THE FIRST RIDERS, WHO WERE THEY?

[RickI]

Who were some of the first kiteboarders in YOUR area, city or country?

Who were the early riders that picked it up early and flew with it?

What did they look like, when did it happen?

What memories and stories stick in your mind?


It would be GREAT to learn startup stories at launches around the world.

Over to you ...

[ryansurf1]

well here is my brief history in time.....

surfing deerfield beach (So. Fl.)..south of the pier about 6 yrs ago?.....NE wind and wind swell....and i am watching this little flag of a kite darting up and down.....wayyy outside....going downwind....in retrospect it was probably like a 7M

as i am done with my session....and run into the guy on the beach...ask the guy a few questions and on my way.....I thought...hum...that was pretty cool...

i think that kiter was you?....

saw it again several months later and jumped in....a couple windsurf converts at Pompano had a 6-8 month curve....i launched randomly around PBC for a while nobody around....It was intreging...different sport at the time...nobody really knew shit.

I know that Chris in Ft Laud and Brian at Obsession were the early adopters....

I am still occasionaly shocked and delighted by the relativly few numbers of kiters in this area....contrary to general belief So. Fl is not packed with kites...relativley managed pockets....with a few problem areas.

I hope it sticks around for a while...it has been fun so far...

[Andres_Santacruz]

Me and a friend, first guys to do it seriously in mexico city 5 years ago. Had a lot of trouble learning, as no one could teach us, videos barely existed, and the internet was starting to develop. I am surprised we did not hurt ourselves! Now there is a big community here growing by the day.

[Toby]

I started in 2000, but belonged to the first "wave". For me before 2000 they were pioneers.

Just talk to Stefan on Saturday, and he started in 1998 or 1999. First kite: Wipika Classic or so.

But the first one getting into KB I know from Germany is Peter Fleischauer.
He even went down to France to get the first tube kite the Leganouix brothers produced!
He also reserved the domain kiteboarding.de
This way you can always tell who was first....

Greets
Toby

[kitehead]

in late 1999 i found a small vid (120*120 pixel, 20 sec.) on the net, someone with a kite on waterskies and on a longboard. never saw anything like that in real before. went to a kite-shop immedialtly and bougth a ... c-quad

i still got the vid and watch it from time to time, cause it was the beginning of a long and glorious friendship

[RickI]

Me and a friend, first guys to do it seriously in mexico city 5 years ago. Had a lot of trouble learning, as no one could teach us, videos barely existed, and the internet was starting to develop. I am surprised we did not hurt ourselves! Now there is a big community here growing by the day.

Andres,

So you tried on one of those lakes around Mexico City or at another lake further out of the area? What sort of gear did you use, what sort of experiences stood out in your memory? You were lucky you weren't hurt and that you found someone to learn with!

[RickI]

I started in 2000, but belonged to the first "wave". For me before 2000 they were pioneers.

Just talk to Stefan on Saturday, and he started in 1998 or 1999. First kite: Wipika Classic or so.

But the first one getting into KB I know from Germany is Peter Fleischauer.
He even went down to France to get the first tube kite the Leganouix brothers produced!
He also reserved the domain kiteboarding.de
This way you can always tell who was first....

Greets
Toby

Toby,
What was your first kite and what early memories come back? Were there other guys to watch, what were some of the early barriers to learning? Could you put me in touch with Stefan and perhaps Peter?

[RickI]

in late 1999 i found a small vid (120*120 pixel, 20 sec.) on the net, someone with a kite on waterskies and on a longboard. never saw anything like that in real before. went to a kite-shop immedialtly and bougth a ... c-quad

i still got the vid and watch it from time to time, cause it was the beginning of a long and glorious friendship

Hello Kitehead,

Was it a delta kite and was the guy using a long control bar, looks like a bicycle that lost a fight with a hack saw in the video? It sounds like an early Cory, kiteski video, maybe.

What sized C Quad did you start out with. How many times did you sink it and what was it like getting all that back to shore in the water? Where did you learn and were there other guys to watch?

[RickI]

well here is my brief history in time.....

surfing deerfield beach (So. Fl.)..south of the pier about 6 yrs ago?.....NE wind and wind swell....and i am watching this little flag of a kite darting up and down.....wayyy outside....going downwind....in retrospect it was probably like a 7M

as i am done with my session....and run into the guy on the beach...ask the guy a few questions and on my way.....I thought...hum...that was pretty cool...

i think that kiter was you?....

saw it again several months later and jumped in....a couple windsurf converts at Pompano had a 6-8 month curve....i launched randomly around PBC for a while nobody around....It was intreging...different sport at the time...nobody really knew shit.

I know that Chris in Ft Laud and Brian at Obsession were the early adopters....

I am still occasionaly shocked and delighted by the relativly few numbers of kiters in this area....contrary to general belief So. Fl is not packed with kites...relativley managed pockets....with a few problem areas.

I hope it sticks around for a while...it has been fun so far...

Ryan,

Yes, that probably was me. I cranked up in August 1998 and wasn't able to see anyone else doing it for many months. Then it was only once followed by several more months of solo messing around. Using the old two line kites and our marginal winds staying upwind was a problem initially along with quite a few other problems. I used to do downwinders starting a couple of miles north of Boca Raton Inlet and land a mile or so south of of the Deerfield pier.

It couldn't have been the third time after I figured out how to waterstart. I was so stoked that I covered 23 miles that day. I ended up body dragging on one tack, shoreward and rode on the outbound tack. Dumb but true! I got a ride back that day and avoided one of the numerous walks of shame over many miles back up wind. Man, there were a LOT of stories from riding down and around that pier.

What were some of the early challenges riders had back then?

How about guys in Oz, South Africa, Brazil, UK, other countries in Europe, Canada, Japan, WHEREVER, there were early guys in all these areas. Tell us about it.

[vide]

I remember:

- trip to Kailua 1998 for friends wedding
- seeing Robby out ripping from Flat Rock
- having a lesson with Des Walsh (I think?) on my birthday
- coming back to Australia only to find that Naish kites not yet released
- Buying my Naish AR3.5 direct from Naish Hawaii over the phone
- Coming back flying it on the beach every day until the seabreeses arrived
- Doing lots of downwinders
- A few guys out well before me (Stonker Alex, Dave Mitas)
- The word on the street was that going upwind was not really possible
- Having Don Montague email instructions on converting to 4 lines
- Thinking that seemed pretty complex, but doing it anyway
- Being laughed at by 2 line riders!
- Having windsurfers tell me "I dont need a kite because I have a big sail"
- Every session was a whole new experience
- A friend learning by being given a kite harness and board, and then doing a downwinder! (By the end of it he was up and going)
- Having a 6'6" 5 fin board as my pride and joy!
- Buying the first AR5 in Oz (I think) from Don Montagues website
- Getting by a whole summer using a 7.5 AR5!
Great memories!