Kite surfing requires plan for "wind window" and safety

7/7/2008On a windy Thursday afternoon at Nahant Beach, Adam Gordon kneels down to draw a curved line in the sand. He's not making a point, but illustrating the concept of what he calls a "wind window."

He marks 80 degrees by both ends of the curve and asks toward which should he launch the kite. This time he is trying to make a point.

"You can choose either side of the window to launch. I put it here [he puts it toward the water end] because the water's here. In the other direction [towards the sand] there's traffic, baby carriages, and people," he said.

These are things to consider when kite surfing.

Gordon, an instructor at the Boston Kite School, charges $299 to prospective students for a two-day lesson in kite surfing, a water sport that uses wind power from a kite sail to tow a boarded rider.

"The reason I choose 80 degrees is so that I can make sure the kite has enough wind to fill in the sail and launches. If I get too much out of the wind, the kite can roll over into the power zone, which is called a hot launch. Today we do not want to do that with the kite," he said.

With winds reaching 30 m.p.h., Gordon, or "Captain Safety," adheres strictly to safety protocol, according to the Boston Kite School website.