Surf Today Kiteboarding

Deury Corniel and Sofia Tomasoni became the first ever kiteboarders to win gold medals at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Kiteboarding made a successful Olympic debut with a slalom/boardercross style competition on twin-tip racing equipment.

The winner-takes-all finals got underway at Club Náutico San Isidro and offered no shortage of drama in both men's and women's divisions.

Is the wind already waving flags? Are you feeling a breeze on your face? How do you know there's enough wind to launch a kite?

Minimum wind speed is one of kiteboarding's classic dilemmas. One thing is certain: a windless day is for kitesurfing what a flat ocean is for a surfer.

So, what's the minimum wind speed you need to launch a kite, have fun for a couple of hours, and then land it safely on the beach?

Daniela Moroz is one of the five female sailors nominated for the Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2018 awards.

The American kiteboarder has been shortlisted alongside Caterina Banti (2018 Nacra 17 world champion), Carolijn Brouwer and Marie Riou (Volvo Ocean Race winners), and Wendy Tuck (Clipper Round the World Race winning skipper).

Moroz stormed the 2018 Formula Kiteboarding World Championship in Aarhus, Denmark. She won 14 of the 15 races sailed, and claimed the gold medal for the third consecutive time.

The Global Kitesports Association (GKA) released the official competitive schedule for the 2019 season.

The 2019 Kite-Surf World Tour (wave kitesurfing) and the Air Games (big air kiteboarding) calendars feature new event locations.

The tour kicks off at Sal's Ponta Preta in February, and it will travel to improbable spots like Malmö and Maui. Germany is still not in the official lineup for 2019.

Dimitri Maramenides, the founder and owner of Epic Kites, rode his kite a few hours before Hurricane Florence hit the East Coast of the United States.

Federal authorities were pleading with everyone along the coast not to underestimate the hurricane strength. But Maramenides believed he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"This gives me the opportunity to test the kites and see how they handle in very strong winds," explained Maramenides before hitting the stormy seas.

How can a cold water kiteboarding session turn out an unforgettable experience?

Lewis and Harris is the largest island in Scotland. Located in the Outer Hebrides, it is also the third largest island of the British Isles, after Great Britain and Ireland.

With a population of around 20,000 residents, Lewis and Harris is a quiet, yet fascinating region surrounded by mighty Atlantic swells, high winds, and shifting weather patterns.

Carlos Mario and Mikaili Sol claimed the first event of the 2018 World Kiteboarding Championships (WKC), in Akyaka, Turkey.

The freestyle kiteboarding tour is now sanctioned by World Sailing via Global Kitesports Association (GKA). The inaugural season will feature three stops.

The men's final had four riders aged under 20 years old, who put out a spectacular display of creativity and technicality, punctuated by a broad range of new and old school tricks and maneuvers.

It is one the oldest assertions ever made about the sport: if you ride a kite, you can get yourself killed. But how true is that? Is it a preconceived idea or kiteboarding will, sooner or later, injure you?

In 2012, Amit Inbar, an Israeli windsurfer stated that "kiteboarding is ten times more dangerous than windsurfing."

Both sports were fighting for a spot in the Olympic program, and the discussions between both sides of the barricade were slightly heated up.

Pro kiteboarder Paula Novotna joined photographer Laci Kobulsky on a kite trip to the archipelago of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania. This is their story.

A lot of active kiteboarders have heard rumors or stories about paradise in Zanzibar, so when we had the chance to hop on the plane and explore this area together, we did not hesitate a minute.

We were hosted by Dim - the man who pioneered kiteboarding in the region - at his Kite Centre Zanzibar and were pleasantly surprised by the rich offer of local activities and experiences.

Carlos Mario and Mikaili Sol have been crowned 2018 GKA Kiteboarding World Tour champions, in Fehmarn, Germany.

The inaugural edition of the Air Games is over, and the Brazilians have reasons to celebrate. At the end of the season, Mario and Sol have raised the green-and-yellow flag.

