In another move to push the limits of kiteboarding and see just how fast we can get it to go, Best Kiteboarding recently signed 24-year old John Grimm from South Africa as its first official team speed kiter. With John’s feedback and collaboration, Best Kite Designer Pete Stiewe has been working on a new speed kite, to further redefine technology and take the sport to the next level. In between working on a new website, and training for his upcoming events, John slowed down long enough to graciously answer most of my million and one questions.
SF: When and where did you start kiteboarding?
JG: Durban, South Africa, March 2002.
SF: So about 3 ½-ish years. How long did it take you to get going?
JG: Figured it out in about 3 tries.
SF: Bastard. One day?
JG: Yeah, I guess, but it took a while to stay on the board.
SF: How long from when you first put up a kite until you were staying upwind?
JG: About two weeks, but on the water everyday.
SF: Who taught you?
JG: Had one lesson on how to set the kite up by an instructor named Sin, go figure, and figured out the rest on my own.
SF: Did you wakeboard before, surf? Fly kites? Ski? etc.
JG: Surfed a bunch, trick skied and learned the wind since I sailed boats professionally.
SF: What was your first trick?
JG: Forward loop face-plant.
SF: Do you think kiteboarding is easy?
JG: “Easy†is not the word for it, “new limits everyday†is.
SF: “New limits?â€
JG: Everyday I go out I get to raise the bar or make a new limit for myself. Either it’s a new trick or going harder at one I already know.
SF: Why Best?
JG: ‘Cause firstly, I was the first nationally sponsored in Cape Town, South Africa, by the Best dealer there, and also I heard a guy on one kite DVD who said that every time he’s on the water he sees this guy that is always kiting harder and faster than everyone else (Shannon). That makes me wanna be faster and harder, and if that’s true then being on his team is wicked!
SF: What are the other speed guys flying?
JG: Mostly stock standard kites except for Manu Taub and Sebastian Catellan on Wipika’s who have done alterations here in Cape Town.
SF: Any girls doing it yet?
JG: Yeah, a couple of girls like Sjoukje, who is one of the Prolimit girls with their wacked out grey speed suits.
SF: How"d you get into speedkiting?
JG: Sebastian Catellan "Catman" asked if I want to go up to Namibia last year and I joined along and when I was up there I got above 36 knots on a freestyle board and they told me that was unbelievable, so I was hooked.
SF: When was your first competition?
JG: In 2003 (February I think)… the Kalso South Coast Challenge in Durban, SA. I took 2nd place amateur.
SF: For my own knowledge, what"s the difference between amateur and pro?
(long pause of maybe about 3 minutes)
SF: Ok, if you don"t know, we"ll move on.
JG: Some one that knows when they’re upside down and inside out and pressing the limits and they kinda know what’s going on … that"s pro. Amateur is just scary....
SF: Are you playing with me?
JG: Yep. No, that’s how I feel, I promise.
SF: So are you pro now, or amateur?
JG: I think even the pros are amateur some days.
SF: Speedkiting v freestyle ... do you have a favorite?
JG: Speed is like a sickness that there is no cure for, but freestyle brings something new everyday.
SF: What"s the record for speed & who holds it, how fast have you gone, and what"s your current ranking?
JG: Ok, ok … give me a sec to type ... only got 7 fingers.
SF: What happened to the other 3?
JG: Um, my dog ate them. Little number2 bit me yesterday.
SF: What"s your setup for speedkiting? Need special stuff? Boards?
SF: Sorry ... so many questions .... if you just want me to send them all over and you can answer them at your leisure let me know.
JG: The record is held currently by Olaf Martin, who I kite with every week.
JG: Um, maybe that will be better. Send them over to me.
SF: Ok, speed kiter you are, speed typer you"re not ... I"ll send it over.
(minor pause, while we switched venues)
SF: What"s your setup for speedkiting? Do you need special equipment, boards? I thought you had to wear pointy helmets to make yourselves more aerodynamic. Why aren’t you wearing a pointy helmet in the pictures?
