I don´t need to listen to podcasts to make up my mind about IFKO, their current president used to be the local kitesurf association president.
As for Sailing stealing kiting that’s hardly a good representation of past events. It did not need to be Sailing, but since some kitesurfers decided to be the fastest sailors on earth, Sailing it is.
You claim kite and sailing are not the same sport, and for the most part I agree. But you don´t need to be the same sport to be within the same government body. FINA is a good example with swimming, diving, aquatic gymnastics, and some other.
For all the independence talk, in my country for years the local association tried to be recognized by the State as Federation, and failed over and over as the numbers are simply not there.
WS is providing a path for kite to be an Olympic sport and I am a glad to see the industry getting all extra revenues from that decision, but there is much more than this.
As a former athlete of some other sport I have a huge respect for the Games, I see all those who have been there as Supermans. And I am very happy that someone who does the same sport as I do will be able to dream to be there. There is NOTHING bigger.
But even for those of us who just ride and have a good time, WS could provide a level of recognition by the State that would be hard to get otherwise. This is a rough translation of the Notice still valid for my home spot
“the practice and teaching of kitesurfing shall comply with the rules of AP-Kite, a sailing class under FPVela, who is the entity that has the technical and disciplinary competence of the sailing sport.”
http://www.amn.pt/DGAM/Capitanias/Lisbo ... 202015.pdf
Never in those years before being a Sailing Class that level of recognition was given, not even close. At a time we had a Captain of the Port saying he didn´t know to whom to speak, as he had doubts if kitesurf was a boat, or an airplane…This is what we do not need to go back to.