Kitepix Magazine No.6 April - June 2015 | Page 142

sometimes your gut instinct and the
feeling of barriers being put in the way,
are real, and someone is trying to tell
you that the decision you have made
isn’t right. Whether it be that you have
rushed the planning, not put things
into place and hoping that they will
fall into line, nerves at the thought of
doing something or going somewhere
that you never have before, or just
simply that it wasn’t your time.

“

Nowadays, with safety systems, the changes
in aero-dynamics of kites, the vast amount of
schools opening all around the world, and the
knowledge being passed on from people that learnt
when times were a lot harder, we definitely now
have a much safer sport.

Who knows?
This world can be a funny old place.
I had been lucky so far that my
life that had revolved around kite
sports. I’d managed to steer clear
of any major injuries, had a few
niggles here and there, but I started
in the early days of the sport, when
safety wasn’t at the forefront of
people’s minds. It was all about
getting out there and just learning.
Nowadays, with safety systems, the
changes in aero-dynamics of kites,
the vast amount of schools opening all
around the world, and the knowledge
being passed on from people that
learnt when times were a lot harder,
we definitely now have a much safer
sport.
I learnt on a 2 line 5m Wipika Classic
with a wrist leash, so if the windsurfing
harness line that was connected to
my bar did fall out, I wouldn’t loose my
kite. Not as much a safety system for
myself, but to stop my kite becoming a
hazard to anyone in its path.
It may sound crazy talking and thinking
about the way our sport was, and
in many ways it was crazy how the
pioneers of our sport learnt, but there