Your first hour on a kiteboard

Never ride alone, kitesurfing is an adventure but it is often better experienced when with a friend or in a school. Certainly, the passage through a school breaks the myth of the lone wolf kite surfer but you will find there are really passionate teachers who will share the passion. They will also save you time with your learning curve and connect you with other aspiring kite surfers.

A safe environment

And more importantly, they will train you in a safe environment. Their job is to introduce you, then put you in a situation of simulated danger to help you acquire the right reflexes.

Far too often you are taught that quick-release is the answer to the problem. In fact, it is the shops and schools that are not taking the time to teach you the right method. A kite is like a plane !!! We must master its environment to anticipate all the possible hazards. You do not drop your parachute at the slightest problem : it’s the same in kitesurfing. We must be one with our kite and navigate it.

Dozens of people get injured trying to quick-release it instead of flying it. Dozens of people do not care about real safety because they think they are protected by an emergency release. And dozens of people die because of it. It’s appalling.

So, because an accident must always be limited to the unpredictable, you owe it to yourself and you owe it to others to ride safely by never putting your kite in a situation that leads to danger. Sometimes some people drop too late. Sometimes some drop with one hand and cling to the bar of the other. The kiteloop that follows is sometimes deadly …

Margins and anticipation

So, your first hour and the thousands that will follow are above all based on security: margins and anticipation.

A kite is slow. We have time to see the nonsense before it happens. It is still necessary to know about them and know how to avoid them or to get out of them.

• For example: if you are off the ground, do not panic. Pilot your kite smoothly to land further on. But it only makes sense if you have the leeward margin needed and experience with this type of situation. Your school will have to teach you that.

Remember that waves can be dangerous, even small waves. Twisting an ankle while jumping from the board is common among novices. So, we go there only when we are sure not to put ourselves in danger.

We see many drownings with kiting. The kite that gets carried away by a wave that exerts a heavy drag. Enough to put you in serious distress and unable to confront the set. So, do not go into waves that are too big for you.

Ask for advice. It is customary to speak to one’s peers. kitesurfing is an individual sport of individualists ;-))) but it is better to ask and be aware than to do nothing.

A forced sharing of a limited resource

Learn that kitesurfing (therefore in the waves) is a forced sharing of a limited resource. Per hour there are X amount of good waves. And everyone wants them. So, we will have to determine an order of passage. It will be done by the level and the priorities.

From this unstoppable meteorological data flows a state of mind between the starving to death and unbearable frustration…oh the horror!!. But that’s kitesurfing. You will always want more and others will too. So, we will have to learn to share and to deserve our share of the cake.

What saves beginners in this story is that they do not need waves at first. So they can go on the flat or in the chop, far away from the crowded spots. Only limit : when the good wind only gets to one place …

Be discreet

Be discreet. kitesurfing is a communion with nature, not a nightclub. Stay cool, simple, sober, efficient.

Do not be seen as a fool by others. Be aware that you are not alone on the water and that others also have the right to ride without having someone in their way all the time. This is very true in on shore conditions with people waiting on the edge with the kite in the air grrrr … So if you do not get in the way of others, all will be fine. For that it’s simple: open your eyes and respect the priority.

Be aware

Observation is your best teacher. You can / must spend hours watching. In order to learn by imprinting what others are, or not doing, at the spot. It’s a well-oiled machine : the good riders do it like that, the 80% of normal riders do it like that, and the beginners make … well… they progress slowly 😉

Come on, we put the wetsuit on but not inside out, we wax the deck and not the hull, and go go go, but most importantly go with discretion 😉