New Caledonia confirmed, Australia and South Africa canceled

[gmb13]

In my view the IKA made a stupid mistake of giving the 'world wave title' to the KSP.

The KSP is a joke. How can it be a pro tour if there is no prize money? Most national level comps can get prize money sorted.

They claim in all there media how 'the best wave riders in the world' are part of the KSP. SOME of the best in the world are but far far away from all. Most of the worlds best don't even compete in world tour events. I understand how the KSP have to make it sound great to the sponsors but anyone with half a clue about wave riding knows they are talking out their ass, they are not fooling everyone . Maybe if there is prize money it will attract more of the top riders?

The KSP claimed they would better the PKRA on the media release aspects, but a crap quality live stream is not any better at all.

The PKRA was not perfect but they where getting better. Having freestyle and waves at the same comp is difficult sometimes, but not impossible. Great way to show off Kiteboarding as a whole. Plus the PKRA did have wave only events. The KSP 'wave riders' where probably getting sick of the freestyle riders competing in the waves and betting them Some of the PKRA stops had great conditions more entertaining than mostly speed runs in offshore winds at the first KSP.

If some of the PKRA stops are getting affected because of the KSP tour, that really sucks.

If the IKA handed the world title to the KSP and didn't protect the PKRA at all that is shit. It shows how little some people are who are running the IKA really know about our sport- sad to see

You are not quite informed on how things work.

1) Prize Money: True. There is no Prize money, but instead the accommodation and transfers were paid for all riders. This way everyone had something from the sponsors money that was put in. In the PKRA the "wealth" is only shared out to the top 3. I think the KSP way is fairer.

2) The Best riders in the world were well represented here. Not everyone made it to Mauritius, but Peru and Cabo Verde will be a different story. Everyone who was there and was riding at the comp knows exactly what they are talking about. Remember that the founding members of the Tour come from the PKRA. Lets just see who turns up in Peru.

3) The quality of the feed may have been bad, but that it was even possible is a miracle and shows what a little initiative can accomplish. The Camera and the judges being about a kilometer away from the beach made it very difficult. The commentary was well done and everyone pulled together to make it work and give the people online a good view of the event. The PKRA has never done anything like this.

The main thing here is to keep an open mind and if you are gonna complain: then do your research. There are so many people out there which are getting too much wrong information through hasty posts on this forum. Most of the people complaining know nothing about how the IKA works and have never competed at an high level event.

[Tiago1973]

as an anonymous rider i enjoyed following the KSP Mauritius life streaming, well done.

It´s a (very) rare oppurtunity to see some top level guys riding in "real life conditions"

but must agree quality was only so-so, please keep up the good work but improve it a bit.

for sure i´ll follow the next round in Peru (?)

[Toby]

kiter kay: just to be fair here: please compare the KSP livestream with the PKRA Brazil one and tell me the difference.

The PKRA won big time with IKA, since the KPWT is gone...now they have the only freestyle title, also towards sponsors a big plus (I talked to the main sponsor from the PKRA Germany, when we had two tours...they were really confused at that time and it was a big problem for everyone involved).
And with freestyle (unhooking) PKRA is doing a great job, no doubt about that!

Why do we have the PKRA?
Riders were frustrated with the KPWT, since they chose a champion by personal interests (ask Flash Austin!)

Why do we have the KSP?
Riders were frustrated because KPWT and then PKRA wave didn't have the main focus on wave (freestyle always first) and not really good locations.

And I do understand the frustration of wave riders, since I am in the same position, being frustrated that the main part of the sport does not get the attention it should be...being a little side discipline and many times doesn't happen...knowing this is what the people on the beach want to see, like with the Air Style Show in Germany...
So, be ready for an additional tour that will represent our sports main attraction!

And what is bad about paying rider's expenses instead of a bigger prize money?
I know many riders from poorer countries who don't have rich parents to send them around the world...they want to compete as well ! But with 8 events and all the costs, it is not possible for them. 3 events and some costs paid, they can afford it with some local sponsors to buy a plane ticket...

And don't forget, this is just the beginning...I am sure next year the KSP will offer more prize money, plus expenses paid, since IMO the KSP has the chance to pull in big sponsors, which PKRA would never get.

Looking at the sport and not some people's pocket: is all of this bad?

[marina]

When I was at the Les Indianes resort in Mauritius a few years ago for the F-One importer meeting (intro of 2010 products) there were four magazines including us there as well. The internet was ridiculously slow, so much that I would either stay up or wake up at 3am just so I could try and get the signal to myself. I think it is amazing that they were able to do what they did and am sure it was quite the logistical feat to pull off. When we first did live streaming in Corpus Christi, TX, for the Velocity Games, it was all screwed up and took a senior tech from ATT a couple of hours to get it up and running! Imagine the challenge they had in Mauritius and will also have in Peru/Cape Verde. If you've never organized, coordinated or have volunteered at an event, you really have no clue what is involved.

I say hats off to the organizers, riders and sponsors supporting and driving this tour. It's the first year. You gotta start somewhere and this is a grassroots efforts, driven by Kristin and Sky. Next year, will be a different story:-)

[Toby]

and this is a shame, and should not happen any more these days!

http://forums.ikiteboarding.com/forums/ ... 37219.aspx

Don't use the riders for politics! Stop this immediately!

[kiter kay]

I have done my research these are not just my views or complaints. These are shared with many riders some of which have competed at the top level.

