FAQ

Terminology and lingo

 * air time: the amount of time spent in the air while jumping. This can be remarkably long; the current record is probably Erik Eck's 39-second kitemare. Five to ten seconds is not unusual.
 * apparent wind: the kite's speed relative to the surrounding air. When kitesurfing in a straight line, the kite's apparent wind is a combination of the wind speed and the speed of the kite and rider over the surface, but since the kite is highly steerable apparent wind can vary widely depending on how the kite is being flown. Most ways of increasing power from the kite involve giving it a higher apparent wind somehow, i.e. diving the kite, riding faster, or riding at a greater angle into the wind. Any of these raises the kite's apparent wind speed.
 * body dragging: being pulled through the water without standing on your board. This is an early step in the learning process, and is recommended before trying the board after flying a trainer kite.
 * chicken loop: a hard rubber loop attached to the middle line which has been fed through the control bar. It is used to attach the control bar to the harness so the kitesurfer can produce tension in the lines using their entire bodyweight instead of using purely arm strength.
 * de-power: to reduce the kite's power (pull), generally by adjusting the angle of attack of the kite. Most kites and control bars now allow you to rig a kite for a number of different power levels before launching, in addition to powering the kite up and down "on the fly" by moving the bar up and down. Depowerability makes a kite safer and easier to handle. Some new kite models, especially "bow" kites, can be de-powered to practically zero power, giving them an enormous wind range.
 * boost: to suddenly become airborne
 * donkey dick: a hard rubber piece attached to the top of the chicken loop which the rider feeds through the hook on the harness to prevent the rider from becoming "unhooked".
 * downwind: the direction the wind is blowing towards; to leeward. When you are facing downwind the wind is at your back.
 * downwinder: a kitesurfing "trip" (could actually be as short as a few minutes) where the rider starts at one point and (hopefully intentionally) ends up at another point downwind of their original position. This is a good way to learn; park a vehicle a mile downwind and you can concentrate on tricks or learning or waveriding or just jumping and not have to worry about walking back or tacking upwind.
 * edge: tilting the board with its edge into the water. Used to control the direction of travel. Learning to edge properly is critical for learning to tack upwind. Edging is one of the fundamental skills of kiteboarding and is one of the ways kiteboarding is different from windsurfing or wakeboarding. While windsurf boards have daggerboards and/or skegs to steer the board upwind while lift and planing is provided by the board itself, generally kiteboards actually combine both functions and the bottom of the board lifts the rider and steers simultaneously. Kiteboard fins are generally much smaller and are for keeping the board in the water (see "tea-bagging"), but are not essential. Edging in wakeboarding is used intermittently, for jumping, or steering the board; continuous edging is impossible in wakeboarding, due to the force of the boat, but essential for kite control in kiteboarding. Riding downwind towards the kite subtracts massively from the kite's power; edging upwind again restores it.
 * heel side: the side of a board on the edge where your heels are (opposite of toeside). "Riding heelside" is riding with your heels down. Heelside is the normal and most comfortable riding position.
 * Hindenburg: A reference to the Hindenburg Airship disaster of 1937, which in kiteboarding terminology refers to the kite stalling and falling out of the sky. Hindenburging can be caused either by lack of wind or by the kite advancing to a position upwind of the kiteboarder in the wind window.
 * kiteloop: is a group of tricks that you loop the kite while spinning through the air
 * kitemare: a kiteboarding accident or dangerous mishap. Kitemares can be deadly.
 * lofted: to get lifted vertically into the air by the kite by a strong gust of wind. A very dangerous occurrence that has resulted in several fatalities when kiters on or near land have been dragged into obstacles. Can be avoided my minimising time on land with the kite flying directly overhead, and by not kiting in overpowered situations.
 * luff : when the air flow stalls around the kite. It may then stall and fall out of the sky. Like sails, a luffing kite has rippling and flapping panels. When launching the kite, if the kite is luffing, the rider should move farther upwind, or the person holding the kite should move downwind.
 * nuking: wind blowing at great speeds(30-40kts). These conditions are very extreme and dangerous for most riders.
 * offshore: wind blowing at the water from the shore. Never ride in offshore winds without some means of recovery, i.e. a chase boat. This is somewhat less important in smaller bodies of water, of course.
 * onshore: wind blowing perpendicular to and directly at the shore from the water. A challenging condition for beginners, especially if waves are present.
 * overpowered: the condition of having too much power from the kite. Can be a result of an increase in wind, incorrect kite choice (too large for the conditions), incorrect adjustment, simply going too fast, etc. Interestingly, experienced riders who are overpowered can switch to a smaller board to compensate, to a degree, although it's common to have just one board.
 * power up: when the kite's power increases (suddenly), because of wind gusts or the kite's movement.
 * power zone: is the area in the sky where the kite generates the most lift (pull), this is generally between 0 to 60 degrees arc from the center of the downwind direction.
 * Send it: To move the kite agressively up through the power zone.
 * Schlogging: This is riding extremely underpowered. You have no power to plane and definitly not enough to jump. You and your board bounce from planing on the surface to being dragged in the water.
 * S#*t Hot: The art of stylish smooth moves.
 * side shore, winds blowing parallel to the shore. Usually the most desirable direction for kiteboarding.
 * side onshore: wind blowing between sideshore and at a 45 degree angle towards the shore.
 * tack: The direction which is being sailed, normally either starboard tack or port tack. In a starboard tack the wind is coming in from the rider's starboard (right-hand) side, similar to sailing a boat. In normal riding, the kiteboarder takes a heading which is as close to into the wind as possible, and in any event leads at some angle slightly upwind, sometimes as much as 45 degrees; jumping or wave riding usually results in traveling downwind, so the net result is to maintain relative position. Alternately, see "downwinder".
 * tea-bagging: popping out of and falling back into the water intermittently due to light or gusty wind, poor flying skills, twisted lines etc.
 * toe side: the side of a board on the edge where your toes are (opposite of heelside). "Riding toeside" is riding with your toes down.
 * underpowered: the condition of having insufficient power from the kite. Can be a result of insufficient wind, choosing a kite that is too small for the current wind, rigging incorrectly, board too small, water current in the same direction as the wind, not riding fast enough, etc. A rider who is continuously diving the kite and sending it back up in a sine-wave pattern is usually underpowered.
 * unhooked is a term used to describe when a kitesurfer is riding while the chicken loop is not attached to the rider's harness.
 * upwind: the direction from which the wind is blowing; windward; into the wind.
 * wind window Is the 120-180 degree arc of the sky downwind of the rider in which the kite can be flown. Roughly one fourth of a sphere's surface. If the rider is facing downwind on a flat surface, like the ocean, the wind window consists of roughly all the area the rider can see, from the rider's peripheral vision on one side, along the horizon to the other side, and then directly overhead back to the first side. If the rider somehow puts the kite out of the window -- for example, by riding downwind very quickly and sending the kite directly overhead and behind -- the kite will stall and frequently fall out of the sky.
 * zenith the location in the wind window directly over the kiter's head. This is the neutral position where kitesurfers can place the kite to stop moving or prior to movement.