Dan Knight is The Kite Launcher

Dan Knight is The Kite Launcher

You haven’t heard of him? Then you haven’t been paying attention, because Dan Knight is the newest A-lister in the world of kiting. More style than Dre, more charisma than Rueben Lenten, …just more.

 Sistas, listen up, because it is time to introduce you to Dan Knight.

You haven’t heard of him? Then you haven’t been paying attention, because Dan Knight is the newest A-lister in the world of kiting. More style than Dre, more charisma than Rueben Lenten, …just more.

As kite sistas we may all have spent time in our lives on a beach, scanning around for a suitable man to fulfil our needs and perform that task that every girl requires once in a while, …to launch our kite.

Dan is that man, because Dan Knight is The Kite Launcher.

What is a Kite Launcher?, …well as the name implies, in this ever growing industry of professional kite surfers there is a greater and greater need for someone to fulfil the role of launching. A role that requires talent, training, practics, finesse, hops and barley.
As this new discipline emerges into the mainstream there is only one man that KSm needed to talk to, … so here he is to answer all of your questions…

… just don’t ask him to LAND your kite.

KSm: Hi Dan, thanks for taking the time to talk to us, ..can you introduce yourself to the uninitiated?

KL: Well quite simply I AM THE KITE LAUNCHER, im probably, well definitely the biggest thing to hit the kite scene for years. Im not your average Joe on the beach pumping up a kites or the idiot trying to detangle a stupid bar or those fools crashing out on the water, I am the guy that everybody wants to see. I have the power to breathe life into the kiter when there at their most vulnerable, i.e when there hooked into their kite and there is no one to launch them. So I offer this service where I make peoples day, and guarantee a good session, but obviously this comes at a price!

KSm: How did you first get into launching?

KL: Well its was quite simple really, my good mate Tom Court needed a launch, this progressed to travelling with him incase no one was at hand for a launch, the travelling escalated and soon he was paying for my service, this is when I went into business and started offering my services to other pros and later to the needy public…demand is high, I capitalised!

The Kite Launcher

KSm: We hear that you grew up on hard times in the dangerous back streets of the Isle of Wight. Do you think this constant battle for survival has helped to form your dedication and pioneering spirit in the world of professional launching?

KL: Yes, most definitely, the Isle of Wight is one of the most harsh environments to be brought up in. Its beautiful coastline, quite roads and awesome conditions for nearly all extreme sports, made it hard to not participate, it was hard but my dedicated ‘launching only’ policy paid off in the end…

KSm:In the early days you were exclusively launching for Tom Court. What were you reasons for this? …lack of confidence to show your talents to the world, a drunken lost bet to pay off, or something else our readers (and Toms sponsors) should know about?

KL: As I said earlier it just progressed that way to be launching for Tom. A lack of confidence, you’ve obviously never met me! Anyways not alot of people out there in the industry have got a sense of humour or really know how to roll, I opened up and offered my service out to the UK crew as these boys know how to party!! Its not just about the launching, its about the lifestyle that goes with it.

KSm: Was there a trigger moment when you just knew it was time to expose your raw launching talent to the world?

KL: After Launching for the UK boys, launching other pro’s just wasn’t the same and I knew I had already reached the pinnacle of my career launching for the elite, the only thing for it was to go into business, open up my services to the world and to start my own brand.

KSm: With your now legendary status in the world of launching, do you think this has changed your approach and the way you train to refine your technique?

KL: My training has never changed, im currently at the top so there was no need to change what I was doing, i’ve been known mix cardio with some cross training, on the same day! Once I picked up some weights but the real secret to my training is in the mind, I need to be mentally fit for what I do, so I got one of them Nintendo brain trainers and I hit that pretty hard most nights.

KSm: Have you had to change anything in your life to allow you to deal with the increase in attention from the media & ladies or is this a problem you were also dealing with long before the days of launching?

KL: I haven’t had to change anything for the ladies, I have been used to that attention most my life, and nor would I change, I’ve had no complaints, “if it aint broke don’t fix it”, right. The attention from launching however, I have just had to deal with it! Last year at the PKRA in Fuerteventura I was turning launches down left right and centre, mainly because there were so many girls on the beach, it made it hard to work (over crowding in the launch area). In the end I had to leave after concerns about safety from the world tour committee, which was a shame…

KSm: How would you describe your personal style in terms of how the world sees you and how you see yourself?

KL: Refined!

KSm: Is there currently a lady in your life?

KL: Which country we talking about??? We haven’t got time to go into all of this now…call me and we and we can talk!

KSm: Do you have any advice for those who want to get into the world of launching?

KL: By launching I assume you mean the launching of my business? Well currently I’m just producing a KLothing line which is about to be available worldwide very shortly. My advise to people out there would be that Launching is a hard nose game and it requires iron will and dedication, so if you not ready to play hard, party harder and spend a lot of time on the beach drinking beer, then I wouldn’t even bother!

KSm: Do you have any advice for those who want to get into the world of The Kite Launcher?

KL: Join the que and send your pictures to: [email protected]

KSm: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Before we finish up here it is customary to let our interviewees part with a few words of wisdom or advice that you have learned along the road of life … the soapbox is yours …

KL: ‘It doesnt matter what you do as long as you do it with style’ – yea i stole that!



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