Severe lack of american representation on PKRA

[enderbeanz]

Hello all,

I was spending this windless day browsing all things kiteboarding online and I began to notice something that perhaps somebody could shed some light on. It seems to me that most of the kite MFGs out there are American based companies however taking a look at the world rankings from the PKRA I only found one American made the cut of the top 100 riders in the world. I realize that ridding in international competition isn't the be all end all of kiteboarding skill determination. I was simply just wondering why the severe lack of Americans competing in international competition?

[JRN]

I'M GUESSING IT IS A CULTURAL THING. A similar situation was evident in windsurfing. There was a much greater popularity and more widespread organization in Europe. The top riders were like Rock Stars over there. Add in the amount of leisure time, more time off, and vastly greater amounts of paid vacation time, the average rider has much more time to devote to recreational activities. Perhaps geography also plays a role, with more coastline in areas with consistant wind, not only is there more time to ride, but more places as well. We all know how much T.O.W. (time on water) can improve your skills.