Kiteboarding is the kind of thing that both is and isn’t like its name.

Kites suggest fields, kids, a half-hearted breeze and acres of string. With kiteboarding, sure, there’s the kite, leading the athlete along — but everything’s moving fast, aggressively, and the boarder’s slicing apart the water as he twists through the air.

We here at The Adrenalist prefer the second kind of kites.