Cheers again for all the comments. I'm sure there is a lot of validity in the 5x theory (thanks Sir Rowdy).
My friend is giving a seminar tomorrow afternoon here in Brisbane on what he thinks. Will be interesting to hear what he says. Shall post any bits I think are interesting.
Kitesurfing definitely has the potential to become a legitimate olympic sport.
All that needs to change is the way in which a champion kitesurfer is measured.
Obviously the answer is to introduce the discipline of kite high jump. This would be suitable as an olympic sport because the success of the kitesurfer would be measured in height (no inconsistencies with putting a performance value on an artistically expressive version of the sport - freestyle).
Also would make spectacular viewing. Definitely the future of the sport right here.
Another likely possibility for the future direction of the sport is Kite Demolition Derby, where all kiters enter an arena and attempt to knock the other fliers kites out of the sky, or destroy them by smashing into their canopies or cutting their lines (similar to rokkaku style kite warfare).
Last kite standing gets the gold medal.
This sport can be seen in its infancy at the kiddy pool in St Kilda, grassroots level stuff, a real mans game.
Chris M is a wise man.
A secondary discipline of the most spins in the one jump could also be used as a fair assessment of champion status. This discipline would also have a good chance of leading into the final event of demolition derby on its own accord :) .
Joe Croen: my friend, Stefan, is a research scientist with CSIRO, he did a future trends study that got alot of attention this past year. Now the Aust Inst of Sport (I think) is funding a study on the future of sport in Aust.