VALLEY MORNING STAR – Harlingen TX
Appeared June 2005
Remember flying a kite when you were a child? Ever
imagine it pulling you up and away? Well, you could almost make
that imagining come alive, provided you are able to ride a board
while traveling at a high speed…on water.
Kiteboarding combines the different types of boarding done on water
and land with acrobatic kiting. Watching experts cut through the
water attached to a huge kite is a real treat.
If you’ve been to the Island, you might have seen the kites
flying around the bay side. The more popular sites to kiteboard
are an area next to the South Padre Island Convention Centre, at
the northern end of the city, frequently used for kiteboarding launches
for land or sea.
“Most of the people we get come from all over the country
to South Padre [Island] to learn how to kiteboard,” says Brenda
Davoren of South Padre Island Kiteboarding, Inc. “It’s
definitely recognized as one of the best places in the country to
do this.”
The kiteboarder knows that losing control could mean being dragged
for a while until the kite loses wind and drops into the water.
And kiteboarders know that you never go out kiteboarding alone,
even if you are an expert. Whether launching, landing or riding,
just for safety-sake, the buddy system works.
Some kiteboarders had their origins in other water sports such as
windsurfing, so they had some of the basic understandings of what
was going on with the movement of the wind. Being that kiteboarding
is such a dangerous sport, experts advise not just jumping into
it without instruction.
“Usually, the first couple of lessons are about
safety,” says Davoren. “Then, it’s pretty much
all about flying the kite. The kites are really powerful…you
have to learn to fly the kite and control the power of the kite.”
Training kites are smaller (about 4 feet long) than the average
sized kite for an average sized man (almost 40 feet long). Being
smaller, the trainers don’t have as much power as other kites
because it catches less wind.
“You can do a trainer kite on your own, for sure. That’s
totally safe to do on your own. It’s just the big kites you
don’t want to do on your own,” Davoren said.
Besides the size of the kite, the structure also contributes to
the overall performance. Most kites have inflatable ribbing that
keeps the shape and is lightweight. Being inflated, the possibility
of the kite sinking or getting waterlogged is almost eliminated.
The real control comes from the use of the control bar. A bar, roughly
two feet long has from two to four cables that connect to the kite.
Meanwhile, the rider is attached to the kite by a harness through
a second series of cables. The harness allows the rider to ride
and not have to rely solely on his/her arms to hold onto the control
bar every moment.
Boards have been designed to be able to rip through the surf, jump
and do other stunts. Boards vary in size and shape, from surf to
wake-types, with straps lets riders hold onto the board while maneuvering
through the water.
For more information on kiteboarding instruction, contact Brenda
Davoren at South Padre Island Kiteboarding, Inc. at 956 245-8343.
