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Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "industry"

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FredBGG
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Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "industry"

Postby FredBGG » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:54 pm

Kitesurfing is out of the Olympics.

It is only out of the Olympics because of the dumb ass companies
and their almost total disregard for safety and a long term vision of a true "industry".

Just look at just about any dumb kite company video. Promotion for them seems to equate with taking stupid risks and making that the image of kite surfing.

Just look at the total lack of helmets in their videos and endless "pro" kiters doing lame ass beach buzzes at high speed in shallow water.

Just look at the story of Theo Fusban. He broke his neck in shallow water and is now a quadriplegic
trying desperately to recover.

A few "pro" kiters got together and autographed a board and auctioned it off to help Theo. They probably raised enough to pay for less than a week of therapy that he will have to do for many many years.

The same "caring pro" kiters still make the same lame promo video.

Image
Pastor and Zoon

You can find video of these two doing the same dangerous shit in shallow water, as well as the other "pros".
Even the manufacturer of the board that was donated has videos of high speed bullshit in inches of water.

They really don't give a shit or are just too stupid to realize what they are doing.

maybe it will take a good class action lawsuit to wake them up.

Going back to kiteracing. Just look at the ISAF promo video for kiteracing. The riders are riding very close to each other at very high speed on choppy waters. They are riding these large boards with massive sword shaped sharp fins AND NO FUCKING PROTECTIVE GEAR.

All this bullshit about the box rule that is really just to make things easier for the companies, but there is absolutely no safety gear required.

A high speed accident at the front of the pack could lead to a real mess.

Message to the kitesurfing industry. TIME TO FUCKING GROW UP!

Cool is when your customers can still walk.

IF you wonder why this pisses me off... well it's because I know a thing or two about what it means to be paralyzed. I have a cousin that is a paraplegic due to an accident.

Kitesurfing can still be incredibly spectacular and just as cool with a better approach to safety.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby tautologies » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:22 pm

Now I don't disagree that we need to have a conversation about protective gear but do you know that is the reason why kiting is out of the Olympics?

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby switch313 » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:10 pm

i think kitesurfing being out of the olympics is the best thing. it would ruin it. kitesurfing is fun because its dangerous. steroid taking macho men and old women who are over the hill and cant do anything else but race a canal barge around a series of boyus being pulled by a 20m kite. rubbish. as for the industry? i dont think the sport needs multi million pound contracts with superstar athletes who sign autographs and appear on tv selling fitness products, do you? well you probally do stupid question.....

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby Thor SFBay » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:16 pm

Kiteboarding was dropped from the Olympics because of politics, not safety.

Pretty much every outdoor sport uses images of professionals doing dangerous stunts to sell the thrill. How many of us want to watch kiteboard videos of a guy wearing a helmet and impact vest going back and forth over and over again (aka "mowing the lawn")?

Lots of people want desperately to believe that there is a way to make everything 100% safe. But there isn't. It is up to you to decide if you want to do crazy stunts, wear protective gear, or race. No matter what you do, you could still get hurt or die. All you can do is decide what level of risk you are willing to put up with. I don't know much about kite racing, but if racers were getting hurt by the sharp fins on their boards, then it is up to them and their organizations to decide if they should do something about it. It is not up to the "industry" or an outside group to determine.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby plummet » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:47 pm

wowa riding the shallows is dangerous we should stop doing it!. driving to the beach is even more dangerous we should stop doing that too. i kitelandboard on the sand ... no water at all. i should stop doing that its dangerous!. ,,,,, eating bacon gives you cancer.... i should stop eating bacon. ...the herbisides on the fruit i buy is bad for me, i should stop eating fruit. ahhhhhh!

Life is dangerous. We should not stop what we love to do because of the"what ifs".

I do agree tho to limit the danger to acceptable levels. Wear a helmet and make a decision about what is acceptabel risk and what isn't. I'll boost in the shallows. but only under certain consditions.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby flyingweasel » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:55 pm

.
Last edited by flyingweasel on Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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tautologies
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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby tautologies » Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:13 pm

Thor SFBay wrote:Kiteboarding was dropped from the Olympics because of politics, not safety.

