Terminology kitesurfing and foiling

Terminology list

A

Apparent wind – When there’s no wind at all, you will nevertheless feel wind when you move forward. The higher your speed, the more wind that you will feel. This also goes for your kite when it moves forward. Then there’s of course also the speed of the natural wind, or true wind. With apparent wind we mean the combination of the wind speed that is caused by the forward movement and the true wind speed. When there is a constant wind, the true wind speed can be measured, and it will be the same for every kite near you. The apparent wind, however, will differ for every kite. As a rider, you can either decrease or increase the apparent wind by the way you fly your kite.

B

Board Leash – When surfing, it is very common to be connected to your board with a leash.  One end of the board leash is usually around your ankle. Because when you fall off your board, you don’t want it to float away from you. With kitesurfing it is less common to be connected to your board with a board leash. This is because it is often too dangerous. When you float away from your board, it’s easier to body-drag yourself to the board. 

Body dragging – When you lose your kiteboard, the kite will drag your body through the water. Body dragging is a technique that you should master before you actually start riding a kiteboard. You will surely need this technique when trying to retrieve your board.

Boost – When you want to jump, you will have to boost your kite, that is, you send it in a pretty sharp angle in a backward direction.

Bottom – This is the lower part of the surfboard. It is the part that comes into contact with the water. There are many types of kite surfboard bottoms. In addition, there are also all kinds of combinations of bottoms possible.

C

50K Closed cell foam – Appletree surfboards have a foam core of 50K closed cell foam, exclusively produced for Appletree. 50K closed cell foam makes Appletree surfboard unique. No other boards in the market will have this waterproof and robust foam. 

Chest high waves – We’re talking about a chest high wave when the waves are 4 foot high from the lowest point (the trough) to the highest point (the crest). In metres that would be 1.22.

D

Deck – The deck is the upper side of a surfboard. During kiting you stand on it and during surfing you lie on it when you paddle or stand on it when you catch a wave. Roughly speaking, you have four kinds of decks. A flat deck, a domed deck, a concave deck and a step deck. A domed deck has a slight curve from the rail to the middle and from the middle to the rail. The step deck has a platform deck with thinner rails. A concave deck is the curve of the board between the nose and tail. And a flat deck speaks for itself. For kite surfboards it is very important that the deck is really strong.

Deck pad – A deck pad is applied to the deck (the upper surface) of your kiteboard. It will enhance your grip on the board. The deck pad will help you to safely adjust your feet.

Depower – Before you hit the water, you can rig your kite to a power level tailored to the conditions. When depowered to near level zero, you can handle a wide range of wind forces. A properly rigged kite will make kiting safer and easier for you. You may also depower your kite when you are out on the water by moving the control bar away from you.

Directional kiteboard – Though originally designed for wave surfing, directional surfboards can also be used for kiting. Strapless kite surfboards, or directional surfboards allow you to ride almost any wave that comes along. Directional surfboards that are used for kiting have to be a lot stronger than wave surfing boards.

Downwind – Kitesurfing in exactly the same direction as where the wind is coming from is called downwind sailing. Sailing downwind is not very efficient or fun. When you are in a downwind position yourself, the wind is blowing towards you. 

Downwinder – A downwinder is a (long) ride downwind.

F

Fin – A fin is a small piece of flat rigid material sticking out from the bottom of your kiteboard. It is intended to help control forward movement of the board.

Flex – Is the degree of stiffness in a kiteboard.

Freestyle – Freestyle riders use any style or method that they like to perform spectacular tricks like kite loops and big air.

Footstraps –  This are straps on the deck of your kite board. With your feet firmly in the straps you will less easily lose contact with your board.

G

Gybe (or jibe) – When riding downwind, you gybe when you send your kite in such a way that you will ride in the opposite direction. So when you jibe, you change direction when having a downwind.

H

Head high waves – Head high waves are 6 foot high from the lowest point (the trough) to the highest point (the crest). In metres that would be 1.80.

Hydrofoil board – We talk about a foil board or a hydrofoil board when a hydrofoil is placed under a board that sticks out into the water from the bottom of the board. As soon as the board gains speed, the hydrofoil will lift the surfboard or kiteboard out of the water due to the kinetic energy. In surf foiling, the wave will give you the initial push to get up on the foil. As soon as the board lifts out of the water, the drag is reduced to a minimum, allowing for much greater speeds and more efficient use of the wave power. You don’t need much of a wave to get going, and when you are going, you need even less. All the way down to no wave at all, as you can maintain speed by “pumping” the foil. 

