Today kiteboarding is the world's most rapidly growing extreme sport. The idea of piloting a kite to transport yourself over long distances over sea or overland is far from new, in fact it was already invented by the Chinese people in the 12th century. The Chinese did however not use the their kites together with boards and harnesses as we do today, and kiteboarding was not for fun, but rather a way to make transportation with their canoes faster and more effortless. Kiteboarding in 12th century was in other words solely a way to carry yourself over large distances. "Kite sailing" would probably be a better word to describe this fact.

George Pocock is the name of a man that took kiteboarding to a whole new level by attaching four lines to his kite. This made it possible to pilot the kite in a desired direction. Pocock used his kite together with boats and wagons to be able to transport himself over both land and water. The main reason to why he did this was to avoid the horse tax that no one liked back then.

Contemporary kites suffered from one major problem. If you crashed the kite in the water or on land, then it was impossible get them up in the air again. This problem was solved by some kite manufacturers during the 80's. F-One, Naish Kites, Cabrinha Kites and a few other manufacturers started to design kites that was possible to water relaunch. As a result we suddenly had completely new prerequisites for the kiteboarders, since they no longer had to get back on land after each crash in order to get the kite up in the air again.

Kiteboarding has become more and more popular over the last years and the sport literally exploded about 3 years ago. Nowadays, the coastlines are crowded with kiteboarders under windy days and it's a fact that there hardly is room for everyone to kiteboard anymore, that's how popular this sport is today!

As a beginner it can be very hard to know what kite you should buy. There is a jungle of different kites on the market and the one who asks for tips and advice about which kite he/she should buy will end up having even more questions as he/she had from the beginning. To ask about which kite you should buy is like asking random people about which car he or she should buy, everyone is of different opinions. A very good guide to make it easierfor you to choose an appropriate kite can be found here.

If you´re curious about kiteboarding, then you should attend a kiteboarding course. There are numerous of kite schools all around the world with professional instructors. Which school that is the best to attend to is hard to say, but one tip is to make sure that you get a private lesson or that you're placed in a group with not more than two students. Some schools take up to 4-6 students per instructor where the students are grouped in pairs of two where each group get one kite setup. Not only is this a security risk since the instructor is reluctant to be present to more than one pair of students at a time, but also much more inefficiently in terms of learning to kiteboard, since you don't get as much to train with the kite under supervision from the instructor.

Are you still not sure if kitesurfing is something for you? Stop hesitating and discover the feeling of freedom you get from this amazing and adrenaline pumping sport, you will for sure get addicted!

/Gustav