IKA terminates agreement with PKRA

[Toby]

IKA Update:

"The IKA is happy to announce that the International Sailing Federation today has confirmed that Fuerteventura will go ahead as part of the 2015 Freestyle World Championship Tour.
As per ISAF regulations, IKA is the sole owner of the Freestyle and Big Air World Titles and will run the event in Fuerteventura together with the local organizing team.
The judging panel will be Ian Sleuyter, Bas Koole , Eric Rienstra, Bruno Correia and Alex Tack plus one more pro judge TBC. There will be strict regulations to prevent conflict of interest when judging mens and womens heats.
Head Judge will be Leonard Rose.
Olaf van Tol will be the contest director and we are happy to announce that we got Toby Bromwich back in as our core photographer. Alexander James Lewis Hughes will join him on the media side.
The judging team together with IKA intends to make several improvements to the judging system.
The core message is to give the sport back to the riders and get all stakeholders together to grow this fantastic sport.
See you all in Fuerteventura for a great event !"

[skullcandy]

My two cents: freestyle competitions are now boring, same as windsurfing. If you really want to "follow" a heat, you have to understand the little differences between tricks. Otherwise, if you're not an insider, the first ten minutes you're looking at the race and you're amazed, after you really get bored to see a lot ot rotations that seem quite all the same. I think that for the media the best competitions are the big air/mega loop, where the "ooooh" factor comes from something everyone understands immediately, no need to be an insider. Also airstyle is far more fun than pure freestyle, the moves are very "clear", you just look and enjoy the show.
Same story for the videos, they are all the same: images of the car heading to the spot, some nice views of the panorama, then a hundred of unhooked tricks, all perfectly landed and dressed with powerful music. There are tons of them out there, five minutes after you've finished to see one you already forgot it exists and you don't want to see it the second time.
This recipe will eventually drive professional kitesurfing to the same decline road where professional windsurfing finished some years ago. Keep it simple if you want to gain the interest (and the money) of the media: what the viewer wants to feel is adrenaline, not a bunch of super technical rotations.

Exactly why the winter "X games" to me is so boring. All the tricks look the same. Oh cool... 3 spins. Havent seen that before! Wow - a ski mobile jumped and the guy did a rally. Super awesome. Not saying I can do any of those things but everything looks the same. Half pipe... ITS ALL THE SAME.

Side note on the X Games - I will say that skier cross and snowboard cross was AWESOME to watch when there would be nasty wipeouts and carnage. Then they made the course easier and it got boring.

People want too see bad shit happen. Sorry but its true - Why you think the NFL is so popular? Because grown men run full speed into eachother.

[alamos_kiter]

Key sentence:

IKA Update: ...As per ISAF regulations, IKA is the sole owner of the Freestyle and Big Air World Titles ...

Translation: ISAF granted the right to IKA to award a Freestyle and Big Air World Title recognized by ISAF.

So the IKA lawyers are playing their last card: "we own the right to award this ISAF sanctioned title."

This does not impede Virgin to award a Virgin Freestyle and Big Air World Title, or VKWC Freestyle and Big Air World Title, or whatever Freestyle and Big Air World Title they might think of.

It's about who puts the money on the table for the riders. You think the riders will go for a ISAF sanctioned title with no money behind it, if they can win a $$$ Virgin title?

[POACHER]

how could i ever care less?

does it make wind blow less?
does it make gear even more expensive?
does it make beaches less crowded?

For once I actually agree with you.

[jjm]

Who cares about world titles? Big Air / Freestyle Virgin Galactic Title is where it's at.

[Toby]

Sure they can do their own tour.
The initial idea from Virgin was to do their own tour...they should have done it!
Their rules, their game. I am sure it would have been a success.
It might still come now! They don't need PKRA. The riders will follow if the money is right.

Limited riders who get paid to perform, no prize money needed.
Cool.

Then have IKA or whoever run world tour with titles too.
The more options and money for riders the better.

There are many ideas out there for awesome events.
Maybe one day someone understands how cool a show will be.
So you don't have the same same stuff ! It is possible!