Kiteboarding Magazine

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2006-02-10 05:50:06 | 347 views | 0 Comments

Homeless people, car batteries, endless trash and thick, thorny kiawe bushes don't exactly seem like the formula for creating the world's most famous kiteboarding beach. But that was the layout at the once-deserted, overlooked spit of land downwind from Kanaha, to which kiters were driven from the windsurfing beaches like lepers to Molokai.

It took the vision of Lou Wainman to see that this could be a great riding spot and the work ethic of instructor Martin Kirk to turn it into a hospitable launch. According to Kirk, Kite Beach was county property, so in mid-1999, just before the FAA kiting ban was going to be enforced, he went to an architect buddy with an area map and said, “Help us create a nice little venue here.” Kirk knew it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, so he went without permits and created the layout. “I thought the county would yell and scream at us–but eventually congratulate us.”

Kirk and the rest of the kiters did much of the cleanup work themselves, and for what they couldn't do, they pulled money out of their own pockets to pay workers. It was that important to the riders to create a beach where kiting was allowed. What happened at that spot in the three years following dictated the direction of the sport.

Kite Beach started as a place, then quickly evolved into a scene, a riding style and finally, a legend. But now that kiters are free to ride anywhere, it's just a place again. We talked to some of the originals to get the scoop on the early days of the place that changed the history of the sport.

“Kite Beach in the beginning was Mecca. It was our place, a place where we were allowed to ride. We were chased away from Sprecklesville by the windsurfers, so Kite Beach became our home away from home. Anyone who was anyone in kiteboarding was there at Kite Beach.” –  Chris Tronolone

“When kiteboarding was going to get banned on Maui, we all kind of decided to take over the little stinky beach filled with seaweed we now call Kite Beach. No one else wanted it, so we took it over. It actually ended up being perfect for kiting in the end.” –  Elliot Leboe

“Back before Kite Beach was the hub of the kiteboarding world there was a meeting about establishing a spot for kiting on Maui under the canoe hale at Kanaha because the windsurfers and canoe guys were over having us 'endangering' them. We tossed around ideas and decided the next cove down would be a good spot because it was calm and there were only a few people there. There were four vehicles that first day — Mauricio's, Elliot's, Lou's and mine.” –  Jack Webb

“At first it wasn't about what can you do but it was finding the right environment, and Kite Beach was perfect. It had kickers, waves, flat water — it was a gold mine for learning how to do everything.” — Mauricio Abreu

“People go down there now and say, 'This is a great sand beach,' but it used to be all trash and logs and kiawe.” –  Chris Gilbert

“I got to know a lot of the county people over my 20 years of living here, so I was able to contact someone in the planning department who got me some access to bulldozers. He kind of told me that there 'might be someone down doing work at 4 a.m. and if we show up in the morning and the work is done, he doesn't know what happened.' All along the way the county has kind of turned its head in a good way because it was appreciative of what the kiteboarders were doing.” — Martin Kirk

“There were only two kites at that time. You would use your 4.9 Flexifoil when the wind was light and you'd use your 5.0 Wipika when it was good. If you wanted to send it you'd use your 4.9. Lou and Elliot used to do the hugest jumps I've ever seen on those old kites. That was some of the most mind-blowing action ever when they would go on their Blades and just send it. Plus, they were making up all these names for moves, like Hasslehoffs and the Bigglesworth. It doesn't even seem real it was so cool. Those were definitely some of the best days of my life.” — Chris Tronolone

“What pushed the sport the most wasn't only that all the top guys were together every day right there, it was that we had the same conditions every day. It's like in wakeboarding we all have the same wake, so when the guys get together they push each other. But in kiteboarding there is always different wind, water, waves — but not at Kite Beach. It was the same every single day. So we could go out and focus on the tricks and not have to worry about different conditions keeping us from learning specific things. We didn't even worry about kite size because there was only one size. So we kept pushing each other every single day for three years basically. By that point the industry grew enough to where everyone had to travel more and had sponsorship duties, so the Kite Beach crew faded away. We're still super tight, though.” — Mauricio Abreu

“We used to take turns and film each other, and in the evenings Mauricio, Lou, Elliot, Shannon and I would watch the videos and they'd tell me what I was doing right and wrong. They pushed me forward, always giving me input and encouraging me to try new tricks. But I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been for the guys pushing me and believing in me. It feels like having been at the right place at the right time with the right people. Everyone had an open mind. There were no limits; 'the boys' just kept pushing harder and harder, inventing new stuff by the day. What happened at Kite Beach in those days built the foundation for what kiteboarding is today. Those boys created kiteboarding, if you ask me. The rest of us just tried to follow the lead.” — Nina Heiberg

