The sport of kiteboarding will see new rules taking effect in the 2013 season. Foilboarding is the new kite class.
The International Kiteboarding Association has announced changes in competitive kiteboarding which will apply to Course Racing, Freestyle, Slalom, and Wave categories.
In Course Racing, there will be a new material and weight limitation for boards, lines, and kites. Riders may use four kites instead of three, per competition, and with no upper wind limit.
Kites shall be registered per event, not per season, but with one kite in each size category (15m and bigger, between 11m and 15m, 11m and smaller, 9m and smaller).
The sizes 11m and 15m are overlapping, which means a 15m kite can either be a large kite or a medium kite and an 11m kite can be either a medium or small size kite.
Also, the 360 degrees turn penalty is changed so that it includes a tack and a gybe. Redress will be limited to injury, damage, and tangles.
In Freestyle, all new PKRA judging guidelines will be adopted for general use in IKA events. In Wave kitesurfing, the qualification system of 2012 will still be used, with all 10 places pre-qualified in the Men's fleet and five in the Women's fleet from the 2012 KSP results.
The PKRA will run a Slalom tour and a new foilboarding class has been created. A Hall of Fame will be introduced rewarding past, present, and future world champions and ranking winners.