Local Ontario Rider Craig Cunningham

February, 2010. LocalKiteSpots.com conducted an e-mail interview to with one of Ontario's top riders, Craig Cunningham.

How did you get into kiting, how long, what other sports are you involved with?

I started kiteboarding in 2005 at my home spot in Long Point, Canada. So I'm coming into my fifth season on a kite! Before I started kiting I was into a lot of other board sports like Skateboarding, Wakeboarding, Snowboarding and Skimboarding but it wasn't until I got on a kite that everything else kinda took a back seat! I still try to get out Wakeboarding or Winching some rails with my friends as much as possible!

I hear you've been traveling quite a bit. You were in Brazil for 3 months? How was it?

Brazil was a pretty crazy experience... so many stories from those adventures haha! With 28C and 20-25 knots everyday it is basically one of the top spots in the world for kiting and makes it super easy to progress! I learned a lot of new things down there but not as much as I would have hoped for due to a couple of injuries that had me out for almost half my trip. Motorcycles are dangerous kids!

Do you use LocalKiteSpots.com when you travel?

For sure! Whenever I'm heading to a new area to kite I always check up on the site. It's great if you don't know any locals and need some info on where to launch, beach rules and possible obstacles that you should look out for.

Where do you ride here in Ontario?

I'm usually riding on Lake Erie at Long Point or Turkey Point depending on the wind direction. Discovered some secret spots on the point last season and cant wait to do some more exploring this year!

What your best trick that you land consistently?

I guess the S-Bend to Blind, I wouldn't say it's my best trick but it feels so good landing anything to blind!

What new tricks are you working on?

Right now I'm basically just trying to get a lot of the stuff I learned in Brazil on the water to transfer into my snowkiting. Once I get back on the water though I want to get my Front Mobes dialed and I've got a lot of new stuff that I want to try on sliders!

Do you have any current travel plans for the coming year?

Next on the calendar is the Superfly Open (Power Mountain, Utah) on March 11 which is the biggest snow kite event in North America. I'm pretty happy to be heading out there to ride and chill with the LF crew! Then I'm heading to the Islamorada Invitational in the Florida Keys and after that event I'm going to drive up the East Coast to Cape Hatteras (Kite Point) with a couple friends and ride there for the month of April! By then it should be good back in Ontario and I'll be home for the summer.

I'd like to move to Western Australia for the coming winter too if I can figure that out!

Any new 2010 gear / products you are excited about?

I'm really excited about the new 2010 Liquid Force kite boards! They are introducing a construction that is super durable! It's called Liquid Rails! Where instead of using a ABS sidewall like all the other boards on the market the are using a Urethane/Rubber side wall that can stand up to a beating on rails, rocks or anything else you can throw at it! I'm also pretty stoked to be on the 2010 HiFi Comp kite! It does everything I need from a performance kite plus it has all the advantages of a SLE!

Who would you like to thank?
First off, Julien, Derek and Noel @ Liquid Force Kiteboarding. Hayley, Amanda and Becky @ Rip Curl and Bryan P @ Von Zipper! Couldn't do it without the help from these people!

I'd also like to thank my girlfriend Tahnee for being supportive, taking lots of photos and enjoying the sport with me and last but not least my parents for everything they've done and of course for letting me live at their house still!

Shout out to the Ontario crew for the good times keeping me motivated!

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Local riders make local spots work. To have your local rider story published on this site, e-mail Bill Walseth at bill@wcg-itx.com

Photo: David G. Tran photos@thechickenloop.com