Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Sport

Kiteboard sailing to take off

Peter White
By Peter White
Sports writer·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 Dec, 2012 08:38 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This summer expect to see an increase in the number of kiteboard sailors skimming across the waves along the coastline and windswept harbours of the Bay of Plenty.

The sport is on an upward curve, attracting new athletes from land-bound sports and others who have previously tried their hand at windsurfing and other aquatic activities.

The surge in popularity has not lessened, despite the removal of the course racing division of kiteboarding from the 2016 Rio Olympics, after it was earlier given the nod instead of windsurfing in somewhat bizarre circumstances.

Mount Maunganui's Torrin Bright is a leading light in kiteboarding course racing and wave riding, the more disciplined and less spectacular version of the sport than freestyle, that his old Mount College mate Marc Jacobs is a world leader in.

The 21-year-old Bright spent nearly 18 months out of the sport after a spectacular crash dented his shoulder, when he was competing alongside Jacobs on the world freestyle tour.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Marc and I grew up in kartboarding in the Bay of Plenty together," said Bright.

"He rips it and has been doing pretty well on the freestyle world tour and in the last couple of years he has definitely upped his game.

"That's kind of his focus at the moment but I like to do a bit of everything and mix it up."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Olympic committee's U-turn on the decision to allow kiteboard racing at Rio 2016 has not changed Bright's attitude to the sport or desire to be the best in the world.

"When it was announced that it was in the Olympics, it was exciting but I was also surprised at the same time.

"I didn't really expect for it to be kicked out again so soon but it's all good.

"We are all still doing it because we enjoy doing it, not because it was an Olympic sport.

"Just because it isn't now an Olympic event doesn't mean that people are going to stop doing it.

"The people I speak to about it want to keep competing and to push the levels and developments of the sport higher.

"Hopefully, everyone continues on with it and then there is potential for big professional events overseas to keep a world tour going."

Bright is more than happy with his comeback in recent weeks following that serious shoulder injury.

A fortnight ago he came second behind the world's seventh-ranked rider from Germany, at Sail Melbourne, the first ISAF pre-Olympic sailing event, in a field of 42 international competitors.

Last weekend, he won the racing event at the North Island Sailing Champs run by the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club off Sulphur Point, the first club in the country to run a regular racing programme for kites.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Bright beat top contender Dave Roberston from Auckland, who recently came ninth in the Kiteboard Racing World Championships in Italy.

"It was super close between us, and we both won two races, but I just pipped him on count back.

"He is a pretty talented rider and of course he went to the worlds and did pretty well there, so it is good to kind of see where your level is at in terms of a world-ranked rider."

Bright is not just a competitor but is also into the design and testing of kiteboards

"It is my job to help produce the products with Ozone Kitesurf. It is pretty much research and development and is an awesome job."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses
Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

The new facility will include a new building plus 14 asphalt and nine cushioned courts.

14 Jul 07:00 PM
Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought
Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

14 Jul 05:17 AM
Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes
Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes

14 Jul 04:28 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP