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Updated: October 1, 2009, 5:57 pm	Share    Print    Email

Although they can generate enough power to lift grown men hundreds of feet in the air, controlling them is surprisingly easy, granted Brock makes moves like one this seem easy. Photos courtesy of Walker Brock

East Hampton - Part wakeboarding, part windsurfing, part paragliding and all fun, if you've been to the beach out here in the past few years, you've most likely seen the kites from a distance looking like brightly colored crescents twisting and diving gracefully through the air attached on the other end to a person cutting through the waves on a wakeboard.

The sport is called kiteboarding, and it is downright addictive, especially when you have a professional teaching you the ins and outs of this exhilarating sport. Recently on a little stretch of beach off Cranberry Hole Road in Napeague, I spent a day with the instructors at Skywalk Kiteboarding who showed me the ropes of this awesome sport and let me tell you, I'm totally hooked.

Part wakeboarding, part windsurfing, part paragliding and all fun, professional kiteboarder and founder of Skywalk Kiteboarding Walker Brock can teach just about anybody who is willing to learn the graceful and exhilarating art of kiteboarding.

Founded by professional kiteboarder and man of adventure Walker Brock in 2004, Skywalk Kiteboarding has become one of the premiere kiteboarding schools on the East End. Brock helped fellow instructor and expert waterman Bosco Diaz, learn this innovative and exhilarating board sport, which has become easier and more accessible than ever. Whether you've been surfing or wakeboarding for years, or your idea of an exciting water sport is playing Marco Polo in the deep end, these guys can turn anyone with a little patience and an interest to learn into avid kiteboarders.

"Kiteboarding is like windsurfing, but the sail is on 75 foot lines, and is not just a sail but a parachute as well," explained Brock. "It is like wakeboarding but there is no boat, no engine exhaust, just an enormous power kite controlled by the rider, and it's like paragliding but instead of jumping off a mountainside, a kitesurfer can take off from the water, get up to 30 or 40 feet of air, float back down and ride away again."

Yes, you read correctly, in the air. Although they can generate enough power to lift grown men hundreds of feet in the air, controlling them is surprisingly easy. "In my experience, women and children actually do better at kiting then your typical 35 year old man," Walker told me as I prepared to launch my first full sized kite. "Advances in kiteboarding technology over the past several years have made the sport easier for anyone to learn, regardless of their strength or athleticism."

I found that flying the kite wasn't as physically demanding as I thought, but the next morning the muscles in my back, arms, shoulders and neck told me I had gotten a workout. And as far as actually getting airborne with the kite, I figured that was best left for another lesson.

Although the season for water sports is drawing to a close for all but the most avid sportsmen, kite sports aren't solely reserved for the water. Anything you can to do on a board, skis, skates or whatever else you can think of, can take on a whole new meaning when a kite is added to the mix.

As with most sports, the first things you need to learn are the fundamentals. I started off the morning flying one of the trainer kites, which was a much smaller version of the full sized ones, to get a feel for the different techniques for controlling the kite and generating power. It took awhile to get the hang of it, but after I had practiced for about an hour and sent the kite crashing into the dunes more than a few times, Walker felt I was ready to give the full sized kite a try.

In some ways, the bigger kites are easier to fly than the smaller ones - the little guys are a lot more sensitive to even tiny inputs - so the time I spent with the trainer kite made handling the big boys that much simpler.

Next, Walker got me out in the bay so we could practice some body dragging. It might sound unpleasant, but you're not hanging on for dear life while being helplessly dragged around; you actually hook yourself onto the kite with a harness (don't worry it has safety releases) so all you really have to do is steer. With the kite flying above you in the 12 o'clock position, you invert the kite, diving it towards the water turning it back up at the last minute in what is known as a power stroke. By repeating this motion the kite pulls you through the water on your belly (think bodysurfing minus the surf) you get a feel for how you use the kite to keep you moving without worrying about the board.

Once I'd gotten the hang of body dragging, it was time to put everything I'd learned together and try it with the board. With the wind beginning to die, I gave it a couple of shots before my time was up, and managed, however briefly, to get up on the board before my kite hit the water with a resounding smack. Time and again, the kite would pull me up and I would be so lost in the success of cruising through the glassy water of the bay, I would forget that my kite was streaking down towards the water, remembering too late to pull it out of the power stroke.

It was hard having to stop after being so close to success on a few occasions, but it only toughened my resolve to get back out there the next time the wind is up.

Although the season for water sports is drawing to a close for all but the most avid sportsmen, kite sports aren't solely reserved for the water. Anything you can to do on a board, skis - kite snowboarding and skiing have been gaining increasing popularity in mountain resorts around the world - ice skates on a pond, rollerblades in a parking lot, can all be enhanced by adding a kite to the mix. The list is literally endless and I think this winter might be the one where I combine a kite, skis and a big snowy back bowl out west.

To set up a lesson and get started in the exciting world of kitesports, contact Skywalk Kiteboarding, 631-324-4450, or visit skywalkkiteboarding.com.