Windsurfing as a Second Discipline: What a Kiter Should Know

Windsurfing is older than kiting and in many ways built the opposite way. Here is what it offers someone who already kites — and what it costs.

Five differences you notice immediately

1. Space

A kite occupies twenty metres of line plus a safety zone. On a tight spot you either queue or stay home.

A windsurf board occupies its own length. A narrow bay, a channel, a gap between pontoons — all usable.

The practical upshot: windsurfing opens spots a kite cannot use. For anyone not living beside a perfect beach, that is the main argument.

2. Broken wind

A kite collapses in turbulence behind trees or buildings. A canopy is a structure that lives on tension, and a lull is critical for it.

A sail on a mast stays rigid. It bends in a gust and simply loses power in a lull — you stand still rather than falling and gathering lines.

Hence: lakes, rivers and spots with shoreline turbulence are windsurfing territory.

3. Launching and landing

Half of kiting incidents happen on the beach, during launch and landing. It is the most dangerous part of a session and needs a helper or a skill.

Windsurfing has no such phase. You rig on the sand, carry it in and go.

4. Learning

Kiting: first hours on canopy control ashore, then body dragging, then the water start. Several days to independent riding.

Windsurfing: standing up and sailing in a straight line takes one lesson. After that it gets harder — planing, footstraps, transitions — but the first success comes sooner.

The flip side: the physical load at the start is higher. You lift the sail out of the water with arms and back, and day one tells you so.

5. Transport

A kite setup is a forty-litre bag.

Windsurfing means board, mast, boom, sail. You need roof bars or a spot with storage.

There is a compromise: inflatable windsurf boards. The iSTART 2 at 999 € and the Airplane at 1 339 € pack into a backpack, and the mast comes apart.

Where to start: learner boards

The main rule: a learner board is about volume. More litres means easier standing while you lift the sail.

Rio — 1 099 €, the cheapest entry.

iSTART 2 Inflatable — 999 €, an inflatable learner.

Start 2 — 1 349 €, sizes S / M / L.

GO Windsurfer — 1 999 €, volumes 165, 175 and 185 litres.

Windsurfer LT — 1 399 €, the classic long board.

How to pick volume: for learning, take litres no lower than your weight plus 80 to 100. At 80 kg that is 165 to 185 — exactly the GO.

Where to grow

Once you are up and sailing, the range splits by job:

Carve — 2 069 €, freeride.

Futura — 2 399 €, speed and glide.

Kode — 2 399 €, waves and freestyle.

GO 152 — 1 696 €, an intermediate volume.

The logic matches kites: all-rounder first, specialisation later. We covered it in our suffix guide and through wide versus narrow ranges.

What full entry costs

Honestly, because a board is not the whole setup.

• Learner board — from 999 €.
• Sail with mast — a package from 469 €.
• Fin — from 58 €, often supplied with the board.
• Harness lines — 119 €.

A kiter already owns a harness and a wetsuit — the main saving when crossing over. On choosing a wetsuit, see our separate article.

Ready packages: the Waterman Package at 1 659 € and the kids' version at 1 439 € — board and sail in one item.

Who should try it

Anyone with a tight spot or broken wind. Windsurfing simply works there.

Anyone tired of waiting for weather. The usable wind range is wider and the quality demands lower.

Anyone riding with family. A learner board with a sail is safer than a kite on a busy beach.

Anyone with storage. That is the discipline's key constraint.

Who should not

Anyone flying with their kit. Unless it is an inflatable board.

Anyone in a flat without a store cupboard.

Anyone chasing jumps. Height in windsurfing is reached differently and takes more years.

Common questions

Is windsurfing easier after kiting?

First success comes sooner — sailing straight takes one lesson. But the start is physically harder: you lift the sail by hand.

Why is windsurfing better in broken wind?

A sail on a mast stays rigid: in a lull it loses power, while a kite folds and falls.

What board volume for learning?

Your weight plus 80 to 100 litres. At 80 kg that is 165 to 185.

What does a full setup cost?

A board from 999 € plus a sail and mast from 469 €. A kiter already has harness and wetsuit.

Are there inflatable windsurf boards?

Yes: the iSTART 2 at 999 € and the Airplane at 1 339 €. The mast comes apart too.

Where to look

The windsurfing section. To read: our Starboard review and what a windfoil is.