Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing is a sport that can become risky if you do not know and do not respect some basic rules, and especially if you have not done a proper course with qualified instructors.
Kitesurfing is not a sport that is learned in a short time, but it requires a wealth of significant experience created over time to master and solve the various problems that may arise. It's the beginning of a competition with oneself to improve and have fun in safety.
Kitestory
Kitesurfing comes from the application of an absolutely revolutionary idea to a sport already practiced by millions of enthusiasts: being driven by a kite using windsurf boards.
Around the end of the 80s the project by Bruno Legaignoux (this is the name of the inventor) was to create a system of safety sails for emergency boats.
Hence the idea of ​​making inflatable kites, able to start from the water in any sea condition, easy to manage and able to create a motive energy to rescue the crews of the emergency boats.
The definitive turning point that then brought the KITESURF to the world limelight took place in 1998 when the greatest of the Windsurf champions (Robby Naish), intrigued by some of the Legaignoux prototypes, started to practice an entirely new sport.
Modified some surfing boards and corrected some details we immediately realized that the combination "kite / board" gave great possibilities. From here to marketing the pace has been short, in recent years the evolution of the sea kites has been truly remarkable, so much so that it soon became a sport rich in disciplines and "technology".
Aerodynamics of the Kite (outline)
The air flow that hits the kite is separated by meeting the leading edge: one part flows on the extrados (upper part of the Kite) and the remaining flows along the intrados (lower part of the Kite) to rejoin the trailing edge.
Due to the wing profile, the air flowing on the extrados finds itself having to travel more road, and accelerates to reunite with the air below on the trailing edge. Due to the physical effect known as Bernoulli's Law, the acceleration of the air on the upper surface creates a depression that sucks the kite upwards, and which is 2/3 responsible for the wing's ability to fly.
The air that hits the lower surface participates in the maintenance of the wing for the rest
The winds
The graphic representation of the wind direction, in the classic form, which dates back to the time of the Maritime Republics and the introduction of the compass, is given by the wind rose which is made up of a circle, divided into degrees, which circumscribes a sixteen star (sometimes 32) tips superimposed on each other like the petals of a rose; the observer is imagined at the center of the circle while the points of the star indicate the direction of the main winds and their distance
angular from the geographic north.
The wind rose
The first information on the compass rose dates back to the Homeric poems; for the Greeks, the first wind roses used had four points corresponding to the four cardinal points which then increased to eight as the main winds.
First Aristotle and then Pliny in his Naturalis historia, identified a rose of twelve winds, but in common use the Romans adopted one of eight winds: North (north), North-East (kite or borea) East (subsolano) South- East (volturno or euro) South (Austro or known), South-West (African) West (favonio or zefiro), North-West (chorus or maestro). The sixteen twenty rose appeared at the beginning of the Middle Ages after the introduction of the compass. According to some it was the Amalfitans to combine the compass with the compass rose, La Tramontana, is the north wind that comes from the polar regions, it is cold and humid in Germany while it is very cold and dry in the Italian regions.
The Grecale is the north-east wind and is a typical winter wind; it is cold and dry and owes its name to the fact that the ancient navigators of the central Mediterranean believed that it came from Greece.
The Levante, is the wind dell'ested is a typical winter wind that in the Mediterranean is accompanied by rain and storm.
Scirocco, is the southeast wind, comes from the Sahara desert and is originally dry and fiery; crossing the Mediterranean, however, it is charged with humidity and in the Italian regions it blows like a hot, humid wind bringing rains and mists.
The Ostro is the south wind and brings rain and storms; derives its name from auster which was the Latin name of the wind that the Romans also called nothus.
Libeccio, is the south-west wind that the Romans called the African iemale oponent; he expires from Libya and was so called at the time of the Maritime Republics. It is generally storm wind.
The West is the west wind; it is a typical wind that blows in the summer on the Lazio coast and originates from the different heating of the land and the sea. It penetrates the mainland up to Rome causing a pleasant coolness; in Rome it is called Ponentino. The ancient Romans called it Favonio or Zefiro.
The Mistral or Maestro, is the north-west wind that the Romans called Chorus or Circius; together with Libeccio it is typical of the central Mediterranean, it blows at a speed that can exceed 120 km per hour; it is dry and it is a storm wind especially on Sardinia and Corsica. It is the most impetuous wind and announces winter.
The flight window
The flight window is a very important knowledge for kitesurfing, it represents the space in front of us, in which the kite can move. If the cables that connect the wing with the kiter are, for example, 27 meters long, the kite can move 27 meters (cable length) to your left or right, in front of or behind you, it is a quarter sphere of 27 meters radius of which the kiter is the center. On the window edge (left and right side) it develops little traction, therefore it represents the position from which to start / land or stop the kitesurf.
To establish the flight window, proceed as follows:
We identify the direction of the wind and position ourselves by offering the shoulders, the opening of the arms symbolizes the window of the wind where the hands are the two points at ninety degrees to the right and left, the zenith is given by the portion of space above the our head.
The flight window is shaped like a quarter sphere. Its extension is therefore 180 °, and it is the surface along which the kite moves, within this window the position that assumes the kite determines its power and therefore the traction it exerts on the kiter.
With little wind, this window is considerably reduced, even reaching 45 °.
The kite must always be kept in the central area of the flight window (window edge but at 45 °) so as to be able to make the most of it and avoid the stalls.
The flight window identifies two different significant areas for flight and kite management;
they are:
• The window border also called neutral zone, is that line beyond which the kite cannot go, and can be divided into 3 further zones: Zenith (above the head), 45 ° zone (ideal in gait and to keep the kite in safety), ground area (take-off and landing area)
• The Power zone is the maximum traction zone of the kite (front zone)
By moving the wing from the window edge towards the center of the window (pawer zone), a progressive increase in the power generated by the wind is obtained.
