FKA Kiteboarding Forums - Interesting Reading about REAL Kiteboarding

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Interesting Reading about REAL Kiteboarding

Gotta say I feel for Daryl and the crew at Extreme Kites. They have been nothing but good to me whenever I have needed gear, advice, or just friendship. This suit seems pretty petty and ridiculous so hopefully EK will not be affected other than gaining some new customers from people on the forums reading about them and how great a shop they are!!! Keep on truckin' good buddy, we are all behind you!!!

so who are the schools/shops/instructors getting sued. Extreme Kites?

Real Kiteboarding is suing Ocean Extreme Kites and Kitty Hawk Kites for using their supposedly trademarked terms "Zero to Hero", "Water Time" and "Ground Control".

This industry is so small that Real will probably regret filing these suits. I am sure kiteboarders will reconsider patronizing a shop that would pursue such frivolous lawsuits.

This has been going on for months.
I obviously kept a lid on it as I was asked to do.
But once it was leaked I spoke out.
I guess EK and other shops (by the way, there are others) are allowed to talk about this frivolous and childish lawsuit in their places of business (I visit on occasion) but are NOT allowed to respond on forums and in writing, while the lawsuit is under way. This is not a rumor, it's a real lawsuit. Because it is the real deal, don't expect to hear from those directly involved until the suit's resolution.

It's sad the levels that some shops and other businesses stoop to make a buck through backstabbing and other non-straight up means. If you can't provide better service and products, just sue and attempt to out last them with your trust funds? Lame.

I witnessed this kind of stuff on a regular basis while working for Daryl.
Most of it I never discussed, because people wouldn't believe me anyway, and what's the point, really. I loved working with Daryl, his wife and his crew, but I have to say, the politics (mainly of other shops) was disturbing to be around on a regular basis.

This particular fiasco is just one of many I have seen Real participate in.
The really dumb thing about this one is that the paper trail is going to be a matter of public record soon, not heresay, and it will shed plenty of light on Real and their true character.

BTW, I can understand trademarking "Zero to Hero". It's a very catchy name. It is associated with Real and a DVD they put out.
Even though they didn't come up with the term (not even close) it still makes sense to corner it.
Water time and ground control though? In addition, EK doesn't even give lessons. Nevertheless, they are being sued for using the term WATER TIME.
Lame.

I've gotta also mention that the guys up at Kitty Hawk Kites are SUPER cool and are, of course also being picked on. I'd recommend that shop to ANYONE!

These are stand-up shops we are talking about, not shops out to take or steal what is not theirs. Kiteboarding is a tough business to make a living in, I guess some people lose sight of what is really important (the riders) and start to just focus on money and politics. It really is sad to see in such a young sport but wasn't it inevitable that a bully would surface? A great example is Wal-Mart with one-stop shopping or Home Depot with hardware stores...

I guess it would just be nice to see REAL finally step back and realize that they too were once the "little guy" just trying to make a living and give the drama a rest already!!!

The thing with REAL is that as a company they are great thing for kiteboarding, REAL is monstrous they have a lot of money great marketing techniques and ideas. They sponsor huge video projects like AUTOFOCUS an Ten4, these help REAL gain such an impeccable reputation. If someone goes to Hatteras chances are they are definately stopping by real. They have their logos on their kites, so everytime someone buys a kite from them, they instantly have their logo flying at someone elses beach. They have huge marketing campaigns, every mag has a REAL ad. When i was in hatteras last summer i saw a lot of the REAL guys, most of them are great, ex. shawn, sammy, sleazy, but all the others gave me trouble, they acted like they own the water, some would cut me off and give me dirty looks on the beach. I have no idea why. The main problem with REAL is the owners. They definately act great for the mag interviews they get, and put on smiling faces for the customers. but the stuff they do to industry competitors is ridiculous. I know of more "wrong doings: then just suing these shops. I feel as if REAL is a great idea on paper, but in actuality it's bad to have agro guys like this running the shops...

Thanks for the heads up. If I got a kite from them and it had a REAL logo on it I'd promptly send it back and demand a refund.

It's my kite, not their billboard.

those are their demo kites, they put their logo's on all of their demo kites then sell them off at the end of the season