Kevin Langeree leaving Naish...

[Kiter_from_Germany]

100% owned

I guess all the salaries come out of his pocket then. Robby Naish has always struck me as being a pretty shrewd business man, and he seems to be very enthusiastic about foiling and probably sees that as the future of his brand. Perhaps alot of the resources of Naish are going into Foil R&D. Although guys like Kevin produce some great content how much of it translates into sales? I guess as with anything it is about how much they earn vs what they bring to the table.

Hi,
we can just be lucky if the INet just bringing something to us. So I don't know nothing personal from each of both.
But looking back, let me add some wild speculation.
In my optionion Robby looked really unhappy when being with Kevin promoting the Pro Product 2020 in October. Now this seems plausible to me ....
Regarding the quoted post of UK Surf, my opinion is that exit idea does not come from or aggreed by robby.



Nevertheless: I wish both a good luck.
Great Products, great men - done a ton for the sport and will do in future, I'm sure.

[Toby]

but that's some months ago?

Don't think it was known before...otherwise would they have done a pro model knowing he leaves?

[UKSurf]

It is all wild speculation. At the end of the day Kevin Langeree is one of the top kitesurfers in the world and is a great personality who produces some great content. I would agree there seems to be "some tension" in that video you posted. Robby Naish is a very successful business man as well as a legendary windsurfer/kitesurfer, and I would expect this is in part to do with the direction Naish is heading in as a company more than anything else (ie foiling). Kite surfing is a fully developed and highly competitive market - you only have to look at the number of kites being dumped by big brands at the end of each season at cost. The timing might suggest that they were renegotiating his compensation for the next year and they could not reach something that was in both parties best interest.

[tautologies]

I think the key here is Kevin showed that a fairly ordinary looking wave orientated kite (the Pivot) also had huge ability at big air and this opened it up to a much bigger and younger market. If Kevin was not regularly boosting massive on the Pivot it would have been a very low selling kite in the Naish line up. Youri Zoon did wonders for the Slingshot RPM and showed how the RPM had more to it than first meets the eye, same with Aaron Hadlow on the Vegas.

I imagine Kevin is aware he may only have a few years left as a top big air rider and wants to settle down a bit, and why not. There are very few sportsmen who see out their whole careers with one club/sponsor, good on you Kevin and thanks for the great Kevlogs....

The Pivot was already a huge success when Kevin started using it. It has never been an ordinary kite But he did definitely show us mere mortals that what we believed the kite could do was true.
Yeah the Kevlogs are fantastic. He is definitely a fantastic rep for the sport.

My point earlier is that there is no way for a kiter to make enough money to settle down unless you learn another skill. Brands that are willing to pay a premium on the premium can't succeed. I am willing to bet that what dragged Best under was their signing of everyone.
I think the Naish model work for them.

If I were a company I would try to get the "pros" to work part time. Use them and teach them a trade. Set them up with skills to succeed in the future. Do that part of the time, then at the same time set them up with a physical program to help them succeed as athletes too. Very few kiters have good strength and condition programs. Jesse and Langeree are actually some of the exceptions in this regard.

The brands are already paying them a salary, then treat them as employees.
Work a certain percentage, split between brand / product work and sports / athleticism work. Make them have KPI's deliverables just like any other worker. Make them log their time.

[WindJunkieFL]

It would be neat to see Cabrinha scoop him. I think bottom line he needs to go where the money will be longest term. Like most others, my immediate thought was North, but I think I'm rooting Cabrinha since I've always owned their gear. Either way, I love his YouTube content. He and Sam Light are my favs.

[KiterNF]

There are rumours that he signed at RRD and would Ride the new Y25 Addiction

[a99]

yes, in this video Naish looks very unhappy and a would say a sad.

[Surfkiternew]

I think he ll go in Naish probably

[apollo4000]

Done deal.
Flexifoil for €25m.
First kite the..
..Higgs-Boson in Rasta colours.
14 line Foil-LEI hybrid with click inflation system
Game f£&king changer!
....

[Havre]

Funny how one might interpret things differently. To me he looks bored. I will often look like that sitting in meetings listening to something you have heard 100 times before.