The cold German waters ended up deciding the world champion in a winner-takes-it-all season showdown.

Rob Douglas has taken out the 2018 Kite Speed World Championship, at Masirah Island, in Oman.

The event sanctioned by the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) returned to the Arabian Peninsula and got underway in unrivaled wind conditions.

The American kiteboarder secured the world title for the third time, in a competition that gathered 13 male athletes and two female kite riders in the flat waters of the Sultanate of Oman.

Are you buying a new harness for your kiteboarding sessions? Are unsure about which size to select choose? Check out our handy kite harness size chart.

The harness is one of the most overlooked gear items in the sport of kitesurfing. The truth is that it not only keeps you connected to the kite, but it can also save your life.

The most popular type of kite harness is the waist harness. It is comfortable, safe, easier to swim with, and provides a freer riding experience comparing to seat harnesses and boardshorts harness.

The president of the International Federation of Kitesports Organizations (IFKO) wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with two requests and six questions.

Diogo Fernandes is asking Thomas Bach to overturn IOC's negative influence over the governance of all kite disciplines.

The sport of kiteboarding is currently under the governance of World Sailing, via International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) and Global Kitesports Association.

The world's best professional freestyle kiteboarders are about to kick off a new season.

The first event of the year marks the end of an era. The World Kiteboarding League (WKL) is no longer the official tour of freestyle. It has been replaced by a brand created by the Kiteboard Riders Association (KRU).

KRU wants riders to run the show. They do not want companies taking over the competitive format, the prize money politics, and the selection of the venues.

Pat Goodman has been announced as the new Chief Kite Designer of North Kiteboarding.

The decision comes one month after the end of the partnership between the North Technology Group (NTG) and Boards & More, co-founders of the kiteboarding brand.

An industry authority on kite design and innovation for the past 18 years, Goodman's ability to understand and translate rider requirements into high-performance kite designs puts him among the world's most awarded, respected and successful kite designers.

Airton Cozzolino is pushing big air kiteboarding forward so fast that his opponents can't even get close to his flow of new tricks and hang time.

The 2018 GKA Air Games Sotavento will go down as one of the greatest big air events of all time, not only for the competitive side of it but also for what Cozzolino did.

The truth is that he's riding bigger kites, and he makes it look easy.

Florian Gruber and Sofia Tomasoni have claimed the 2018 TwinTip: Racing (TT:R) World Championships, in Gizzeria, Italy.

After a faltering start, the local kite star, Tomasoni, was able to keep her composure and put an exclamation mark on the last day of races. It's her first world title as a senior rider.

"I have no words to explain what just happened in the past five days. This is where I learned to kite. This is where my family is. I managed to change my mindset. I'm stoked!" expressed Sofia Tomasoni, who had already won the TT:R youth world title in the past.

Xantos Villegas, a 32-year-old kitesurfer from Mexico, climbed the podium to accept the gold medal at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games held in Barranquilla, Columbia.

This is the first time the Formula Kite class is included in the regional games of an Olympic cycle and represents a historic moment for the sport.

The gold was secured after Xantos won first place in fourteen out of the fifteen races over the course of four days. The wind conditions were strong, blowing at 19-25 knots per day, while the protected bay provided flat waters.

Carlos Mario and Mikaili Sol have taken out the 2018 GKA Air Games Cabarete, in the Dominican Republic.

The event had perfect wind conditions. In the finals day, Carlos combined his new school freestyle expertise with classic moves, including creative wake-style tricks, and board-off triple front rolls.

"I had a good result here, and I worked very hard for it. I want to congratulate all athletes - the level is very high - and Jesse, an incredible rider to compete against," said Mario.

North Technology Group (NTG) has announced it will make a significant investment in its brand North Kiteboarding.

The company is bringing the design, innovation, and manufacturing of its products home under the umbrella of the group and ending its third-party licensing agreement.

The decision arrives weeks after the announcement by Boards & More, the co-founders of North Windsurf and North Kiteboarding, that they were set to launch a new brand - Duotone - on August 1, 2018.