Strung along

The people who pick up kiteboarding the fastest aren’t windsurfers. Or surfers. They’re kite fliers.

“They already understand the hardest part of this sport -- how to use the wind,” says John Gentz, a manager at Kites Etc. in Sunset Beach.

That’s why the first step in kiteboarding is to go fly a simple two-line, 6 1/2-square-foot foil “trainer” kite ($100-$120) for 10 to 20 hours. You steer the trainer with a handle, like the ones on inflatable kiteboarding sails, and learn to negotiate the “power window,” the 9-to-3 o’clock slice of windy sky that safely powers your kite.

After that, you need a minimum of three lessons that last two hours apiece ($450 at Kites Etc.).

The first lesson stays on the beach, where you get acclimated to the power of a large four-line kite, learn proper set-up and basic skills such as body-dragging and holding onto the bar with one hand. The second lesson helps you develop what Gentz calls “throttle skills” -- learning how to rev up and steer the kite while keeping it from crashing into the water. The third lesson is the first with a board, training downwind and crosswind maneuvers. The ability to tack upwind, the mark of a skilled kiteboarder, usually takes several weeks or months of practice on your own equipment.

A board runs $300 to $700, a harness $100 and a kite ranges from $700 to $1,300. It’s double or triple that when you get serious. Kiters often have several kites -- small ones for heavy winds and bigger models for calmer conditions.

-- Roy M. Wallack