Ceasefire as ISAF mediates in Kiteboarding Wars

by Sail-World on 30 Jul 2015 Representatives of International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) and the Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC) met in London on Tuesday to discuss the future of the class Championships after the two Kiteboarding groups had a very public falling out.

ISAF in a statement overnight has said 'The positive and productive discussions between the parties included the exciting investment being made by Virgin in this growing area of the sport, and all bodies are working together to conclude a long-term agreement to govern the future management and operations of the Championship. In particular, there is common agreement that the future arrangements need to ensure a flexible and commercial approach to developing the professional tour, whilst ensuring and safeguarding the fairness of competition and the interests of the riders.'

The two groups had been in discussion since September 2014 but these discussions had failed to reach a successful conclusion. Less that two weeks ago the Kite wars reached a new level when IKA announced that the contract between IKA and the Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) and its new owners the VKWC has been terminated.

Now after the intervention of ISAF, it has been agreed that until a long term arrangement is in place, the upcoming Fuerteventura Kitesurfing World Championships will go ahead as planned by, and contracted with, the VKWC, as an IKA sanctioned event and with permission from ISAF for its 'World” designation. ISAF and IKA will also be in attendance to provide support to the event promoter and assure riders of the fairness of competition.

ISAF is keen to have kiteboarding included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition, and the co-operation and planning between all organizations will be essential to further progress the class toward that goal.