Pretty much every outdoor sport uses images of professionals doing dangerous stunts to sell the thrill. How many of us want to watch kiteboard videos of a guy wearing a helmet and impact vest going back and forth over and over again (aka "mowing the lawn")?
Thar is not true. No need to make this into something it isn't. The point is to mitigate unneeded risk. Ie do that stunt, but not be silly about it. No one is talking about mowing the lawn.
Lots of people want desperately to believe that there is a way to make everything 100% safe. But there isn't. It is up to you to decide if you want to do crazy stunts, wear protective gear, or race. No matter what you do, you could still get hurt or die. All you can do is decide what level of risk you are willing to put up with. I don't know much about kite racing, but if racers were getting hurt by the sharp fins on their boards, then it is up to them and their organizations to decide if they should do something about it. It is not up to the "industry" or an outside group to determine.
Again. No. Not 100% safe. That is not at all the point, but just taking a chance because wearing a helmet looks kooky is stupid...did you wear a helmet when you were skiing growing up? Well if you go to a ski lift in Europe these days, barely anyone is there without a helmet. Not because they don't understand that you can still get hurt, but because they protecting what is a little more precious as it were. Personally I don't care what others do but I do think companies could act more responsible. That said, I do my thing. I don't think the fins are a huge issue for a racer. They look intimidating, and obviously getting hit at high speed might not be a good idea, but I don't think that is the biggest issue. :-)

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby Vikb » Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:15 pm

Image

Makes sense. Just look at all the crazy dangerous MTBing videos companies make. That's why mountain bike racing will never make it into the Olympics.... :naughty:

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby tautologies » Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:22 pm

plummet wrote:wowa riding the shallows is dangerous we should stop doing it!. driving to the beach is even more dangerous we should stop doing that too. i kitelandboard on the sand ... no water at all. i should stop doing that its dangerous!. ,,,,, eating bacon gives you cancer.... i should stop eating bacon. ...the herbisides on the fruit i buy is bad for me, i should stop eating fruit. ahhhhhh!

Life is dangerous. We should not stop what we love to do because of the"what ifs".

I do agree tho to limit the danger to acceptable levels. Wear a helmet and make a decision about what is acceptabel risk and what isn't. I'll boost in the shallows. but only under certain consditions.
awww come on..you know better than arguing like that???
The point is OBVIOUSLY not that there is no risk. It is minimizing risk when you can. Given your next session. Let us say you are going out alone, the waves are 20 ft a mile+ or so from the beach? Nuking side off shore wind. Looks like an epic session. How do you deal with it? Do you put on that impact vest. Maybe a helmet? Do you let anyone know you are going out?

Do you give your gear a once over to make sure you do not have any obviousl weaknesses on your gear?
If you do then you are a pussy because life is dangerous?

It is silly to argue that you do not. Why the hell do you think a tow in surfer use a flotation device? Or make sure their scooter is running well? I'll tell you most people that have been held down for a bit will want to use something for flotation. Or that people know where they are? Sure it is so much cooler to not wear one, but hell the vest will take you to the place where there is oxygen.
Arguing the "life is dangerous" is silly. And you know it.

Let us not argue this like 10 year olds. Be reasonable when you argue otherwise you kind of look silly. I might not agree 100% with Fred, but I understand his point of view.

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Re: Olympics say no to kitesurfing.. a lesson for the "indus

Postby john a » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:29 pm

Message to the kitesurfing industry. TIME TO FUCKING GROW UP!
Someone else needs to grow up and speak appropriate hehe ;)
Seriously though, are you that h#### on the olympics? There was no freestyle in the OL plan, just cruising on a board that hard to get in the air ;)

You´re in the wrong sport!!! Try out curling, no wait ice and no helmet... maybe windsurf, no no helmet... maybe chess???

The pro videos are cool, the industry are cool, and yes they wear helmets when they need as on snow. Btw in these shallow waters the water are normally way deeper were they land.
The biggest danger in freestyle is not hitting the head in the water, but to get a knee injury.. maybe they should wear a knee stiffener, oh what they do...

Yes it looks dangerous, but frankly kiting is not very dangerous. These top guys have a level you will probably never even get close to, so they have a whole another level of control. What may seem scary to you are not scary to them. Not saying that people shouldn´t take persuasions, just that you shouldn´t talk down on a whole industry! Bikers or skateboarder, or skiers or snowboarders take all a bigger risk hitting way much harder than we do. You must hate that people kite on snow, be course trust me that white stuff is ten times harder than water... Watching the skimovie Claim right now and they just said "...here if you fall, you die"... skiing must be a bad industry as well then sponsoring these athletes...?

What people chose to wear and not must be a matter of personal choice, don´t judge people just be course you can´t do the same stuff with out getting hurt. I have helmets both for water and snow, and always use on snow, but not often on water, not be course of any movie, be course of the freedom without, and the fact that I´ve better control of my kite than my car :P Do you think I should wear a helmet driving as well maybe?
Last edited by john a on Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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