The term Windsports refers to wind powered recreation, usually including any sporting use of a nonrigid airfoil, such as a power kite or parafoil. A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull. ... A parafoil is a nonrigid airfoil, designed with an aerodynamically inflated cell structure. ...

The activities can be...

... landborne:

• Kite flying - flight of a small airfoil by a standing ground operator using 1, 2 or 4 strings
• Kite buggy and Mountain board - a medium power kite over a wheeled seated or standing (respectively) land vehicle
• Landsailing - a masted sail attached to a land vehicle
• Ice boat - a masted sail attached to a vessel with skates

...waterborne: Yokaichi Giant Kite Festival held on the fourth Sunday every May in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. ... Image:Kitebuggy. ... Mountain boarding is a new summer sport, derived from snowboarding. ... An Ice boat is a boat or purpose built framework similar in appearance to a sail boat but fitted with skis or runners and designed to run over ice. ...

• Sailing - a large masted sail attached to a boat
• Kite boating - kite powered boat in displacement or planing mode
• Windsurfing - a smaller masted sail attached via gymbal to a surfboard
• Kiteboarding - use of a large (and frequently inflated) power kite with surfboard underneath (Kitesurfing)

...or airborne: Wooden sailing boat Sailing is motion across a body of water in a sailing ship, or smaller boat, powered by wind. ... Windsurfing in Essex, England Windsurfing (also called boardsailing) is a sport involving travel over water on a small 2-4. ... Kiteboarders use inflatable kites tethered to harnesses to glide through water and air. ...

• Paragliding - soaring with a very large flexible canopy
• Hang_gliding - soaring with a rigid frame, fabric covered aircraft
• Parachuting and base jumping - controlled descent of the operator under a large flexible canopy

Similar sports that exploit aerodynamics are frequently included in the category: Paragliding (known in some countries as parapenting) is a recreational and competitive windsport that is best described as a hybrid of hang gliding and parachuting. ... Hang gliding is one of the windsports. ... Skydiver about to land Parachuting, or skydiving, is a recreational activity, competitive sport and method of deployment of military personnel (and occasionally, firefighters). ... BASE jumping is the sport of using a parachute to jump from fixed objects. ...

• Soaring - use of vertically moving air to keep an aircraft aloft
• microlight - a hang glider with a powered prop (also see ultralight aircraft)
• Parasailing - a paraglider towed by a vehicle (boat, car, or snowmobile) in order to ascend (usually over water)

The list very roughly correlates to increasing skill level and extremety, although parasailing requires little or no rider skill. Windsport activity may be regulated in some countries by aviation/maritime authority. Local authority may regulate activity in certain areas, especially crowded beaches and parks. A Blanik L-23. ... Ultralight aviation is a segment of aviation that is permitted in the United States of America by the FAA as long as certain weight, speed, and fuel capacity restrictions are observed. ... Huntair Pathfinder Mark 1 ultralight at an English airshow Ultralight aviation is a category of recreational flying. ... Categories: Sports stubs ...