JG: Your set up for speed is a bit different primarily on the board and kite. My board is a custom directional board by Cyclone Extreme Products in Durban, South Africa, and the kite is a modified Hellfish material, designed by Pete Stiewe, around 9 squares.
SF: What’s the difference between a speed kite and a regular freestyle kite?
JG: Well, in speed kiting you need really big ... when you reach over 50 MPH and in water just deeper than your fin you kinda lose sight of the small things and hope the stop isn’t going to be too hard when you wreck! Although kiteloops have taken freestyle kiting to a more hectic level. Speed kiting is definitely less technical in performance but the gear makes up for it.
SF: What size board?
JG: 135 cm directional that sort of resembles something out of a sci-fi movie.
SF: Something out of a sci-fi movie?
JG: Yeah ... I can"t give all the secrets out. People even hide their boards at events.
SF: But no pointy helmets? I think pointy helmets would be fun. I"ll get Thomas to design one especially for you.
JG: That would be sick! Right now the money people like Catman and I have put into it has been more to get the kite to keep up with the speeds we’re going. The problem we have now is that the profile of the kite has too much surface area to push through the air,†like getting a VW bus to go 150 MPH.â€
SF: What are the limitations of the sport at the moment, and what changes or innovations do you hope to see in the future that would help this?
JG: Mostly the kites for speed have just been touched on and right now we’ve been pushing the record every time up by whole knots and not by tenths and soon we’ll get that 50 knots that the windsurfers have been trying for, for years.
SF: What kind of conditions are the best for speedkiting?
JG: Just above 35 knots and silk smooth water.
SF: What are your favorite conditions for kiting?
JG: Either 20-25 knots on my nine yarga on 20m lines and just enough kicker to launch the biggest unhooked kiteloop ... or 40+ on a speed strip with my closest mates.
SF: What’s a speedstrip? Fastest guy to take off his clothes wins?
JG: Ha, it’s a location where the wind is off shore and builds up above 35 knots … and hopefully not too gusty.
SF: Where are the best places for speed kiting?
JG: Well, right now the best place in the world is a city on the coast of Namibia called Walvis Bay. The speed strip is out about a mile in to the ocean on a sandbar, and winds get up too over 60 knots some days. There’s also Fuerte and Leucate but both are really gusty at times.
SF: What’s your favorite place to kite?
JG: Big Bay, Cape Town, with my mate Clinton “Smarty†Smart.
SF: What 5 things could you not live without?
JG: Sex, kiting, and Rock’n’Roll.
SF: That"s only 3 things, but I guess when you"re so fast you don"t have time for 5. What percentage of your time is spent thinking about kiting, versus girls, or anything else you might be thinking about?
JG: 50% Kiting, 49% Girls, and 1% Everything Else.
SF: You can only have one for the rest of your life, pick one. Kiting or sex.
JG: I don’t know, but if there was sex while kiting in heaven then take me NOW!
SF: Do you have an addictive personality?
JG: Very much so.
SF: Seems to be a common thing for people really into the sport.
JG: Is that a bad thing ?
JG: I LIKE WOMEN. I LIKE WOMEN. I LIKE WOMEN.
JG: Wait .......
JG: I LIKE WOMEN!
SF: Ok, back to kiting. As you were saying, Olaf Martin holds the current record, what is it, and what’s your record?
JG: Olaf"s record is 41.67 knots (47 mph) over 500 meters (about .31 of a mile), mine is official 36.8 (41 mph), but that was my first time on a speed strip and with a freestyle board ... unofficially on GPS top speed at 45.8 knots (52 mph)and at 41.10 knots (about 47 mph) over 500 meters…
SF: “Unofficially on GPS top speed at 45.8 and at 41.10 over 500 meters†… what does that mean?
JG: We use GPS to train and test new equipment with, but at a contest is where it’s official.
SF: Since you kite with Olaf Martin every week, maybe you could sabotage his equipment … change his fins or something ... give yourself the edge ...
JG: Yeah I definitely could but what would be the fun in that ...
