Connect
MJA
MJA

Kitesurfing — playing with water or with fire?

Steven JG Leeuwerke, Manimaran Sinnathamby and René Zellweger
Med J Aust 2016; 204 (8) || doi: 10.5694/mja15.01130
Published online: 2 May 2016

Kitesurfing is a relatively new water sport that converts wind energy into vertical and horizontal force using a large controllable kite. In optimal conditions, speeds of up to 65 km/h and heights of 20 m are reached.1,2 Impact at these speeds or from this height can lead to severe injuries or death,1 and such accidents have reinforced the image of kitesurfing as a highly dangerous and even reckless sport. Nonetheless, kitesurfing is rapidly gaining popularity and is among the fastest growing water sports worldwide.1

The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.


  • Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA


Correspondence: sjgleeuwerke@gmail.com

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Bourgois JG, Boone J, Callewaert M, et al. Biomechanical and physiological demands of kitesurfing and epidemiology of injury among kitesurfers. Sports Med 2014; 44: 55-66.
  • 2. Spanjersberg WR, Schipper IB. Kitesurfing: when fun turns to trauma—the dangers of a new extreme sport. J Trauma 2007; 63: E76-E80.
  • 3. Baker SP, O’Neill B, Haddon W Jr, Long WB. The injury severity score: a method for describing patients with multiple injuries and evaluating emergency care. J Trauma 1974; 14: 187-196.
  • 4. Exadaktylos AK, Sclabas GM, Blake I, et al. The kick with the kite: an analysis of kite surfing related off shore rescue missions in Cape Town, South Africa. Br J Sports Med 2005; 39: e26.
  • 5. Nickel C, Zernial O, Musahl V, et al. A prospective study of kitesurfing injuries. Am J Sports Med 2004; 32: 921-927.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.