International Kiteboarding Association

The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA), is currently the only kiteboarding class inside the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). The IKA class rules are encouraging evolution and therefore fall in the category of a development class. Kiteboards and kites are manufactured by several manufacturers worldwide.

History

The International Kiteboarding Association was founded in April 2008, after the International Sailing Association (ISAF)

International Sailing Federation

The International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....

had included the principle of surfers being propelled by a kite in the 'ISAF Equipment Rules of Sailing'.
Kiteboarding was then adopted in November 2008 as an ISAF international sailing class.

Disciplines

There are currently five main disciplines with individual world rankings and world championships.

Freestyle (where performance is judged on individual expression and difficulty of tricks)
Course Racing (comparable to standard sailing regattas)
Kite Cross (riders compete in heats against each other, with the winners advancing to the next round)
Wave Riding (where performance is judged on wave selection and performance of manouvres on the wave)
Speed (with performance measured by the average speed over a fixed distance, usually 500 m)

Class Growth

Currently around 30 national kite class associations are affiliated to the International Kiteboarding Association and active fleets exist in more than 65 countries.

Championships

Class Championships are run as 'one-off' competitions in the racing disciplines course racing, kite cross and speed, and as series of events for the expression disciplines freestyle and wave riding.

Tours

Professional Tour Operators exist that organize series of sanctioned events. These are:

PKRA: Series of events in freestyle, course racing and wave riding
KTE: European Freestyle Championship Series, also providing course racing events
KTA: Asian Freestyle Championship Series, also offering disciplines like Old School and Twin Tip Racing

Freestyle

2010: Andy Yates (AUS) and Gisela Pulido (ESP)
2009: Kevin Langeree (NED) and Bruna Kayija (BRA)

Course Racing

2010: Adam Koch (USA) and Kari Schibevaag (NOR)
2009: Sean Farley (MEX) and Steph Bridge (GBR)

Wave Riding

2010: Guilly Brandao (BRA) and Gisela Pulido (ESP)
2009: Jan Marcos Rivieras (DOM) and Kari Schibevaag (NOR)

Records

French kiteboarder Sebastien Cattelan became the first sailor to break the 50 knots barrier by reaching 50.26 knots on 3 October 2008 at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge

Lüderitz Speed Challenge

The Lüderitz Speed Challenge is an annual speed sailing event, held since 2007 in Lüderitz, Namibia, in the southern hemisphere spring. The event is organised by ESF Events, managed and owned by Frederic Dasse and French kitesurfer Sebastien Cattelan, and is observed by the World Sailing Speed...

in Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. Earlier in the event, on 19 September, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Robert Douglas

Robert Douglas may refer to:*Robert Douglas , minister in the Church of Scotland*Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, , Scottish-born field-marshal in the Swedish army*Robert Douglas , , Scottish prelate...

reached 49.84 knots (92.30 km/h) , becoming the first kitesurfer to establish an outright world record in speed sailing. Previously the record was held only by sailboats or windsurfers.

The outright sailing speed record has since been claimed by the French trimaran Hydroptère

Hydroptère

The Hydroptère is an experimental sailing hydrofoil designed by French yachtsman Alain Thébault. Her multihull hydrofoil design allows the sail-powered vessel to reach high speeds on water. The design is based on experience from a range of hydrofoil sailcraft that Thébault built in cooperation with...

which, on 4 September 2009, reached a speed of 51.36 knots over 500 meters and a staggering 50.17 over a nautical mile in open ocean and only 25 to 30 knots of wind.

In October 2010, Rob Douglas became the outright speed world record holder on water powered by the wind with 55.65 knots, exceeding the previous record by more than 4 knots.

Olympic Ambitions

Currently Kiteboarding is included in a provisional slate for the 10 available Olympic sailing medals, which is to be confirmed at the ISAF 2011 mid year conference. The provisional slate is as follows:

Men's Board or Kite Board - Evaluation
Women's Board or Kite Board - Evaluation
Men's 1P Dinghy – Laser
Women's 1P Dinghy - Laser Radial
Men's 2nd 1P Dinghy - Finn
Men's Skiff - 49er
Women's Skiff - Evaluation
Women's Keelboat - Elliott 6m
Mixed Multihull - Evaluation
Mixed 2P Dinghy (Spinnaker) – 470

National Class associations

Manufacturers

External Links

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