During the early stages of learning to kiteboard having close chase boat support is very helpful for building confidence, retrieving frequently lost kiteboards, providing useful guidance and advice, assisting in the relaunching of downed kites and for ferrying kiters back to shore after they've drifted downwind. A soft-hulled inflatable "Zodiac" styled boat is much safer and provides far easier ingress and egress than rigid-hulled boats and has the added advantage of being more stable while moving around in the boat (thanks to the relatively flat shape of the hull and the buoyancy being located around the boat's perimeter.