Here is the conversation IKSURFMAG had with Andy Yates:
Rou
Hi Andy,
You're nominated in our reader's awards at KSurf mag. You might recall we did an interview with you back in 2008, well I guess we knew that special things were in store. Well done on the world title.
To help boost your votes spread this link around to your friends and get them to vote for you. Simple.
www.iksurfmag.com/issue24/?page=135
Good Luck
Cheers
Rou
Andy
No Thanks, if you are going to compare me to Aaron and say I am not as good then put him there instead.
Rou
Hey Andy,
Aaron wasn't nominated this year.
You were. We're not in the business of blowing smoke up Aarons arse, far from it. As far as were concerned you dominated the PKRA and he didn't really do anything at all. Our nominations are for riders that made an impact, not took a year off.
Up to you though, I must say I'm surprised by your attitude mate.
Andy
Surely you can say something else apart from negative comparisons. I didn't put all that effort in last year to be told that I won because Aaron wasn't there.
Take me off the list.
Rou
Mate,
I'm not going to argue the toss with you; you've obviously got some major hang-ups and insecurities. Aaron won the title 5 times and defined kiting as we know it. We don't say you aren't as good as him, we say "people will always argue" Which is a fact, they will until he returns to competition or whatever. Probably the reason you're so hung up is because people are arguing that you aren't as good as him. Get over yourself, you're the world champ, you won, you should be setting an example to other riders and not throwing your toys out of the pram when obvious comparisons are made.
Seriously disappointed by your attitude, never come across such a jumped up rider. Get over yourself.
I was keen to do a full interview with you and promote your achievements in the mag. But actually I shan't waste my time.
Have a great day and seriously reconsider how you talk to the press and kite media.
Cheers
Rou
Andy
Have a great day too.
Cheers
Andy
Conversation Ends.
ON YA BRUS! 
In a nutshell..
Kiters, dont support a mag that doesnt support the riders. Andy didnt say anything rude to the editor from what I read.
Sponsored riders, Dont sell out just for cheap exposure so you can get 50% off your next kite.
Writers & Photographers, dont contribute to magazines that dont pay for content. If your not getting paid cash (and that doesnt mean free product) then your shooting yourself in the foot and setting a precedent thats hard to revert. Too many lame pulbications on the market atm. Sift out the quality from the crap. Under valuing (or not valuing at all) your work is another nail in the coffin of the creative industry
The thing is the whole mag is a complete load of crap, story or not. Andy realised the guy was a rook and denied him. Thats how it should be done and other budding "pros" need to take note. Instead of selling out and giving away free content, photos and generally just giving wristys to whoever will give them a bit of coverage. All that does is fuel this ****ty media and wreck it for the real photographers out there trying to make it better.
There you go folks.
A perfect example of kitesurfing marketing. Magazines only hype people who cooperate with them.
I think people who ride bridal kites (bow/delta what ever) are unskilled fashion w@nkers. These ca$hed up nobs are perfect example of hype shoppers.
That's a bit off topic but anyway [}:)]
Dunno what everyones wingin about. People get compared all the time n not just in sports. You've got a 5 time world champ, then some one else wins. Of course people are gonna compare the 2. Who gives a sht.. Sounds like Andy spat the dummy first, then the mag spat the dummy about him spitting the dummy..
If Andy keeps winning then he's gonna get compared to other people like hadlow / langeree or whoever. Then if someone else wins, they'll get compared to him..
As a professional sportsman Andy has every right to have a say about the content that was going to be written about him. This year, most in the know said Youri Zoon was the man to beat, regardless of Kevin Langeree before his injury. Andy smoked him. Mabe trying to compare Andy to a guy who had a dummy-spit about how the riders were being judged is not a story he wants anything to do with. The journo could have come up with many alternative stories about the year and the challenges ahead, including a possible return from hadlow and Langeree
Of course you will be compared to the top guys when you're competing at a pro level - especially when you win the title while the top guy is having a break. The first question that comes up is 'would he have won against Aaron' - and that's a legit question.
Look at any sport or just at the recent Tennis. Novak wins the AUS open and is constantly being compared to Nadal and Federer. But it's how you play the media and media exposure will eventually have an influence on your earning potential, apart from the price money you get from wining a comp.
I agree, article is crap but unfortunately it will be read across the world and people get a picture of a rider based on magazine articles and this article portrays him as a spoiled brat. I'm not sure if that's going to do him any favours for new sponsorships, because I doubt that is just battling to get 50% off the next new kite quiver.
The jurno was just being a d!ck head but learning to deal with situations like that is part of the game.
IKSURFMAG concept and design is good but the content is unintentionally hilarious. Articles about bye-laws, bridals, and how to crave a surfboard. I'm not sure I'd call it journalism, more stream of conciousness run through a spelling checker.
.
Geez... they do give it to him. It looks like they are upset that they asked him to participate in something and he said "No".
They say the he shouldn't "throw all his toys out of the pram" and they are the ones carrying on like spoilt little turds.
idiots!
mike
Jesus wept, what a horrible lot of repetitive bull****e. Is it about Aaron or Andy?
By the time they had repeated the fact that Aaron was off tour and everyone has a chip on their shoulder about him, for the 5th time, I was asleep.
Ditch a photog and pay for an Editor, or go back to English 101.
Awful.
What goes around comes around..
All the dude from the mag did was congratulating on the title and saying here spread the link to get some votes. Of course it's promotion for the mag, but just as much for Andy and his sponsors, who I suppose like to see him present in mags as well.
"No Thanks, if you are going to compare me to Aaron and say I am not as good then put him there instead."
What allegation is that, the guy didn't even mention Aaron. He then explained that they didn't even nominate Aaron and congratulated Andy once again for his achievements.
"Surely you can say something else apart from negative comparisons. I didn't put all that effort in last year to be told that I won because Aaron wasn't there."
Again a pretty blunt assumption against someone who contacted him without any negative intentions.
The article was still quite objective imo, but based on that conversation I don't blame the author on the side blow in the last paragraph.
Anyway, it's quite amazing to see that much antipathy against a free kite mag. Personally I found some of the pictures quite nice, and especially the story about the Blade trip quite inspiring.
it was a setup.
i wonder if the article was ready to go, but had to be adapted at the last minute because, shock horror, he politely said "no, thanks".
that's why it's rambling and disjointed!
i don't think that email tells the whole story. It got out of hand real quick. How did Andy know that they were going to do such a comparison with such certainty?
someone quickly email andy and tell him the readers have voted to hear his side of the discussion and see his copies of emails.. quickly lets see if we can fuel more fire :D
I have restrained from even reading said article.....to do so would label me as a 'victim of media sensationalism' myself. iksurf would be stoked to have 2 pages of Seabreeze forum dedicated to them at this point.....regardless of whether its positive or negative......its all advertising in the end.
When all is said and done......Andy now has his name etched in the history books. For me.....whenever he is riding at the inlet, he is the only rider I have ever come off the water for, just to sit and watch him blow up. There are only two sports I would call 'artistic'.....skateboarding and freesurfing......The way I see it, Andy could be the guy to progress this kite sport of ours into an uber creative zone.
Keep it up Andy!
Peace....
