your exit from the water

Once you're up and riding, gradually point the board in the direction of travel.

At first, focus only on riding a few meters. Don't worry yet about riding upwind or going fast.

The objective is to find the balance between the kite's power and the pressure on the board.

Once you are planing:

Straighten your upper body progressively.
Keep your eyes looking far ahead.
Stabilize the kite around 45 degrees.
Maintain a consistent speed.

If you feel the power fading, fly the kite through the window again rather than pulling harder on the bar.

Kitesurfer: Craig riding a Steez Carbon Pro twintip.

The most common mistakes

Getting overpowered

Getting pulled out of the water only to be launched over the front of your board, often followed by a kite crash, is a common sight among beginners. Start with a controlled dive of the kite and progressively increase the amplitude and power as you gain confidence.

Losing speed

You dive the kite, get out of the water, everything feels good, and then suddenly nothing. You fall back because you've lost speed. Remember to redirect the kite before your speed drops completely.

Poor board positioning

Think of it like a start in a cable park. Point the nose of the board slightly downwind as the kite lifts you out of the water. This allows you to travel a few meters with the board flat on the water before edging and riding across the wind.

Kitesurfer: Julie riding a Sway Wood Flex twintip and a Display kite.

Key takeaways

A good waterstart relies on three key elements:

A stable position before starting.
A smooth and controlled kite movement.
Fluid board control during the start.

Once this synchronization clicks into place, the waterstart quickly becomes second nature.