SF: Well, I think it would be fun.
JG: Seeing his face with the whole world knowing it was fair would be better!
SF: Ok, you win. Anyway, what are your plans for the next year, event-wise?
JG: Walvis Bay, Oct 9th speed week…. Redbull Cape Town Man, Nov 19th… KPWT Cape Town December …. Hopefully Leucate (where this year I screwed my shoulder and need to redeem myself) and Fuerte.
SF: What did you do to your shoulder, how long did it keep you off the water, and what did you do to stop yourself from going crazy?
JG: On the second day at Leucate, the wind was gusty and I had a board I wasn’t familiar with and at the end of the strip I came short and dug my arm into the sand, and dislocated it. The medics rushed me to the French hospital and said that they must operate right away, which sucked, so I waited till I got back to SA and sorted it out. Was back on the water in a few weeks and just got back to unhooking a few days ago. Luckily I was busy working on new speed board designs, and the designer for Best and I were summing up some things on speed kites so it kept me busy.
SF: What freestyle stuff are you working on, and what’s your favorite move?
JG: I dig more unhooked powered moves (kiteloop handlepass) and riding big waves (we get 20ft easy in SA)
SF: Any epic bad crashes?
JG: Once I ended up through someone else"s kite while they pulled a kiteloop in front of me without looking. Wanker!
SF: What did you say to him when you got to the beach?
JG: Ummm something like, “You little kjdnflgksntgs.gbâ€
SF: Do you ever fear for your life while out there?
JG: Sometimes on big waves it can put you in perspective but I live by, â€Go hard or go home.â€
SF: Hmmm. Some people just say, “Go BIG or go home.†What’s going through your mind out there when you’re cranking through the water at those outrageous speeds?
JG: Ummm, Big Fake Tittys … na … if your gear is set right and you just got to push every bit of you.
SF: Do you get nervous before competitions? How do you mentally prepare yourself?
JG: Drink copious amounts of alcohol, just kidding, go over my gear and just try to keep my mind off of things. Usually I get to the event a few days before and get used to the strip.
SF: Do you have some sort of a schedule or restrictions to follow the week before … things you must or mustn’t do?
JG: The most important thing is to keep fit and work on your stamina, because to keep up your speed over 500 meters your back leg can go a bit funny.
SF: If life were a movie, every time you walked onto the screen, what song would play to announce you?
JG: Aerosmith’s Living on the Edge!
SF: Sorry, I think that one’s already taken. But Handel’s “Messiah,†or “Sunglasses at Night†are still available, if you"d like.
SF: Ok, so who would you rather sit naked in a bathtub between …Flash Austin and Anna Nicole Smith, or Shannon Best and Neil Hutchinson?
JG: I plead the fifth.
SF: All right, ya big chicken. Most useful piece of advice anyone’s ever given you, about kiting.
JG: Look up!
SF: Why did you need to be told that?
JG: ‘Cause when I was learning, kites weren’t so stable and if you didn’t keep an eye on the kite it would take you for one serious ride.
SF: Best pickup line (and don’t say, “so what’s there to do around good ol" Florida†because that one SUCKS)?
JG: “Wanna learn to kite?â€
SF: When have you used that one with success? And did she really learn to kite?
JG: With my current girlfriend and no, but she did learn some other things though.
SF: We don’t need to know what. Brothers, sisters? And if so, did you ever play any really mean tricks on them?
JG: When I popped out, my mom took one look and said “Hell … NO more please!â€
SF: Darn. I wanted to hear some mean tricks. What do your parents think about your kiting?
JG: That I need to stop before I kill myself …ah, ma!
SF: What else do you do to pay the bills, besides pimping, selling drugs, and prostitution?
JG: That pretty much sums it up…haha. I worked in London about 5 years ago and saved up to travel and came to SA and never left, such an amazing place!!! The rand was at 20 to 1 and I made a killing and lived on it for about 4 years and last year got my IKO instructors and taught on Kitebeach, Cape Town for Windsports. So really nothing too much ...
