that reminds me snowboarding when it went to the olympics...screams everywhere, spirit lost, and so and so...finally...years after that....still cool .

I have mixed feelings about it. If the conditions are good, it will be fun to watch. However, the racing would be scheduled months in advance, and you'd be watching competition that's done in whatever conditions mother nature decides to produce that day. It could as easily be super boring as it could be awesome. Since sailing is sailing, whether it's a keelboat or kite, the venue would likely be the same. The local organizers always try to get the best venue possible in the vicinity of the main events, but having a great sailing venue with high wind is not their main goal in selecting an olympic location. They also can't postpone the sailing indefinitely waiting for higher wind. Thinking back to the past several olympics, I think light wind has been more the rule than the exception. I remember watching the windsurfing event once (in person), and the wind was about 6 mph. It turned into an endurance pumping contest. Not much fun to watch, and not really what windsurfing is all about. That's my concern about kiting in the olympics.

Don

beleive the negativity is not so much against olympics per se but more towards isaf/sailing

the interest of a few pushed the sport to be under isaf umbrella & there is a sense of loss from those that see it as a board sport, closer to surf, or skate or wake

this article speaks about wind-surf but guess the same could be said about kiting


"
Bruce Spedding Tells it Like It is...
If the criteria for inclusion in Olympic sailing is being new and extreme then kiteboarding and windsurfing are the only disciplines that should still be there. In fact if both sports were allowed to appear in their true and popular forms then what new and extreme really be? People would also (perhaps) understand why the version of windsurfing contrived to not offend the sensibilities of the traditionalists is not universally followed by the windsurfing community, and if they are looking for a car on the motorway with an RS:X board on the roof they're probably going to have a long wait, because these days most windsurfing equipment fits inside the car, including the board. Here in New Zealand we are seeing a significant resurgence in windsurfing, just not in the RS:X class - no surprises there.

Windsurfing has a longer learning curve than most sports, and in fact the learning curve never flattens out as the new challenges and possibilities seem to appear faster than even the most talented sailors can master them.

The forms of racing available to windsurfers include the obvious ones, course racing, slalom, long distance and match racing. In addition, boarder cross is a dynamic race format which requires sailors to race a downwind slalom course in a heat format while also having to perform mandatory manoeuvres including loops and jumping over barriers.

Freestyle windsurfing is essentially gymnastics on the water, done on small boards at planing speed with an amazing range of spins and loops which seem to defy physics. In situations where events have been organised and there has been no wind competitors have even used towing to get them up to planing speeds!

Wave sailing is equally fantastic, combining aerial manoeuvres with radical wave riding to provide a continuous out-and-back display. While RS:X boards would have trouble taking off in most cases, the new wave sailors are now attempting forward and backward triple loops and reaching heights of 20m (60').

Speed sailing is also a developing sport, especially with the general availability of GPS, and until recently windsurfers were the undisputed speed kings of sailing.

Windsurfing is even done in indoor venues to very enthusiastic crowds.

So lets review windsurfing as an Olympic sport if it was allowed to exercise its full potential and not squeezed into the sit-down-sailing mutation.

Windsurfing offers an incredibly broad range of disciplines which means that some sort of competitive event can staged under any conditions. It offers speed, acrobatics, endurance, colour and excitement. Every four years the event would be a show case for the latest tricks and styles as competitors continue to push the limits. The possibility of operating a multi-discipline format with individual as well as overall medals. The ability to adapt the sport format to the venue available, including indoor or artificial if necessary. The low cost of entry into the sport, and the fact that generally it does not require any significant local or national infrastructure to allow an individual to become internationally competitive opens it up to a much broader group than conventional sailing. Young people the world over can watch all the latest action on the internet and then go out and try it for themselves (try that in a yacht).

Kiteboarding of course offers a similarly rich vein of actual and possible disciplines.

So the sailing community sees windsurfing as an unwanted 'bastard child', and with another orphan knocking on the door and nobody wanting to make room, guess who is getting the heave ho!

Its gratifying (but not surprising) that one of the strongest advocates for windsurfing seems to be the kiteboarding community, and they will be very conscious of some of the commentary that has been appearing. I also want to acknowledge the support from some (less staid) parts of the sailing community.

Having followed this debate so far, and the outcome of the latest ISAF meetings I have decided that it is probably time that windsurfing acknowledged its true nature. It may be time for the board sports to step up and demonstrate that they are not some sort of hybrid form of sailing but are a complete package in their own right, with scope and potential that leaves sailing in a dark corner.

I think (as has been suggested by others) that its time for a board sports to have their own category at the Olympics - including windsurfing, kiteboarding and the various forms of surfing. Free of the traditional sailing attitudes these three disciplines would have the potential to become a real centrepiece to the summer Olympics.

Imagine the possibilities! "

I'm very happy to see our sport make it into the Olympics. Good luck to all the participants.

why negativity?

olympics lost its idea long time ago, now it is just penis size contest (oh sorry, medal amount contest, of couse) for big and rich nations.

olympics are "awesome" and "fascinating" for hundreds of athletes and the army of nationals and international olympic committees officials only. all the rest is just great publicity.

so you end up paying twice for olympic kiting. first your taxes go finance your national OC.
and then wait for already heavily inflated kite price rise. those olympic race kites are not going to just fall on the olympic kiter's lap out of the space. and kite brand people's travels to the games won't be from their own pockets.

then you find yourself watching the race, which is slightly less boring compared to windsurfing race, because of possibility of kite crashes and pile ups.

what a wonderful time to be alive!

Hopefully the olympic format can be adjusted according to the wind that day. Lights winds - course racing, medium to strong winds - slalom/boarder cross and freestyle. It would also be interesting to consider scrapping the sailing rule book for kite events. I did the Ragnarok race with 200 kiters and there are pretty much no rules and it works. I have done a lot of sailboat racing as well and this no rules approach was really refreshing.

It's kind of different to snowboarding, it's racing only - the dullest of the disciplines to watch but like snowboarding a completely different sport may have a say over something they are not experienced with (Snowboarding was governed by skiing and one of people on the committee is part of that body!)

Anyway it is done and that is that, it is important to keep control kiteboarders - that was my main concern, when i read the spin from IKA it was very worrying as a long term kiteboarder to read marketing that I feel did not come from a long term experienced kiteboarder that had put in the hard yards like us.

I expect to see a few of the windsurfers here in NZ (many Olympic gold medals..) out on a kiteboards now maybe, but gutted for them too losing their jobs. A friend had a full time job, but I guess no more.

Kiteboarding is becoming so common now... It's even in the olympics. I might have to take up windsurfing to be a rebel again! If I start now, I'll be good by the time the rest of the kiting community follow suit and then I can race against you guys and beat you! God I love competition!

Sorry to see the windsurfing has been dropped my sympathies go out to the competitors who have spent years getting up to Olympic status
As a former PBA speed racer I do know what dedication it takes.

But when you make something so exclusive and so expensive it was bound to happen eventually

The Olympics has always been a showcase for new sports, its evolution time for kite racing to have its day

I hope the kite surfing industry learn from the windsurfing industries mistakes and make the kit affordable to all but £1000 to £1300 just for a board x 2 then fins at over £100 each x 3 or 4 depending on the board then 3 kites £1000 to £1500

And yes I do kitesurf but there is plenty of time for the windsurfing racing community to take up kite racing if they wish to do so on the positive side they have the water and wind skills all ready

Kitesurfing has at last been recognised for what it is: the next step ahead.
nico