One athlete was absolutely flying, going metres up in the air, so we contacted WSS Boards to find out more about who he is and what it's all about.
Chris from WSS Boards said that although this demonstration event was for those with some experience, Kiteboarding NSW lists information on classes for beginners, and there's one on Botany Bay, at Monterey Beach, where a lot of Sydney people start out.
There are also online forums, like Sydney Kitesurfers, with thousands of members, that share photos, information on everything from where to kite, where to get repairs, where to access tides info, the wind forecast and pollution (watch after rain), and where to get your gear, with WSS Boards on the north of the bridge list, and simply to share the stoke.
As to who we saw flying at North Palmy, what brands they stock and what's coming up for Kiteboarders at WSS Boards Chris said:
''Timo Von Wagenhoff and Greg Miles are always sending big air on the kiteboards for the WOO worlds and currently Timo is the Australian record holder at 31.9m.
Greg was the one jumping the highest at the Palm Beach Demo.''
''We sell the brands DUOTONE, NAISH, CORE and F-ONE and can provide demos for experienced riders and plan to do some in store events relating to kiting.''
Chris also explained that you need a windy open beach area to enjoy kitesurfing, which is why North Palmy attracts so many kitesurfers.
''The best months for kitesurfing in Sydney are September to April, with the peak season from December to January.'' he said
''This is due to consistent Summer seabreezes and reliable trade winds, though other months like November and February can also excellent. Winter months (May-August) have fewer windy days and less reliable wind conditions. So, that's why we run the demo days then.''
The wind speed at North Palm Beach on the day was fast, with the BOM recording 44 km/h NNE at 6.30 am that had slowed to a 24km/h NE by mid afternoon. Perfect conditions for flying a large kite.
About WSS Boards
Balmoral Paddlesurf was born out of Balmoral Boards, Mosman. The owner Andrew Allen started Balmoral Boards in 1988, first as a Windsurfing shop which quickly morphed into the snow and skateboard store - Balmoral Boards.
In 2007 he started Balmoral Paddle Surf, which he moved to North Manly in 2010 to be closer to the ocean. With his brother Jon Allen they run the Balmoral StandUp paddle school at Balmoral Beach which they both established in 1990 and continues to this day.
In 2019 its was time to hand the baton over to Sam Parker. Balmoral Paddlesurf has joined forces with WindsurfnSnow and from that WSS Boards has been created.
Check them out at: wssboards.com.au
About WOO Worlds
WOO Worlds is an annual, global kiteboarding competition hosted on the WOO platform that brings together riders of all skill levels to compete in various challenges.
WOO Sports organisers state:
''It's a gamified event that focuses on participation and improving personal bests, with categories like highest jump, longest distance, and team-based challenges. Prizes include cash and gear, but a major draw is the recognition on leaderboards, the chance to compete against friends and peers, and the community aspect of pushing limits together.''
Aspects of WOO Worlds are:
- Global and open to all: Anyone, regardless of location or skill level, can participate in the WOO Worlds.
- Gamified with data: Competitions are tracked using the WOO device and app, turning kitesurfing into a game with leaderboards, scores, and personal goals.
- Multiple disciplines: Challenges include both individual and team-based events.
- Individual: Striving for your best performance in categories like highest jump or distance.
- Team: Competing with and against other riders on teams. Scores can be based on the best performances from the top five riders on a team.
- Nations Cup: A specific competition where participants are automatically grouped by their home country to compete against other nations.
- Focus on participation: While prizes are awarded, the event encourages self-improvement and personal progression.
- Community and fun: It fosters a sense of community and a lot of fun, with the goal of making kiteboarding competitions more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience.
- Kiteboarding & Wing Foil Global Competition: $100k Prize Pool. Ride Anywhere! Presented by WOO Sports.
The WOO Worlds 2025 ran from September 13 to October 12.
A short sequence from one of the Greg's jumps:
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Kiteboarding is an individual recreational sport that is conducted on open areas of water, preferably in constant winds ranging between 16 – 30 knots. It can be performed on flat or bumpy water conditions. The ‘kiter’ aims to fly the kite in a pattern to produce power to pull him/herself along the surface of the water across the wind, following the same basic principles as sailing. There is no motor power involved.
Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise from the Netherlands is credited with inventing kitesurfing after patenting the concept in 1977. However, two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from the Atlantic coast of France, developed kites for kitesurfing in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1997, the Legaignoux brothers developed and sold the breakthrough "Wipika" kite design that had a structure of preformed inflatable tubes and a simple bridle system to the wingtips, both of which greatly assisted water re-launch. Bruno Legaignoux continued to improve kite designs, including developing the bow kite design, which has been licensed to many kite manufacturers.
In 1997, specialised kiteboards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By the end of 1998 kitesurfing became an extreme sport, distributed and taught through shops and schools worldwide. The first competition was held on Maui in September 1998 and was won by Marcus 'Flash' Austin, a waiter from Florida who bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii.
Starting in 1999, kitesurfing became a mainstream sport with the entry of key windsurfing manufacturers, namely Robby Naish and Neil Pryde. Single direction boards derived from windsurfing and surfing designs became the dominant form of kiteboard.
There are many disciplines to the sport, which have different aims from performing freestyle tricks, wave-riding or course racing or free riding. A large part of the sport involves performing jumps, which are initiated by the kiter flying the kite in a certain way. The directions of possible travel are similar to the basic principles of sailing.
The kitesurfer is the link between the board and the kite, as the two pieces of equipment are not connected, and wears a harness to balance his/her weight against the kite.
Some of the tricks are:
- Kiteloops
- Pre-load pop
- Consistent 15m + jumps
- Front / back rotations
- Inverted front / back rotations
- Heli-loops + downloops
- Board off
- Self launch + land
- Backroll Kiteloop
- Front roll contra loop
- Frantrum
- Boogie loops
- Late backs
They look as amazing as they sound!
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Skills Required
The primary skill to kitesurfing is to be able to control and fly the kite competently. Once the kite is mastered, the board is then introduced and the kiter must initiate power in the kite at the appropriate time to pull them up and along the surface of the water. This power must be prolonged by the constant flying of the kite in the correct zone in order to continue moving.
Once the basics are mastered, the skills of riding, jumping, tricks, waves can then by practiced. Due to the nature and freedom of the sport, there is no end to the skills base, as it is evolving and growing continuously.
Equipment
The essential pieces of equipment for kiteboarding include a kite, control bar and lines, a safety leash connecting the chicken loop to the harness, a harness and a board.
The Kite
This is the means of propulsion. It is wind powered, by flying within a ‘Wind Window’ where there are different zones of power/pull and neutral stability.
Kites used for kitesurfing in the majority are supported by a series of inflatable tubes, which provide a framework between which material is stretched to grab wind in the same principle as a sail. Not all kites have inflatable tubes. These can be substituted for solid battens, or a double layer of cloth, providing a cell type structure with a series of ‘Bridle/ supporting lines’ to help maintain a stable shape.
Inflatable kites tend to relaunch from the water better when crashed hence their popularity. There are three type of inflatable kite SLE, Hybrid, and C shape. These refer to the kite’s design and flying characteristics.
Control Bar and Lines
The majority of kitesurfing kites fly on Bars. These will involve a ‘depower’ system to help control the kite. Some kites can be flown on handles. The bar option is more popular as it allows easy single-handed flying.
Lines made from non-stretch spectra type material connect the kite to the bar. Depending on the type and complexity of the kite, there can be, 2, 4 or 5 lines used to fly the kite. The majority of kites are flown on 4 or 5 line depowerable bars. Line length can vary between 10m and 40m. Typical line length is from 20 – 25 metres.
All bars/ kites will have some form of safety system allowing complete ejection of the kite’s power without releasing the kite completely. The basic principle of a safety system is to release the wind from the kite’s canopy by releasing tension of all but a single line, or prevent the kite’s canopy from collecting wind effectively letting it ‘flag’.
Good modern safety systems allow quick relaunch capabilities as well as instant depower.
Harnesses
Kiters wear a harness in order to connect themselves to the lines attached to the kite. The harness spreads the load of the kite’s pull. Harnesses come in two styles, seat or waist harnesses.
Seat harnesses have a lower hook position, and fit around the kitesurfers bottom with leg straps coming around and under the legs from front to back. Seat harnesses provide good support while learning and are sometimes preferred by people with pre-existing back injuries. The lower hook position can also make the bar easier to reach for riders with shorter arms.
