Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. Kiteboarding is among the less expensive and more convenient sailing sports.
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.
Roger Federer is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. He won 103 ATP singles titles, the second most of all time, including 20 major men's singles titles, a record eight men's singles Wimbledon titles, an Open Era joint-record five men's singles US Open titles, and a joint-record six year-end championships. In his home country, he is regarded as "the greatest and most successful" Swiss sportsperson in history.
Snowkiting or kite skiing is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The skier uses a kite to give them power over large jumps. The sport is similar to water-based kiteboarding, but with the footwear used in snowboarding or skiing. The principles of using the kite are the same, but in different terrain. In the early days of snowkiting, foil kites were the most common type; nowadays many kiteboarders use inflatable kites. However, since 2013, newly developed racing foil kites seem to dominate speed races and expedition races, like Red Bull Ragnarok and the Vake mini-expedition race. Snowkiting differs from other alpine sports in that it is possible for the snowkiter to travel uphill and downhill with any wind direction. Like kiteboarding, snowkiting can be very hazardous and should be learned and practiced with care. Snowkiting has become more popular in places often associated with skiing and snowboarding, such as Russia, Canada, Iceland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Northern and Central United States. The sport has become more diverse as adventurers use kites to travel great distances and sports enthusiasts push the boundaries of freestyle, big air, speed and back country exploration.
Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranking event winners, with 23 ranking titles. He has also won four Triple Crown titles.
Robert Staunton Naish is an American athlete and entrepreneur who has won 24 World Championship Windsurfing titles. He is also considered a pioneer of kiteboarding and stand-up paddleboarding (SUP).
Michael White is a Welsh professional snooker player from Neath, Glamorgan. Nicknamed ‘Lightning’ due to his fast playing style, White is a former top 16 player and two-time ranking event winner.
Pete Cabrinha is an American big-wave surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and artist. He is the founder and brand manager of Cabrinha Kites.
Jean-Christophe Péraud is a retired French cyclist who rode for Omega Pharma–Lotto and AG2R La Mondiale during his professional career. He was a member of the French team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Kirsty Jones is a Welsh professional kitesurfer and pioneer in the sport of kitesurfing. She is a three-time British Kitesurf Champion, three-time Kitesurf World Wave Champion, and two-time Master of the Ocean Champion, and holds world records in long distance and solo kitesurf crossings.
The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA), is the only kiteboarding class inside the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). The IKA class rules fall in the category of a development class.
Robert "Rob" Douglas is an American professional sailor known for using a kiteboard in speed sailing records attempts. In 2008 Douglas broke the world speed sailing record on a kiteboard, hitting a top speed of 49.84 knots. Douglas again became the holder of the speed record in October 2010 when he was clocked at 55.65 knots.
Bruno Sroka is a French male kitesurfer and adventurer. He is 3 times winner of the World Cup as well as 3 times European Champion in course racing. Bruno Sroka is the first and only man that crossed the Cape Horn by kitesurf and the first one that realized the unique Way of Peace project in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Katja Roose is a Dutch female professional kite surfer.
Liquid Force is a manufacturer of wakeboard and kiteboarding related products, gear, and clothing, based in the United States. The company also has a wakeskating and wakesurfing division besides the wakeboarding and kiteboarding focus. Liquid Force now counts as one of the leading manufacturers in the wakeboard related products and clothing market. Besides manufacturing wakeboard related products and clothing, the company sponsors numerous events and athletes to promote the sport. Liquid Force was founded in 1995 by Tony Finn and Jimmy Redmon, both pioneers in the sport of wakeboarding. Its headquarters are located in Encinitas, California.
Francisco Lufinha, achieved several world records, namely the Fastest Atlantic Kiteboat Crossing (solo) in 2021 and the Longest Journey Kitesurfing in 2015. He is a completely passioned by nautical sportsman. Taken aboard a boat by his parents only 15 days after he was born, he was never able nor wanted to let go of the sea again.
Ruben Lenten is a Dutch professional kite surfer who has won the Red Bull King of the Air in 2005.
Jesse Richman is a big-wave kitesurfer and a big-air kiteboarder. He is a two-time world champion and the first kitesurfer to get barreled at Jaws. He is also known for his world record 790-foot tow-up and 170-foot jump over land.
Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. The recent development of foilboards, which plane very early on a hydrofoil fin and thereby lift off the water producing low friction, represent the ideal complementary hydrodynamic platform for wings. This young sport is poised to become wildly popular.
Mikaili Sol is an American-Brazilian professional kiteboarder. She has held the title of Global Kitesports Association (GKA) Freestyle World Champion six times: 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.