Not Broken Now
Issue 74 / Mon 8th Apr, 2019
In 2016 Rou Chater wrote an article called, Professional Kiteboarding Is Broken, he’s back to revisit it after three years to see what’s changed and how the competitive kite scene has got better in the last couple of years.
Back in 2016, Rou Chater wrote an article asking if Professional Kiteboarding Was Broken… Three years on it’s been a rocky road but are we finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel for the sport?
Some of us are competitive, some of us aren’t, some of you probably enjoy watching kite competitions, many of you probably couldn’t care less. However, all of us should care genuinely about the future of our sport and where it is headed.
In 2016 the top end of the competition scene was seemingly bereft of any direction, it was a worrying time. However, 2019 marks the first time perhaps in the history of the sport that we have a full event calendar in not just one, but five disciplines.
It may sound strange, but I can’t remember the last time that actually happened! In the past, we’ve had the PKRA, and KPWT running events, various race series under the IKA, the KSP ran a solid wave tour for a short while, and then the Virgin freestyle debacle happened.
While you may or may not care about the professional competition scene, it matters as it all filters down to us all eventually. If the top level of the sport is unhealthy, then there is a real danger that it can subsequently filter downwards and send the sport into a spiral. If you think we are too big to fail, does anyone remember rollerblading?
Thankfully we look set to have perhaps the healthiest year of competitive sport we have ever seen. Racing, Freestyle, Waves, Big Air, Strapless, Park, it’s all got some representation this year, and except for perhaps Park, the calendar is literally bursting with opportunities for the best riders in the world to show us what they are made of.
The race scene has always been healthy, and love it or loathe it, World Sailing has undoubtedly added some kudos to this side of the sport, even twin tip racing got a substantial airing at the Youth Olympic Games last year. While we can’t seem to perhaps decide on the ultimate format, it looks like hydro foiling of some description will be making an appearance in the 2024 Games. There are swathes of young riders training hard all around the world chasing that dream
For everyone else, the Hydrofoil Pro Tour continues to run events across several continents while the prize money at the IKA and World Sailing events just keeps on getting more meaningful. I bet you wouldn’t expect a top-level racer to earn far more in prize money than the worlds best freestyler?
Perhaps it is time to sharpen those foils rather than break yourself learning the latest handle passes…
Away from racing the Strapless Pro Tour, which includes both wave events and freestyle, keeps going from strength to strength. I would even argue it’s the dogged determination shown by those involved that events can work and operate well that has turned much of this scene around.
Regardless of the camp you are in, the competitions on offer this year are plentiful. If you compete, that’s a good thing, if you don’t, and don’t even care that’s still a good thing. Ever since the second kite was made, kiters have been competing, for us, it’s usually all about who can jump the highest. Thanks to the WOO you no longer need to even argue about it anymore, although that little blue box has perhaps caused more issues than it’s solved!
The main benefit of competition is the inspiration it creates, and this is never more present than in the young of the sport. Ask any middle-aged weekend warrior down the beach what they aspire to, and it’s probably being able to bend far enough at the waist to grab tindy on any given Sunday.
Ask a young frother what they are dreaming of, and it will usually be something totally achievable like becoming a world champion and a pro kiteboarder. Whether that is attainable is totally down to them, and the support around them, however, enough riders have done it to make it an aspirational goal for many of the youngsters in our sport.
That’s an important concept right there, without that young, hungry, passionate youth, the sport would easily stagnate at its current level. Without competition forcing riders to become better and push the limits further, we’d all still be thinking a backroll was a radical move. The benefit to everyone within all of this is that kiteboarding equipment develops at a pace too.
The best riders in the world demand the best equipment in the world, gear that makes it easier for them to ride waves, perform the latest tricks or get around the race course as fast as possible. All of this demand for perfection pushes the designers to carry on creating equipment that continues to develop in a forwards direction.
After all, the easier the equipment is to use for the top riders, the easier it is for you. The trickle-down effect in the sport of kiteboarding is a factor that should never be overlooked. For sure we all want better gear, but when it’s an arms race at the top that hunt for perfection suddenly becomes a lot more dogged.
Back in 2016, this was my main argument for saving the competition scene in kiteboarding. It provides inspiration, heroines and heroes and it pushes the brands to keep on top of the arms race of making equipment better to enable their athletes to push the limits even further. It’s this healthy symbiosis that the sport most definitely needs.
What’s changed then since 2016? Perhaps the real driving force is the realisation that kiteboarding isn’t a billion-dollar sport. The VC’s and money people behind the Virgin debacle have all pulled out, further sharks looking to make money have realised there isn’t any, and in the main the job of running the events has fallen to passionate individuals and groups of people with the good of the sport firmly in their sights rather than dollar signs.
I’m not going to say it’s perfect, far from it, but compared to where we were three years ago it feels like we are light years ahead, and in time things can only get better if we keep pushing the sport in the right manner. The GKA’s influence in recent years I feel has been a positive one. Although we could debate that until the sun comes up.
Originally set up as an industry body to help the brands work together for the good of the sport, some brands have since left as the organisation becomes increasingly involved with the competition scene. However, their success in this regard is indisputable. From the humble beginnings of the Tarifa Strapless Pro to having 20 events scheduled for 2019 the influence they have had on the competition scene is impressive.