Waist harnesses have a higher hook position and fit around the rider’s lower abdomen/stomach like a weightlifters belt. They provide more flexibility and freedom of movement for tricks and manoeuvres.
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Boards
Twin Tip Boards
Kiteboards can come in a wide variety of types/shapes and sizes. The majority of the market is occupied by ‘Twin Tip’ boards, which can be ridden in either direction and are symmetrical in shape. These range in size between 1.1m and 1.6m in length, and .3m and .5m in width at the widest point. Twin tips tend to be made from snowboard type materials such as volcanic basalt, wood or carbon fibre with hardened rails.
Directional Boards / Kite Surfboards
The second type of board is comparable to a surfboard and is often referred to as a ‘directional’ board, with typical sizes ranging between 5′ and 6’2″ in length. These directional boards can only be ridden in one direction and can either be ridden with foostraps or ‘strapless’. Directional boards are for riding waves or the open ocean.
Both boards will have fins on the bottom to provide grip through the water, although some riders will remove the fins from their Twin Tips when using ramps or park obstacles.
Hydrofoils / Foil boards
A third type of board is one which has a hydrofoil connected via a lightweight underwater mast. This is a rapidly developing area of kiteboarding with new breakthroughs in technology, design and materials driving change in the sport.
A hydrofoil raises the board out of the water, reducing drag and allows riders to kite in much lighter winds than when using twin-tips or directional boards.
Information from: About Kiteboarding, Kiteboarding Western Australia, retrieved from webpage, kiteboardingwa.org.au/about-kiteboarding
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Almost an Olympic Sport
On Friday January 17 2020 Australian Sailing and Kiteboarding Australia announced their intentions to work together to develop the next generation of Australian Olympic sailing champions.
With the Mixed Kite event (IKA Formula Kite) to make its debut as an Olympic discipline at the Paris 2024 games, the two organisations announced joint planning had begun on how to best nurture an Australian gold medallist in the event.
“This is an exciting time for everyone in the sailing community, particularly those involved in kite foil racing,” said then Australian Sailing CEO Ben Houston**
“We have commenced planning for our Paris 2024 Olympic campaign, and that includes working with Kiteboarding Australia on how we can best support one another in developing our athletes for the mixed kite event. We look forward to welcoming these world-class competitors to the Australian Sailing Team.”
The racing was to take place on the waters of Marseilles.
“Kiteboarding Australia (KA) is excited by the inclusion of Kite Foil racing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. We look forward to actively continuing to develop Kite Foil racing in Australia. It’s an exciting prospect and we hope that we can create an Olympic pathway together that sees kiteboarders standing on the podium at the 2024 Olympics,” said Kiteboarding Australia General Manger Declan McCarthy.
The announcement was made on the eve of the Australian Kitefoiling National Championships, which were held in conjunction with Sail Melbourne, Australian Sailing’s flagship annual Olympic Class event. Kitefoil Racing is a discipline that involves kiteboarders using a kite and foilboard to navigate a course. It's closer to sailing than surfing because it relies on wind power to propel the rider, similar to how a sailboat uses wind power, while surfing is powered by the energy of waves. Kitefoiling can be done in low wind conditions, giving it a wider range of usability than wave-dependent surfing and making it similar to sailing which can operate in many different wind conditions.
Paris 2024 Olympian Breiana Whitehead, who came 9th in Marseilles, and fifth overall at the 2025 Formula Kite World Championships in Sardinia, Italy, in he first week of October 2025, said this season has been about rebalancing after a busy Olympic campaign. She has gradually built her program back up since May, finishing ninth at the European Championships and 10th at the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta on the LA2028 Olympic waters.
Although kitesurfing-kiteboarding won't feature in LA2028, elements of almost everything needed will be there. The waves at Trestles will host the surfing, the Port of Los Angeles will host six boat events: Men's and Women's Dinghy, Men's and Women's Skiff, Mixed Dinghy and Mixed Multihull, and Belmont Shore will host four board events: Men's and Women's Windsurfing, and Men's and Women's Kitefoiling.
More pictures from the September 30 Demo Sess. here
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** (Ben announced his departure from the position he has held for 6 years in May 2025).