This is the basic element needed for kitesurfing (without it the kite will not even fly into the air) and during the first lesson of the course it will be a topic that will be widely discussed with the instructor. In order to be able to sail, we need a wind strength of about 12 knots (4 on the Beaufort scale, 22 km/h), while the maximum strength with which the wind can blow to be able to conduct a safe lesson for beginners is about 25-30 knots, we also want it not to be too gusty (so that there is not too much amplitude between the minimum and maximum strength). Depending on the strength of the wind (as well as the weight of the student), we select the appropriate size of the kite – smaller for strong winds, larger for weaker ones. Kite sizes vary from 5 to 17 square meters (some brands make even smaller and even larger kites).
Another important issue is the direction of the wind, what kitesurfers are most interested in is the direction of the wind relative to the shore.
We distinguish:
wind blowing from the land to the water – “offshore”
wind blowing from the water to the land – “onshore”
wind blowing parallel to the shore – “sideshore”
The safest direction is sideshore, because you can safely leave the shore with the kite, but you will always return to the beach with it without any problems.
In order to know what direction is blowing at a given moment in relation to the shore, we must first find out where it is blowing from. The easiest way to do this is to look around and look for the flags (possibly palms or tree crowns), the direction in which they are placed will tell us where it is blowing from, another way is to pick up a handful of sand, throw it and see which way it will fly, or just turn around until you feel the wind blowing straight in your face.