38 thekiteboarder.com

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By Paul Lang

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the kiteboarding industry? The course racing side of the industry. Just a couple of years ago, the equipment was fairly level with most people riding twin tips and surfboards. Regardless of the kite, racing success was more a function of the rider and tactics. Today, racing has become a technological game of catch up. If you buy a production course board today, it will probably be obsolete in a matter of months. Board and fin designs are changing weekly. The average kiter can’t invest in a new custom race board every six months, and riders may start to lose interest.

Where is your favorite place to kite and why? In front of my house in La Ventana. I can be enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich one minute and flying through the air the next. What is your most memorable kiteboarding experience? A session at a secluded point break on the East Cape of Baja. A rare south wind blew just enough for me to ride glassy, overhead, peeling rights on a 16m kite. What are your must-haves that you can’t live without? My waterproof iPod and my O’Neil 13 oz Thermo-X fleece. Any words of wisdom you want to share with our readers? Learning to kite on a skimboard can be frustrating, but stick with it without using fins. Once you get it, the skatey glide is the ultimate ride and is unbelievably rewarding.

Cynthia “Cynbad” Brown was not only one of the first woman to be a pro kiteboarder, she was one of the first pro kiteboarders period. Cynbad has been kiteboarding since the days of reel bars and rigid-frame kites. These days you can usually spot Cynthia killing it on a skim board in front of Baja Joe’s in La Ventana, where she spends the winter season. When, where and why did you start kiteboarding? Eleven years ago, my brother sent me a video of a new extreme sport happening on Maui. Lou, Elliot, and Flash were flying through the air with kites. I then found Corey Rosseler giving lessons in Los Barriles. Holy extreme gear! The trainer kite was a high-speed stunt kite, the board was a modified slalom ski, and the bar was a 15 lb. aluminum reel bar with a bicycle brake. There was no chicken loop, no depower, and no floatation. If the kite went into a high speed dive, which it did, it hit the water and sank! I had to reel in the lines and try to toss the kite back into the air while floating between the anchored power boats with a slalom ski attached to one foot.

Have any other sports or disciplines helped influence your kiteboarding? Windsurfing, wakeboarding, skiing, and snowboarding. What riders influence you the most/inspire you?Dave Tyburski, John Amundson, and Robby Naish. How long have you been traveling to La Ventana? How has it changed during that time? Ten years ago, the handful of kiters at Baja Joe’s were called

“dopes on ropes” by the campground community. There was no phone service, no internet, no gas station, and no garbage service. There was only one hot dog cart, and it was only open on weekends!

What standout features do you most appreciate about your current gear? My kites relaunch with the greatest of ease and have a functioning swivel that un-spins the center lines. I also love the super comfy pads on the Caution boards.

What do you do off the water to help you on thewater? Ride a mountain unicycle, read kite magazines, and watch videos of other people ripping.

What trick or style are you currently working on and what is the challenge? An aerial forward 360 on my skimboard. My kite tends to be too far back in the window to either transition out or kite loop. The closest I’ve come to riding away is with my butt on the board, so right now I call it the “Fanny Tranny.” What is your favorite style of riding and why? I can’t choose. I love it all. What is something about you that you do outside of kiteboarding that most people wouldn’t know? On Baywatch, I played dead in David Hasselhoff’s arms after a staged windsurfing accident. I competed in the Connecticut State fencing championships, and I paint pet portraits. What is your worst wipe out/scariest kiteboarding experience? About 8 years ago I was overpowered on a 9.5 meter and was lofted, knocked unconscious, and dragged ragdoll-style across a rocky beach in El Sargento. This was back in the hardline days, so the kite was fully powered and my harness hook was twisted up in the plastic. I became conscious some time later sitting on somebody’s porch, in my wetsuit, with a massive headache, blood everywhere, and no idea what had happened. The ambulance ride and hospital visit in La Paz were almost as scary as the wipeout. When they stitched me up, they broke the needle, and ended up leaving it sewed into my skull. The two guys who saw the accident and carried me off the rocks were going to learn to kiteboard that year, but to this day have stuck to windsurfing.

Cynbad kills it on a strapless skimboard! Photo Peter Mahoney Cynthia “Cynbad” Brown

Right now, Sandy is all about strapless riding and racing. Photo Josh Anon

1. Be respectful of space on tight beaches. Lay lines out and go; when done wrap lines up and move gear out of the way so others can launch and land safely.

2. Friends don’t let friends fly trainer kites on busy beaches.

3. When heading out, show some respect to the person riding a wave.

Age: Only matters if you are a piece of cheese HeigHT: 5’7” WeigHT: 120 lbs. YeARS kiTing: 10 FAVoRiTe SPoTS: The entire Baja Peninsula, Oregon Coast, Oahu FAVoRiTe CondiTionS: Waves, flats, chop - Anything that involves a 7m kite and friends! FAVoRiTe MoVeS: Strapless airs SPonSoRS: Ozone, Caution, Dakine, Amundson Customs, H2O Audio, losethestraps.com, Doyle SUP, Baja Joe’s

geAR SeT-UPBoARdS: Caution 5’5” Trespass for waves, Amundson Custom 4’9” directional for freestyle, Exile Pro Model for strapless finless waves and tricks BindingS: NSI kiTeS: Ozone Edges, Sports, and C4sLineS: 25m HARneSS: Dakine Wahine waist

Cynthia in front of her La Ventana home with her giAnT cat Attila. Photo kent Forrest