January 2001

Newsletter, Jan.1, '01.

The decision of the court of public opinion is now clear- Jan 1, '00 not Jan 1 '01 was the arrival of the new millennium, facts notwithstanding.  I like this one better.  In '00 we sat up through a bleak rainswept night at the beach waiting to greet the first sunrise with a millennium kitefly, but the sun stayed away- It was not until 5 days later- and in Australia- that the sun appeared for me for the first time in '00.  There's probably some message in this.

Take two came with sun- and wind!- but after last year's debacle Elwyn and I stayed home alone and watched a Nigel Kennedy Violin concert, leaving the annual migration to various party hot spots to kids and visitors.

It was wonderful, a time for quiet reflection.

Like, time to think of those who made '00 the best year we have ever had:

-Staff who strove without complaint to meet often impossible deadlines.

-Retailer's superhuman patience with extended deliveries and new product lines.

-Our Northern Hemisphere partner's for their continuing support and faith in us- sometimes even when ours wavers.

-Most of all, our customer's everywhere.

Heartfelt thanks to all..

Like, time to look ahead to the very special challenges that '01 offer:

-To keep pace with the very fast rate of product development in kite traction.

-To not lose sight of the solid "old technology" branches of our business (buggies, large single line kites and small kites) in the glittering glare that is kiteboarding.

Like time to think also, what a boring way to spend such a special evening- next millennium it's back to partying then.

New things coming?-

We have found time to refine some of our single line kites with new models of the mini ray, mini trilobite, mini octopus and mid gecko.  Simpler, better looking, better flying, these are now available ex NZ to order (when anyone has time out to make them that is) and should be available ex volume manufacture within a few months.

Personally I'm not doing much development work just now because my time is going to shepherding recent new products, especially the Arc, through the critical first few months of volume production.  This is frustrating for me because there are all these wild new ideas begging to be tried- and because Pete and others ARE working on them (and with some success).- maybe there's some virtue in seniority based hierarchy after all!

Meanwhile my new kiteboat languishes 95% ready.  Oh well, the best of summer still lies ahead- metaphorically speaking that is.

Peter Lynn, Ashburton, 1 Jan'01