[ricki]

Thanks for the great shots Josh. You also have that nice animated gif now that I think about it.

Regarding Florida and Pro kiteboarding, we have always been an exceptional starting point for great riders. Lou Waiman, Flash Austin, Shannon Best and many other famous kiteboarders started here. Andy Hurdman who is a strong kiter in his own right honed a lot of his technique right in light wind Delray. I once asked him how he managed to do that with the particularly light winds in those years. He did a lot of downwinders. At his light weight, probably around that of Bill, they need less wind than us heavier guys. Add to that heading downwind, you need less wind velocity than required to stay upwind. You can build momentum for launching into tricks running off the wind as well.

Still, all these guys including Andy ended up in Maui. I am not sure how great the Gorge is as a breeding ground for broad talented kiteboarders. That gust range out there can be intense. The same can be said about Maui at times as well. So moving on to a high wind destination for accelerated skill development seems to be the norm for the strong pro kiteboarders.