Today we are talking about two exciting sports that you can practice in Il Golfo dell'Isola: windsurfing and kitesurfing. We assure you: it is a sensation to try that of sliding on the waves pushed by the sea breeze, and it is even more so if the setting is that of Il Golfo dell'Isola!

Windsurfing

Although the first documented prototype of a sailboard dates back to 1935, windsurfing was officially born only in 1967 from an idea of ​​a Californian aerospace engineer, James Drake. This sport arrived in Italy a few years later, in the 70's.

The idea is simple and derives from the setting of sailboats: to exploit the propulsive action determined by the wind on a sail to surf on the waves of the sea.

In windsurfing the main maneuvers are the tack and the jibe which, in the basic form, allow the change of direction through the passage of the sail respectively on the stern or on the bow of the board.

In windsurfing, the start can take place in two ways:

• you can get on the board from the water, retrieving the sail with the appropriate recovery line;
• or you can take advantage of the wind which, by force on the sail, brings the surfer directly onto the board, being able to start both in shallow and deep water.

Kitesurfing

Although the use of kites to tow objects or people is a practice that dates back to 1200, kitesurfing was officially born only in 1999 as a variant of surfing.

This sport consists in being towed by a kite (kite in English) that allows you to slide on the water.

Here, too, the wind is used as a propeller and the kite is maneuvered by a bar connected to the kite with thin cables.

There are different styles of kitesurfing and depending on which one you want to practice it is necessary to use specific types of boards. For example, to ride large waves, one-way surfboards are used, while two-way boards are used to perform aerial acrobatics.

The differences

In both cases the wind is used as a propeller. However in windsurfing it acts on a sail mounted directly on the board, in the case of kitesurfing by means of a kite to which one is clinging.

Furthermore, unlike windsurfing, kitesurfing can also be practiced with "weak" winds, with the foresight to use larger kites.

Surely it is easier to learn windsurfing first, having to learn to juggle the kite as well as to stay balanced on the board for kitesurfing.

Have you already tried them? Which one do you prefer?