Don’t you work in a bar on minimum wage?

Kevin,

I believe the cartoon to be fairly blatant in its meaning: it suggests that the ISAF (International Sailing Federation, of which the IKA**, is a subdivision) is a negative presence in kitesurfing because they just want to make money by bringing kitesurfing to the Olympics, even though (arguably) it should not be an Olympic event.

This is shown predominantly by the fact that ISAF is depicted as a fat cat smoking a cigar (in the UK, the term ‘fat cat’ is a derogatory one, commonly used to describe a businessman whose main goal is to make money, usually at the expense of personal integrity; the cigar suggests contentment and ISAF getting what they want). The thought bubble suggests that to ISAF, Olympic participation equates to more money, and that to do so would be ‘selling out’ (compromising the integrity of the sport for money). We can conjecture that the artist believes that inclusion in the Olympics would not inherently be a positive move for kitesurfing as it would not ‘push the sport in the right direction’ but rather inhibit its development, especially in non-race disciplines.

The cartoon depicts the current competitors on the PKRA as metaphorical ‘sheep’ who do not think for themselves and hence have no separate personality (style) or integrity when it comes to kitesurfing. They are all the same, nobody stands out, nobody is doing anything different. In the cartoon, the PKRA is seen to encourage this type of thinking. The link between the PKRA and a farm serves to suggest that: a) the whole nature of competitive kitesurfing itself is a farce; and b) the rules which a competitor has to obey whilst on the tour leaves no room for personal expression or progression of the sport in general. This is further underlined by the fact that the sheep in the picture are drawn in rows, identical to each other, and facing the same way.

The kitesurfers outside of this ‘PKRA farm’, in contrast, all face different directions and are placed more randomly, which suggests (albeit in a rather juvenile manner) that they are freer. The artist believes that this freedom will, as a consequence, lead to the development of kitesurfing in many different directions (echoing the different disciplines of the sport- from strapless waveriding to big airs to kite low in boots/darkside).

Hopefully that’s shed a bit of light on the meaning of the picture for you. I think I got across all the main points?

** The International Kiteboarding Association, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH International Kiteboard Federation (IKF), a relatively new organisation supporting the KPWT which stirred up much confusion when it announced itself the ‘World Governing Body for kiteboarding’