11
mar

mars 11, 2023
by
in News

Why Kitesurf material is so expensive?

So this morning I woke up, and I decided it is time to buy a foil board for my wings. I want to learn this sport during this kite safari season. I got a 5m wing, and I want to get a foil board for beginner, 150l or something around that: let’s check online for a good deal, maybe used? maybe new but not 2023? I tried to search online for an inflatable board to learn to wingfoil, and only the board is around 1000€ – I don’t even have a foil and a wing to go along with them, so we are easily talking about 2000€ investment on a beginner board (cause yeah, I can’t wingfoil yet).

I was planning (and I still am) to start playing around with wings and foils during our 2023 Kite Cruise Season (you can find all our scheduled dates in our Kite Cruise Weeks Calendar , but I know I will cry when I will get my hands on a complete set, and that will not be a cry of joy.

At the end of the day, a beginner foil board is an inflatable SUP: I got one last year for 200€ with a paddle, and it was in pristine condition – why an inflatable foil board without a mast is 1000€? What am I missing? And changing subject (but not really), I’ve seen online an Ocean Rodeo kite 9m brand new in a webshop at over 2500Euro! Is it a joke? I can’t imagine anyone going in such website and say: ”Wow, what a great deal, I will buy this kite before anyone snatch it from my hands, better hurry!”.

I am honestly a bit tired of this, and I’ve the feeling I’m not the only one. And yeah, I’ve no idea why kite gear is so expensive.

I see it every day: most of the kiters need a kite to go to A to B: they don’t need an extremely performant kite for mega loops. It’s like I want to buy a new car, I enter the car dealer, and all I can choose is: Ferrari, Mercedes and Lamborghini. Maybe all I need is a Seat Panda…

Said this, I won’t give up, and by the end of today I will have a foil board!