Gaastra has a rich history in elite-level competition. Over the years, numerous international top athletes have won titles and set records using equipment from the brand. These include windsurfing legends such as Robby Naish, Pete Cabrinha, Pascal Maka, Robert Teriitehau and the Pritchard brothers. These names helped establish Gaastra's reputation as an innovative and performance-driven brand.

In 2001, Gaastra made the move into kitesurfing, becoming one of the first major brands to enter the new sport. Since then, the brand has developed kites and twintips for freeride, big air, light wind and freestyle/wave riding. When modernising the brand name, Gaastra chose the 'GA' logo as a tribute to its roots and rich history in watersports.

Since 2025, Gaastra kites have once again been part of the Kitemana range. Want to know which kite best suits your riding style and which technologies the brand uses? You can read all about it on our Gaastra kites page.

Gaastra's watersports division is currently managed from Germany, where the parent company behind GA-Kites is based. The windsurfing, wing and foil ranges also fall under the same umbrella. So while the brand name is Dutch, its operations are international.

The kites themselves are developed in Cape Town, South Africa, under the leadership of Urs Hungerbühler, who has been the driving force behind GA-Kites for many years. He works together with World Cup racer and kitefoil expert Roy Rodwald and two-time European freestyle champion Mario Rodwald, whose feedback is fully incorporated into the development process. Testing takes place throughout the year in different locations: Taiwan for light-wind conditions and Tarifa for strong winds.

What makes Gaastra distinctive is that the brand operates its own factories for sailcloth, kites and various other accessories. As a result, Gaastra controls almost the entire supply chain itself, from the production of raw materials to assembly and distribution. This level of control provides two key advantages: consistent quality and competitive pricing, as there are few intermediaries involved. These same factories also produce products for other brands.

When it comes to sustainability, Gaastra takes a practical approach. The main focus is durability: building kites that last rather than ending up as waste after a single season. Processes at its own factories are designed to minimise material waste, while the brand continuously explores materials and production methods with a lower environmental impact. Improvements to packaging and distribution are also part of this approach. Because Gaastra manages every step of the process itself, it is able to implement these changes directly.