Kitepix Magazine No.6 April - June 2015 | Page 116

So Jade let’s start with an easy one.
Who are you, and what you up to?
Hi George, I hail from Dublin, Ireland.
My local spot is the wide open sands of
Dollymount, just a few KMs from the city
centre. Right now I’m having breakfast in
Istanbul on the way back from 5 weeks
winter training in Egypt. I’m heading to
the West of Ireland for a video shoot
with PureMagic on Achill Island, some
final training at home, and then back
out to the first competition of the year in
Palma Majorca. I’ve been racing in the
Formula Kite board Class since 2011,
and I absolutely love it!
You’ve been involved in the racing
scene since the early days, what
impact did pulling kiteboarding from
the 2016 Olympics have on racing,
and where’s racing at now?
ISAF’s (the governing body of sail sports)
11th hour vote to re-instate windsurfing’s
RS:X class and remove Formula Kite
was a big shock and did some pretty
terrible damage. The Olympics initially
brought a tidal wave of riders, a flurry
of race gear from kite brands, sponsors,
national teams, and importantly money
to grow. Unfortunately much of that
energy left with the Olympic dream just
as quickly as it came. Many riders hung
in to see what would happen next, they
had personally committed and invested
in equipment, each wanting to be part of
the ‘next big revolution’ in kiteboarding.
It seemed the writing was on the wall
as riders continued to leave, numbers
dwindling. It’s taken 3 years to reach the
bottom of that curve, thankfully things
have turned around now and the future
is looking brighter and brighter.