“We would film all day with Buster on the beach and me in the water then at the end of the day we'd go to Burger King or get a bucket of chicken and then go back to Lou and Elliot's house on Sprecks, kick back and watch the footage.” — Chris Tronolone

“Everyone blew my mind in their own way but Lou definitely just rode differently from everyone else from moment one. Sure, Chris was good at some things, Mauricio was good at other things, Fadi and Elliot at still others — but Lou just kept sending the sport in new directions with new moves. He was just one of those guys.” — Julie Prochaska

“I remember when Lou started doing the big-air handle passes and kite loops. We were sitting at the beach and it was right after a Red Bull competition. Martin [Vari] and all those guys were in town doing board-offs and all that stuff like it was some hot shit, and Lo
u comes out with a small little board from Jimmy Lewis and with lines way shorter than anyone else's. Lou goes out there and starts doing 20-foot handle passes and kite loops, and Martin and everyone was sitting there watching him. No one was even doing anything close to what Lou was doing. Then all those guys went back to Oahu, learned all the shit and went on to win the World Tour the next year using those moves. I remember it so clearly. Lou did it all first when it comes to wake style.” — Dylan Grafmyre

“At the beginning, everything was a team effort. I remember once this giant log had come in from seaward and who knew where it was felled. It could have been from Palau but it rolled in at Kite Beach right at the point — right in everyone's way. We had to launch over it or around it and everyone knew all it took was one person to mishandle his bar and he'd take a header into the thing. So we waited for a high tide, then rolled it up a little higher, then spun it and tied some big old heavy lines to the thing and we would drag one side of it up, then take the lines to the other side and drag it up. We see-sawed it back and forth up the beach and finally got it out of there.” — Martin Kirk

“To go through all that with just a small group of people was awesome. There were only a dozen guys or so who were there. We were mostly making our own stuff. If we needed something we would spend most of the evening making it, then go down there and try it the next day. Everyone had his own idea as to what would work.” — Chris Gilbert

“Kiteboarding was a young sport, and a lot of guys would come down to Kite Beach and try to become heroes overnight. There we were, just a bunch of kids making a little bit of money hanging out at the beach, so maybe we came off as intimidating. It wasn't that we tried to tell anyone to leave or anything, and safety was always our first concern, but whenever we'd see someone getting worked and he wasn't in danger, yeah, we'd make fun of him a little bit. That was a part of it.” — Mauricio Abreu

“The vibe was always really cool and open. Lou and Elliot would be really cool. Lou especially would teach anyone who wanted to learn. It wasn't a cliquey vibe or closed off at all. We wanted to get anyone involved that we could — especially if you were a wakeboarder. It wasn't weird at all — kind of like a hippy vibe in a way. Come down and be free and fly with us at Kite Beach.” — Chris Tronolone

“I would march down there if I saw someone about to get plastered on the rocks. But Mauricio — I love him dearly — he would be the one to grab his camera and film the damn thing. There would be some guy from out of town in front of the whole peanut gallery — and it probably was pretty intimidating for out-of-towners.
 Sometimes it was for good reason that we'd be sitting around — the conditions weren't safe — but it wouldn't register with some of the guys who'd come from Europe or wherever. All of the pros from Kite Beach aren't kiting, there has got to be a reason. The crew would tease them but everyone would eventually help out so no one would get hurt. It wasn't a mean vibe or anything.” — Julie Prochaska

“For us, we'd go out for five minutes, then lose the kite on a handle pass and have to spend an hour chasing it down. So everyone made fun of each other when stuff like that happened. The only hostile thing was that we were pushing the sport so hard that people who would come on the inside to cruise and do a jibe or something — it wasn't really the place to do that.” — Mauricio Abreu

“Our priority was always safety. Dylan and I took it upon ourselves that no one was going to die on our watch and that no one would get hurt there. Luckily we didn't have to get in any fights, but me and Dylan were the loudest and most obnoxious about safety. We're really proud that no one got hurt there.” — Lou Wainman

“Kite Beach was kind of like wakeboarding. It's not just the guy behind the boat pushing the sport, it's everyone in the boat that's watching or making fun of him — like 'Huck it you fucking fag.' Before Kite Beach everyone was doing coast runs and doing their own thing like cruising; you never really attacked. At Kite Beach it had that wakeboard vibe where you had five of your buddies sitting at the beach and you'd be thinking, 'Man, I'd better huck something sick or they're going to make fun of me for the rest of the day,' so it kind of drove the sport. Someone would do something and eat shit, then everyone would go out and try to land it first.” — Mauricio Abreu

