The Sky's the Limit!

 

Here's an article that was in the Wall Street Journal last week...

Tracy Kraft

CATCHING THE WAVE: Sir Richard Branson kiteboarding in March off Necker Island, British Virgin Islands.

On the occasion of Sir Richard Branson's 60th birthday this past summer, the billionaire entrepreneur could have thrown the party of a lifetime, sailed the seas in his yacht Necker Belle or even toasted some Billecart-Salmon Champagne aboard the new VSS Enterprise reusable spaceship built by his company Virgin Galactic.
Instead, Mr. Branson chose to try to break a speed record by "kiteboarding" across the frigid waters of the English Channel with his kids. The relatively new sport involves fastening your feet to a wake or surfboard, harnessing your body to a giant kite, and letting the wind slingshot you like a skipping stone across the sea at speeds—for those skilled enough—upwards of 40 miles per hour with jumps that can reach 50 feet skyward.
To its enthusiasts, it beats waiting for the stock market to soar. And there's a more predictable payoff.
"We were screaming along, having a great time," said Mr. Branson, "when we encountered force-four gales. The 'kiters' could manage fine, but the boats that were keeping an eye on everybody had to turn around. We decided to go back in." He paused. "We'll finish that off later in the year."

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A kiteboarder off Tynemouth, England.

The pioneering Englishman began kiteboarding eight years ago, and he's not alone in his passion for "kiting"—the new extreme sport du jour for entrepreneurs and the all-around super-wealthy (not to mention the upcoming aspirants). Among its devotees are Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Second Life founder Philip Rosedale and an A-list of Silicon Valley players and industrial Manhattan think-tankers.
"From the first day I saw someone doing it, to me it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," said Ari Horowitz, chief executive of the Access Network Co., a New York–based online publishing venture. Mother Nature notwithstanding, he said, "You're harnessing an extraordinary amount of power, and you're in total control."
Extreme kiteboarder Alexander von Furstenberg, son of the fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg and chief investment officer of a private investment firm, said, "When you're in 25 knots of wind and in 15-foot waves, nothing can compare. It's like car racing. Only there's no fumes, no noise. You're one with nature, and pushing yourself to the max."
While daredevils and fools alike have experimented with boat-less, wind-powered sport for centuries, this new incarnation originated out of Hawaii and France in the mid-1990s.
The idea: By inflating a large kite, which is attached by high-test lines to a control bar, and attaching oneself to it with a harness, a rider can power himself at speed across water, over waves, up into the air, even off of snowy mountains on skis, using the kite itself as a steering mechanism and throttle.
"The kite harnesses the wind to create a gigantic amplification of any bodily movement," said Bill Tai, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has become an international spokesman for kiteboarding. "A flick of the wrist can change the ride from a 20-mph streak across water to a 20-foot jump through the air."

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Mr. Branson kiteboarding in Perth, Australia.

By the turn of the century, kiteboarding had caught on among the legends of extreme sport, such as Laird Hamilton. Only in recent years has it catapulted into the select mainstream.
In terms of newcomers, it's seen double-digit growth in past years despite its high expense and the economic downturn, according to Aaron Sales, editor of Kiteboarding magazine. Currently there are roughly 40,000 kiteboarders in America, and 250,000 world-wide, Mr. Sales said.
"Ten years ago, I would see two or three people off Third Avenue," said Mr. Tai, referring to the California beach popular among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs because of its location in San Mateo. "Now there'll be about 100 kiteboarders on any windy weekend day in the summer."
Early on, the equipment was rudimentary, making the sport quite dangerous. After an accident in a competition killed a woman in Germany in 2002, equipment manufacturers began to develop safety mechanisms. Now kiteboarders can make the sport as extreme as they like, or not extreme at all.
"I expect to be doing it well into my 80s," said Mr. Branson.
Kiteboarders go through arduous safety checklists before "launching," similar to those used by deep-sea scuba divers. Still, experienced riders all have their lists of "kite-mares." Mr. Branson recalled being dragged across a reef once, but that pales in comparison to his scariest moment at sea.
"I was out kiting, and this big shark decided to follow us," he said. "I turned carefully, making sure I didn't sink into the water. The shark came back following for another 200 yards. I turned again, and it turned with me, and followed."
After four turns, Mr. Branson realized the haunting hulk was no shark at all. "It was the shadow from my kite that was following me."
Not all are so fortunate. Earlier this year, a kiteboarder was attacked by a school of sharks and killed a quarter mile off Stuart, Fla. That incident aside, there have been no official reports of shark-related kiteboarding fatalities.
Mr. Tai has a taste for the more extreme, and has been hospitalized three times from kiteboarding injuries. Once he was pulled out by a tide, beneath of all places the Golden Gate Bridge.
"During an ebb-tide shift, the water's moving a mile every 12 to 15 minutes," he explained. "You get in trouble, and in 15 minutes you're a mile away off the shore. Out there, there's great white sharks and massive container ships." He had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. "Still," he said, "the fun outweighs the danger."
Why does kiteboarding lure the rich and powerful? It's almost too obvious to ask. For starters, it provides a taste of risk, high stakes and flux. (It's familiar turf.) And few can afford it. Startup equipment will run about $2,500, and then there are lessons, more equipment….suddenly kiting-hobbyists are up to far larger figures.
"You've got to chase the wind," said Mr. Horowitz. The West Village–based CEO has a wind meter atop the roof of his Napeague Dunes summer house. The gales are fine off the Long Island coast, but, he said, "Wherever it's blowing that time of year, that's where you want to be. If it's blowing…I'm going."
That translates to travel to exotic locales. Brazil, Australia and Maui are all hot spots for kiters, the slang for kiteboarders.
"It's for the type of person who is attracted to industries that are fundamentally built around rapid change," said Mr. Tai. "And for people with a penchant for risk, willing to change the rules. It's for people of extreme self-confidence."
As kiteboarding popularity grows, its biggest events continue to garner spotlight, and bigger commercial endorsers. Mr. Branson's Virgin and surfwear company Billabong host an annual Woodstock for kiteboarders in the British Virgin Islands (next year the BVI Kite Jam will run from Feb. 27 to Mar. 5).
Mr. Tai has joined with professional kiteboarder Susi Mai to co-host the Mai Tai kite camp in Maui each summer, an invite-only beach-bash that serves as a networking forum for titans of new technology.
And Mr. Horowitz, capitalizing on the new upscale trend, is launching a guide and blog, kiteenthusiast.com, next year.
Meanwhile, Mr. Branson, Mr. Tai, world champion kiteboarder Kristin Boese and others are campaigning to make the sport an official Olympic event at the 2016 games to be held in Rio de Janeiro.
As for getting started, lessons are now available at countless resort towns around the world, such as Cabarete in the Dominican Republic.
"It's trial and error," said Mr. Horowitz, emphasizing, "A lot of error! But once you suck it up and get out there, it's just…sick!"