Windsurfing versus Kitesurfing

Over 80 % of my windsurfing buddy had turned to kiteboarding . Two died .
Local shops close down because of lack of business .
Very sad !!!

[BelSkorpio]

Actually, I like that a lot of people have turned to kitesurfing.
At my favourite windsurfing spot it has never been so crowded (i.e. with windsurfers because kitesurfers are not allowed)
If all kitesurfers would also come there to windsurf, it would just get impossible ....

I say, long live both sports !

Windsurfing is not for everyone, if you don't like to be challenged and want things easy and instant,\ it's not for you!
Kitesurfing is similar to jetski, easy to learn, easy to kill yourself, attracts lazy, fat ass posers,
that's why access to the water is getting more and more restrictive for them

I love windsurfing community, there's a SOUL there, can't say the same about kitesurfing

Originally Posted by jJ251

Now I've read everyone's posts, I feel like I just have to document my own opinion.

I windsurfed on and off for about 10 years, usually on vacations, having never lived near a decent body of water. I found windsurfing to be pretty slow to learn. Things like the water start and the last move I learnt, the carve gybe, each took weeks of practice to learn. It was satisfying learning these moves, but it took a long time.

This summer, I tried kiteboarding for the first time, and the learning curve was much, much steeper. It seemed that every new thing I tried could be learnt within one to two days of trying. I was jumping at the end of my two week stint.

I live near a lake that gets moderate, but not strong, winds. Nearly everyone here who used to windsurf has made the switch and I'm planning to do the same. To my mind, kiteboarding has the following advantages:

- it is quicker to learn (this would be less important if I lived on the coast, say, but the days I get to do wind sports tend to be few and far between - I simply don't feel like I will have time to reach the level I want to in windsurfing)
- the equipment is more compact (I live in a small apartment, so that's pretty important)
- in my experience, it is more fun in moderate winds. I'm sure I could windsurf and plane in these winds, but I was never really a fan of big sails
- finally, I know some people have said they didn't like the 'light on the water' feeling, but I did. It is different from the feel of windsurfing for sure, but personally I liked it. I think the feel of the board is also very familiar to me from all the snowboarding that I do during the winters.

I do think that I will miss the satisfaction that comes from cracking new windsurfing technique after weeks of trying, and from what I have seen so far I also prefer the windsurfing community, but at this stage I am going to go with the kiteboarding... I simply think that at this stage in my life it will result in me having more fun.

[pierrec45]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Windsurfing is not for everyone, if you don't like to be challenged and want things easy and instant,\ it's not for you!

I wouldn't be as aggressive as the previous poster, however I think along similar lines: one is a sport, the other an activity.

When asked when am I gonna switch, I reply: when I'm too old to do sports.

[Farlo]

Come on guys, kitesurfing holds the world speed record!! Like for many sports there are different levels of practice. Cruising on a large board with a small sail in F3 is not very sporty either, but one needs to begin anyway. Kitesurf is a logical evolution of windsurf, like windsurf was for dinghies. I guess many yachtmen did not consider windsurf a sport at the beginning.

[Ken]

Kitsurfing is the logical (social) evolution/progression from windsurfing, especially appealing to the younger generation. If an "old dude" is doing it, the younger guys/gals think is is lame, so they look for their own thing.

Some examples:

Snow skiing - snow boarding
Water skiing - wake boarding
Road bikes - mountain bikes
Roller skating - skate boards

[Farlo]

Well said Ken, I was more thinking in technical terms: sail size vs. wetted area, but the social aspect is very true. My kids consider windsurf a kind of black art. If they start any watersport it shall be kitesurf, unless something new has been invented in the meantime. Last month I bought a kite mag by curiosity. It was a carbon copy of a windsurf mag. Looks like their culture is very close, despite the strange food they eat and their ridiculous small boards. Who said small boards killed windsurfing already in the eighties by making it too difficult? Now kitesurf will kill windsurfing by making itself too easy?

Originally Posted by Farlo

Well said Ken, I was more thinking in technical terms: sail size vs. wetted area, but the social aspect is very true. My kids consider windsurf a kind of black art. If they start any water sport it shall be kitesurf, unless something new has been invented in the meantime. Last month I bought a kite mag by curiosity. It was a carbon copy of a windsurf mag. Looks like their culture is very close, despite the strange food they eat and their ridiculous small boards. Who said small boards killed windsurfing already in the eighties by making it too difficult? Now kitesurf will kill windsurfing by making itself too easy?

First of all , Farlo I feel said for you and your kids... you will miss out on amazing experience together...

Ken, I thought better of you, cheer up, sky is not falling, next time you're at the beach, help out a newbie or donate old gear to some promising kid with lack of financial resources. You can bitch and moan, or you can help out new generation of windsurfers...

And windsurfing and kitesurfing, it's nothing like mountain and road biking, more like
surfing and windsurfing, 2 totally diff. sports. evolution ? skiing still alive and so is road biking...

[pierrec45]

If the case, then it's evolution into easiness, which is often a main reason put forth by kiters for the switch. I have not a problem with that argument.

Overall windsurfing - of all flavours (formula, speed, waves, freestyle, even just back-fro in strong wind, and even more learning, which takes time and is exhausting) is waaayyy more of a sport. After all sooner of later you have to unhook, work with the upper body, etc.

Yes you'll find counter-examples - i.e. a 2m sail in a 2 knot wind, but you're really scratching the bottom of the barrel with this example.

Anyhow, again I have no problem with the argument that it's an alternative (not really an evolution, but we're playing with words) into something easier to do. Not at all. I myself teach windsurfing to selected newbies every summer, and I only pick those really interested in working hard. For those who want something easy, effortless, quick to learn, I'm the first one to point them to other activities.

[Farlo]

Kitesurf has less wetted area w.r.t. sail size. It is a similar evolution than windsurf vs. sailboat. It took the speed record from... the hydroptere (which has a small ratio as well) after windsurf dominated the scene for around twenty years. Reaching 55+ knots requires efforts and dedication as well. So it may be easier to start but at the top level you find the same athletes than in windsurf, IMHO. And by the way some are doing both.

Poster #48, yes this is one of my deep regrets, but their life is full of other things. The last one (12) is not completely lost for windsurf yet. One day he will rediscover my stuff and say "hey, let's try that crazy truc Dad was doing in the past".