K

Kiteloop – A kiteloop is a move for the daring ones. To make your kite loop backwards and move in a circle, you continually pull the back of the bar. You should not do the kite loop if you’re not proficient in jumping and, even more important, in landing.

Kite Foil board – We talk about a (kite) foil board or a hydrofoil board when a hydrofoil is placed under a board that sticks out into the water from the bottom of the board. As soon as the board gains speed, the hydrofoil will lift the surfboard or kiteboard out of the water due to the kinetic energy. Because you are lifted above the water, the drag decreases, thus your speed will increase.

Knee high wave – A knee high wave is 2 foot high from the lowest point (the trough) to the highest point (the crest). In metres that would be 0.60.

Kitesurfing, Kiteboarding – Also called kite sailing or flysurfing. The sport or pastime of riding on a kiteboard while holding on to a specially designed kite, using the wind for propulsion.

Knot – A knot is a unit of speed. One knot is the speed of one nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile is more or less equivalent to 1.85 kilometres.

L

Lofted – When you are being lofted, an unexpected strong gust of wind lifts you out of the water. If that happens, there’s not much you can do. You will go up whether you want it or not. You are in a pretty dangerous situation when you’re being lofted. Basically, you have two options. Option one, go with the kite. Option two, release. Both options are not really attractive prospects. When you’re lucky, you can apply modern depower technology. The lesson to be learned here is that you should always keep a close eye on wind conditions. 

Lift – A kite is like an airplane wing, and, just as an airplane wing, a kite generates lift or upward force when flying. How much force is generated depends on the apparent wind speed.

Luff – Your kite is luffing when it’s losing wind. In that situation the kite will flap its panels. Luffing may also occur when you’re launching your kite. In the latter case, you should either move upwind or let your helper holding the kite move downwind.

M

Mega loop – A mega loop is a kiteloop for the daring. In a mega loop the rider may jump as high as his kite, or even higher. 

N

Nose – The nose of a kite surfboard is the tip of the board. The nose of a kite surfboard is out of the water when riding. There are different nose shapes. To keep it very simple: from square to pointy and everything in between. Most freestyle boards will have a rounded or even squared off nose. This is to lose length, but to keep width and parallel rail outline. A longer pointy nose is generally better in steeper waves where you need the nose area to prevent the board from diving. This is usually combined with extra rocker to also help prevent dives. It’s always a balance. 

O

Overhead waves – We talk about overhead waves when the waves are 6 foot high from the lowest point (the trough) to the highest point (the crest). In metres that is 1.80.

Offshore – An offshore wind is blowing away from the shore. Offshore winds are risky. That is why you should take precautions when riding with an offshore wind on the sea or wide waters.

Onshore – An onshore wind comes from the water to the shore. Therefore it is wise not to ride too close to the shore when there is an onshore wind.

Overpowered – When your kite has too much power, it is overpowered, which you do not want. That is why you should fly a kite that can deal with the wind conditions. In addition, your kite may also be overpowered when it has not been properly rigged.

Outline – The outline is the shape/contour of the kite surfboard looking from the top. It directly impacts how your board is going to perform. By the outline, what we mean, is the overall shape of the board and how the interaction of the different noses, rail and tails, influences the general outline and therefore performance. There are a lot of different kinds of outlines. Basically it comes down to super parallel to almost as round as a ball and everything in between. Just to make it clear how many outlines there are. 

12 o’clock – If the kite is above your head, it’s 12 o’clock. On the right side, all the way to the ground, it’s 3 o’clock and on the left side 9 o’clock. From 3 and 9 the kite is launched and landed and slowly sent over the edge of the wind window to 12 o’clock.

P

Powered-up – When your kite is powered-up, its power increased because of wind gusts. We also say that a kite is powered-up, when it leaves its power zone.

Power zone – The power zone is where your kite is most powerful, and thus generates the most pull. Usually, the power zone is at an angle of 0 to 60 degrees to the center of the downwind.

R

Rails – The rails are the edge of the kite surfboard. They run from the nose to the tail and connect the deck to the bottom of the surfboard. There are two main types: a soft rail and a hard rail. In between there are many variations

Relaunch – When your kite has crashed on land or on water, you need to relaunch it to get it back into the air. To successfully relaunch your kite, you should follow kite-specific procedures.

