"The best place to learn is Kiteboarding School of Maui...We like how KSM does their lessons..."
Maui Revealed-The Ultimate Guidebook
2007 4th Edition, page 231
Kiteboarding Questions
How did kiteboarding start?
In the early 1990s, sailors and windsurfers began imagining ways to replace the sails in their respective sport with kites. Notably, Manu Bertin of France and Laird Hamilton teamed up on Maui and began experimenting with a patented water relaunchable kite developed by the Legaignoux brothers in 1985. Bertin and Hamilton built strapped boards for use with kites and began kiting downwind from Ho`okipa Beach to Kanaha Beach on Maui’s north shore. The pair created quite a stir with passerbys who would call the fire department and police to report UFO sitings. By the late 1990s, the imagination of Don Montague and the talent of Robby Naish came together with Bertin's R&D and soon afterwards Naish Sails began manufacturing kites and marketing kiteboarding products internationally. The sport has grown exponentially ever since with over thirty-five kiteboarding companies worldwide manufacturing kites, boards, and other related gear.
- What are the terms and names for kiteboarding tricks?
- What is the difference between kitesurfing, kiteboarding, and flysurfing?
- What is the wind window?
- Can I relaunch the kite from the water?
- Do I need assistance to launch or land the kite?
- How much does equipment cost?
- How big a kiteboard should I choose?
- What is the typical wind range of a kite?
- How many kites do I need?
- Will I need a wetsuit on Maui?
- What equipment do I need to kitesurf?
- Do I need to bring anything with me for the lesson?
- When is the best time to come to Maui for lessons?
- Is kiteboarding safe?
- How hard is it to learn how to kite?
- I am a windsurfer, is it hard to convert?
- How fast will I learn the sport?
- What sort of physical shape do I need to be in?
- I have done some trainer kite flying and body draggng. Will I be able to take a class starting with the kiteboard on my first lesson?
- Will I be riding on a board the first day?
- Will I get on the water on the first day of lessons?
- What is the best time of day for lessons?
- My son and I would like to take a lesson together. Do we have to each take private lessons or can we take lessons with one instructor?
- What can I do to prepare for my lesson ahead of time?
- I already kiteboard. Can I rent kites?
- What does FAA have to do with kiteboarding on Maui?
- What does the IKO and PASA certification offer students?
- Is KSM insured?
- How long has KSM been in business?
- How much experience do KSM instructors have?
- What sets KSM apart from other Maui kiteboarding schools?
- What should I look for so I know I have found a safe, quality school?
- Will the 2009 Cabrinha IDS control bar work with 2008 Cabinha kites?
- Is the bow kite bridle system complicated?
- How do the bow kites turn?
- What does the bridle on a bow kite do?
- Can I use the bow kite with a 5th line?
- Are bow kites better than other kite designs?
- How did kiteboarding start?