Soon...

Only a few months now to the much anticipated Olympics where once every 4 years poleboarders get to showcase their sport to the world. During the 10 seconds it’s on TV the viewing public will get to watch the elite poleboarders ‘air rowing’ frantically around the course at a speed that would put them at risk of getting overtaken by some girl scouts paddling a canoe.
Isn’t it time this embarrassment to poleboarders was put out of it’s misery and humanely destroyed?

a kin to watching string tanglers floating around in the air like constipated ballerinas. Yaaawn!

Yeah i think theres a bloke from SA in that. I think it's the bloke that is going to be running the youth coaching program here lol. Bit of fun and may even get to sail with someone close to my age. My mate and i have signed up anyway. I'll take my own gear at least.

Bubs

tbqh thou, the RS:X class doesn't really represent the windsurfing most of us do does it?

pull it out or leave it in, but stop wriggling it about.(your stick)

Must be a kiter, check out his photo, can anyone be too gay?

To me it seems like poleboarding at the Olympics is comparable to cycling if the cyclists were forced to use one bike in all events, built by the same company using a model from 50 years ago. The bikes would be heavy, have no brakes, gears etc…sure, it would be a tough as Hell event for the competitors but it would have absolutely no relevance to any of the predominantly recreational cycling done in the modern world. Cycling at the Olympics would then probably be a novelty event and only be of interest to the small group of amateurs who competed in such a novelty event in local amateur competitions. To me it seems ridiculous and I was just wondering what poleboarders thought about it but if thinking is not really your thing that’s cool.

Aren't the Olympics a real opportunity to grow the sport. From my observations the current Olympic windsurfer doesn't seem to be an advancement - I don't think I've actually spotted an RSX out on the water in Sydney.

Is Formula the way to go? It appears to have a healthy following on the east coast at least. I'd be keen to give it a try if it weren't so expensive for basic kit. *board think they're onto a winner for 2012. What do others think

http://www.star-board.com/2008/pages/news/news.php?readmore=351

Yeah, but the Olympics is all about the human competitors, not an equipment arms race. But good point, why are they cyclists allowed to bring custom gear (or are they)?

Does anybody know when/if it is on the telly?

Windsurfing is there because of its links with sailing. Kiting isn't there because of its links with hairstyle and bad behaviour.

For a start, your comparison is simply wrong; the RSX (not a board I like) is not 50 years old. The concept of the hybrid (not a concept I like) is not 50 years old. It's newer than any bike concept I know. It's newer than Raceboards, newer than Formula, newer than freestyle. I don't like it, but the fact that you reckon it's old merely shows your ignorance.

The board has more "gears" than most other boards; it has a centreboard and mast track that allow it to sail in several different modes. And sure, it's not fast, but a kite is dog slow a lot of the time and you still enjoy kiting.....if speed was all that counted we'd be using engines.

So your simile is crap.

Oh, and how popular is competitive cycling, the sport you hold up for comparison? Not very. The latest Sports Commission figures indicate that while "disorganised" bike riding is the 4th most popular sport, less than 10% of cyclists get into organised events. That's a much lower proportion of competitors than in something like canoeing (which I think has more stringent rules on gear), Lots of people are probably put off by the fact that you need to chuck a lot of cash at a racing bike, or you'll be at a big disadvantage. Go out, train your ass off and get beaten by someone who has spend thousands more on carbon fibre? What's the point? Or go out and win just because you spent more money? Where's the sport and challenge in that? Why not just have a **** over the size of your bank account if that's what you're into? Mind you, Alan Moss and plenty of sailors around will be laughing themselves sick if you try to get into a cash contest with them, so why bother?

In contrast, sailing has a lot of one design classes, and half of the people who sail compete in organised events. Why? A lot of it's got to do with the fact that in sailing, and some windsurfing, you can buy cheaper gear or older gear and know that it's right on the pace. The skills of the sailor are what makes the difference, not the skill of some shaper or sailmaker they've never met.

From some angles, using development gear is a challenge and a lot of fun. From other angles, it's a bit odd. Why the hell would you get seriously into a competition where the end result was heavily influenced by what brand of kit you bought? Where is the fun in beating a competitor by spending more or having a sponsor who happens to be one jump ahead at the moment?

So the one design concept is not ridiculous - your comparison is ridiculous. Using development gear can be great, but so are one design and tightly-restricted classes. If you can't understand that it's your problem.

I used to think about getting into kiting. There's no way I'd touch it now, because of ****ers like you who are so up themselves that they think only their own preferred sport is worth doing, and are so insecure that they have to our scorn on other people.

I thought that was obvious Greenroom....he's a kiter.

Hehe, so immature

I think we should be able to turn off posts associated to avatars as well

... instead of avatars and posts being able to turn us off.

What a rant. You haven't really answered Chris' point that the RSX is not 50yo, as you were saying, but anyways.

I like the following:

> most people in One Design boats just own them to race them.
> Poleboarding is largely recreational so its a completey different activity.

There is no difference: there are one-designs for both sailboats and windsurfing, and there are plenty of small crafts doing it for recreation (as you put it), whether boating or windsurfing.

You're a funny guy, Red5, I like ya. An obvious chip on the shoulder, that's funny.

Were you a windsurfer at one point?

Most people don't love the RSX because it's too much of a compromise; designed to be a bit like a recreational board but still able to complete a series in a venue that's not chosen for strong winds. It's a lot better than for the Olympics than something like slalom; the latest PWA slalom event didn't get a single race in.

And no, the Olympic sailing venue is NOT chosen for light winds. Pusan, for example, was windy. The boat guys want to sail in wind, too.

I never said winning bike races was all about throwing money at the bike. Among people of equal ability and dedication, the one who has spent more on the bike will win.

You're tieing yourself up with BS when you say the RSX is lower-tech than the stuff social sailors use, because it isn't. It's made in better moulds, with the same sort of materials, or superior materials. And since windsurfing went "high tech" it has become a lot less popular than it was in the days of cheaper, tougher, heavier gear.

You may get all hot and sweaty about the TV viewership of cycling - the point is that a far smaller proportion of bike riders than sailors are involved in competition, so AS A MEANS OF GETTING PEOPLE INTO COMPETITION then televised bike racing isn't working. And according to the IOC's official figures cycling got less TV, compared to the number of people who participate in the sport, than sailing. It doesn't rate particularly well.

That not be a big problem, because as Martin Hrones from Sweeney (the guys who do the major Oz surveys of sport, ratings and sponsorship) says, there isn't much of a correlation between getting TV and becoming a popular sport. League, for example, gets shedloads of publicity but it rates pretty damn low as a participant sport. Same with car racing.

I don't need life advice, thanks.....but yes, I do like sports that are sociable; sports that attract people who aren't one eyed and bigoted, and who are positive and can understand that other people can enjoy other things. They are the sort of people who are fun to be around. From the evidence of you and Waveslave and others, kiters aren't like that; more like a pack of whiners full of hate and scorn.