1) Prize Money: True. There is no Prize money, but instead the accommodation and transfers were paid for all riders. This way everyone had something from the sponsors money that was put in. In the PKRA the "wealth" is only shared out to the top 3. I think the KSP way is fairer.

1. Having accommodation and transfers paid for is not out of the ordinary for big comps, good way to entice riders to go. That is what a accommodation sponsor normally does, or big discounts for riders.
PKRA wave prize money break down. For the men the top 4 get money at each comp, top 6 for the end of year purse.

2) The Best riders in the world were well represented here. Not everyone made it to Mauritius, but Peru and Cabo Verde will be a different story. Everyone who was there and was riding at the comp knows exactly what they are talking about. Remember that the founding members of the Tour come from the PKRA. Lets just see who turns up in Peru.

2. Yes some of the best riders where there. Far from 'all the worlds best riders' which the KSP claims. I know the top riders which attended know what they are talking about, you can see it in their riding. I was referring to the majority of wave riders from the kiteboarding public who know when they look at the list of riders there are many 'top riders' missing. This is what people have been saying at my local spot, not just my views. Lets hope for more at the next stops.

3) The quality of the feed may have been bad, but that it was even possible is a miracle and shows what a little initiative can accomplish. The Camera and the judges being about a kilometer away from the beach made it very difficult. The commentary was well done and everyone pulled together to make it work and give the people online a good view of the event. The PKRA has never done anythin

3. Yes it was a start but again if you are going to say you will have a live feed make it nice to watch. I understand how the location and internet connection would of made it difficult, something to improve on. Of course this would be difficult but a 'pro' tour should have it sorted.
Toby-I did not watch the Brazil live feed so cannot compare sorry

Why do we have the KSP?
Riders were frustrated because KPWT and then PKRA wave didn't have the main focus on wave (freestyle always first) and not really good locations.

We have the KSP because some, think it was 4 current PKRA riders were not happy. Waves had the main focus at the PKRA wave only stops. Freestyle is the main event anyway so it should get the main focus at the wave and freestyle events. There was PKRA wave and freestyle events where this worked.
The PKRA was not perfect but they did have good locations Morocco, Chile, Gold Coast, Lanzarote, Tenerife.

And what is bad about paying rider's expenses instead of a bigger prize money?
I know many riders from poorer countries who don't have rich parents to send them around the world...they want to compete as well ! But with 8 events and all the costs, it is not possible for them. 3 events and some costs paid, they can afford it with some local sponsors to buy a plane ticket...

There is nothing bad about this I never said there was, my comments were to the lack of prize money. See point 1 above. 8 events? where did this come from? the PKRA never had 8 wave events. Maybe the KPWT but I am only talking about the PKRA vs KSP

I and others think the PKRA is getting a ruff deal from this situation. The KSP is making out like they have everything sorted and the PKRA didn't at all- Not true.

There are always 2 sides to every story and its important for people to understand both so they can make up their own minds.

I do want the KSP to do well, lets hope the next events can improve.

[Toby]

Of course this would be difficult but a 'pro' tour should have it sorted.

For your info: Brazil had connection problems and the quality was not the best. KSP had in addition moderation and live scoring.

So, in this point the KSP was more pro. Sorry.

But let's see what is best for riders, because this is what should count:

- professional organization
- expenses paid
- prize money
- coverage
- perfect conditions
- qualified judges

And from what I know, the scoring system for the world championship is a mixture of conditions, event length and prize money. So the PKRA can also get highest scored events and if they have the best of all in their events, they can basically make the world champion...as KSP does now.
BOTH tours can do this...and the riders can chose what they want: top conditions and/or prize money.

I am sure PKRA will try to achieve to run events with more points, so again, the sport wins if we have some more events with excellent conditions. As long if not all need to count for the world championship, only a certain number of attended events.

Same applied for PKRA and KPWT Freestyle back then...and PKRA had the better events...then it was all fine...and now it is the other way around and nothing is fine? Come on guys, think SPORT !

[vegasrider]

3. Yes it was a start but again if you are going to say you will have a live feed make it nice to watch. I understand how the location and internet connection would of made it difficult, something to improve on. Of course this would be difficult but a 'pro' tour should have it sorted.
Toby-I did not watch the Brazil live feed so cannot compare sorry

I am following all the events live whenever I can, regardless if PKRA, KSP or ASP.

Sure, the ASP is outstanding but I do not want to know how much money they are spending on this... so this would be not a fair comparison.

As far as PKRA and KSP's livestreaming is concerned, I was watching the PKRA Germany ("the biggest kiteboarding event in the world") - this is a first world country, and the livestream was worse than the one from the KSP sending from a third world country in the middle of nowhere. Plus the KSP had live commentary which was quite entertaining at times.

So if you consider "pro tour" on how they get their live stream sorted...

[vegasrider]

and this is a shame, and should not happen any more these days!

http://forums.ikiteboarding.com/forums/ ... 37219.aspx

Don't use the riders for politics! Stop this immediately!

just reading through this... if it is true that PKRA officials ask their local talent not to go to events of "the other tour" then this is really a shame...

[vegasrider]

I have to add one more thing...

On Monday (I think last day of the competition ?) there was on 5 different tv stations in the main 2000 evening news shows app. 1.5 minutes each from the Mauritius event - more or less the first time that I saw kiteboarding competition in the mainstream news, watched by millions of people. So looks like pretty serious media work - as I said, have never seen this from a PKRA or KPWT competiton at those times...