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By http://www.reuters.com/journalists/ed-harris with inflatable rims that help fallen kites relaunch.

"Strong gusts come, you just push away the bar," Braeuer said, adding that safety improvements had been key to boosting the sport's popularity.

TARGETING TOURISTS

Kitesurfing could help Mauritius reach its ambitious target of two million tourists per year by 2015, more than twice the current number.

"We have the lagoons, we have the space for it," Nico Kux, an instructor and early enthusiast, told Reuters. "Mauritius is an incredible place for kitesurfing and it's not just Le Morne."

He believes kitesurfing could account for 10 percent of tourists in Mauritius by 2015, although his early forays into the sport were not initially welcomed. "Everybody wrote me off, of course -- big boy, playing with a kite," he joked.

Last month, he organized a "Kiteival", inviting top kitesurfers from around the world for an event over several days to showcase the island's attractions. Some needed no persuasion.

"Where else can you kite all around the year?" said Jobst von Kirchmann, a European diplomat based in Mauritius. "You put your MP3 player on and go for a ride for a couple of hours, looking at the mountains."

Von Kirchmann http://windsurfcanada.com/ may enjoy it, but the need for physical flexibility, stamina and an appetite for risk means champion kiters are getting younger and younger.

Standing nearby in dreadlocks and dark glasses, Thomas Cocquelet, a 20-year-old Frenchman who was world champion in 2005 and is still one of the world's top 10 kiters, says he rates Mauritius highly.

Greg Thijsse, a laid-back 22-year-old from South Africa, has been competing at top levels for several years.

"It can be http://www.viveresporte.com.br/produtos/ dangerous if you don't know what you're doing," he says. "Ever since I started, I was hooked."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mauritius-kitesurfing-idUSL0481759420070808