| Camber: | The curvature of an object such as a sail or kite usually used when referring its aerodynamic properties. |
| Cell: | A parafoil is divided up into ribbed compartments called cells that are filled by the wind. |
| Chicken loop (trim loop): | The loop that connects to the spreader bar. This loop is used transfer the power of the kite to the body rather than the hands. It connects to the main line that travels through the middle of the control bar and attaches to the two front kite lines. Hooking into this loop allows the bar to travel up and down along the mainline. This changes the Angle of Attack (AOA) of the kite allowing the power (or pull) to be adjusted on the fly. |
| Chikara: | A kite material. It is a nylon cloth. |
| Chord: | A measurement of the kite between the leading and trailing edges. |
| Close hauled: | Sailing in a direction as far upwind (toward the wind) as possible. |
| Close reach: | Sailing somewhat towards the wind but not close hauled. A close reach is a point of sail between a beam reach and close hauled. |
| Closed cell (Ram Air): | These kites normally have a limited number of air intakes and a valve system to prevent the air to escape after a fall. The force of the wind fills the cells and flaps close off to keep the air in the kite. This allows the kite to hold some structure for easier relaunch (especially helpful on the water).These types of kite are called closed cell foil foils or ram air foils. |
| Coefficient of lift (CL): | A measure of how hard a kite pulls relative to its projected size.
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| Control bar: | A single bar used by the kiteboarder to control the kite. The trailing edge kite lines are connected to the ends of the bar. The leading edge kite lines connect to a heavy mainline which passes through the center of the bar and is connected to the chicken loop. Bar length is typically 45cm-55cm. |
| Creep: | The amount a line permanently lengthened when pulled. Also called Line Stretch. Loosely braided line has a lot of creep, tightly braided has less, linear core line has the least. If all the lines creep evenly, it's pretty much unnoticeable. On ram-air and hybrid kites, the power lines creep more than the brakes, causing the kite to fly sluggishly. |
| Cross Venting: | Holes cut into the individual cells of a parafoil to allow air to pass through between the cells. |