Hello fellow steemit users!
I tought about to give you a short introduction to kiteboarding and how to bend the power of wind!
I was working as a instructor for 6 seasons, and gained plenty of experience over the seasons.
- First things first, SAFETY!
Kiteboarding is a extreme and very dangerous sport. If you dont take care of yourself and go on strong winds, there is a big possibility that you will break yourself! Start to learn in 1m deep waters, that is the best. You can feel the ground, you will not get towed away by the kite, and its going to be the best experience. But also overprotecting yourself is also not good! You will look like a so called "kamikaze" and most of this people are full of fear and in 100 cases, 90 of them will crash and fall. STAY AWAY FROM HELMET AND SAFETY WEST DUDES!
- The wind....
Wind is one of the fundamental forces of the planet Earth. We use it for our joy and fun. It also comes from different directions:
It can be viewed also like this, from your location on the beach:
On my homespot in Nin, Croatia, the best wind conditions are North, and the wind has a cool local name, Tramontana.
It is a side-onshore wind that blows like a fan, usually at 14 knots. Perfect for beginners and advanced kiters :D
This is one friend of mine doing a simple trick of jumping with the kite.
- Kite sizes and shapes
Kite come in different sizes and shapes, for all types of riding.
Size range from 3 square meters, all the way up to 24 sqm. Small kites are used on stronger winds, and vice versa for big kites. The first reliable kite was produced by a frenchman called Wipika, and that was the first inflatable leading edge kite. After that people started producing different shapes out of that basic concept:
If you decide to try out this sport, you schould get yourself a bow kite. simple.
- Trainee kite!
Oh the magic of the trainer kite. Super small and super agile. You look away for two seconds, and he is already on the other side. What fun. The trainee kite is supposed to teach you the basic maneuvers of the kite. Mostly it has two lines, but there are versions with three or four kites wich we wont analyze today because we are keeping it simple and effective. 
REMEMBER! The biggest mistake students do on the beginning, is to PULL the control bar towards their chest! DONT DO IT! You will never get a feel for the kite, and your arms are supposed to be relaxed. Just keep your fists on the bar! If you feel tension, just go with it, relax your body and lean against the power, that way you will keep balance and wont fall on your nose! Even if you feel no pressure at all! Dont panic! As long the kite is up there everything is perfectly fine!
- Wind window
Kite power depends on this particular formula:
KITE ANGLE IN WIND X KITE VELOCITY = POWER
The kite can be over your head in the neutral zone, or so called safety zone. When the kite stands there with almost no movement, there is almost no pressure in the lines. Here you can see how the power increases with the angle:
BUT! the kite can be in the power zone, but with no power at all! How that is possible, I will explain in the second part of the crash course.
For this part, this is it! It is not good to overfill your mind with information, thats why I split this into few parts to make it easier. And remember! Dont rush on the first gust! CHEERS!
