The windsurf brands take up the kite

In 1998 Robby Naish and the designer Don Montague asked Bruno Legaignoux for a licence to build inflatable kites. As part of the deal Montague developed kite design software. Naish was the first to buy a licence, and in 1999 Naish Sails Hawaii released its first inflatable kite, the AR3.5.

Its successor, the AR5, was the first dedicated four-line, high-aspect kite, and with it riders could jump. Other windsurf makers followed: Neil Pryde took a licence in 2000, and Cabrinha was launched in 2001 with Neil Pryde’s backing.

Wikipedia dates kitesurfing’s move into the mainstream to 1999, when the big windsurf manufacturers entered. Windsurf companies and riders now built a second sport next to their own, and the thirteen-year-old world champion of 1976 became one of kiting’s first big names.