As I was bobbing around in the Sibuyan Sea, lying flat on my back, knees pressed to my chest, a board strapped to my feet, and dangling at the end of a nine-meter kite, I began to wonder what had possessed me to try this sport.


Wind whipped past my face, reminding me of the challenge I faced.

“Just pull down hard on the kite with your left hand,” yelled Matt Thomas, my instructor. “With any luck it will pull you up on to the board.”

I think I must have yanked a bit too aggressively. The next thing I knew the kite was powered up and careering toward the beach. My attempt to control the kite failed and I was pulled through the air and toppled over the board, my face planted into the water.

Welcome to the world of kite surfing.

The extreme sport originated in France in the late 1970s when two brothers, Dominique and Bruno Legaignoux, started to design kites specifically for the sport. Previously, surfers looking for the next adrenaline rush had attached land-based power kites to themselves. The sport rose to popularity and became more mainstream in Hawaii in the 1990s.

Before you take off, you need: a kiteboard (these come with or without foot straps and are similar to a wakeboard); a waist or seat harness; a power kite; and, especially for beginners, a strong sense of perseverance and ability to laugh at yourself.

I learned in Boracay in the Philippines, where warm, shallow waters combined with steady winds make it a popular spot for learning. The water was crammed with colorful kites and boards. Bronzed beach types were pulling spectacular jumps and spins. To the onlooker, the sport looks exceptionally cool.

That is, until you see a beginner.

All thoughts of sartorial beach elegance were dashed when I wandered down the beach ready for my first lesson. Life vest — check. Uncomfortable, unflattering seat harness — check. Booties that cut you off at the worst part of the leg — c heck, and the piece de resistance, a helmet that makes your head look like a mushroom. More beach-beast than beach-babe. Move over, Bridget Jones.

Beginners don’t fare much better in the water, either. If I wasn’t crashing my kite, I was being dragged unceremoniously through the sea.

Kitesurfing is growing in popularity across the globe, but especially in Asia. Boracay and Mui Ne in Vietnam are considered by many to be two of the best kitesurfing destinations on the globe. There are also some good spots in Indonesia.

I met kitesurfer Ferry Lee, who is originally from Indonesia, when I was learning to kitesurf in Boracay. She has been kitesurfing for a year and a half.

“I love the sport,” she said. “Lakey Peak, Sumbawa, two islands on from Bali is great. There is a little bit of kiting in Bali in Nusa Dua and Sanur. A lot of good kitesurfers go there for the big waves.”

Glen Parsons has owned Ocean Republic, a kitesurfing school in Boracay, since 2003. “The sport is becoming more mainstream. The more exposure it gets, the faster it grows .... It’s colorful — colorful kites and colorful boards. It has all the essence of something that looks like fun to do, which it is,” he said.

“When I started, only freaks took up kitesurfing — the extreme-sports idiots. Back then there was hardly any safety. People were just strapping power kites to themselves with no real means of being able to successfully release themselves if it went wrong. But now it is becoming more mainstream and there is more money in the sport. People are now producing good, safe gear. It’s easier now.”

Watching the kites glide across the beach, it is easy to forget how dangerous the sport can be.

Thomas, my instructor, has flown land kites in Britain for the past seven years and has kitesurfed for five.

“I have had one accident where I was jumping over boats, and one of the times I didn’t get the jump right and I hit the boat. I ended getting knocked out and had to have six stitches, but that comes back to risk. If I wasn’t jumping over boats it wouldn’t have happened. Most accidents happen when people do something with a higher element of risk,” he said.

Both Thomas and Parsons recommend professional training for beginners.

“You really do need instruction. You need to know about the tides, wind effects, compressions. Go to a school where they seem professional,” Parsons said.

Thomas said kitesurfing was a unique sport that, with some practice, could be accessible to anybody.

“You can be 10 years old, 60 years old, any size, shape, anyone can learn it,” he said. “Be patient and it will come. Once it’s there it never goes, it is like riding a bike.”

Despite being consistently dragged through the water, I found learning to kitesurf to be extremely fun and rewarding. I was quickly addicted to the thrill of controlling the kite and riding the board. After 12 hours out with Thomas I had learned to maneuver myself successfully through the water. (OK, so it may have been only in one direction and I have not yet mastered turning, but Rome wasn’t built in half a day either.)

“You’re a very patient teacher,” I told my instructor as we came in from our last four hours on the water. “Have you ever had any nightmare students?”

“Yeah, there was one this week, really rubbish, completely terrible,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

To use a British expression, on yer bike, Matt. Or should that be kite …

source:  http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/kitesurfing-makes-a-colorful-splash/368338