SF: Do you do anything else besides kite and think about women?
JG: Ummm … playing with my dog. NO, not my chick ... my real dog! Coolest little guy ever!
SF: Your girlfriend must have a very good sense of humour if she"s going out with you. Who’s on your top 5 list of kiters?
JG: There’s more than five undiscovered great ones in SA!!!!
SF: Well, since they’re undiscovered, that really doesn’t help me much, does it?
JG: Well, I think the level of kiting in South Africa is well up there with our wicked conditions all year and that helps to push us all up. Aaron Hadlow is definitely up there and Greg Thijsse from SA is rippin it up now, not to mention my friend Clint Bolton, and Olaf Martin and Sebastian Catellan on the speed side of things.
SF: What"s the stupidest thing anyone"s ever asked you about kiting? Not counting the questions I"ve just asked.
JG:: “What’s a kite?â€
SF: Favorite movie? Book?
JG: Movie - Endless Summer 2 & when I’m not kiting I’m having sex so who has time to read!
SF: What would you be doing if kiting didn’t exist.
JG: DIE.
SF: What mistakes have you made getting into the sport that you would tell someone NOT to do?
JG: Well nothing was mistakes … just the learning process, but definitely get instruction by some who knows what they’re talking about. You can go wrong in a split second and knowing your safety steps is the most important.
SF: Ahh, such a good ambassador for the sport ... you get the "Safety Rick" Stamp of Approval. What qualities are important for becoming a successful speed kiter?
JG: Determination and having your nerves under control for a good focus and having a heavy foot (and balls of steel). Just try putting your nine up in five weather and if you grin, you know you’ll do well.
SF: Good analogy, or whatever it"s called ... litmus test for whether or not you should go into speed kiting or something. If I wanted to become a speed kiter, what advice would you give me?
JG: If you think you’ve got kiting grasped, if you feel that freestyle is not for you, and if you’re not afraid of going fast then go for it, the worst thing that could happen is … well, that’s why we wear helmets!
SF: But not pointy ones, at least not yet. One more thing: where do you want to be in 10 years?
JG: Once I break the 50 knots, future kiters will be asked that question whether or not they want to be sitting in the bath tub naked with me.
SF: Hehehe, touché. Welcome to the team, John!
SF: When and where did you start kiteboarding?
JG: Durban, South Africa, March 2002.
SF: So about 3 ½-ish years. How long did it take you to get going?
JG: Figured it out in about 3 tries.
SF: Bastard. One day?
JG: Yeah, I guess, but it took a while to stay on the board.
SF: How long from when you first put up a kite until you were staying upwind?
JG: About two weeks, but on the water everyday.
SF: Who taught you?
JG: Had one lesson on how to set the kite up by an instructor named Sin, go figure, and figured out the rest on my own.
SF: Did you wakeboard before, surf? Fly kites? Ski? etc.
JG: Surfed a bunch, trick skied and learned the wind since I sailed boats professionally.
SF: What was your first trick?
JG: Forward loop face-plant.
SF: Do you think kiteboarding is easy?
JG: “Easy†is not the word for it, “new limits everyday†is.
SF: “New limits?â€
JG: Everyday I go out I get to raise the bar or make a new limit for myself. Either it’s a new trick or going harder at one I already know.
SF: Why Best?
JG: ‘Cause firstly, I was the first nationally sponsored in Cape Town, South Africa, by the Best dealer there, and also I heard a guy on one kite DVD who said that every time he’s on the water he sees this guy that is always kiting harder and faster than everyone else (Shannon). That makes me wanna be faster and harder, and if that’s true then being on his team is wicked!
SF: What are the other speed guys flying?
JG: Mostly stock standard kites except for Manu Taub and Sebastian Catellan on Wipika’s who have done alterations here in Cape Town.
SF: Any girls doing it yet?
JG: Yeah, a couple of girls like Sjoukje, who is one of the Prolimit girls with their wacked out grey speed suits.
SF: How"d you get into speedkiting?
