Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: May 31, 2005
Article Type: Journal

Imagine a short, boxy surfboard with fins at both ends and straps for your feet. Then let a highly controllable, four-line kite drag you along. As in windsurfing (parent of this newish sport) you don’t have to go in the direction the wind takes you, you have control. Not easy to learn in one day, kiteboarding is worth the effort to learn. It’s fun, a first-class adrenaline charge.

The island of Maui in Hawaii is the best place, bar none, to learn and to play. The shoreline orientation means the wind is usually along the north shore or slightly onshore and parallel to the wave direction. Because of an accident of geography, the amazingly consistent trade winds from the northeast are speeded up near the center of the island, between two mountains. It’s always windier there than the general trade wind speed. A venturi effect, a phenomenon related to the lift generated by an airplane wing, causes this speedup. It’s uncommon not to have wind here.

Combine good breezes and pounding surf with a beautiful tropical setting of white sand and palm trees and a relaxed way of life and Maui becomes “The Spot” for kiteboarding and related water sports. It is recognized as such around the world. It’s a place of pilgrimage.