Hi,

I am currently putting together a lecture about kiteboarding (the 'anthropology of counter culture sports'.......stay with me people) at the University of Canterbury. I'm trying to get some idea of the number of New Zealand kiteboarders in New Zealand. This is for a university paper, (not marketing!) so it goes without saying that accuracy is highly unnecessary, random estimates will do nicely. Also, if possible, I would like to get some idea of location and gender breakdown. We have generally come to the conclusion that a kiteboarder can be defined as someone who has their own gear, can go upwind, and goes reasonably regularly. The broad regions (subject to feedback) are Auckland, Wellington, and anywhere else in the North Island; and Christchurch, Nelson, Dunedin and anywhere else in the South Island.

I can get estimates on Christchurch started - about 30 people, 2 of them women. I'm keen to hear other estimates on Christchurch and other areas.

Thanks

dunedin
7, all male

invercargill i think would be one or two, no idea if they're going upwind yet


:roll:
craig

There is quite a few in Auckland..... especially at Orewa and Shakespear Bay :twisted:

there has 2 b around 3oo in the greater area,with a solid 5o to 7o forming a core around orewa,taka,west coast,pt chev,mission,eastern,the ditch. its a kewl thing,i go for a jump and theres a newbe hanging,every1s looking out 4 all,sorta,yep its good,we r so lucky on any direction there maybe 4 or 5 spots on, and real close 2,most 3o cliks to the coast,no its all good here tks,got afew babes on string 2,wats not 2 like eh ?..

Well I didn't see anyone out at Muriwai today.... I checked it out but my 8m AERO II was too big... how many of those 300 + kiters have 6m LEI kites and smaller?

Who got some of that wind today??

wouldev loved 2 have jumped the coast 2day,early arvo was the call,mayb 2moro, im talking about kitesports mark not just kiteboarding but yeh were gaining weight in numbers all the time....

Wellington, about 10 core riders. 1 woman.

Yeah Johnny I'm quite stoked to live in a place with beaches for every wind direction.... all i have to do now is convince my bosses at Maccas to grant me those morning shifts so I can hook up those Huia missions in the arvo on those hot summer days.

It was pretty insane at Muriwai today, no-one was out and besides too windy for my gear, I could hardly walk against the wind... and all that sand blowin.... hehe... and those waves... yikes.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see when (if) half of Auckland's population are classified as kitesurfers.... could get a bit crazy... hehe.

8) ok i was wrong,been wrong b4 will b again i guess,theres only 1 kiteboarder in auckland.his names mark...sorry about that.

I've a bit of time on my hands so here goes for those I see a lot of around Auckland. In no particular order:
Spencer the big rig (goes thru waves not over them)
Lance Sth African (great rotating board-offs)
Johnnie RRD
Ruben Cabrinha
Lee Anabatic
Stu bad hair day Guerilla man
Shaan wordsmith
Gav - the best by a stretch hence less ego floating around the Auckland shores
Shane Hammagren (sp?) Booster man
Christoph Wipika
Earl Naish
Sean Gladwynn(sp?) airrush
Chris airrush smooth rider
Kavae kitemare Tamariki + his boys Reece and Cody
Rose - go girl
Kent kiteworks
kiteworks Perrin
Pete big air Boot
Derek (ex WSP?)
Army guru rider - needs a haircut
Another guy I see every now and then who needs a haircut
A dude I've seen at Mission Bay who has been to Cabarete
Tom only happy with 25+ knots
Joel?
Ian english lad who makes his own boards
The Italian guy - cant remeber your name sorry
The dude from Great Barrier
Me
Squid
3 guys who I normally only see at Shoal Bay or Cheltenham (locals)
Mark Easterlies kiteschool
Youngish slingshot guy who I've tangled lines with at Orewa
Simon 630 Arc and directional
Fraser lame foot
Guy at shoal bay who owns building business and skis a lot

Better go to work so will finish here - there are plenty of others I'm sure. I've never kited Tamaki estuary so there may be a crew out there.
Brad

KT here, lunctime at work so thought I would add to the list. Other than Mark T and Brad's list of kitebuddies, here are some others
NZDF Boardriders Club Members
Brendan "Torch" Clark
Lisa "Doli" Doliviera
Steve "Speedy" Cock
Rich "Humoungous Control Bar" Trolove
Clint Smith
Neil "Kitenana2" Crawford
Graeme "Navy Seal" Gunter
Johnno "Whipper Snapper" Burdis

a number of other fellas & fallesses in the NZDF known affectionately as Bro, Cuz, & Hey Sister.

John from Muriwai
Brett & his wife
Steve Morgan
Stu washisname Not the Guerilla
Guy "Zimbabwe"
There is also a kite couple from Japan that are out at the beaches in recent times. Here for a year or so. Nice people.