JG: Sebastian Catellan "Catman" asked if I want to go up to Namibia last year and I joined along and when I was up there I got above 36 knots on a freestyle board and they told me that was unbelievable, so I was hooked.
SF: When was your first competition?
JG: In 2003 (February I think)… the Kalso South Coast Challenge in Durban, SA. I took 2nd place amateur.
SF: For my own knowledge, what"s the difference between amateur and pro?
(long pause of maybe about 3 minutes)
SF: Ok, if you don"t know, we"ll move on.
JG: Some one that knows when they’re upside down and inside out and pressing the limits and they kinda know what’s going on … that"s pro. Amateur is just scary....
SF: Are you playing with me?
JG: Yep. No, that’s how I feel, I promise.
SF: So are you pro now, or amateur?
JG: I think even the pros are amateur some days.
SF: Speedkiting v freestyle ... do you have a favorite?
JG: Speed is like a sickness that there is no cure for, but freestyle brings something new everyday.
SF: What"s the record for speed & who holds it, how fast have you gone, and what"s your current ranking?
JG: Ok, ok … give me a sec to type ... only got 7 fingers.
SF: What happened to the other 3?
JG: Um, my dog ate them. Little number2 bit me yesterday.
SF: What"s your setup for speedkiting? Need special stuff? Boards?
SF: Sorry ... so many questions .... if you just want me to send them all over and you can answer them at your leisure let me know.
JG: The record is held currently by Olaf Martin, who I kite with every week.
JG: Um, maybe that will be better. Send them over to me.
SF: Ok, speed kiter you are, speed typer you"re not ... I"ll send it over.
(minor pause, while we switched venues)
SF: What"s your setup for speedkiting? Do you need special equipment, boards? I thought you had to wear pointy helmets to make yourselves more aerodynamic. Why aren’t you wearing a pointy helmet in the pictures?
JG: Your set up for speed is a bit different primarily on the board and kite. My board is a custom directional board by Cyclone Extreme Products in Durban, South Africa, and the kite is a modified Hellfish material, designed by Pete Stiewe, around 9 squares.
SF: What’s the difference between a speed kite and a regular freestyle kite?
JG: Well, in speed kiting you need really big ... when you reach over 50 MPH and in water just deeper than your fin you kinda lose sight of the small things and hope the stop isn’t going to be too hard when you wreck! Although kiteloops have taken freestyle kiting to a more hectic level. Speed kiting is definitely less technical in performance but the gear makes up for it.
SF: What size board?
JG: 135 cm directional that sort of resembles something out of a sci-fi movie.
SF: Something out of a sci-fi movie?
JG: Yeah ... I can"t give all the secrets out. People even hide their boards at events.
SF: But no pointy helmets? I think pointy helmets would be fun. I"ll get Thomas to design one especially for you.
JG: That would be sick! Right now the money people like Catman and I have put into it has been more to get the kite to keep up with the speeds we’re going. The problem we have now is that the profile of the kite has too much surface area to push through the air,†like getting a VW bus to go 150 MPH.â€
SF: What are the limitations of the sport at the moment, and what changes or innovations do you hope to see in the future that would help this?
JG: Mostly the kites for speed have just been touched on and right now we’ve been pushing the record every time up by whole knots and not by tenths and soon we’ll get that 50 knots that the windsurfers have been trying for, for years.
SF: What kind of conditions are the best for speedkiting?
JG: Just above 35 knots and silk smooth water.
SF: What are your favorite conditions for kiting?
JG: Either 20-25 knots on my nine yarga on 20m lines and just enough kicker to launch the biggest unhooked kiteloop ... or 40+ on a speed strip with my closest mates.
SF: What’s a speedstrip? Fastest guy to take off his clothes wins?
JG: Ha, it’s a location where the wind is off shore and builds up above 35 knots … and hopefully not too gusty.
SF: Where are the best places for speed kiting?
JG: Well, right now the best place in the world is a city on the coast of Namibia called Walvis Bay. The speed strip is out about a mile in to the ocean on a sandbar, and winds get up too over 60 knots some days. There’s also Fuerte and Leucate but both are really gusty at times.
