Earlier I showed some pictures of kitesurfing from the old days. then from Harald Mijnsbergen, at the time owner of kitesurfing shop Extremity, which no longer exists. This time I'm going further back in time. Maybe to 1999. To the time of the first generation of kites and kiteboards in production. I'll take you back in time even further, but first this cool kitesurfing photo.
Kitesurfing without depower
You see me here, dropped off on a wave, going up into the air like a rocket. Still a beautiful jump and especially in combination with a directional kiteboard. The kiteboard in the photo is a Brunotti kiteboard sponsored by, and in the colors of, energy company NUON. Now Vattenfall and Alliander. The kite is a Wipika Free Air 8,5 meters.
An old-fashioned two-line drawstring bag as we called it after that.
The Free Air could already be converted into a 4-line kite, but in this photo I am going 'old school' with two lines. Completely without depower. The only help was the trapeze loop as windsurfers know it. The photo was taken by my brother. At the time, he also wanted to learn how to kitesurf, but gave up after just one ticket Oostvoorne - Maasvlakte seen.
Pumping with the legs
You can imagine that kitesurfing in the early years was very different from kitesurfing today. And so it is. The force on the legs and arms was considerable. It was more than a workout to kitesurf over the water and keep everything in line. The wipe-outs were unprecedented and it took a while to come to a stop. Let alone slow down when you had a gust of wind for your choosing. Yet we were unable to keep away from the water. That has always been the case for me.
