Kitesurfing

Insurance

Stop! Before you go anywhere near the beach are you properly insured? Every kitesurfer in this country should have 3rd party liability insurance from either the BKSA or from a recognised provider. The insurance is very cheap and covers you for damages to 3rd parties to the value of £5m. There is no excuse for not having adequate insurance.

Kite Size

Launching an oversize kite for the conditions can have serious consequences before you’ve even got near the water.

If you’re going to ask someone who’s already been out ‘what size are you on?’ – just bear in mind their weight, ability level and whether they are the sort of person who likes to ride ‘maxed out’. Best advice is to go with a smaller size and change up later is necessary.

Remember also – you’ve got a depower strap! The most dangerous time for a kitesurfer is the transition to and from the water. Make sure you’ve pulled in your depower strap while on land, then power back up once safely in the water.

Also check the forecast before going out – is the wind forecast to pick up or change direction later? Forewarned is forearmed.

Launching

Over the years – launching of the kite has often proved to be one of the most ‘high-risk’ procedures. Good habits to get into include:

• Think about your launch spot. Most of our beaches have agreed launch/land areas. Please use them. Ensure there is nothing downwind of you (rocks, groynes, etc). If a passer by is walking downwind of your kite please wait for them to pass. They will not understand the danger of their position so it is up TO YOU to avoid them.
• Use the agreed hand-signals to your assistant rather than shouting instructions – i.e. ‘thumbs-up’ for launch, ‘throat-cutting motion’ for cancel / do not launch.
• Always have one hand ready on your quick release mechanism during launch 0 and if anything seems wrong while launching – USE IT
• Distance is your friend. Whether it’s hard-obstacles, fellow kiters or other beach users downwind of you – always allow plenty of room. 3 line-lengths is a good rule of thumb. The greater the distance, the greater the number of seconds you’ll have to react should things not go to plan.
• Make sure your launch assistant knows what they are doing. If a non-kitesurfing friend or relative is launching you make sure that you brief them thoroughly beforehand. They need to know the signals for launch (thumb up signal) and abort (cut throat signal); how to hold the kite correctly; where to stand and how and when to let go of the kite. When launching and landing kites make sure that your assistant knows not to grab the lines.
• Get to the water quickly. After launching don’t hand about on the beach. Get to the water as soon as you can. Specifically, don’t swing your kite around at the 12 o’clock position. You could easily be lofted by a gust of wind.

Kite Buddies

Everyone needs a kite buddy! Never kitesurf alone and when kiting with others always introduce yourself to a few people around you and ask them to look out for you. There may be plenty of people on the water but if no-one is specifically watching your back you could get into difficulty and find that you go unnoticed.

Know Your Kit

This is VERY important: Practice water relaunching your kite in shallow water and progress to practicing in deeper water so that when you have to relaunch 50m out to sea everything will be second nature. It’s amazing how many people do not know how to relaunch their kite properly.

Know your safety system. Again, try this out in the shallows. Practice using your first level safety release and re-assembly.

Please DO NOT launch or land between the groynes at Hunstanton beach (the concrete sea defenses with metal poles at the end). This can be extremely dangerous because in the event of a problem with your kite you could dragged into the concrete. Please, for your own safety and the safety of others walk out further until you are clear of the groynes.

For various reasons – onshore winds appear to have accounted for more kitesurfing accidents than any other direction. The prime reason is that if things go wrong (line snag, equipment failure etc) – your chances of colliding with something hard are far higher. So take extra care in onshore winds.

Another potential issue is high tide at Old Hunstanton in onshore winds. In these conditions the cliffs can generate huge updrafts.

Offshore Winds

This is simple. DO NOT go out in offshore or cross-offshore wind conditions. If something goes wrong (equipment failure, unable to relaunch etc) you will be unable to get back to shore.

Even just slightly cross-off winds at Hunstanton can be very sketchy – mainly because the wind has travelled across the relatively high ground of the town and can be very gusty and unpredictable.

On The Water

• If you are heading for a windsurfer, kayaker or swimmer either bear off downwind or turn around. Do NOT just keep on going thinking that they will get out of the way for you. Windsurfers usually keep downwind of kitesurfers – please respect their space and don’t go ploughing through them.
• Be courtious and respectful at all times. If you mess up and give someone a scare then apologise. Likewise, if a windsurfer bears off downwind to give you some room it doesn’t hurt to give them a quick wave of thanks. These are simple things but not doing them can make you seem rude and give people the wrong impression about kitesurfing.
• When two kitesurfers are heading towards each other, the rider heading starboard (travelling towards their right hand side) has right of way and the other rider must give way by bearing off downwind.
• When two kites pass on the water the upwind kiter should keep their kite high whilst the downwind kiter should keep their kite low.
• If you are riding fast and catch up with a slower rider be aware that they might not know you are there and that they have the right of way.
• The kitesurfer on the beach has right of way over the kitesurfer on the water. If you see someone on the beach trying to get onto the water please let them in.
• If you are a beginner and cannot yet keep upwind please keep to the downwind stretch of the beach.

Cold Weather

It’s never a good idea to venture further from shore than you’re able to swim. In the winter or abnormally cold weather this is even more vital. Also, keep your sessions shorter in winter and if you’ve got cold during a break, it’s best not to go back out. In winter the buddy system is more important than ever – make sure someone is watching over you (whatever your level of riding).

Teaching Friends

Whilst it’s tempting to give your friends and family a go on your kit it’s actually a really bad idea, especially when the water is busy. Instead, if they’re keen to get into the sport then point them in the direction of one of the many local BKSA instructors for some lessons. Through proper lessons they will be able to practice and learn essentials such as how to properly pack down in deepwater, how to relaunch and much more.

Tides

Tides and tidal currents can have a huge effect on kitesurfers – we’ve put together a basic introduction video