| Wakeboard: | A wing, kite, or sail used to generate lift or propulsion. |
| Water start: | Starting in deep water by lying on your back and letting the kite pull you up onto your board. Like a water ski start or a windsurfer water start. |
| Whip: | To bind strands of a line with a small cord. |
| Wind range: | Used to describe the range of winds that a kite will fly well in. Usually given in knots or Beaufort scale.
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| Wind Window: | The air space in which the kite can fly, shaped like a quarter of a sphere. For all practical purposes, the wind window is the area you can see with your eyes when you are facing straight down wind (90 degrees to the left, 90 degrees to the right, and straight overhead). |
| Windward: | In the direction toward the wind. Opposite of leeward. |
| Wing: | A term used sometimes for a kite. |
| Wing Span: | The widest measurement of a kite often taken from wingtip to wingtip |
| Wipika: | A French manufacturer of the original inflatable (bladder) kite developed by the legendary kite boarding pioneers, Dominique and Bruno Legaignoux. |
| Working the kite: | Making figure eights or sine patterns with the kite to generate more power by increasing apparent wind on the kite. In light winds it helps to really work the kite.
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| Wrist Leash: | A safety leash attaching to your wrist to allow you to depower the kite by letting go of the control bar. Then you can retrieve the control bar and your kite. If the control bar gets ripped out of your hands, the wrist leash pulls on one line causing the kite to flatten out and depower. The end of the wrist leash is often attached about several meters up one flying line. Wrist leashes are obsolete and dangerous because they may be impossible to release if the opposite arm/hand is incapacitated and the kite does not depower for some reason. |