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selfish short term kite industry

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Greenturtle
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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby Greenturtle » Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:17 pm

Kids these days just play video games haha. No really.

Kids young enough to be under parents wing still, are generally not encouraged to engage in (potentially life/limb threatening) extreme sports.

Kids are in school and cannot just leave when the wind picks up. The athletic ones are in organized sports already that soak up the free time. Same goes for young professionals, working all days including the windy ones.

You have to be passionate about kiting to squeeze it in to an already complicated and busy life, and chances are you aren’t that passionate about it until youve done it successfully, so its a dilemma that keeps a lot of people from ever getting started.

Retired people have the time and flexibility to make it happen. With a conditions dependent sport such as this you have to be able to drop everything on a day or two, or less, notice in order to get lots of quality sessions in. Most people are simply not in that position, even the retired ones.

On a part of the earth that blows every day consistently so that weekends/evenings could be relied on for a session, Im guessing all ages are on the water. I wouldn’t know for sure as Ive never been to such a magical place.
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Last edited by Greenturtle on Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby Toby » Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:46 pm

Tons of young riders in Brazil.
For many it’s the dream to become a pro...works for few luckily!

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby Greenturtle » Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:51 pm

downunder wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:34 am
jumptheshark wrote:
Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:55 pm
Knew this was a LWC post from the title.

Dude, ...

And I knew instantly that you and "Adventure Logs" are Yanks using Dude all over the place on this forum (EU). You are more than welcome to start the US forum, or:

Learn your manners. Dude might be 2x older than yourself and 3x more involved in this sport.

I don't really understand using a"dude" on the Forum where everyone is way over 40ties (or 50ties, or 60ties)...Very selfish, and shortsighted term in my books.
With due respect to all parties concerned:

The most excellent word “dude” on a (kite)SURFING forum is right where it should be. It is a term of endearment that has brought watersports enthusiasts together for many decades, even (or especially) when used in the context of a disagreement.

Dude, why so heavy man, lets hit the water and shred some gnar.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby longwhitecloud » Sat Sep 22, 2018 12:51 am

some interesting points

give it up for the brazilian youth! absolutely kill it at kiting, surfing and skating

they have a great scene, they energize off each other, the scene has an energy that other youth want to be a part of. i kited skated and surfed with a lot of brazilians.. passionate and competitive as anyone.. great energy.

scenes grow from grassroots passionate groups of riders ( gets riders stoked), but industry imo sure has a part to play and i dont think they generally show any interest in maintaining.. or should i say the effort they put in for youth kiting is a small fraction of what they used to

we had a very strong well supported youth scene at one point, nothing to do withtrust funders or rich kids.. the pressure to have the right gear ( marketing)i think has intimidated youth today..


doesnt help that influencers in kiteboarding are so opininionated one way or another.. often in polar opposite directions

world sailing wants to take anyone to court that say kiting is not sailing$
markus the iko person tells the parents of the world that kiting is as safe as any other sport
robby naish does not like wakestyle very much, agrees kiteboarding is sailing?! (gka)
andre phillips said kiting is too easy hooked in.. didnt see him ride in super high winds to demonstrate this
toby b wants airstyle as THE event
the gka thinks it is a good idea to have a comp where you switch from a wakeboard to a twintip mid heat
oh and getting the best wakestylers in the world to do a very average airstyle trick looks rediculous


anyway i guess i am trying yo be an influencer too, just without the influence

want your kids to be as stoked as you were...

kiteboarding is f$-ked up right now, a huge mess imo

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby jumptheshark » Sat Sep 22, 2018 2:22 am

Wait, what?

Didn't Alvaro Onieva win the last comp that Toby was in. It was after a normal PKRA event in Germany back in 2012. It was a one off and they called it a World Championship! Alvaro rode the final in a rubber bull mask to show how lame it was.

https://youtu.be/QdUSoMAds7c

The wake crew are the original king of the air pioneers too, and the top wake tricks and mega loops are simply the highest bar in the sport.

Big floaty safe airs are great for most of us, but its just not what can and has already been done. You call mobe variations and double passes repetitive, spastic and boring. Whats the alternative push ..... Airstyle? WTF!

Youth see right though that shit. They recognize legitimate without your oldmansplaining!

The dumbing down of elite kiteboarding is the biggest tragedy in the sport, not the IOC or World Sailing.

