Brandon Nelson

Andy Holmes

This month, we hook in with Bellingham Kiteboarding Founder / Dad / Hubby / Science Teacher and Stand Up Paddling Ambassador Andy Holmes…

Q:  Andy, you and your family created, own, and operate Bellingham Kiteboarding. Tell us about the beginnings of the business and what it’s grown into since then.

A:  Bellingham Kiteboarding was started because Marlys and I decided we wanted to have her stay home with our kids as much as possible. We figured I could make some extra money if I taught people how to kiteboard. I had been certified to teach the sport while living in the San Francisco Bay Area, and knew that Bellingham was an ideal place to teach because of the shallow waters and steady winds. We started small, and ordered gear for students as we went along, but it soon became clear that there was enough interest and need to start carrying gear on hand. We slowly began building our product base and fostering a community of kiteboarders. We met people from Vancouver and Seattle, and became friends with hundreds of kiteboarders in the Pacific Northwest. After a couple of successful years, we decided it was time to hire some help, and we got some great people to help promote kiteboarding in Bellingham. We were able to build an online store that has brought us over 50% of our business, and has allowed us to grow and support the community. We just recently purchased a half-acre lot adjacent to one of Bellingham’s best beaches, and have created a kiteboarding community center where people can come get ready to head out on the water, hang out after a session, or just hang out and wait for the wind. At this point, we teach 70-80 lessons a year, and sell hundreds of kites all across the country. We are established as one of the major kiteboarding centers in the Northwest and have a reputation for having some of the best customer service in the business. We are very community oriented, and feel that what we give to the community, we get back in support.  I feel like we are in a good spot right now, and have been fortunate to be able to experience growth, even in face of the troubled economy.

Q:  Most of our readers, Andy, have never strapped on a board and launched a parachute-sized kite into the wind. Describe the sensation of kiteboarding for us.  

A:  The first time I hooked into a full size kite I had no idea what to expect. My wife launched the kite, and I was pulled right into the water, fully dressed. I kept on going down the beach totally excited about the power a kite could have in such light winds. It was only blowing about 10mph, but the smooth, deep power was remarkable. A few weeks later I launched another kite in somewhat windier conditions, and was picked up into the air, floated for about few seconds then set down about 20 feet off shore, again, fully clothed. I had been windsurfing for years, but this was on a whole different scale than the power a sail could generate. I was amazed at the raw, relentless power that these kites could produce in upwards and sideways directions. Eventually, with the help of the locals, I got to the point where I could harness the power and use it on a board. The feeling of gliding across the water was reminiscent of windsurfing, but I wasn’t staring into the side of a sail.  The kite was way out there, pulling me along, and I had a 360-degree view of the world around me. It was liberating, just ripping with total freedom across the water, then directing the kite so I was pulled 5-10 feet into the air, where I floated for a few seconds before dropping back into the water. It was just EPIC! Not only could I scream across the water, but I had a new dimension of up and down that I had discovered. Now, years later, I go snowboarding or wakeboarding, and I get bored because at my intermediate skill level these sports are strictly 2 dimensional.  When I’m hooked to a kite, though, I can hop from wave to wave at 20 mph as if I were weightless, then whip the kite in the sky and huck myself 25 feet into the air, where everything goes silent…. and then land smooth as silk, ready to hit the next wave. 

Q:  The kiteboarding safety and gear advancement curve has been near vertical the past few years. Look ahead to the year 2020. What does the kiteboarding industry and way of life look like, and what are kiters doing then that you’re not doing just yet?

A:  Looking back at my entry into the sport, I can see how things have changed 100%. It is no longer typical for people to get pulled around, or carried into the air, because kiteboarding lessons are an expected entry point into this sport.  It would be hard to find somebody who is an active kiteboarder who would not fully endorse lessons, whereas when I got started, lessons were hard to come by. The gear has advanced so much that people that I teach will progress more in 3 hours, than I did in 3 months.  My thoughts are that in the next 10 years, the safety systems and kite controls that have shaped the past 3 years of kiteboarding will be further refined and expanded upon.  There could be new materials that allow for some improvements in kite performance, but I suspect the biggest leap in technology has already happened, which was the advent of the Supported Leading Edge (SLE) kites that have allowed kites to have 95% depower at any point when flying them.  I am sure there will be new innovative companies, and some of the companies that are around today won’t be then, but I suspect that people will still be out there tearing it up like they are now.

Q:  You get the mail tomorrow, and there’s a $50,000 check from an anonymous kiteboarding addict, and a note that reads, “This money must be spent in the next 30 days on technological enhancements for the Bellingham Kiteboarding Community.” How do you spend it?   

A:  I’d increase the wind reporting systems that we have. We have already added one sensor near our kiteboarding beach, and it has given us a huge leg up on what the wind is doing.  As it is, we have no direct wind reading at several of our beaches, which if we had, would be very useful in making the decision to go, or wait for another day. I have 3 locations I’d most like, one of which would be a buoy right in the middle of the bay.  This would give more accurate on water wind readings that would be useful not only to kiteboarders, but sailors and windsurfers alike. Then I’d buy web cams to put at key locations. This would allow those who are stuck at work, or trying to decide if anyone else is out, to see the beach without having to drive there. Next, I’d spend some money creating a web interface that would enhance what we already have on our site.  I am sure there would be plenty of money left, and with it, I’d want to develop a remote kite depower system so that during a lesson, or while watching a new rider, I could remotely depower the kite if a dangerous situation arose. With this device, if I see a student getting in trouble, with a press of a button the kite would fall to the water fully depowered.  This would be technology wise, but getting the range, waterproofing, and durability up to usable standards might take the rest of the $50K.

[View with PicLens]