“Riding in the cove with no one else around was pretty fun, taking turns going in to do our trick, rousting guys who would come in just to turn around and not send it. It was almost frantic to learn the newest trick, have the latest board and spend another day at that dirty, stinky brown-water cove.” — Jack Webb

“Kite Beach was for sure a proving ground for the whole wake-style movement of riding. The peanut gallery on the picnic bench was pretty brutal, but it forced you either to step up and huck something or stand getting ridiculed for being a wuss when you got back to the beach by 'tha boyz.'” — Elliot Leboe

“I think the great thing for me is that I was like the second generation — me, Nina and Adam. We all started at the same time. We were lucky because Elliot and Mauricio and Lou and those guys were just turning pro, so we could hang out, no one was around, and learn from them, get all the gear from them. And when they took off for the competitions — like the first one in [Leucate] France or whatever, it would just be the three or four of us at the beach having the time of our lives. It was fun, having a good time wiping out, walking up and fixing our gear every five to 10 minutes. It was great.” — Dylan Grafmyre

“We had so many parties. We'd get a 55-gallon drum grill and drag it down to the beach and everyone would pitch in money. Money was not an issue. We'd have steak and fresh fish, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and we'd advise everyone of the issues — but kiting in the afternoon and partying in the evening.” — Martin Kirk

“My whole trip right now is to duplicate the feelings we used to get at Kite Beach. When we did Autofocus we wanted to create a peanut gallery again. We built everything and then we sat there and made fun of each other. I don't see me getting excited about kiteboarding if I don't have that Kite Beach setup: my friends riding, no pressure for the camera, just doing it for the sake of pushing the sport and trying something new. What I really want is to duplicate those days and that feeling. We still do it, we did it in Hatteras, Antigua, Venezuela, and it's all because of Kite Beach.” — Mauricio Abreu

“There was a rider who lived on Maui, Rick Lof, who went to visit his family in Canada. While up there, he went to a night club for his cousin's 25th birthday and he just happened to be there the day this guy came in the club and shot randomly. One of the bullets struck Rick in the head and he died. Two days later Julie called me and suggested we have a memorial. So Dylan, Lou and Elliot and everyone got in the water and let flowers and leis float away. Then we planted a little palm tree which is still growing down there. It definitely had a “family” feel. It was a very cool memorial for Rick and his mom, and for several years after his mom would send the Hawaiian Kiteboarding Association $500 and say, 'Hey Martin, whatever you guys need to clean up the beach, have parties during the cleanup, whatever. We know Rick is there and I want you to know we appreciate what you guys did.' We water the tree and keep rocks around it and everyone knows it's Rick's tree.” — Martin Kirk

“I so miss those times. It's good and bad that there are now a number of beaches to go to. I know you can now
go to Kite Beach and not everyone rides right there. It will never be the same. I feel bad for people getting into the sport now because they'll never know how phenomenal it was.” — Julie Prochaska

“If guys like Dre and Moi and Jason can push the sport to that level it's because they had a Kite Beach, they had a peanut gallery. They felt the pressure and at the same time the friendship that allowed you to make fun or have fun made of — you know, point the finger or be the clown. Kite Beach allowed those guys to understand that. A lot of guys from Europe came and would do something sick and eat it and we'd give them shit and they'd take it all wrong like we were making fun of them. We were just pushing them to go next time and huck it harder. Guys like Dre and Moi and Slezak embraced that mentality so tomorrow they would go harder. Then they'd land it and they'd start making fun of us. It wasn't a competition, it was a friendship. Your whole deal was to get bragging rights. The more bragging rights you had over your friends, the more fun you had.” — Mauricio Abreu

“We don't kite there as much now — everyone has moved on with kids and jobs, but every once in a while we all show up and give each other shit and still have the peanut gallery. It's a good time to go down there and hang out at the picnic table and all laugh. There are so many new people now but we still have our small group of the originals. Everyone has smiles on their faces, having fun, giving each other shakas, enjoying Maui. There's still that. But it used to be we'd just see the same people every single day. That's all we did. It's great because we are like a brotherhood — a good bunch of friends came out of those days at Kite Beach. We still get together and play poker on Saturday nights when everyone's around. I think you can look back at a lot of sports and realize some of the greatest times were at the beginnings. I have to say I was lucky enough to be there at the beginning of kiteboarding and experience that and it's been great. And I'm really stoked that the sport's progressed to where it has, because it's just phenomenal.” Dylan Grafmyre