Largest wave kitesurfed

What to remember

On 22 January 2023, Patri McLaughlin rode a 21.9 m wave on a kite. The previous record dated from 2018, when Nuno Figueiredo surfed a 19 m wave at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal.

A kitesurfer is pulled by a large kite, linked to a harness by lines (usually 4 or 5) and steered with a bar that acts as an accelerator depending on the wind. Riding waves calls for a directional board, built to ride and carve them. That is what sets kitesurfing apart from kiteboarding, where a twin-tip board is used mostly for tricks and flips.

Paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding all left their mark on it. The first designs were tried out in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the sport found a wider public in the late 1990s and went mainstream around 2000. Riders compete in freestyle, wave-riding and racing.