Check out latest Inside Sport mag. story on kite nationals.
Funny sh!t.
Whoever the lame arse is that wrote it came out with some clangers.

eg.
"Kiting has taken the wind out of the sails of windsurfing"
"Kiting is the closest thing to surfing" (surf-ski's more like it)
"Kiting contests are in waves like surfing contests, where windsurfing only has racing contests"
...and a pic with a sailor heading out through the surf with a kiter doing a novetly flick coming in, with the caption "windsurfing is so outdated".

Was probably the school asssignment of an ADHD 11 year old. Might scrape through for a C+.

Should have added important facts like:
"Contest on hold until wind falls below 25 knots"
"Kiters to soon discover what surfing actually is"

Glad someone else saw this. Unfortunately for me I was the windsurfer in the photo taken at Hams beach. Kite legend Stuey Martin was back on his windsurfer that day so windsurfing must have something going for it.

Who's Vanessa Murray?

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Donk said...

Who's Vanessa Murray?

an ADHD 11 year old according to the original post

I saw that article too. Pretty lop-sided view.
Some silly comments, but I guess it's a big attention seeking excercise more than anything else. I dare say that it wouldn't have been Inside Sport that did the chasing for the big scoop.

the funniest thing about this comment is when it's accompanied by guys on twin tips. Just look at the photos / video of Cloud Break recently. It's guys with big kites on twin tips being dragged down the wave. That's not really wave riding is it?

Don't get me wrong I know a few guys that totally rip on directional boards using their kites mainly as a balancing device and to get them out of the think one the wave closes out.

It's a bit like snowboarding back in the late 80s. I remember everyone in Europe bitching about those stupid skiers and behaving like a bunch of dic..eads but then being surprised why they weren't allowed on the mountain. Then Snowboarding was discovered by the mainstream and the same people complained about the mainstream destroying the sport.

I wish people would chill a bit more and enjoy what they have. Cause this just might be as good as it gets.

there is a great article in last edition of windsurf which talks about kitesurfing vs surfing vs widnsurfing. Ill post it when i get home.

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h20 said...

there is a great article in last edition of windsurf which talks about kitesurfing vs surfing vs widnsurfing. Ill post it when i get home.

There's the problem right there. the three displines are not doing battle with each other. I really don't understand why sailboarders are so bitter and twisted because kites have come along. It is little more than just another way to get desired result, getting speed on water without an internal combustion engine destroying the ambience.

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h20 said...

there is a great article in last edition of windsurf which talks about kitesurfing vs surfing vs widnsurfing. Ill post it when i get home.

You've been out a long time
are you OK?

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Gwendy said...

h20 said...

there is a great article in last edition of windsurf which talks about kitesurfing vs surfing vs widnsurfing. Ill post it when i get home.

There's the problem right there. the three displines are not doing battle with each other. I really don't understand why sailboarders are so bitter and twisted because kites have come along. It is little more than just another way to get desired result, getting speed on water without an internal combustion engine destroying the ambience.

Few points:
a) most people would agree with the general point you are making

b) until we've seen it, there's nothing to suggest that the article H20 is referring to is negative. Maybe it's just an educational comparison.

c) I've met very few, if any, sailors who are bitter and twisted simply because kites have come along. No one really cares that kites have come along, and many do both sports anyway.
Unfortunately, it's the vocal few that initially trumpted the message "kiting is here, windsurfing is dead! it's more hardcore, etc, etc", instead of simply "hey try kiting, its fun. hey windsurfers, check it out. it's kind of similar. you might like it". And they are obviously still on about it.
While plenty just joke about it, there are those that mean genuine disrespect.
Juvenile comments like that above, and those found in the inside sport article do nothing to help the kiting cause.
The thing is that pretty much all of the "kiting is more hardcore than windsurfing" comments come directly from people who were such kooks at windsurfing, and are still totally lame at kiting, thinking that flicking a board behind their arse equates to smacking a mast high lip, or boosting a 20ft forward loop in 30 knots.
Or they have never windsurfed/surfed at all, and are rambling on without having knowledge or experience of anything. Just as lame.
How many sailors do you hear of telling surfers how much better sailing is, and that surfing is dead?

d) you will not find a single windsurfing article anywhere in the world that has to report a wavesailing contest by referencing how much better than kiting it is.
Simply because it doesn't feel the need to take part in lame slanging matches, and it has nothing to prove anyway.
Compare the most elite levels of both sports and, while I agree there are kiters who I think rip in the surf, there is still no comparison in my opinion. People don't have to agree with me (and naturally plenty of kiters won't), but I don't care and neither should they.

While people on both sides are going to come out with comments they shouldn't, it's kiting that has always had the small-mans syndrome, and its time the negative minority chilled out and got over it, then there would be no need for threads like this.

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Mark _australia said...

h20 said...

there is a great article in last edition of windsurf which talks about kitesurfing vs surfing vs widnsurfing. Ill post it when i get home.

You've been out a long time
are you OK?

been working late then sailing :)

author-

Mitch Gingrich issue 128 wind sport page 98

he starts the article by saying that it is an age long debate and he wont care by people arguing.

I persoanlly dont have an issue with kiters but he does dismiss it as instead of debate between surfing, windsurfing and kiting- it more surfing vs windsurfing. I personally like sailing with good kiters and enjoy playing in the waves with them as long as everyone knows the water rules.

I even kited for a few years my self on lower wind days. He more draws parallels between surfing and windsurfing because "they both rock so much that it can be tough to figure out which one is better"

"surfing bring peace, solitude smooth motion and a grip-load of time to hang out in the water with your friends" "Barrels are tough to beat. The best surf come when there is no wind" " But there are some things which worth disliking. Lulls between sets suck. Sitting in the ocean while it resembles a lake. You get cold. You get bored...... and then you get a wave and you get action for a while, but even the longest wave amounts to bout a reach windsurfing. A surf session equates to a list of fleeting moments: seconds here and there create patches of memories for day. Windsurfing never stops. If your sailing, your up and moving the entire time. When the wind goes you leave with it. From the second you put your foot on the board, your getting mega dose of surfers opiate. The non stop nature of windsurfing addicts the get go. A windsurfers get to jump instead of paddle.......an amateur windsurfer jumps higher than the best surfers in the world...the tricks windsurfers do blow surfers out of the water.... a goiter humbles an air 360 instantly. While surfers pretend to be cool and hip, the average windsurfer is a goofy guy, generally smart and just out there to have fun. They do what they do for love- its not a hipness contest."

Again i recon anyone who enjoys the water is experiencing the best medium on this earth. I love it on it, under it. Surfing, scuba, windsurfing, SUP, kayaking etc. I am not dissing kiting as i said i have owned a kite but come to the same conclusions that wavesailing is for me and the best experience. Its like getting a 3 foot powder day skiing every time you get some waves and 20 knots or more of wind.