They will have the racing and the racers will welcome it. Elite skill in freestyle and waves will fester underground despite your pessimism.

The next generation of wake style kiters and strapless wave rippers will get their cred in the end, and the future youth will think of them as legend for their commitment.

It will come around again, and the youth will vote with their energy and passion. Despite, cost, video games, school or any other obstacle.

Right now foiling IS the evolution. Us 40+ riders should feel stoked we get something we can keep up with for a bit.

Keep bitching, your part of the problem.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby grigorib » Sat Sep 22, 2018 4:14 am

The video from 2012 seems pretty basic. Dimitry would have collected top 3-4 prizes easily there :)

Not sure what evil threat IOC or World Sailing pose. If they’re same money makers as IKO they’re toothless just as much as useless.

Not everyone cares about measuring their XXXXX and as long as I get sweet gear to ride I’ll be alright :)

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby TomW » Sat Sep 22, 2018 11:50 am

Just remember, in economies with people that have enough money to buy this stuff, the demographic is weighted to older ages. In addition behavioural lifestyle changes mean older people are more active and adopting mobile lifestyles further up in age. Finally, it's the older people who have most of the disposable income.

These economic, sociological and behavioural trends won't be changing for a long, long time.

So I don't see this " loss of youth in kitesurfing market" as a mistake or a problem. It's the industry knowing what's going on in the world around them and acting appropriately to the situation in order to make money and have a sustainable business.

Yes, there's a youthful and rising middle class in Africa, but I think that's outside the scope of this discussion.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby slim_charles » Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:13 pm

TomW wrote:
Sat Sep 22, 2018 11:50 am

So I don't see this " loss of youth in kitesurfing market" as a mistake or a problem. It's the industry knowing what's going on in the world around them and acting appropriately to the situation in order to make money and have a sustainable business.
You're probably right, just a bit of a shame... other sports seem to manage it. Football pitches, b-ball courts, skate parks etc all full of young kids watching and copying the older kids, even my local kart track has loads of youth things going on and everyone knows racing is an endless pit of $$$. Would make my day to have local kiddie come up to me after a session and say 'wow that looks cool, could you teach me?' or something too that effect but not happened in 12yrs(maybe im too s***!) but you get my point. I'd be happy too miss out on a few sessions/lend kit too help a youngen get started whereas i've lost count of the goofy 40+ guy/girl stepping out their 4x4 and saying something like 'that looks scary, how much does it cost?' with which i feel like saying 'don't bother, stick too golf' but usually just sigh and point too the school. Hearing words like 'stoked', 'dude' or the gnarly hand thing from these types just makes me die a little inside each time :lol:. As sharksky was saying, i think most of the youth are probably turned off by the general goofiness of most kite beaches, especially those coming from other board sports.... if the beaches were full of Hadlows ripping all day long things maybe different. Kiting's still a relatively young sport, things may change as time goes on.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby a99 » Sat Sep 22, 2018 5:58 pm

In my country too, lot of 40+, 50+, only few 20+. Its strange global tendency that kiting loving older people. Regarding expensive equipment ? I think no, simple no natural attraction for youngs. Why, probably kiting still its natural level of development, after skates, moto, auto , dj, clubs and etc their naturally step by step going to kiting. But for me its nice that such tendencies shows that kitting is really very seriuos sport and for mature people.

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Re: selfish short term kite industry

Postby badgb21 » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:01 pm

longwhitecloud wrote:
Sat Sep 22, 2018 12:51 am


world sailing wants to take anyone to court that say kiting is not sailing
Just ignore them.

markus the iko person tells the parents of the world that kiting is as safe as any other sport
Well, he is miss informed IMHO

robby naish does not like wakestyle very much, agrees kiteboarding is sailing?! (gka)
Good for Robby

andre phillips said kiting is too easy hooked in.. didnt see him ride in super high winds to demonstrate this
Dunno/care who he is. ( no disrespect, but just not relevant)

toby b wants airstyle as THE event
Good for Toby

the gka thinks it is a good idea to have a comp where you switch from a wakeboard to a twintip mid heat
oh and getting the best wakestylers in the world to do a very average airstyle trick looks rediculous

Does anyone care? Who could give a monkeys!


kiteboarding is f$-ked up right now, a huge mess imo

Dude, lighten up FFS nothing is in a mess, just let those dudes do their thing and go kite.


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