Have you ever wondered where kiteboarding will be in 10 years from now? Will it go the distance? Or fade away to the niche markets and obscure corners of the world? All it takes is a quick look towards the sport on which kiteboarding is mostly derived, Windsurfing.

Yes, windsurfing holds the key to what’s about to happen in the world of kiteboarding, a sport which for the last few years, has enjoyed stronger than ever numbers of participants from all corners of the globe. Men, women, children of all ages are kiteboarding, it’s in TV ads, newspapers and headlining the news. Sounds a lot like windsurfing in the 80’s right?

During those golden years (the 80’s), windsurfing was the best thing around. But when that honeymoon period ended, the sport began a slow decline to what it is today. Then, in the 2000’s, when kiteboarding was just beginning to get going, Windsurfing enjoyed a resurgence. Contributed to two things, the first being modern and easy to use equipment, has already happened to kiteboarding. That was our bow kites, which allowed kids and women to get into a sport that was once reserved for ex-windsurfers and men who weren’t afraid to take a beating or two. Oh and don’t forget the girls who were considered crazy, but highly respected by kiteboarders for giving such an extreme sport a try. We’ve had that for a few years already, so next is going to come the big one.

Ever seen a windsurfer jump off dead flat water, slide backwards then spin a full 360, to ride off in the other direction? The image above is mid way through such a sequence, and it’s truly spectacular to watch in motion. Even for spectators.

Doing such a manoeuvre was unheard of in windsurfing. It was something completely new, challenging and of course spectacular. But nobody had ever thought of doing it before. Otherwise these tricks would have been happening in the 80’s. Could something like this happen to kiteboarding?

Why not! I’m sure you’re sitting here reading this story and saying ‘yeah there’s nothing more you can do with kiteboarding, handlepasses and rails are the future of the sport’. But we bet the windsurfers were sitting there in the 80’s saying the same thing about forward rolls and push-loops. It’s going to take a genius, someone truly ahead of their time, a guy or girl who doesn’t care what people think, or who has no respect for what kiteboarding ‘should’ look like.

Just wait for it, there could be a change coming. And if there’s not, kiteboarding could just suffer the same fate as windsurfing. Think about that next time you’re riding. Could you be the genius?

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