Islander wins Canadian kiteboarding championship

An Islander has won the Canadian Freestyle Kiteboarding Championship in Squamish, B.C. 

"During a maneuver, you got to go a little bigger and land more tricks than other people or more technical tricks — more difficulty, higher risk. That increases your points," said Wellington's Lucas Arsenault. The competition was held on Friday.

"At the end, just be a little more technical, be more powerful and you get rewarded for it, and that's what happened."

Arsenault remembers being with his brother at the cottage the first time he saw a kiteboarder. Arsenault wanted to pick up the sport right away, but since he was around 10 years old, his mother had other ideas. 

"My mom wouldn't let me because she thought I was too light and would fly, away like any normal mother would think," he said.

His brother picked up the sport, and after a lot of convincing, Arsenault was eventually allowed to kiteboard [or kitesurf] as well.

"From there, that's pretty much all I've done," he said.

Arsenault spent last winter working as a kiteboarding instructor in Turks and Caicos. He said he's going back to Turks and Caicos in November. 

When he is on P.E.I., Arsenault said his favourite place to kiteboard is Malpeque Bay.

"The most wind is out there … And, there is a lot of great people out there kiting all the time," he said.

For Arsenault, kiteboarding is like flying. 

"You're in the air, there's no sound [and] you're following the wind. It's quite cool, actually," he said. "It's a special feeling because you're being pulled by the wind and it's natural."

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