Take Your Pick

Your choices matter in kiteboarding. Whether it's who you voted for in our Readers Awards, what gear you spend your money on, or how you engage with rider and brand content online, your decisions fuel the industry. Read more, and hear from your Readers Awards winners in this IKSURFMAG feature by editor Crystal Veness!

We make choices every day, sometimes without even realising it. Our lives are filled with decisions, so many that it would be impossible to count how many we make in a single day. 

Some choices have very little impact on our lives, like how you take your eggs at breakfast. It's a simple decision and one that is largely preference-based. Others, like which route to drive to work, are made by considering our own experience, knowledge, and information. You could call that a logic-based decision. Whether you should try to make it through that yellow light or not, with so little time to analyse, could be considered an intuitive decision. Then, of course, there are choices that are made based on our self-identity or personal values. An example would be what clothes you wear, or if you're going to answer that call from your mum even though you're in the middle of something important.

Eleveight Kites | View in Mag

Slingshot | View in Mag

What about when it comes to kiteboarding? Let's look at kite gear, as an example. Some kiters buy gear because they admire the team riders from a specific brand, others because their local shop owner gave them a great deal, and others on something as simple and superficial as the colour or graphics. Every kiter has a different decision-making process, and none are inherently wrong, no matter what other kiters try to tell you! 

There's nothing wrong with making choices where performance isn't the most significant consideration. After all, most kite gear out there is a good choice. Other than, perhaps, a pure C kite for a beginner kiter, most kites will work for any beginner to intermediate level rider. Even if a beginner chooses a pure C, or a kite in their favourite colour, that may be an expression of their self-identity, and is a fair choice. As much as buying the kite that feels the best on the water is important, buying the kite that makes us feel the best on the water - which sounds the same but isn't - is a reasonable decision. 

Tribalism has reared its head in the kitesurfing community. We pick our preferred brands, and our teams, and we defend them fervently. While this can add a bit of sport to the game, and some ribbing amongst friends, we should also consider the negative impact of judging and criticising the choices of others. We are all entitled to our own opinions and choices in kiteboarding, and we don't all have to agree. Once again, almost all kiteboarding gear is good kiteboarding gear. There are very few bad choices. And, most importantly, if it's your money, you can do what you want with it!

There are some other theories on choice which also apply to kiteboarding. An interesting one that has been both proven and disproven, depending on which scientific study you read, theorises that having less choice makes the act of making a decision easier. Choice overload, or being "spoiled for choice", makes it difficult to make a choice to begin with, and once we do, the chance of regretting said choice is not small. With so many options available, it's easy to blame ourselves for making a "wrong" choice.

Back when the only kite in the F-ONE lineup was the Bandit, it was simple. You bought a Bandit. Now, there are nine different kites on the F-ONE website. So, do you take the Bandit or Bandit S? Well, maybe you should forget the Bandit completely and take the Breeze because your spot doesn't get much wind, or the WTF because you want to be a freestyle champ. In this case, F-ONE's decision to expand their lineup served to address kiters with more specific needs. But, for the majority of their customers, the Bandit probably still does the trick. Which makes you wonder, is the choice an illusion?

Prolimit | View in Mag

Lieuwe Boards | View in Mag

That's just looking at one brand. What happens when we introduce 20 brands with 9 kites each into the mix? Now, you have 180 kites to choose from. Let's just pretend that boards and bars and wetsuits and harnesses don't exist for the moment, because that would be too clear an example of choice overload! Where do you even start?

If you could, you would get in touch with your local kite shops and demo as much gear as possible. However, many kiters, especially those in places with a single lake, puddle, or pond, in their vicinity, don't have a single accessible kite shop. Others may have only one or two shops that stock specific brands and models, limiting their choice. Let's assume you're shopping online, and every brand is available to you. 

What information do you use to help you make a decision? It might be online reviews, marketing directly from the brands, or polling their local Facebook groups. Impartiality is a fantasy in kiteboarding, and because we all have personal preferences, looking at reviews or reading on forums and in groups can lead to reading biased information. You might be getting advice from someone who themselves have very limited access to kites or knowledge of the entire market. The information is, quite simply, skewed towards brands that have a more global reach. 

