statement from Lou

[TomW]

I'm an old bastard, I think I'm oldest around here, 59 yrs. Guys foiling here, 24,26,27, acfew30 somethings. A couple40+ Then a few of us 50+ fairly wide demographic..

[longwhitecloud]

Fair enough but for sure some big changes in the age group of kiters over the last few years, hardly see any youth at all any more (under 21) there used to be way more. And often under 40s are rare to be seen these days at the beach kiting.

Foiling by its very nature is for sure not as attractive to younger riders that no1 cannot afford a foil easily and secondly it doesn't have the freestyle and the steep wave section surfing appeal. Also for juniors at least it poses an extra big risk.

Business is business.. Foiling is foiling but I totally agree that the industry has taken a dive.. They run a circus like joke tour, and really don't support youth kiteboarding any more like they used to.. Just interested in high margin gimmicks for the affluent middle aged.

If uh

[Toby]

Tons of young riders in Brazil !

[Flyboy]

Fair enough but for sure some big changes in the age group of kiters over the last few years, hardly see any youth at all any more (under 21) there used to be way more. And often under 40s are rare to be seen these days at the beach kiting.

Foiling by its very nature is for sure not as attractive to younger riders that no1 cannot afford a foil easily and secondly it doesn't have the freestyle and the steep wave section surfing appeal. Also for juniors at least it poses an extra big risk.

Business is business.. Foiling is foiling but I totally agree that the industry has taken a dive.. They run a circus like joke tour, and really don't support youth kiteboarding any more like they used to.. Just interested in high margin gimmicks for the affluent middle aged.

If uh

Your prejudices & pre-conceived ideas are clouding your judgement.

I've been kiting since 2000. In my recollection there have NEVER been a lot of "younger riders" (under 21) in my local area. Why? Kiting has always required a lot of equipment, it has always required transportation to the spots & it is has always required a big commitment of time with uncertain results. The younger kiters who did participate were usually the children of middle aged kiters. The exception is areas with consistent conditions & kids living in close proximity to the beach ... an obvious example would be Cabarete, where there has been an ongoing influx of young locals over the last decade & a half. I imagine there are other parts of the world where this is also true.

In reality, getting into kiting is less expensive than it's ever been - there is a wealth of cheap second hand or cheap two-year old new gear on the market - stuff that would have been considered cutting edge two or three years ago. Foiling gear is the same - you can pick up good foils for under $500 in the US & boards for another three or four hundred. This represents a great investment for time-on-the-water. Kids are only interested in freestyle or waves? You mean their attention span & willingness to work at something that isn't sufficiently "rad" is lacking? If it's true, that's their loss. I can guarantee you there are way, way more teenagers joining up for sailing lessons/clubs than are getting into kiting. Why? It's fun, it's exciting &, as a parent, you can fairly easily SCHEDULE it.

[longwhitecloud]

Tons of young riders in Brazil !

I know good people donate old kit, super expensive in Brazil.. My Brazilian friends want my old kit to take back to Brazil.. And they are adults..

Young riders s rip, going foiling isn't that appealing when u have good conditions and a capable functioning body.. Asthetically it is also not as appealing to young riders.

We had heaps of young riders.. Almost all gone. I talk to those left to find out why their friends gave up.

[deniska]

A foil is a second best tool to everyone I know with other options like surfing /kiting in strong winds. If you have watched 1 minute of foiling you really have seen it all.
Is lou's 20 year old twintip footage better than any foiling footage ever,, errr yes.

enjoy

can you describe what you saw in that minute? Cause I have seen videos where guys do 50 footers, board offs, superman stuff, riding with only one hand touching the damn thing, dark slides, kiteloops, Jesus walks, rodeos, unhooked stuff.. and the list goes on.

Surely average rider just mows the lawn.. but that can be said about TT and SB riding as well.. and even on pro-level, take a look at KOTA - the most watched kiting event!
But if you see 1 minute of it - you have seen it all really - they guys just jump, megaloop (if lucky) and maybe spice it up with a roll, grab or board off.. you can show all variations in a 1 minute clip really.. so what's your point?
As to going in strong winds - there are guys that do that on a foil, but there is sweet spot for everything and everyone.
As to best tool - it's subjective too.. I both foil and TT and honestly I can have equal amount of fun boosting on foil in 20kts and boosting on TT in 35kts.
Going back to Lou statement, (lame dangerous POS), I personally feel safer and more relaxed boosting on the foil in 20kts than boosting on TT in 35kts.. I get about the same heights but jumping in strong gusty wind with a tiny kite always seems like way more drama to me.. of course it's all subjective...

[slowboat]

Foiling is way way safer than surface riding because one uses a much smaller kite. It is kite power gone bad that causes most kiting deaths.

[longwhitecloud]

Foiling is way way safer than surface riding because one uses a much smaller kite. It is kite power gone bad that causes most kiting deaths.

I see that point with small kite light winds - but it is the same for light wind kiting with a non foil board (eg 18 knots)... f#$ landing on a foil doing freestyle... do you do this stuff? or even getting the foil in the head while wave riding. My brother was unlucky landed on his foil with his neck/voicebox - couldnt talk for a week - got away with it tho. One of the pro racers fell off and was knocked unconscious I read during a race, a mated saved him. Gunnar blacked out too foiling. This shit has happened in freestyle too though.

I have seen the one and only kgb 3 years ago, none since or anything like it, huge boosts and few few hooked moves. I am not surprised there is not much else, huge risk when you land on the foil sideways or on front of fuselage with force.

I like a bit of danger so for myself I am not too bothered. kgbing a foil does seems dumb to me and looks like $hit but each to their own - only ever seen one person try one) but for young riders/youth there is a responsibility to look after them with the right information/ examples of what has happened in the past and what was learned.

I just agree with the industry sentiment from Lou.

We have Olympic foil kiteboarding controlled by World Sailing where the total kit cost to be competitive is can be full retail $20 000 in a sport that has huge performance even with the lowest priced kit. The outcome of olympic kiteboarding is ridiculou$.

Flysonic Race vmg 3 kites and 3 bars $15 000
A top competitive carbon foil can be upwards of $4000
The board $1200

It is not far off $20 000

[Kamikuza]

I'm an old bastard, I think I'm oldest around here, 59 yrs. Guys foiling here, 24,26,27, acfew30 somethings. A couple40+ Then a few of us 50+ fairly wide demographic..

Here, I'm one of the younger locals so most of the foilers are middle-aged guys. The majority of foilers are racers but most of the non-racers have big wing foils and foil to save light wind sessions. The youngest guys from the big smoke do it all, and everyone rides at least TT and directional.

Back home, young guys who primarily freestyle, old guys who primarily surf ... everyone foils

[deniska]

I see that point with small kite light winds - but it is the same for light wind kiting with a non foil board (eg 18 knots)... f#$ landing on a foil doing freestyle... do you do this stuff? or even getting the foil in the head while wave riding. My brother was unlucky landed on his foil with his neck/voicebox - couldnt talk for a week - got away with it tho. One of the pro racers fell off and was knocked unconscious I read during a race, a mated saved him. Gunnar blacked out too foiling. This shit has happened in freestyle too though.

so you cherry picked a few events involving foils..
How about Dimitiri routinely posting scars, bruises and broken ribs?
What about Len10's broken leg? Lewis's 2 weeks coma? Kevin's broken ankle? Nick's?..and the list goes on..
Take any big boy in the industry and he had an injury, or near death experience on TT
When you push yourself in any sport you are more likely to get injured...