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Big Air · Expert

Kiteloop Board-Off

See it in the Trick Tree

Kiteloop Board-Off is a jump where the rider loops the kite below them and pulls both feet out of the straps to hold the board in the air before landing.

Also called: kite loop board off · Kiteloop Boardoff · loop board-off

Prerequisites

KiteloopBoard-Off

Unlocks

Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.

Schools teach this differently

The sources give opposite bar instructions for the way down, and none of them resolves it for the combined trick. IKSURFMAG's board-off tutorials say to dive the kite hard the moment your back foot is back in the strap, to pull you up over the board and out of the jump. MACkite says the opposite for the loop exit: sheet out once the loop closes so the kite parachutes you down, because holding the bar in leaves the kite powered and swings you under it. Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook also says to sheet out a little once the loop finishes, but gives a different reason — to let the kite climb faster — not the parachute effect. Which instruction wins when you stack a board-off inside a loop is not covered by anything I could open.

Ideal conditions

Steady wind is the whole game. The kiteloop coaching I could open puts the useful looping band at roughly 15-25 knots, with 14-18 knots named as the range to learn loops in, and every one of those sources warns off gusty or turbulent air because the kite can dump its power part-way through the loop. Give yourself room downwind before you commit, since a loop pulls you that way and an early pull sends you downwind harder still. No source I opened gives a wind range specific to the Kiteloop Board-Off itself.

How to do it

  1. 1. Rig and prep

    • Loosen your straps until your feet slide out without a fight, but stop short of cranking them wide open or you will lose the board on take-off.
    • Wiggle your feet back on the pads a touch so there is less to fight against when the board comes off and goes back on.
    • Wear a helmet and an impact vest, and ride a harness with a working quick-release leash.
    • Sort the loop on its own first. Downloop transitions, then jumping with a downloop.
    • Loop the kite body-dragging in waist-deep water with no board on your feet until the pull stops surprising you.
    • Wait for steady wind. Gusty air drops the power out of the kite part-way through a loop.

  2. 2. Edge, send and pop

    • Ride in hooked and powered on a hard edge. You need real speed and real load in the kite, not a tickle.
    • Send the kite gently back to just past 12 and feather the bar out as it lifts, so it climbs to 12 instead of flying across the window.
    • Slide your back hand out to the end of the bar before you leave the water so you have leverage when the loop comes.
    • Pull down hard on the bar as you go up. That is what gets the kite under control and puts the bar in where you need it.
    • Keep your take-off speed honest. Coming in too quick is why the board gets away from you at the top.

  3. 3. Loop it, then get the board off

    • Pull the loop on the way up, before you reach the top of the jump. Early drags you hard downwind, late puts you in the water.
    • Rip the back hand in fast while you push the front hand away, and hold the bar sheeted in at full power until you see the kite come all the way round.
    • Commit to the whole pull. A half-hearted one opens the loop out big and slow, and that shape comes back way more powerful than you want.
    • Lean back, extend your legs against the pull, and keep your eyes on the kite through the rotation.
    • Bring your knees to your chest and grab the board early, heelside edge for a tail grab or the handle if both feet are coming out. Watch the fins.
    • Rock your weight back in the harness so the board sits high with your toes pointing at the sky, then pull your feet out, both together or back foot first.

  4. 4. Feet back in and land

    • Keep the bar in enough that you do not drop, and sheet out if you feel the kite pulling you over.
    • If the straps grip your feet, the board is underneath you. Roll back and get it up in front of you.
    • Pull your knees back up and bring the board in front of you, then put the front foot in first so that foot can hold the board while the back foot goes in.
    • Once the loop has closed, sheet out so the kite parachutes you down instead of swinging you under it.
    • Land with the board flat and pointing downwind, slightly downwind of your track, and absorb the hit through your knees.
    • Leave the bar spun until you are stable on the water. Find red on the left, then untwist.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Half-pulling the loop because it feels safer.

Fix

Commit to the full pull. If you only pull halfway the loop goes big and slow, and it comes back way more powerful than you wanted.

Mistake

Pulling the loop at the wrong moment.

Fix

Time it on the way up, before you reach the top of the jump. Pull too early and it sends you hard downwind, pull too late and you crash down hard.

