Close up Cynthia/The Kiteboarder.com

Cynbad kills it on a strapless skimboard!
Photo Peter Mahoney
Cynthia “Cynbad ” Brown
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-UP
Boards: 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 C4s
Right now,
Sandy is all about strapless riding and racing.
Lines: 25m Harness: Dakine Wahine
waist
Photo Josh Anon
Cynthia in front of her La Ventana home
with her GIANT cat Attila.
Photo Kent Forrest
Cl
up
ose-
By Paul Lang
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.
3 8 th ek i t e b o a r d e r . c om
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.
What do you do off the water to help you on the
water? 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.
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.