SF: What’s your favorite place to kite?
JG: Big Bay, Cape Town, with my mate Clinton “Smarty†Smart.
SF: What 5 things could you not live without?
JG: Sex, kiting, and Rock’n’Roll.
SF: That"s only 3 things, but I guess when you"re so fast you don"t have time for 5. What percentage of your time is spent thinking about kiting, versus girls, or anything else you might be thinking about?
JG: 50% Kiting, 49% Girls, and 1% Everything Else.
SF: You can only have one for the rest of your life, pick one. Kiting or sex.
JG: I don’t know, but if there was sex while kiting in heaven then take me NOW!
SF: Do you have an addictive personality?
JG: Very much so.
SF: Seems to be a common thing for people really into the sport.
JG: Is that a bad thing ?
JG: I LIKE WOMEN. I LIKE WOMEN. I LIKE WOMEN.
JG: Wait .......
JG: I LIKE WOMEN!
SF: Ok, back to kiting. As you were saying, Olaf Martin holds the current record, what is it, and what’s your record?
JG: Olaf"s record is 41.67 knots (47 mph) over 500 meters (about .31 of a mile), mine is official 36.8 (41 mph), but that was my first time on a speed strip and with a freestyle board ... unofficially on GPS top speed at 45.8 knots (52 mph)and at 41.10 knots (about 47 mph) over 500 meters…
SF: “Unofficially on GPS top speed at 45.8 and at 41.10 over 500 meters†… what does that mean?
JG: We use GPS to train and test new equipment with, but at a contest is where it’s official.
SF: Since you kite with Olaf Martin every week, maybe you could sabotage his equipment … change his fins or something ... give yourself the edge ...
JG: Yeah I definitely could but what would be the fun in that ...
SF: Well, I think it would be fun.
JG: Seeing his face with the whole world knowing it was fair would be better!
SF: Ok, you win. Anyway, what are your plans for the next year, event-wise?
JG: Walvis Bay, Oct 9th speed week…. Redbull Cape Town Man, Nov 19th… KPWT Cape Town December …. Hopefully Leucate (where this year I screwed my shoulder and need to redeem myself) and Fuerte.
SF: What did you do to your shoulder, how long did it keep you off the water, and what did you do to stop yourself from going crazy?
JG: On the second day at Leucate, the wind was gusty and I had a board I wasn’t familiar with and at the end of the strip I came short and dug my arm into the sand, and dislocated it. The medics rushed me to the French hospital and said that they must operate right away, which sucked, so I waited till I got back to SA and sorted it out. Was back on the water in a few weeks and just got back to unhooking a few days ago. Luckily I was busy working on new speed board designs, and the designer for Best and I were summing up some things on speed kites so it kept me busy.
SF: What freestyle stuff are you working on, and what’s your favorite move?
JG: I dig more unhooked powered moves (kiteloop handlepass) and riding big waves (we get 20ft easy in SA)
SF: Any epic bad crashes?
JG: Once I ended up through someone else"s kite while they pulled a kiteloop in front of me without looking. Wanker!
SF: What did you say to him when you got to the beach?
JG: Ummm something like, “You little kjdnflgksntgs.gbâ€
SF: Do you ever fear for your life while out there?
JG: Sometimes on big waves it can put you in perspective but I live by, â€Go hard or go home.â€
SF: Hmmm. Some people just say, “Go BIG or go home.†What’s going through your mind out there when you’re cranking through the water at those outrageous speeds?
JG: Ummm, Big Fake Tittys … na … if your gear is set right and you just got to push every bit of you.
SF: Do you get nervous before competitions? How do you mentally prepare yourself?
JG: Drink copious amounts of alcohol, just kidding, go over my gear and just try to keep my mind off of things. Usually I get to the event a few days before and get used to the strip.
SF: Do you have some sort of a schedule or restrictions to follow the week before … things you must or mustn’t do?
JG: The most important thing is to keep fit and work on your stamina, because to keep up your speed over 500 meters your back leg can go a bit funny.
