Kiteboa STORY LIV BUTERA PHOTOS NANCY HALE
E
ver taken a stroll along the Mandeville Lakefront on a windy day and noticed those guys attached to kites surļ¬ng on the lake? Yeah, us too! The Northshore oļ¬ers a wide variety of outdoor sports and activities. One can go biking or even horseback riding on the St. Tammany Trace; camping in Fontainebleau State Park; kayaking the swamps, bayous, and rivers; tubing on the Bogue Chitto; or, in Dimetry Cossichās case, kiteboarding on Lake Pontchartrain. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Cossich about this extreme water hobby. Cossich, who is from Southeast Louisiana, has been living in Mandeville for a few years now. āI grew up wakeboarding and waterskiing. When I discovered kiteboarding in 2016, I was instantly hooked,ā tells Cossich. Kiteboarding, or kitesurļ¬ng, is not a sport that is familiar to most of us. This is an extreme sport where the kiter uses wind power with a large power kite to be pulled on water. Sound like something you would be interested in? Dimetry Cossich can help you get started. āI only oļ¬er beginner lessons in Mandeville on a small trainer kite. This is an initial land-based lesson to gain experience ļ¬ying a small kite safely. This is the foundation of the sport. If you want to progress further and learn how to ride a large kite on the water, you will need to travel to Gulfport, Mississippi. There is more space on the coast of the Mississippi Sound for learning to kiteboard safely. The Mandeville spot is for experienced riders who understand the risks involved.ā Kiteboarding is not a sport to try on a whim. Cossich explained that there are signiļ¬cant risks involved, so he highly recommends starting with professional lessons. āYou need to learn how to properly set up the gear, as well as how to launch and land the kite. You need to learn the right-of-way when kiting with other people in the area. You need to learn how to use the safety release. You also need to understand how fast things can happen if the wind picks up. With a kite, you can control your own speed and direction. You are like a sailboat, zigzagging to ride upwind. Most importantly, you have to be able to pilot the kite in order to not generate too much power when launching, landing and maneuvering on land. The majority of kiteboarding injuries occur on land.ā Once you have the proper safety training, kiteboarding is an exciting pastime easily accessible here on the Northshore. Like many extreme sports, kiteboarding does not require too much equipment. Cossich details, āthe equipment you will need is a kite, the board, bar and lines, and a harness. We ride pretty much year-round, and