Mistake

Losing control of the board once your feet are out.

Fix

You are travelling too fast off the take-off. Ease the entry speed and concentrate on quality over quantity.

Mistake

You keep getting pulled onto your side, with no chance to land with the board back under you.

Fix

The kite is too far forward in the window. Send it a bit further behind you before take-off.

Mistake

Feet stick in the straps and will not come out.

Fix

The board is underneath you. Roll back to bring it up in front, and loosen the straps properly before you go out.

If it goes wrong

  • Learn the loop body-dragging in waist-deep water with no board on your feet, so there is nothing to land on while the timing is still wrong.
  • Have self-rescue working before you attempt kiteloops at all.
  • Wear a helmet and an impact vest, and ride a harness with a working quick-release leash.
  • Do not loop in gusty or turbulent wind. The kite can lose power without warning part-way through the rotation.
  • Stay off the water in thunderstorms and strong offshore wind.
  • If the kite starts pulling you over while the board is off your feet, sheet out to compensate rather than fighting it with the bar in.
  • Sheet out on the way down so the kite acts as a parachute. Keeping the bar pulled in swings you under the kite and can send it over your head and out of the sky.
  • Before you jump anywhere near the beach, check that nobody is downwind of you.

Learn this with a coach, not from a page

This is a high-consequence move. The sources it is built from describe riders getting hurt on it, and every one of them teaches it as a step you earn rather than attempt. Get coaching, build up in stages, ride with people who can help you, and give yourself deep water and clear space downwind.

Find a certified school

Educational reference, not instruction. Kitesurfing is a risk sport: the steps here describe what named schools, instructors and technique libraries teach, and the page lists exactly which ones, but real conditions involve wind, gusts, water state, traffic and equipment behaviour that no written guide accounts for. Schools also teach justified variations — where our sources disagree, the page says so instead of picking one. Judge your own readiness, use the safety systems on your kite, and do not attempt a move because a page made it sound achievable. KitesurfingOfficial accepts no liability for the use of this information on the water.

Questions riders ask

What wind do I need for a Kiteloop Board-Off?+

No source I opened gives a number for this exact trick. For kiteloops generally, the coaching I found points at steady wind of about 15-25 knots, with 14-18 knots named as a sensible band to learn loops in. Steadiness matters more than the number. Gusty or turbulent air is called out repeatedly as the thing that makes a loop go wrong, because the kite can lose power unexpectedly mid-rotation.

What should I be able to do before I try this?+

Two stacks have to be in place. On the loop side: ride upwind consistently, control the kite across the window, know self-rescue, then work through downloop transitions and jumps with a downloop, and loop body-dragging without a board before you loop with one. On the board-off side: be comfortable jumping, have attempted a board-off already, and ideally be able to grab a straight jump.

What gear does it need?+

A helmet, an impact vest and a harness with a quick-release leash are named as essential for learning loops. Straps loosened enough that your feet slide out effortlessly, without being cranked so wide that you lose the board on take-off. If you are taking both feet out rather than doing a one-footed tail grab, a board handle gives you something solid to hold. For learning loops, MACkite suggests practising slightly underpowered on a 6-12m kite, and notes a 12m is quite a large kite to loop on though you can make it work.

How dangerous is it?+

Kiteloops are described flatly as exhilarating but dangerous. Two failure modes get named: overlooping, where the kite loops too close to the water and you get crashes and tangles, and holding the bar in on the exit, which leaves the kite powered and swings you underneath it. On the board-off side, riders who flip or spin the board rather than just taking it off at the handle or fin are taking on extra risk of losing the board during the trick.

Where does the trick sit in competition?+

It shows up in Big Air heats. At King of the Air 2024, women's winner Francesca Maini's standout tricks included a Kite Loop Board Off, and men's winner Andrea Principi scored 7.18 with a Contra Loop Back Tornado Board Off and 6.76 with a Doobie Loop Board Off, with his title credited to a combination of height, precision and innovation. Colin Carroll's read on the level is blunt: everyone can do a massive kiteloop with front-roll and board-offs now, which is why the top riders have moved on to double loops and S-loops.

Keep reading

Sources

Every step on this page traces to the sources below. Where they disagree or stay silent, the page says so instead of guessing.