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Kiteboard with Susi Mai Print E-mail
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susi mai
Photo by Tracy Kraft
Now in her fifth year as a professional, Mai has watched kiteboarding evolve from extreme to mainstream. “Kiteboarding is easy, relatively safe, and accessible,” she explains. “[Kiteboarders] don’t need as much wind as windsurfers, there is less gear involved, and I don’t know one person who started kiteboarding and didn’t like it.” Nevertheless, Mai’s ambition for her sport remains strong. “Kiteboarding has evolved faster than I thought, but it stands to only get bigger and bigger,” she says. “I think the sport is still young. There’s no doubt in my mind it will someday be as big as windsurfing—maybe even surfing.”

For the last several years, Mai has been hosting segments on an Internet channel called Extreme Elements TV while simultaneously competing on the Kiteboarding World Tour. “I still compete, but [the show] allows me to bring attention to the sport’s top athletes and showcase the amazing locations we get to ride,” says Mai, who hosts Extreme Elements in English, one of five languages in which she’s fluent. “This year alone I have done shows and competed in Australia, England, Germany, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, France, Venezuela, Hawaii, Spain, Brazil, and Chile.”

Once a year for the past four years, Mai has teamed up with one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists (and a skilled kiteboarder), Bill Tai, to host the Mai Tai Kite Camp, on Maui. Many top executives have tossed aside their golf clubs and headed to Maui with their kites for a little one-on-one coaching and a chance to rub elbows with other technology execs. Some just kick back on the sand to watch Mai execute her complex, trademark moves. “The Mai Tai is one of my favorite weeks of the year,” Mai says. “It gives me a chance to ride with average kiteboarders and really inspire them to get to the next level. But it’s a unique experience in that half the time, I’m riding with successful millionaires. Both co-founders of Google have become addicted to kiting. I think I could fit a Google sticker on my board—for the right price.”

From an outside perspective, traveling the world on someone else’s dime while pursuing one’s passions would seem like a dream. Mai acknowledges how fortunate she is, but she says the lifestyle can also take a toll. “Sometimes I’m away so much I get confused and lose myself a bit, forget my taste, what I enjoy, kind of like a headless chicken,” she admits. “That’s when I know I need to get home to Cabarete and just relax to refill my batteries. But overall, I wouldn’t change anything in my life—except I would still like to see more girls pick up the sport, and I hope to see it become a girlie thing like the female surf scene. If I can make that happen, I know my efforts will have paid off.”

CONTACT
Join Susi for the 2009 Mai Tai Kite Camp when it hits Hawaii’s North Shore May 10–16. E-mail Bill Tai ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to request a spot.

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