That doesn't make the information wrong, of course, because there is a reason that bigger kite brands have been able to obtain that reach. Sure, money can buy exposure, but even money can't protect a brand from a bad reputation from a dissatisfied public. Having a reputation for making products that perform well and are reliable and safe has a positive impact on brand growth. 

When your team riders are standing on every podium or posting photos and videos of incredible achievements on social media, the community can see evidence to support what brands may promise, like greater heights, more hangtime, faster loops, and insane drift. Marketing budgets and carefully crafted words surely help, but the proof is, inevitably, in the pudding. The pudding, in this case, is kiting performance that we can see with our own eyeballs.

North Kiteboarding | View in Mag

Duotone | View in Mag

What has brought this analysis of choice about? Our annual Readers Awards wrapped up in February, and it's the opportunity every year for you, our readers, to speak up! With the tapping of your keyboard keys or the click of your mouse, you have made your mechanical voices heard! 

Hannah Whiteley, your winner for Best Female Rider for the 2nd year in a row, says, "I think one of the most wonderful things about kitesurfing is our community... I have been creating content, competing, and writing magazine articles for many years. But to this day, I am still surprised when what I do reaches our community. Maybe it's inspired you to start kitesurfing or perhaps motivated you to keep trying that trick that seems near impossible, or just brought a smile to your face. This feels like the biggest reward in itself. We are all so much stronger than we believe; sometimes we just need a bit of inspiration to ignite it. Thank you so very much for taking a moment to vote for me as your Best Female Kitesurfer of 2021, and for the second year running. You are all part of this award, so I really just want to say thank YOU, the readers. IKSURFMAG, thank you for hosting the awards and continuing to get the community spirit going. Thank you, Duotone Kiteboarding & Chiemsee, for being my main supporting sponsors."

Janek Grzegorzewski has been making waves in the world of Big Air with his smooth, effortless style and was your clear winner for Best Male Kitesurfer. "I'm insanely happy with the voting. I would not have expected such a high lead in front of other very good riders. It's an honour to be chosen as the Best Male Kitesurfer of 2021, voted by the kitesurfing community, which, in my opinion, is the most valuable vote. I am happy and proud that my kitesurfing style is what the majority loves to see. Thank you all for your support!"

Of course, there are many kiters out there who aren't in the competition scene or chasing world championships but work diligently to create content that they think will be entertaining and valuable to the kiting community. Your choice for Best Vlogger, Ben Beholz, started vlogging six years ago, and for 2021, you chose him as your favourite! "That means the world to me. I don't think any other rider out there would be as happy as I am right now to win this prize. What makes me so happy is not the fact that I won the prize; what makes me happy is the fact that you guys enjoy and appreciate my work so much that you go to IKSURFMAG and hit the vote button for Ben Beholz. Honestly, I'm over the moon! Thank you, thank you for being part of my journey, thank you for voting for me, and thank you for watching my videos!"

We have to give an honourable mention to your choice for Best Video; Third Time's a Charm. This film, by Edwin Heighton of The Stoke Farm, is one of many incredible videos he produced in 2021 and features the talented young brothers Jamie and Sean Overbeek. We look forward to seeing what he creates in 2022!

Gin Kiteboarding | View in Mag

Quobba Fins | View in Mag

These are individual impressions from people that you chose as your favourites, but you also spoke up about your favourite brands, and behind each of those brands is a team of people who work hard to make products that you love. The founders, designers, marketers, distributors, and everyone behind the scenes that play a part in getting their products to market, appreciate the recognition for their efforts. You chose Duotone as the Best Kitesurfing Brand, CORE as Best Kite Manufacturer, F-ONE as Best Board Manufacturer, and Mystic for Best Kitesurfing Accessories Brand.

Your choices are important, and we want you to know that. Not just to us from a media perspective, who are legitimately curious about which brands have made the most impact on you each year, but to the riders and brands you have taken the time to vote for. If they didn't think you liked their stuff, they'd probably stop putting it out there.

Whether it's in our Readers Awards, how you spend your money, or how you engage with content online, your choice and your votes all impact what brands and riders create for you. So, speak up, let your votes be heard, and be vocal about what you want, like, and don't like. Let's see how we, as individuals, can continue to shape the industry.