A windsport is any type of sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 which involves wind-power, often involving a non-rigid airfoil

Airfoil

An airfoil or aerofoil is the shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross-section....

 such as a sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

 or a power kite

Power kite

A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user.They come in three main forms: foils, leading edge inflatables and supported leading edge. There are also rigid-framed kites and soft single skin kites. There are several different control systems used...

. The activities can be land-based, on snow, on ice or on water. Windsport activity may be regulated in some countries by aviation/maritime authorities if they are likely to interfere with other activities. Local authorities may also regulate activity in certain areas, especially on crowded beaches and parks.

• Ice boat
  Ice boat
  An ice boat is a boat or purpose-built framework similar in functional design to a sail boat but fitted with skis or runners and designed to run over ice instead of through water. Ice yachting is the sport of sailing and racing iceboats. Sailable ice is known in the sport as "hard water" versus...
  
  ing - using a masted sail attached to a vessel with skates
• Kite boating - sailing a boat in displacement or planing mode using a kite
• Kite boarding
  Kite boarding
  Kite boarding is a sport based on kitesurfing and snowboarding. It involves the use of a snowboard, with the most obsessed riders buying or building slightly modified snowboards for greater impacts, creating, essentially, a sturdy snowboard, as well as the use of a kite similar to the kite used in...
  
   - using a power kite with a wheeled board while standing
• Kite buggy
  Kite buggy
  A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a traction kite . It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelerates and slows down by applying steering manoeuvres in...
  
   - using a wheeled buggy with seats attached to a power kite
• Kite flying - flight of a small airfoil by a standing ground operator using 1-4 flying lines
• Kite jumping - brief acrobatic flight using a large kite
• Kite skating
  Kite skating
  Kite skating, sometimes referred to as Kiteblading, is a land based extreme sport using powerful controllable kites to propel riders of inline skates or off-road skates at speeds up to 60+mph across parking lots, desert dry lakes, grassy fields, and sandy beaches.Typically used in rough terrain,...
  
   - as for kite jumping but while using specialized skates
• Kite surfing - using a surfboard attached to a power kite
• Land sailing
  Land sailing
  Land sailing, also known as sand yachting or land yachting, is the act of moving across land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with sailing. Historically, land sailing was used as a mode of transportation or recreation...
  
   - a masted sail attached to a land vehicle - see also land yacht
• Sailing
  Sailing
  Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
  
   - navigating a boat with sail attached to a mast
• Snowkiting
  Snowkiting
  Snowkiting is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The sport is similar to kitesurfing, but with the footwear used in snowboarding or skiing. In the early days of snowkiting, foil kites were the most common type; nowadays some kitesurfers use their water gear...
  
   - skiing/snowboarding under the power of a kite
• Windsurfing
  Windsurfing
  Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
  
   - sailing using a masted sail attached via a gimbal
  Gimbal
  A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis. A set of two gimbals, one mounted on the other with pivot axes orthogonal, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain immobile regardless of the motion of its support...
  
   to a surfboard
• Sail biking - using a power kite to pull a specialized bicycle (like land sailing)

Air sports

The following air sports

Air sports

The term Air sports covers a range of aerial activities such as:* Aerobatics* Ballooning* General aviation including Air racing* Gliding* Hang gliding* Human powered aircraft* Model aircraft* Parachuting* Paragliding...

 are not classed as windsports because in these the participants actually leave the ground for long periods and many do not use the wind:

• Gliding
  Gliding
  Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
  
   - use of vertically moving air to keep an aircraft aloft
• Hang gliding
  Hang gliding
  Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
  
   - use of vertically moving air to keep aloft an aircraft with a flexible wing
• Microlighting - flying a hang glider with an engine (also see ultralight aircraft)
• Parachuting
  Parachuting
  Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
  
   (skydiving) and base jumping
  BASE jumping
  BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects...
  
   - controlled descent of the operator under a large flexible canopy
• Paragliding
  Paragliding
  Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...
  
   - soaring under a parachute canopy
• Parasailing
  Parasailing
  Parasailing, also known as parascending, or "parakiting" is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle while attached to a specially designed canopy wing that reminds one of a parachute, known as a parasail wing...
  
   - hanging under a paraglider towed by a vehicle (boat, car, or snowmobile) in order to ascend (usually over water)
• Air Ballooning - a balloon you ride which uses fire to go up and wind to stay afloat

External links

• KiteSurf Varna Links Directory The large links directory with thousands of photos and videos, all about Kite Surfing.