KITEBOARDING IS growing fast, but it would grow a lot faster if it weren't for the "kitemares"—those times your kite gets unruly and turns you into a helpless marionette of the wind gods, with sometimes lethal results. I've lost count of the number of times complete strangers have lectured me on the dangers of the sport. But the statistics don't justify the panic. Last year there were only three kiteboarding deaths in the U.S. out of an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 riders. That's not many, contends SBC Kiteboard magazine columnist Rick Iossi, who also runs a Web forum on kiteboarding safety where he posts detailed recaps of kiteboarding injuries and deaths worldwide. According to Iossi, if you calculate the number of fatalities per 100,000 people, paragliding ranks number one, at 88, motor-vehicle deaths come in at 15, and kiteboarding lands somewhere between eight and 12. "Kiteboarding is safer than driving in the U.S.," Iossi says, "and statistically only slightly more dangerous than scuba diving."

Nearly all kiteboarding injuries and fatalities occur during the launch or landing of the kite. That's when a rider is on or near land and a gust from a fast-moving squall can loft him into a solid object. Getting lofted is every kiteboarder's biggest fear. Buildings are hard. Slam into one and you might die. Once on the water, your risk of colliding with something like a Dairy Queen is greatly reduced. I've had a few minor lofting incidents that have left me with scrapes and bruises, but no face plants into fast-food joints. Not so for Iossi. "I had my first lofting in 2000." On that seemingly peaceful morning, a gust slammed him into a deck railing, leaving him with severe head injuries and a mangled foot. One of the highest loftings known happened in the Dominican Republic in 2000. "A guy got blown 100 feet high and 800 feet downwind from a gust that spiked to 52 knots," says Iossi.

To tackle the lofting problem, kite manufacturers have developed innovative kites and rigging technologies that let a rider depower in a gust. Many kiters now wear helmets and also carry hook knives to cut themselves from tangled lines in emergencies. Or, when things get really dire, there's the "Oh, shit" handle—something you might want to pull, for instance, if lofted toward a six-lane interstate. Yank it and the entire kite breaks loose from its rigging and flies away. You'll likely lose your kite, but at least you're not going to get smashed by an 18-wheeler.