History (sort of)

Extreme Windsurfing at Lakes bay has been a leader in the mid Atlantic area in kitesurfing from the very beginning. We not only sell & service all major brands of kites and kite boards. We were one of the first kite schools on the East Coast. We teach it, do it sell it. Basically we are IT in area kitesurfing.

Kites first appeared on Lakes Bay the summer of '98 a young Swedish guy named Sven Robeston mingled with the windsurfers, with his frame kites and water-skis basically made him more of a hazard than a pioneer. Many windsurfers would hear the flapping of his kite and the whistle of his lines and panic causing several near accidents. One evening Jon Seavers and I watched while Sven was dragged around (mostly underwater) and Jon asked me "if this was the future?"

That question was emphatically answered the following spring (1999) when the first true kitesurfer, Alf Imperato (then the technical Editor of Windsurfing Magazine) came up from a winter in Florida with tales of amazing jumps and lightwind ripping. Luckily Alf had several attentive girlfriends who would pick him up when he was blown to far downwind. This particular day was the first day several of the area's pioneers "tried IT" Charlie Bowman, Rich Hall & Dan Johnson began their career body dragging that cold day in May on Alf's kite.

Kitesurfing interested simmered until the new Millenium. Kitesurfing Exploded during the 2000 season. Our first trained instructor Dan Johnson started our school and convinced some of the area's finest watermen to get into Kitesurfing. Over the past several season the sport has grown and Extreme has been leading the way in our area. Improving our school, running contest, doing media events as well as traveling locally as well as worldwide spreading the news. Our finest contribution is our extensive school. We have dedicated instructor, specialized equipment; Zodiac boat all dedicated to teaching Kitesurfing safely and correctly to ensure each student has a solid foundation.

Kitesurfing, What is IT?

Kitesurfing is the MOST extreme sport today. Kitesurfing uses huge (7 to 23 meters in area) inflatable (as opposed to framed or Ram air) kites to generate enormous power which is transferred through the kitesurfer on a myriad of vehicles. Everything from buggies to roller-skates, surfboards to snowboards. This is one of the most unique draws to this sport its versatility. On Lakes bay we use primarily Directional boards (hybrid surfboards) Wakeboards (similar to water-skiing wakeboards) and the most popular is currently Twin tip boards which are a combination of Directional & wake boards. Other than boards & kites the only other parts to the kit are lines and bars. Lines are from 40 to 10 meters long made of various polymers with tensile strengths exceeding 600-lb. test. You can pull a car with these lines and the forces of kitesurfing break these lines regularly. Kitesurfing is POWERFUL. Bars are made of Carbon or aluminum and are smaller but similar in construction to windsurfing booms.

Kitesurfing is all about jumps & hang time. Yes they are fast you can take them in the surf. True wave riding is somewhat elusive. There are a bunch of transitions (flatwater tricks) that look cool, but it is all about how high and how long you get in the air. It started with little hops. Then jumping progressed to jumping over fishing boats (an impressive but illegal activity) now it is not how high but what you do while you are up there. Twists spins ect. The sky is the limit so to speak!

Most kitesurfers at this time are coming from the ranks of windsurfers. Although windsurfing has made HUGE strides in lightwind performance, it is pale in comparison to what kitesurfing is doing. So a lot of windsurfers have picked up kitesurfing as a lightwind alternative to windsurfing. Understanding the wind and its interaction with a foil (not that unlike a windsurfer sail) is helpful. But open minded enthusiasms, athleticism and a real desire to "boost some BIG air" are not overshadowed. So surfing, kiting & wakeboarding feed enthusiast to the growing sport of kitesurfing.

Finally, I would like to say that getting started correctly (taking lessons) is the best way too not only learn faster but also avoid serious injury. We encourage all folks buying a kite for the first time to take lessons. You can't just buy a plane and go fly it around endangering both yourself, others in the air as well as folks on the ground. Why should kitesurfing be any different?