Like a fleet of colourful kites, so have the days of another year flown past and it's time for the traditional KITEFORUM.CO.NZ 2004 AWARDS, as we reflect on another event-filled year of achievement, controversy, disaster and bizarre incidents - the wide and wonderful group of freaks that make up the New Zealand kiteboarding community.
It is still with great sadness that we remember the passing of brother / warrior Doug Wisor, whose untimely death on October 16 shocked us all and is a constant reminder about the realities of high wind kiting - without doubt the COMPLETE AND UTTER TRAGEDY OF THE YEAR, and hopefully the next hundred years.
CONTEST OF THE YEAR - who knows? for the first time i managed to stay away from competition, except for a little multi-discipline indulging at the Slingshot Raglan Freeride in November. keener troops with far more time on their hands made it to various events in aussie and the south island; including the wanakite snow gig, the mambo, and the canterbury champs etc. after much blather and inaction by jafas (myself included), the southern men have again grabbed the sheep by the tail and intend rubbing our noses in their poo-pond again if we want to have a belated nationals in february.
UP AND COMING GROMMET OF THE YEAR must still be Ben Pithcaithly for his fourth place behind the big boys at the recent Canterbury Champs.
Finalists: Tauranga's 'little' Mark Jacobs (that 15-year-old kid rocks), the Bright brothers, the Tamariki bros.
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR must by any sane measure be
www.kiteforum.co.nz for building a community of over 360 daily users and abusers, surviving some massive controversies and providing some solid entertainment along the way.
Finalists; anabatic's newest look, dvnt's innovations, underground's continued dominance of the web traffic stakes.
PROLIFIC WEBSITE POSTER OF THE YEAR was more than likely still the spawn of BLOWNAWAY, but the award must go to Osama Been Kiting for his timely and hilarious perspectives and his continued elusiveness (i now believe him to be the artist formerly known as kentface).
Finalist: Thrasher - old hairy-legged BLOWNAWAY himself, at least as prolific and unintelligible as his predecessor .
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR must go to Gavin Broadbent after sustaining a broken neck in July, and wearing a full neck brace for several months, he snuck back onto the water recently and continues to push the envelope, kiting hard every waking minute and talking about it for the rest - all this after living for twice the mental age of any ten of our readers.
Finalists; Aaron Smith for returning from a similarly severe knee injury to pip long time rival Gavin at the recent Canterbury champs, and drum roll....surf boards?
EXILE OF THE YEAR - Trent Pederson for his continued residence in Thailand at the behest of Airush Kiteboarding and other operators.
Finalists; Mike Raper (still in Hong Kong?), Mike Holland (still in Hawaii?) plus a bunch of other elopers i can't remember anymore.
INTERNATIONAL PERFORMER OF THE YEAR yet again Cindy Mosey - collecting a third world title.
Finalists; Underground's FLX boards for their penetration of the world market.
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE YEAR must surely be the once popular seabreeze from the eastern quarter.
Finalists: board off manoeuvres, cynics of snowkiting, easy to sell second hand kit.
ADVENTURE OF THE YEAR for me was hanging with Cindy, Andy and multiple marine mammals in Tonga in August - besides a couple of classic roadies with the hippy - my only adventure of the year.
RETAILER OF THE YEAR - who knows, but BEST kites have certainly ruffled a few feathers with their innovative marketing model, and their man on the ground has tried a few actual window displays - unheard of in the local industry.
IMPORTER OF THE YEAR - don't know the statistics anymore but they all deserve a pat on the back for continuing to put their asses on the line, in order to supply us with our weaponry, so we can put our asses on the line - and thank God for the weaker US dollar - even if it meant we now can't afford to drive to the beach on account of gas prices, we can actually afford to pay for kiting gear again.
MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR goes to Underground for their continued innovation, building 50 tonne board presses, cranking out genuine production boards, snow-kiting boards and now surf boards - all on a grand scale.
Finalists; Peter Lynn, Decay & DVNT kiteboards
ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR for my money was wind & shite magazine for spitting the dummy, hurling their toys and pulling their banner ad on this forum at the height of the BESTdiscussion, ridiculing BEST then publicly grovelling to BEST, then bowing to local industry pressure and not letting BEST advertise in their quality literary journal.
CAREER CHANGE OF THE YEAR goes to myself, from living the life of riley and kiting most days for half a decade, to becoming just another balding jafa with a real job, mortgage and daily road rage as my core recreational activity.
Finalist: Patman who went from chief shop boy at Bayswater to somewhere in aussie to continue his first love as a monkey tamer.
CELEBRITY OF THE YEAR should be Armie Armstrong, also known as 'the hippy' for his september date on TV's Sports Cafe - trying to get a word in about kiteboarding - over the likes of Marc Ellis, Rick and Lana.
MOST BIZZARE INCIDENT OF THE YEAR was the hippy's drunken plunge into the bonfire at the raglan freeride.
Finalists: Thomas the tanked engine's bite on the neck of some chick he was dancing with, who subsequently required medical attention
INTER-REGIONAL DIPLOMAT OF THE YEAR goes to Lee McClelland for his infamous 'salutary greeting' to a visiting kiter from the Waikato.
Finalist: Raglan's Sean Oliver for his online hissy-fit with Auckland's Madness and others.
KITEBOARDER OF THE YEAR is Aaron Smith - still kicking ass, totally immersed in the sport and full of aloha.
KITEBABE OF THE YEAR - sadly, this year none spring to mind (none that i can talk about anyway).
Finalists; all hot chicks who make our days at the beach that much easier.
Award winners can get an authentic KITEFORUM.CO.NZ Award embossed in gold lettering and framed in imitation rimu by sending a stamped self addressed envelope and $540.00 to PO Box 285, Silverdale. (Special pre-Christmas deal!)
feel free to add your own categories, winners and finalists that i may have overlooked in my festive stupor...
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