Kiteboarding, or Kite Landboarding, is based on the ever-growing sport of kitesurfing. Whereas in kitesurfing the rider is pulled over the water on a wakeboard style board, kiteboarding involves the use of a landboard which is essentially a big skateboard with offroad wheels and sometimes suspensions.
Kiteboarding is constantly growing and there are several competitions and it is attracting growing publicity although it is not as popular yet as Kitesurfing. The word kiteboarding is sometimes used as a synonym for kitesurfing
Kite surfing, also known as kitesurfing and kiteboarding, and sometimes as flysurfing in Europe, involves using a power kite to pull a small surfboard, or wakeboard (on water), a wheeled board on land, or a snowkiting.
Generally, the first step of kite surfing is to fly one's power kite into neutral position, in which the kite is depowered at the edge of the wind window, and therefore not pulling except against one's body weight.
A safe way to launch involves lying down on ones back in shallow water, and strapping the board onto the feet. More experienced kiters can launch from dry sand or beach. Then, in a (hopefully) coordinated movement, the kite is flown toward the water, in the direction that the board points. If the board doesn't dig into the water or a wave, the kite pulls the surfer up into a powerful planing motion similar to wakeboarding.
It is generally held that kitesurfers should never venture onto the water in direct offshore winds (because of the possibility of being 'flown' out to sea) or direct onshore winds (because of the possibility of being thrown against beach objects, trees, rocks etc). There is an exception to riding in offshore winds, if you have someone with a boat or other watercraft which can assist you back to shore. Cross-shore wind directions are widely considered to be the best.
In a strong wind with flat water, it's possible to traverse at fifty km/h (30 mi/h) or more.
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