The Kook issue -Part 3
by Emilie Marx
(Part 3/6)
photo: Ronnie De Min
I heard the expression again recently.
We were on a sick wave spot, and it started getting crowded.
A few people started short cutting others and testosterone rapidly took over: it didn’t take long for me to go to another spot.
Those guys were all dropping on each other, on surfers as well and the spot turned into a pathetic circus.
The actors of the scene then proudly claimed having done it “Maui style”.
I’m quite certain the expression originally came from surfing –the US version of the Sydney surfer?-, and to be perfectly honest, to my very own point of view, “Maui style” could have stayed in Maui, regardless of how “cool” it may be….
I recently bought some kites from a perfectly unknown brand. I was tired of spending a fortune in gear and it was worth a shot: the kites were cheap…
As I went on a vacation, everyone looked at my kite with surprise, wondering what brand it was (ahh, the odd brand issue with the “mine is better than yours” argument!).
Of course nobody had ever heard of it. Few people tried it though and were quite impressed with the performance.
On my end, I was very happy with the kite too…
But needless to say, the “cool” people categorically refused to have a go with it, assuming that because it wasn’t appearing in their latest kitesurfing magazine, it had to be a piece of crap.
I was always tempted to tell them “well, if I’m flying a piece of junk, can you imagine how good I’d perform out there if I had your gear?”.
Cause we all know a different kite can make you a better rider, right...
Going back, there again, to my favourite word: whatever.
The sad thing is that after few weeks of sarcastic smiles, tired to have to justify my unknown kite brand, I surrendered by saying to the crowd what they wanted to hear: yes, it’s a piece of shit. Happy, heard what you wanted to hear?
Awesome, can I go back out now?
Photo: Fred Heinimann
Why do other people even care about what I fly?
I went back to Europe recently and was shocked to be immersed in a culture of the “appearing”…
Would kitesurfing be turning into this?
Are we really down to setting limitations through trends?
Is this all about following what the crowd defines as “cool”, just like so many fashion victims? ….
Two years ago, I used to say this sport was becoming metrosexual.
Now I can say it definitely is.
I’ve personally always found hilarious riders who put a boardie on top of their wetsuit. It inspires me the same dread as people wearing sunglasses in nightclubs.
What’s with the boardie on top of the shorty, is it another fashion accessory or some kind of secret coded tribe recognition?
And why is it that the people following this “trend” are very often the ones who pretend not to give a stuff about style?
To read the following of “The kook issue”
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