kitesurfing principle

• a kite, for lift and traction
• on water: a board (which doesn’t necessarily float, small or large or very large). on land: snow-> ski/board , sand -> board
• the neutral point (cf. buoyancy in diving) is the point of balance between your weight and the wing’s lift
  • the stronger the wind, the greater the lift of the kite, so you need to reduce its size to avoid being swept away.
  • your weight is the key factor in choosing the size of your kite and board
    • a bigger board increases lift (just like a kite), at the cost of handling and responsiveness
    • women and children therefore use smaller kites
    • most manufacturers base their calculations on a 75kg man
      • if you’re heavier, use a bigger kite & board
      • and vice versa if you’re lighter
    • as a rough guide, a kite >12 m² is slow, unwieldy and unresponsive – and therefore not very interesting or fun to use
      • this goes a long way to explaining the rapid rise of kitefoil, where almost all sails are <12 m².
• wind-assist principle, cf. kites for supertankers