Ripping It: Kristin Boese, 9x Kiteboarding World Champion

by Jessica Valenzuela

Starting a new venture, a new career, getting into a new sport is never a simple thing. We can document as much work-flow, process and revise the business plan a million times, but there is no such thing as a planned life. One day the world is aligned and everything is perfect, the next time the stock market is crashing. People change. We all change. When you look back, one should hope that they have progressed. That is my personal belief. Motion, onward and upward is what our Ripping It professional kiteboarding athlete inspires. We’re very happy to share kiting thoughts from Kristin Boese, 9x Kiteobarding World Champion, also known as the most hard-working woman in the kiteboarding industry.




How and when did you discover kitesurfing?

A self-published author and successful entrepreneur once told me, that 1 out of 10 people will seize an opportunity as it happens, follow your heart and the rest will fall into place. This is what Kristin pursued with fervor back in 2001. “I worked in the north of Germany as a windsurf instructor and on one of these days that were just not windy enough for me to windsurf a watched a kiteboarder fly over the water. That was the moment I decided to learn how to kitesurf.” Without hesitation, she quit her job in Germany and left everything behind to go to Fuerteventura/Canary Islands in January 2002 to work and to learn how to kitesurf.


How has kiting changed your life?

“I guess it saved me from the office job I was having in Berlin and opened up the world to me. I had always dreamed of both, traveling around the world and being a professional athlete and it basically made my dreams come true.” Perhaps it was not her dream, though Kristin’s achievement in the sport is highly recognized by brands like Playboy. Go Kristin! Time and again we hear successful businessmen, athletes, people who are not in the limelight who chose to pursue their passion and face the challenges that come with it. I believe that challenges always come with rewards. It is very true that a whole new world opens up when you pursue your dream. One does not have to be stuck with blinders all their life. We all have choices.


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