SF: If life were a movie, every time you walked onto the screen, what song would play to announce you?
JG: Aerosmith’s Living on the Edge!
SF: Sorry, I think that one’s already taken. But Handel’s “Messiah,†or “Sunglasses at Night†are still available, if you"d like.
SF: Ok, so who would you rather sit naked in a bathtub between …Flash Austin and Anna Nicole Smith, or Shannon Best and Neil Hutchinson?
JG: I plead the fifth.
SF: All right, ya big chicken. Most useful piece of advice anyone’s ever given you, about kiting.
JG: Look up!
SF: Why did you need to be told that?
JG: ‘Cause when I was learning, kites weren’t so stable and if you didn’t keep an eye on the kite it would take you for one serious ride.
SF: Best pickup line (and don’t say, “so what’s there to do around good ol" Florida†because that one SUCKS)?
JG: “Wanna learn to kite?â€
SF: When have you used that one with success? And did she really learn to kite?
JG: With my current girlfriend and no, but she did learn some other things though.
SF: We don’t need to know what. Brothers, sisters? And if so, did you ever play any really mean tricks on them?
JG: When I popped out, my mom took one look and said “Hell … NO more please!â€
SF: Darn. I wanted to hear some mean tricks. What do your parents think about your kiting?
JG: That I need to stop before I kill myself …ah, ma!
SF: What else do you do to pay the bills, besides pimping, selling drugs, and prostitution?
JG: That pretty much sums it up…haha. I worked in London about 5 years ago and saved up to travel and came to SA and never left, such an amazing place!!! The rand was at 20 to 1 and I made a killing and lived on it for about 4 years and last year got my IKO instructors and taught on Kitebeach, Cape Town for Windsports. So really nothing too much ...
SF: Do you do anything else besides kite and think about women?
JG: Ummm … playing with my dog. NO, not my chick ... my real dog! Coolest little guy ever!
SF: Your girlfriend must have a very good sense of humour if she"s going out with you. Who’s on your top 5 list of kiters?
JG: There’s more than five undiscovered great ones in SA!!!!
SF: Well, since they’re undiscovered, that really doesn’t help me much, does it?
JG: Well, I think the level of kiting in South Africa is well up there with our wicked conditions all year and that helps to push us all up. Aaron Hadlow is definitely up there and Greg Thijsse from SA is rippin it up now, not to mention my friend Clint Bolton, and Olaf Martin and Sebastian Catellan on the speed side of things.
SF: What"s the stupidest thing anyone"s ever asked you about kiting? Not counting the questions I"ve just asked.
JG:: “What’s a kite?â€
SF: Favorite movie? Book?
JG: Movie - Endless Summer 2 & when I’m not kiting I’m having sex so who has time to read!
SF: What would you be doing if kiting didn’t exist.
JG: DIE.
SF: What mistakes have you made getting into the sport that you would tell someone NOT to do?
JG: Well nothing was mistakes … just the learning process, but definitely get instruction by some who knows what they’re talking about. You can go wrong in a split second and knowing your safety steps is the most important.
SF: Ahh, such a good ambassador for the sport ... you get the "Safety Rick" Stamp of Approval. What qualities are important for becoming a successful speed kiter?
JG: Determination and having your nerves under control for a good focus and having a heavy foot (and balls of steel). Just try putting your nine up in five weather and if you grin, you know you’ll do well.
SF: Good analogy, or whatever it"s called ... litmus test for whether or not you should go into speed kiting or something. If I wanted to become a speed kiter, what advice would you give me?
JG: If you think you’ve got kiting grasped, if you feel that freestyle is not for you, and if you’re not afraid of going fast then go for it, the worst thing that could happen is … well, that’s why we wear helmets!
SF: But not pointy ones, at least not yet. One more thing: where do you want to be in 10 years?
JG: Once I break the 50 knots, future kiters will be asked that question whether or not they want to be sitting in the bath tub naked with me.
SF: Hehehe, touché. Welcome to the team, John!