Are we moving towards a unified competitive body in the future, I’m sure that will be the goal of a few people within the sport? Is it right that the brands are essentially running the competition scene, perhaps, at the end of the day someone has to do it, and in the last few years no one has managed to wield the clout that the GKA have in this regard.
If they manage to pull off the full roster of competitions, then it could be the most impressive achievement in the sport at a competitive level since perhaps ever. Good luck to them.
Unification makes it easier for kiters to follow one tour and for one true world champion to be crowned. Sadly in kiting we have always seemingly struggled with this, rival tours like the KPWT and PKRA muddied the water in the early days, since the death of the KPWT the PKRA was king for a while, but the format wasn’t ideal, and a lot of the best riders in the world turned their backs on it.
Now it seems we have the events, have the format largely dialled, and could well be on our way to the best year of competition the sport has ever seen.
However, before everyone pats themselves on the back at a job well done there are still a few crushing issues that need to be ironed out. Namely the prize money and live streams, and I might not be about to say what you think I will…
Live streaming is excellent if you watch it, and I mean watch it from start to finish, not have someone drop in for five minutes and then tune out. The cost of live streaming is enormous, especially in some of the faraway places the events go to. It’s a massive expense that perhaps doesn’t offer a sound return on investment for the competition.
It seems for a few years it’s all anyone cares about, and while I stand by events like the KOTA, which have a waiting period and are only run when the wind is blowing, other events surely don’t justify it. Kiting is small compared to surfing, there are far fewer participants, at the last best guess there were 35 million surfers in the world and around 250,000 kitesurfers. It’s not rocket science to see that while the World Surf League struggles to get an ROI on its live stream, kiting really doesn’t have much of a chance either.
I think it was the KSP (Kitesurf Pro Tour) who first put a stake in the ground to run a live stream at every event, in the end, it pretty much killed them financially. Surely we should be learning from mistakes of the past and perhaps looking to put that money towards the prize fund. It’s a huge chunk of cash and could make a big difference to the riders at the event, rather than letting a few thousand people watch a few minutes of footage.
On the subject of prize money comes the issue of equality, the World Surf League made all prize funds equal last year for the girls and the boys, and the GKA Strapless Tour in Brazil made the bold statement of making the prize fund equal.
However, was that the right thing to do? If you look at the freestyle events, the level of the girls is off the charts. They have spent years training and working towards their goal, watch the live stream and the excitement in terms of the ability is almost equal. Watching Mikali Sol throwdown is just as impressive as watching Carlos Mario.
Strapless Freestyle though, that’s a whole other ball game. While the guys have been training for years and are at a near Jedi level, OK so a few of them are already beyond that, the girls are miles behind. The contrast was so stark in Brazil; it was borderline embarrassing, and the same thing happened at the other events too.
Alright, so the girls have to start somewhere, and competition breeds progression but does it really have to be live streamed at a ridiculous expense? Are they just making the prize pot equal for the sake of it? Is it equality at any cost?
Before you all decide I’m some kind of misogynistic psychopath keen to earn the ire of the entire female kiting population, I’ll stop you. I’ve long been one of the biggest protagonists of women in our sport. We’ve had more women on more covers than anyone else put together. We have a dedicated female feature every issue, and we employ more women than we do men.
Years ago we even put a ban on any kite videos that over-sexualised women in a negative manner by showcasing them as beach furniture rather than actual sportspeople. We also refused to run one of our advertisers brand videos on this basis, which caused a few disturbances in the space-time continuum.
Women are awesome, and they make incredible kiters, the list of incredible female athletes over the years is a long one, Kristin Boese, Gisela Pulido, Bruna Kajiya, Jalou Langeree, Steph Bridge, to name just over a handful. Do women deserve an equal share of the prize pot? 100%. Don’t get me wrong, I support that.
Should we just give it to them for the sake of it as a near publicity stunt in Strapless Freestyle when the level is barely that of a weekend warrior while the guys aren’t just on another planet by comparison they are in another universe? Should it be related to the number of girls that enter the event, after all, if only 5 girls show up the chances of a podium are much easier than for the 30 guys battling away on the other side of the draw?
I’d say in racing, freestyle, waves and park the girls are all deserving, strapless freestyle though; perhaps it just doesn’t justify it. What’s the solution to all this, how do we move forward?
For a start, let's lose the obsession with live streaming except for huge events like the KOTA or a few special events where we are almost guaranteed epic conditions and the chances of a good show justify the cost. Instead, let's get back to end of day 5-10 minute video round ups that people can watch and share. The meat and bones of it like we used to have, reducing the costs and getting the show to a larger group of people.
With the extra funds, we can then increase the prize money for the riders at the events and ensure they all feel like it’s worth the effort to keep pushing the top level of the sport. When the best riders in the world keep dropping out of the competition scene you have to ask yourself why the incentive has gone.
Secondly, let the women earn the same because they deserve it because they are badass and have spent years training their butts off to get to a level where they can almost compete with the guys. Perhaps even have an entry related system too that takes into account the amount of money generated from the female entry fees.
Encourage the girls to keep training and keep competing in strapless freestyle, but let's not live stream it or devalue the efforts of the guys by throwing equal prize money at a discipline that is so obviously skewed. When some of the girls on camera can’t even throw a backroll or make a gybe, surely we need to have a look at ourselves and ask a few questions…even if I don’t have the right answers!
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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
