Bruno Legaignoux : « Why it is important to join IFKO »

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Augustus 27, 2016, 15:06:09
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Bruno Legaignoux redefines and helps us understand what is going on in “Kitesports”. He is the inventor of the inflatable kite design and Bow kite recognized as the godfather of kiteboarding. Bruno Legaignoux represents his ideas in a Q&A format and is interested to know how the kite world will respond to his statements about this topic.

Why am I involved in IFKO?
Since I was a teenager, I have been involved in sailing and diving associations, so I know how the associative world works and I highly believe it serves a proper function for sports.
When I was involved in the business side of kiteboarding, it didn’t feel right for me to create or push to create the associative structure for the sport, I thought that this should come from the kiteboarders themselves.
We waited long enough and in 2008, IKA appeared (International Kiteboarding Association). It looked like it came from nothing and self-proclaimed position to govern the sport but I talked a little bit with Markus Schwendtner, its secretary and wished him good luck.
For the sport, the first warning was when ISAF, the International Sailing Federation, refused to recognize the outright speed record by kitesurfers. The second strong warning came in 2012 with the Olympic campaign where Formula Kite was announced Olympic by ISAF for the 2016 OG and then cancelled.
Since then the situation has worsened between the ISAF / IKA pair and most actors of the sport, including the professional freestyle riders, the event organizers and some national federations. It ended with a disastrous 2015 year for the image of the sport. Something had to be done !
In early 2016, I heard about IFKO, the International Federation of Kitesports Organizations contacted them and realized that they were doing it for the same reasons I just mentioned. IFKO had been created in 2015 by two national associations, the Portuguese and the French to put an end to all these conflicts, so it is not surprising that the conflict is now centered on these two international federations, IFKO and World Sailing (ex-ISAF)
I realized too that it would be difficult for people to understand why these federations are competing for control to govern the sport. Since I am no longer involved in the business side of the sport, I decided to join IFKO, hoping that it would help others make a decision. The other advantage of joining is that I can check from the inside if it is and stays a democratic organization. But to make things clear, I have no right to vote, only the national associations do, and I am part of the Safety Committee.

I now have discussed enough with IFKO founders to understand that they are doing it correctly. They have created a totally democratic body, which is elected and can be replaced if the national federations are not happy with their work.
They work for free and very professionally to get IFKO recognized at the highest sport level (Sport Accord and International Olympic Committee). They have based the creation of IFKO on legal matters and on the fact that IKA and ISAF did it wrong the first time around, legally and technically.
The problem is that World Sailing and IKA use their power and position to make people believe that they are in charge of all the kite disciplines. They threaten and sanction the riders who participate in IFKO events, which is totally unacceptable and contrary to Sport ethics and community spirit.

What do kiteboarders want ?
Kiteboarding to be the “5th wheel of the carriage” of World Sailing which has demonstrated during the last 30 years that it was not interested in windsurfing and kiteboarding but boating and yachting?…
Or Kitesports to be an independent sport, like Surfing, which would allow it to be managed by an International Federation which will care and work on all the aspects of the sport, not only the selected Olympic class ?

By not joining IFKO, by waiting to see who will win this battle, the kiteboarding organizations and the members of the kite community are helping World Sailing create the confusion at all levels and the sport stays in the disastrous situation that we reached in 2015, previously to the birth of IFKO.
By massively joining IFKO, YOU will show that our community is willing to create autonomy, that we claim the right to self-determination and the international sport organizations will hear you.

Why is not it good for kitesport to be part of Sailing ?
1. The people who run WS do not understand our problems and needs, there are in their yachting world, they yet promote Olympic classes that are 60 years old like the Finn.
2. They are only interested in the Olympic medals, all their efforts and money will be directed to Formula kite, while other kitesports will be neglected.
The large majority of people involved in kitesports wish for its autonomy. This means being outside of World Sailing. So why don’t they join?
– Firstly because nobody knows what federation will win: organizations, riders, judges, media are afraid being on the defeated camp
– Secondly because of the fear spread by World Sailing with its irregular sanctions
– Thirdly because the sailing world has some ramifications in the kite world. Some kite brands are owned by windsurfing companies or their owners; these kite brands instruct their pro-riders not to attend IFKO events, etc…
So if you want the sport to be independent, like Surfing, if you want it to grow, if you want it to be well organized, don’t wait, create a national association and join IFKO. They will help you to do so.
Riders: it is in your best interest to participate in IFKO events. If all of you do it, will WS sanction all of you? Impossible!
Organizations: put yourselves under the IFKO umbrella.

Why Kiteboarding is not Sailing?
Yes. There are many possible definitions of Sailing, so much can be said, but here is why kiteboarders don’t feel they are sailors:
1. Contrary to boats and windsurf, we have no mast attached to the hull, our boards don’t need buoyancy because we “waterstart” thus they are not “boats”, and…we fly! Freestyle is not about going from a point A to a point B but to perform jumps and tricks in the air.
2. “Kite” is a family of sports where one can use exactly the same kite/bar/harness for practicing on sea, lakes, sand, ground, snow and ice on many platforms.
3. We have our own roots, identity and culture, far from the roots of sailing.
4. Sailing and Windsurfing are taught in any sheltered location free of waves and whatever the wind conditions. Kiteboarding requires specific locations, with beach and side shore winds so that there are few schools which do teach kiteboarding.
What is going on?
On one side there is IFKO, which tries to explain that they are following all the legal steps at the highest sport level to become the recognized international body managing Kitesports.
They have legally registered 17 different classes like freestyle, foilboard, landkite, snowkite. SportAccord, the organization that one has to be a full member before becoming an Olympic class, gave them the authorization to start this process. If Sport Accord and the IOC were not interested in IFKO, they would just have told them: “No, thanks, World Sailing already does it.”

On the other side, there are two organizations, World Sailing and IKA which are trying to keep their “Olympic-new-baby” although they have legally registered only the Formula kite class which is a board with three 50cm fins that just the riders motivated by the OG are accepting to ride.
The relationship between the IOC and WS is rather bad; the IOC has asked them for years to modernize Sailing so that it appears more media attractive. WS didn’t comply with this requirement for the 2016 OG and they don’t seem to be in the way to comply for 2020.
IOC wants kiteboarding at the OG, so why not with do it with IFKO?
Only one thing is for sure about the Olympics for now, it is that the kite will be at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 on twin tip boards, not Formula kite.
To conclude, the way the conflict will end probably depends on how widely IFKO will be accepted by the kite community.

bron: http://www.kitenews.fr/bruno-legaignoux-why-it-is-important-to-join-ifko-interview/

wie is http://www.ikiteboarding.com/article/kiteboarding-history-bruno-legaignoux
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