Wind is the rough horizontal movement of air (as opposed to an air current) caused by uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. It occurs at all scales, from local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting tens of minutes to global winds resulting from solar heating of the Earth. The two major influences on the atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect)
Wind sports such as kitesurfing can deliver radical emotions to the human being. From frustration to devastation, triumph and exhilaration, Wind is unique in the fact that you can not physically see it.
As we cannot control wind (at this time) wind fits into our lives in a completely different way then something as routine as say, Work. It can really take control and cause kitesurfers to re-plan their whole lives around it.
Lets take Steve on the left, just received a phone call from Bill down the beach explaining how good the session was at his local beach. Steve chose to do a bit of overtime after work even though there was a 50/50 chance of wind. As Steve well knows after looking at the forecast in the morning, this is the last of the wind in his area for quite sometime. Steve is absolutely devestated.
Bill (to the right) on the other hand took the chance. He clocked off work at 2 to get down the beach and hit the sea-breeze of the season. Bill was so stoked in fact, that he had to ring a load of people to tell them about it. One of those people was Steve.
Steve’s peace with the situation will come from the understanding that when you miss a good session- “That’s just how it goes” but at first it hurts. This however, is the main reason Wind users choose wind as their thing, as you cannot use it whenever you choose. Finding good wind becomes part of the challenge and in turn the reward is so good it makes you want to do it again and again. Kitesurfing is therefor on par with Surfer’s who are reading swells looking for the perfect waves and Snowboarders searching for the best powder to ride.
Wind can also have considerably deeper effects on human beings that can literally drive them crazy. In the South of Spain lies a town notorious for this called ‘Tarifa’. Before windsurfing Tarifa’s claim to fame was an unusually high suicide rate, attributed to the ‘levante’, a hot gusty wind funnelled by the mountains of the south of Andalucia on one side and the Rif mountains of northern Morocco on the other. Forced through the straits of Gibraltar, the levante hits Tarifa like a pressure hose and blows a reported 165 days a year, sending locals insane and tourists back to the Costa del Sol. Wind energy today has thrived there and wind turbines are visible all over the town’s hills.
Ruben Lenten riding Tarifa on a “Levante” known in English as “El Bastardo“
