Taking Up Kitesurfing

British Kitesports was established in 1999 with the primary aim to disseminate safety information about the sport. It has grown quickly to its current membership of over 2,000. The BKSA is currently the world’s largest national kite surfing Association, as is being used as a model for other national kitesurfing associations. Membership of the BKSA is an annual fee and this includes a 3rd party liability insurance to the value of £5m.

The Hub of British Kitesports is the newly revamped website https://www.britishkitesports.org/ which has attracted over 250,000 visitors, this site allows anyone to find out information on associated schools and clubs and the wider kitesurfing world.

Through the website we now receive about 100 email a day which are all answered by members of the committee. We have answered over 2,000 enquiry emails so far this year. We are contacted daily by TV and print media for contacts, locations, stories, photos and interviews.

British Kitesports is recognised by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), HM Coastguard, International Kiteboarding Association (IKO), Power Kite Sports Federation (PKSF), Professional Kite Riders Association and all other European and International Kitesurfing national associations as the only governing body for kitesurfing in the UK.

British Kitesports is working towards the development of local clubs to help develop kitesurfing locally. The BKSA gives clubs a discount on BKSA membership so that local club member can join their club and get BKSA membership and hence liability insurance all for a reasonable price. We are currently developing dialogue with local councils and beach owners to improve and maintain access to the water as we can see that bans to the sport can be caused by ignorance and miss information.

The British Kitesports National Training officer has developed instructor training courses which has qualified over well over 100 instructors meeting British Kitesports and IKO (International Kiteboarding Organisation) standards of instruction. There are currently 20 BKSA training centres in the UK and a growing number throughout the world. As well as running have-a-go days throughout the country for all ages. There is a particularly active junior membership. We have been running a national competition series since 2001 and have had many of the top riders competing at an international level, the UK has been particularly effective in international competition and has produced two British world champions and a number of international officials.

There are 3 British bi-monthly magazines about kite surfing, which are available through national newsagents.

There are about 100 retailers of kite surfing kites, boards and accessories in Britain ranging from windsurf shops to specialist kite retailers.

The BKSA requires funding to support it's administration and liaison functions in the future. The BKSA generates a small revenue per annum through membership, as the event registrations covers the event costs.

Further information can be obtained by contacting British Kitesports via their website: britishkitesports.org

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