Kiteboarding Calculator

The kiteboarding calculator will help you to estimate which kiteboarding kite and kiteboard size you should use in chosen wind conditions. It can also work the other way round - type your kiteboarding kite size, and the optimal wind speed with maximum-minimum range will appear.

We based the kiteboarding calculator on the formulas from the kitesurfing spreadsheet by J. Douglass.

There are many different shapes of kites on the market:

• C Kite
• Bow Kite
• Hybrid Kite
• Supported Leading Edge (SLE) Kite
• Foil Kite

The calculator finds out the kite size for the bow kites. The kite sizes are determined according to your weight and wind speed, but not your experience in kite surfing. Remember that the smaller kites will get less wind and power, so they are easier to control by first-timers. Approximate kite sizes for beginners are:

• < 120 lbs = 5 m²
• 121 - 150 lbs = 7 m²
• 151 - 175 lbs = 9 m²
• 176 - 200 lbs = 11 m²

• > 200 lbs = 13 m²

The values above relate to regular kites. The trainer kites are much smaller, but they are not only recommended for beginners. They can help to develop your kite skills and kite control. They are great for crashing and most important - kiteboarding trainer kites are really fun!

You can choose the trainer kite option in our kiteboarding calculator to check what's the best kite size is for you.

The kiteboarding calculator will help you to choose the board size according to your weight and three basic wind conditions. However, you need to remember that the board size choice is a more complicated task. Those are all factors that should be taken into account:

1. Weight of kiteboarder - the most basic parameter used as a reference point.
2. Average wind strength - the general rule is: that the harder the wind is, the smaller the board can be.
3. Preferred style of riding - for advanced high flying, fast riding kiteboarding, you can think of choosing smaller boards than coming from the equations.
4. Overall board shape - the board size will differ with the rocker (bottom curvature), width (usually in the 40-43 cm range), and outline (profiling shape of the board).

Let's assume you're a newbie. Calculate the kiteboarding board and kite size for you:

1. Start by typing your weight. Remember that you can always change the units - simply click on the unit displayed and select the one you prefer from a drop-down list. Suppose your weight is 180 lbs (~ 82 kg).
2. Choose the kite type. The trainer kites are a good way to get started with kiteboarding, so let's select that option.
3. The board sizes for beginners have appeared already! It's 69.5 in length and 18.4 in width.
4. Continue typing the values. As you have no idea what size the kite should be, estimate the speed at which you expect to kiteboard. Enter the speed into the Ideal speed box. Assume it's 15 knots.
5. Hey! You found the perfect trainer kite size! It's 2.8 m².

Are you curious about how many calories you burned during average kitesurfing activity? Check our calories burned calculator.