There are some guys I can't remember names for but as above, most respond to the term "dude or bro" May not be 300 but the numbers are building.
:twisted:

All going swimmingly Kinawera?
Good meaty feedback?
Lota riders in Aucks eh, so there should be, that place rocks.
On a pearler of a day late last season I counted 22 kites in the sky in Chch, a lot of them visitors or learners doing lessons, and that's the most I've seen here outside of an event context.

A lot of kiters come through, do a season or two then move on. Many of the original core crew here have gone and it does now feel kinda spacious... albeit not nearly spacious enough for the folk of the beach walking, dog defecation ignoring persuasion who seem to be harbouring designs to restrict our pleasure.

Another thing. What is it with the female sector of Homosapiens sapiens in this fair country which apparently prides itself on a culture of active outdoor pursuits? That in the five or so years since this most orgasmic of all boardsports propagated in popularity here, there is still only about a 1% chance that if one were to accidently do a random jump and inadvertantly land on another rider... it would be a woman.

Is this sport not accessable? Are Women more focused on vocation and procreation? Where are all the fem twenty somethings who have no qualms about throwing caution to the wind, slipping their slimey little hooves into a set of footstraps and living a life of aeolian hedonism?
Little wonder there is forming a sub genus one could aptly term "the kiteboarding bachelor".

Ok then here's my list of crew so far.

Matt (Challenger Dude)
Adam (Challenger dudes Brother)
Lance (the South Africian dude)
Sam (12m SS Fuel)
Joel (Does the most insane skimming backspins I've ever seen)
Alan (Airblast... not happy unless seething whitecaps)
Susan (Alan's other half, not happy IF seething whitecaps)
Dobbie (Psycho Dog, when he farts you need to use your 4m kite)
SouthEastern dude (The only guy to launch from the southern End of Eastern Beach)

Grant (Pine Harbour local)
Hamish (X2 convert thanks to aklbob)
aklbob (now in Scotland)

heaps of others....

craig

THANKS BRAD.. you have forgotten about me.. sniffle.

I only work with your house mate and see you out kiting most days !!
Next time I see you I will refer to you as DUDE.. as you are now one of my forgotten buddies.. lol

There are 3 other names from Auckland !!

Craig (Me)- South African from Cape Town, been here 6 months. Rides North 12 m,
Black tip 6.8 M and s-shot 16 m

Richard 14 years old South Africa not sure what all his kites are. Normally out with his dad.

Alex - Scottish bird - Rides Air-rush 12 m

We normaly kite out at Orewa, shoal, taka and Murawai.

Cheers for all those who replied,and especially to Kane9 for cranking it up a notch - I know I'll not be leaving home without my aeolian hedonism anytime soon.

As regards his message - if anyone else has ideas about why fewer girls get into the sport (appears to be about the same ratio everywhere in NZ), then I'm all ears. My first guess (after reading his message) about Christchurch is that maybe girls are more timid when it comes to being landed on by pants-a-flappin' maniacal giggling Kane, but it's never happened so far, so clearly he is not trying hard enough. Seriously though, any ideas about the lack of girls would be appreciated.

Thanks

Yeah why aren't there more girls kiting?

Sorry Craig, I thought of you after I'd signed off. Add to the list the SS commodore dude, and the German guy who drives an Audi - very nice wagon.

At the risk of being shot down by all the feminists out there : I have what I admit is a statistically very limited experience of teaching females. However, with that in mind, the one or two I've given initial lessons to lead me to conclude females are more likely to be intimidated by the power of the kite. I remember the first lesson I got from Sean Gladwynn (man am I spelling that right?) and he reckoned he could tell a future kiter by how they approached the power of the (trainer) kite - either a smile and a bit of aggression for the future booster, or the look of apprehension and uncertainty for those that the sport does not suit. Maybe testosterone helps the budding kiter.

Yours sincrely, awaiting with trepidation the feminist backlash.
Brad

I have kited in a few places and recon Auckland is pretty hard out kiting.
The wind can change with in seconds and with most places being on shore there is not much room for error. For any one starting out this can be pretty daunting... HOWEVER once you are up and running .. its all about BIG airs and fun

I have some girl friends that are interested in learning when it warms up !!! Any helpers ??

Alex has now become addicted after a good session at Orewa.

Will find out her point of view !!

My 2 cents worth.

Rugy, soccer, moto-x, wake boarding, are all hard out sports that are dominated by males. So don't expect kiteboarding to be much different in the short term. If we want the number of girls in the sport to increase we actually have to take positive action in that direction. Sounds like a good idea to me!
The training styles have to change some as they are designed by men for men and not all instructors adjust their style, let alone the kite size to suit women.

