Shannon Best has left Best Kiteboarding, both sides have different stories:

Best Kiteboarding:

“BEST Kiteboarding today announced that Shannon Best is leaving his day-to-day role with the company to pursue new opportunities within the consumer sports industry. After nine years of helping to build BEST into oneof the largest and most successful kiteboarding brands on the market, Shannon needs to scratch a new itch in other water sports enterprises.

As one of kitesurfing’s most familiar faces and a creative force behind the sport’s early development, Shannon came from a pro-wakeboard heritage and brought that dynamic style to kiting. His warm personality helped BEST to establish a firm foothold within the fledgling kitesurf industry.

More than just providing the name over the front door, Shannon contributed insight and technical knowledge over the years to the development of a wide range of ground breaking BEST products. As the company continued to grow and relocated its North American operations from South Florida to Hatteras, Shannon remained in Florida, taking a less active role within the company to concentrate on his other business interests. He now intends to spend all of his time developing these other projects.

Everyone at BEST wishes Shannon great success in his future endeavors and thanks him for his commitment to the brand since its inception. As long as his name remains on our products, we will always look forward to the next time he stops off from his travels to come Ride With Us.”

Shannon Best:

After expressing my opinion to other concerned shareholders regarding the direction of Best Kiteboarding and the mismanagement by its CEO, I was terminated by Pure Action Sports Worldwide, the holding group owning and controlling Best Kiteboarding.

After attempting to settle our differences, not only did they refuse to pay my salary in accordance with our original agreement but further they refused to pay me my severance and any of my royalties. They diluted my ownership for the last few years and fraudulently applied for trademarks they did not have any right to.

The trademarks are the result of my work, my image, and my performances in the watersport industry and are specifically recognized as such in my employment agreement with Best Kiteboarding and its holdings inclusive of Pure Action Sports Worldwide. The employment contract specifically indicates that those trademarks bearing my name are mine and not theirs although I allowed them to use it during my employment with the implied ability to revoke that option at will.

Unbeknown to me Pure Action Sport Worldwide management applied and fraudulently obtained the related trademark in the name of the holding or its subsidiary.

After being terminated I requested for Pure Action Sport to pay what was owed and they simply refused. As well, they refused to pay any of the royalties owed to me. I then requested for them to remove my name from all of their products and again they declined.

Without any other choice, I filed a lawsuit against them on September 9, 2013 in Federal Court in the USA. The goal of the lawsuit is for them to pay what they owe me as to unpaid salary, unpaid dividends, severance and royalties but mostly this lawsuit is to recover my Brand and Image and related trademarks which they have acknowledged were mine and that they are using without my authorization.

I want to make it clear that I have no intention to go back to work with Pure Action Sports or Best Kiteboarding nor to be associated with them in any fashion as I have moved forward and my goal is to focus and develop my current activities including KiteSurf (www.KiteSurf.com) which will be one of their competitors as well as other ventures I am working on.

I really want to recover my name and image and to distance it from Pure Action Sport and its management. I welcome the idea that they may have to rename their brand something else and if they want I have a substantial repertoire of suggestions.

Shannon is already busy with a new kite company: http://www.kitesurf.com/