Why did Pete Cabrinha and Brett Lickle quit windsurfing to go kiting?

October 21, 2016 | Kiteboarding
Pete Cabrinha: he quit windsurfing because he had too many wind toys

"How does somebody learn to kite and then walk away from it?" This is the question that tow surfer and windsurfer Brett Lickle asks big wave charger Dave Kalama.

The sport of kiteboarding was born in France when two French brothers - Dominique and Bruno Legaignoux - invented the inflated kites and, consequently, a new wind outdoor activity.

The world's first kiteboarders were already experienced big wave surfing and windsurfers. When kites hit the skies, many ocean addicts decided to give it a go and put their windsurf equipment aside.

So, why did Pete Cabrinha and Brett Lickle quit windsurfing, and started kiteboarding? And why did Dave Kalama tried riding kites and then stopped?

"Chapter One - The Kiteboard Legacy Begins," the world's first feature-length kitesurfing movie, explores the early days of a sport that "stole" participants from windsurfing. Well, apparently not all athletes were convinced.

"Do you want to the truth?," Kalama asks Lickle. "It was too close to windsurfing, and I was over windsurfing."

Back in the day, he thought: "this reminds me a lot of going back and forth across the water. Like I used to in windsurfing. But this is a little more fun, so I kept doing it for a while. Even if I wasn't windsurfing anymore."

And, why did Pete Cabrinha dropped windsurfing?

"I reached the point I had too many toys. I needed just one wind sport. I was like: 'If it's going to be windy, I'm just going to ride one thing," reveals Cabrinha.

Brett Lickle says that when tow surfing came, the windsurfer nearly disappeared from the lineups because "the money went to the jet skis, and to new boards.
