Kitesurfing: A comprehensive look at it’s general origins and specific development in Portugal

Kitesurfing is a water sport that uses a kite and a board with foot support the goal being to “fly” and glide over the water, pulled by the kite. It is a mix of windsurfing, surfing and wakeboarding. This sport is recent and is becoming popular in Portugal and worldwide.

The kitesurf we know today was created by two French brothers, Bruno and Dominique Legaignoux, in 1985. The name came from the junction of the two English words: kite and surf, which means gliding over the water using a kite. But long before that, we had already heard of the kite itself. About 2,000 years ago, the Chinese were already using it to aid boats in transporting heavy materials.

The kite has also had other "functions" throughout history. The Englishman George Peacock is considered the father of kite traction for inventing in 1826 a structure where a cart was pulled by kites at speeds of up to 20 km / h. The American, Samuel Franklin Cody even sailed the English Channel when pulled by a kite. In 1887, C. Jobert made an “inverted U-shaped” rescue wing that worked through a cable attached to the mutilated vessels, dragging them to shore with only the force of the wind.

Much later, around the 1970s and 1980s the kite was used to propel canoes, skates, ice skates, skis and water skis. The Swiss Andréas Kuhn came closest to the current kitesurf. He used a 25-square-meter kite to propel him on a board similar to the wakeboards we know today. It was even televised and spread across Europe.

But, there was still a big problem to be solved. The kite, when dropped in the water, did not allow a new takeoff. In 1984, J. Woodbridge Davis was able to craft a kite for the same purpose as C. Jobert, but much more elaborate because in addition to being steered through two lines, it had the characteristic that it could be relaunched from water. This wing was named "Wipika". That was the great differential also of the Legaignoux brothers' kite - they created an inflatable kite that, in addition to allowing it to be lifted if dropped into the water, also returned at an angle of 10 degrees against the wind, ideal for takeoff.

Not everything was easy for the Legaignoux brothers. In 1985, the year they were granted the patent for the invention called Wipika, windsurfing was at its height and no company wanted to risk producing the kite. The Wipika wing was immediately tested with boards and water skis and during the following years was refined.

In the late 1980s, in America, Cory Roseler and her father were developing kiteski, which had little to do with the concept of the Legaignoux brothers, as they were pulled by a rigid hang glider kite, where the “controls” were a bar with a reel that gathered the lines whenever the wing fell into the water. Cory was the first person to be seen to "wind up" with water skis. In 1992 Cory Roseler obtained the patent of his invention.

In 1993 Laurent Ness associated her large home-made delta kite with a windsurf board.

In 1994 Manu Bertin began the same practice in Hawaii with a longboard associated with a paragliding wing.

In 1995 Manu Bertin went to France and discovered the Legaignoux brothers' Wipika. He took her to Hawaii where he began developing the practice with a surfboard with footstraps. With this set of materials, from this moment on this sport has started to evolve rapidly. Manu Bertin was the first kiteboarder to go out in 1996 magazine publications.

At the same time Mike Waltze and Laird Hamilton learned through Manu of the existence of wipika and were also two of the great pioneers of kitesurfing.

In 1997 Rafael Salles and Laurent Ness developed the first brand to produce specially made kitesurf boards.

One of those responsible for promoting the sport was Robby Naish, world champion of windsurfing. Naish fell in love with the sport and today, besides sailing he is also a kite maker. He was even the first world kite champion at a tournament held in 1998 in Maui, Hawaii. The maneuvers performed can be transition (change of direction), jump (made in the air) and wave (adapted from the surf, but with a high degree of difficulty). The scores are different for each type of maneuver.

As for Portugal, in the summer of 2001 there was the first national competition organized by Clube Overpower. Arnaud Dussen was in 1st place and in 2nd place was Duarte Coelho. In the summer of 2002 APKITE (Portuguese Kite Association) was officially created as the only kitesurf association in the country and the first national kitesurf circuit was developed.

In 2002, there were the first meetings between APKITE's future founding members, the registration of the APKITE.PT domain and the legal constitution. In 2003 the announcement of the first national championship l Kitesurf consisting of 4 steps. Vilamoura, Viana do Castelo, Aveiro and Costa da Caparica.

In 2004 the second national kitesurfing championship, this time consisting of 5 stages from north to south of the country, Vilamoura, Comporta beach, Nova Vaga beach, Viana do Castelo and Gaia. In the same year, 3 instructor training courses were promoted, where 31 new instructors were trained following APKITE’s guidelines. Various contacts are also being developed at European level for the formation of a European Kitesurfing Association.

Since then, over the years, there have been more competitions, sponsors, media presence, instructor training courses, opening official schools, meetings to reserve exclusive kitesurfing beach areas, meteorological training and first aid, training of kitesurf judges, etc…

Nowadays, FPvela deals with all logistics and officialization/organization of courses and schools. It is the organization that legally and officially regulates everything in the portuguese world of kitesurfing, from school licenses to competitions. FPvela (Federaçao Portuguesa de Vela) is a multidisciplinary organization involving various water sports. Following the National Kiteboard Championship Fuzeta race in September 2019, and after being confirmed by the IPDJ President that it was in fact FPVela that would be coordinated by the Kiteboard, the community's interest in forming a party for kitesurfing again appears. With the continued support and interest of the FPV, the National Maritime Authority, the IPDJ, the community, practitioners, schools and athletes, people reaffirmed the importance of creating a new body to support, streamline and manage the modality under the purview of the FPV. This is something that APCK (Portuguese Kiteboard Class Association) has been trying to do.

All of this has led to a growing interest of athletes and the general public for the amazing sport that is kitesurfing. It has done and continues to make people like François Berck spend years looking for the most breathtaking spots and open schools to get the word out, good vibes and all the experience and know-how of a sport that is too good to be kept secret.

Since the Legaignoux brothers' patent in 1985, much has changed, from the introduction of the first world competition to the slow but safe insertion of kitesurfing into the culture of many countries including Portugal. Numerous developments in material technology, healthy competition from brands, sponsors and athletes themselves, all fostering sport improvement, show that kitesurfing is here to stay and will certainly only grow from now on.