They were the rock stars of watersports – bad boys and girls. At the top, professional kiteboarders were armed with company credit cards, year-long tans, gorgeous girls and attitude.
Not any more. Now you are more likely to find the world’s best kiteboarders drinking tea with sailing club commodores than tapping a beer keg.
World freestyle champion Alex Pastor remembers the early days, when being on the Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) world tour was more about the fun than serious competition.
“It’s not like that any more,” the young Spaniard says. “There are eight riders in the world who want to win the title. They train almost every day and watch what they eat and drink. When I first started, the competition was more on land, with the parties.”
Kiteboarding found the young Pastor when he and his family were holidaying in Tarifa, Spain, in 2003.
Pastor spotted a kiteboard floating in the water. He picked it up and, from then on, kiteboarding became his calling.
Two years later, Pastor, then 15, moved from Malaga to Tarifa to become a professional kiteboarder. The 24-year-old is now the PKRA world champion after finishing second for the past two years. His riding is regarded as the most stylish and powered in the world.
“If you focus on something you like, you always get there in the end. If you haven’t got there, then you haven’t tried hard enough,” he says.
But what Pastor can be most proud of is etching his name into kiteboarding history. He is an innovator and was the first to compete in wakeboard boots in 2010.
The boots provide an advantage when it is choppy and give extra support during powered tricks. Most freestyle riders have since made the switch. The trend is even catching on with recreational riders.
Pastor is the godfather of the modern powered freestyle movement. Yet he is level-headed and polite, content to let his riding do the talking on the water.
“My biggest goal is to give something to the sport,” he says. “I’m always trying to improve my riding and to also improve kiteboarding in general.”
At 24, Pastor says it’s not always rosy at the top of the PKRA. He struggles to cope with defeat in competitions.
“It gets on my mind and somehow I think that I’m not as good any more, so I really have to think hard and try to be positive,” he says. “If you can’t believe you have what it takes to be the best, you won’t be the best.”