Snowboarding is big and plenty of girls are into it.
Now look at how the training differs. You start with small slides and a confidence building environment. And work you way up the slope.
The girls prefer to learn by technique and progressive exercises than the male go harder style . Where strength is used over technique in the first instance.

How many times have you seen some poor girl handed a kite on the beach (by her loving boy friend) that as soon as she turns it she is dragged all over the place. Sand really hurts man. If they don't find it fun they are over it, or looking for a better tutor.
Guys will take a few knocks, even get into fights for fun, it is a guy thing.

The Marketing is targeted at guys too.

NZ has a good number of women in the sport, probably 6 to 10 or more in Auckland at a quick count. I est 10% so we are off to a good start but it could be much higher.

Generally I find that the Girls who have had a bad experience with an Instructor or in some cases actually injured, do not go off the sport but think again about returning to the same person.
Winter is the other big problem, the girls just don't eat enough pies so feel the cold more than us.

:oops:
Wait till this summer comes around you will be surprised at how many riders are girls, you just never saw them because they were learning last season and the winter weather was crappy.

Make room for learners! Don't be so self centered on a crowded beach.
Let them enjoy their first few weeks on the water while they get their confidence up. Goes for the boys as well as the girls.

(no names were mentioned and so no egos were hurt with this posting)

NELSON,
25 guys
6 girls, including Cindy M
more girls then the average beach + one female instructor{IKO}

Been in Palmy North for about 1 year, regular @ the estury @ Foxton, never seen anyone else so I guess its only me

talk to nz water safety council they have head count numbers

talk to the guys who sell kites -retail/importers - if you did a head count of kites sold in the last 12 months - and compared it would give you a rough number

Thanks to all the people who contributed information to this question. The lecture was about 2 weeks ago, and went over really well. HEAPS of people were really interested in finding out where to learn, helped along by liberal lashings of the Stomp video.

I have actually seen one of the attendees heading back from a lesson at the estuary, with that special terror/wired look people often get on their first go out there.

Thanks again to all who participated

Mt Mauganui kitesurfing mecca.......

last weekend counted 17 kites at fergusson park all fairly proficient kitesurfers of a reasonable standard from general area and a few from where the cows come from (the waikato) making it over the hill.

there are 2 kitesurfing schools in this small surf town and 2 kitesurfing outlets that sell a truck load of stuff and do busloads of lessons between the two of them......thus setting a good standard of KB's......b/c we get to all the learners before they put thier 16m kites up in 25knots.....

the breakdown...geezzz well there is Royce he's just gone 50 something and outloops everyone in the Bay......as for the rest of us 30 something folks and two good woman riders (number 2 in NZed second only to Cindy is - Nicky Malone.....remember the name).

the core group of about 10 are out on a regular basis, at least 4-5 times a week b/c we get da wind up us out here on a regular basis and can pretty much fly in any direction.

that core of 10 riders would have 3 kites each 2 boards and a really good excuse when the wind blows to not be doing what we may 'suppose' to be doing....

:cry: Hey Mark you forgot Arcprof - Summer/Autumn only Guerilla man coming back to your shores soon.
Jim

Nelson got about 30 to 35 kiteboarders probalby an other 10 to 15 including golden bay and marahau. 6 girls

Andrea

kinawera: if this lecture has already occured when and where in the uni was it held? If it hasnt occured yet when and where in the uni were you planning to have it?

Heaps of chicks in Hawaii kiting - learning in 25plus knots - most better than us guys too, shamed to admit it. Maybe just because its a kiting destination - warm, sunny, always windy. - not that AK's not alright in the summer though. Looking forward to socializing with the chick beginners soon. Just hope they don't stand there in one spot with their kites up high like some of the bloke learners though. Maybe you shop owners should start marketing kites based on colours? Like so they could go shopping for a 'pink' kite rather than brand?

that's like such a good idea. I am so totally bummed when my kite doesn't match my kini. Though you can tell that kiting is really a guys sport because of all that grading according to size. Though from what I've seen on the beach so far this summer it's not size that counts, is it boys? Well I hope not anyway.

The lecture took place mid October at the University of Canterbury as part of the Sociology of Sport programme (I posted previously to thank people for their input at the time).

I'm quite impressed at the feedback this question has elicited especially regarding female kiteboarding. I realised female enthusiasm had taken a step foward a couple of days ago when a certain kite designer and a certain flash-as kiteboarder were reclining on the beach watching their wives hauling ass through the surf, occasionally wading out to offer advice, complete with a silent ballet of entertaining gesticulations. Bless their little kite fiddling, bar sorting, suncream-fetching souls.