Rocker – The rocker is the curve of a surfboard, from the nose to the tail. The best way to determine the amount of rocker is to lay the board flat on the ground. This way you can also see the balance in the board and compare the nose and the tail rocker. General rule, a flat rocker will go upwind very well, but will be harder to turn. A lot of rocker will be loose and easy to turn, but not so good upwind and it can feel nervous. In kite surfboards you see a lot of boards with little rocker in the front and middle with extra rocker in the tail. This way you can move the weight forward when sailing upwind and use the flat rocker to go upwind faster. And move the weight backward when riding waves, so you can do tight turns.

S

Shaper – A shaper is the person who gives a board its shape, either by hand or by applying a board shaping machine. Machine made boards are often finished off by hand.

Sideshore – The sideshore winds blow along to the shore. Sideshore winds provide great conditions to fly your kite.

Side onshore – The side onshore winds blow sideways on the shore, at an angle of about 45 degrees. Like sideshore winds, side onshore winds provide good kiting conditions.

Surf – When kiters are surfing, they ride waves like a wave surfer.

Surf Foil board – We talk about a foil board or a hydrofoil board when a hydrofoil is placed under a board that sticks out into the water from the bottom of the board. As soon as the board gains speed, the hydrofoil will lift the surfboard out of the water due to the kinetic energy. In surf foiling, the wave will give you the initial push to get up on the foil. As soon as the board lifts out of the water, the drag is reduced to a minimum. Therefore allowing for much greater speeds and more efficient use of the wave power. You don’t need much of a wave to get going, and when you are going, you need even less. All the way down to no wave at all, as you can maintain speed by “pumping” the foil. 

Strapless kitesurfing – Straps, or footstraps, are narrow loop shaped bands attached on a kiteboard. When you put your feet into the straps, you are secured to the board in a fixed position. Strapless boards obviously have no straps. Riding without straps gives the rider maximum freedom of movement.

T

Tack – Tack is the direction of your board relative to the position of your kite and the wind direction. Basically, tack is the direction of sailing. In a starboard tack, the wind is coming from the right. In a port tack, the wind is coming from the left. When you tack, you change the position of your kite in order to change course or direction.

Tail – The tail of the surfboard is at the back of the board. There are a wide range of tail shapes. A tail is very determined for the outline also. The tail does not start at the last 10 cm, but basically at the widest part of the board. The outline has to start curving toward the tail in the middle. So the effect of the tail is always combined with the effect of the outline, being wide narrow, parallel or curved.

U

Underpowered – When your kite has insufficient power, it is underpowered. An underpowered kite is hard to fly. Make sure that you fly a kite that can deal with the wind conditions. Your kite may also be underpowered when it has not been properly rigged. A too small board may also cause your kite to be underpowered.

Unhooked – You ride unhooked when the chicken loop is not attached to your harness. Unhooking the chicken loop will give your kite full power. If you’re a beginner or if you just want to ride without doing tricks or riding the surf, you’re advised to keep yourself hooked.

Upwind – You ride upwind or windward when you sail in or towards the direction from which the wind blows. 

V

Volume – The volume of your kiteboard is given in liters and is very important to know. It defines how resilient your kitesurf board is, how much it floats. This determines, among other things, how easily the board floats your weight, how easily the board rotates, how easily you catch waves, etc. The volume sometimes tells you more than the length of a board. For example, a 6’2” can have the same volume as a 6’8” or even a 5’2’’.

W

Walk of shame – This the shameful walk back upwind along the beach to the point where you launched your kite. If you’re lucky, you can use lack of wind as an excuse, otherwise you’ll have to confess that you just can’t sail upwind.

Wave kiting – When wave kiting riders ride waves like a wave surfer.

Wax –  Surf Wax has been used for years to provide more grip on a (wave) surfboard. Wax is also used on strapless kite surfboards. Your feet will stick better to the deck of the board. In many cases a deck pad is used to create a better grip. 

Wind speed – Measured in knots. One knot is equivalent to one nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile is approximately 1.85 kilometres. Kitesurfing is often done with wind speeds of 15 to 35+ knots.

Wind window – A wind window is the 120 to 180 degree area in front of you where the kite can fly. It has three parts: the power zone, the soft zone and the window edge. If you feel the wind in your back, then you are in the power zone, the part where the kite generates the most power. The soft zone is at the top and side of the wind window. This is the zone with less power. At the edge of the window the kite has the least power. To prevent your kite from falling down, you need to keep it in the wind window.