Kiter.com:
What do you like to be called? Nick name?
Renee Hanks: SplendidBitch
Projected Age?
27
What about your home town do you like? Hate?
Wilmington North Carolina – on the ocean and full
of open minded hippy people.
It was three hours from the mountains – (don’t
like)
What is the worst job you ever had?
I was a sales clerk in a store on the beach called redex
and then I was fired cos I skipped work to go play beach
volleyball
Now that you are in the sport and established,
what are your goals?
To encourage other women to get involved in the sport
and to raise the level of kitesurfing
What are your goals for the 2003 season?
My goals are to participate in a variety of events and
to kite to my potential and of course to have fun with
the girls!
How do you feel about competitions?
I like compettions cos they force me to kite in a variety
of conditions and competition with the other women motivates
me and improves my kiting.
How do you feel about the judging?
I think that the judging needs to be more standardized.
In the PKRA that is more likely to happen this year with
an extra traveling judge.
What do you think about the prize money? Do you
buy the proportion theory?
I think that the fact that only the top one or two women
can make a living at the sport discourages serious atheltes
from commiting to the sport. If event sponsors and event
organziers are serious about encouraging the growth of
womens kiteboarding, prize money needs to be such that
it allows the possibility of providing a reasonable lifestyle
to more than just the top one or two women.
What would you like to see changed in competitions/judging?
I would like it to be standardized in such a way in which
competitors could look at judging sheets and have them
provide feedback on performance. I want judging sheets
to more readily available and comprehensible. That way
competitors could garner feedback on their performance.
At this years King of the Air in Maui the original
plan was to have a four women main event? After some discussion it was opened up to include
six.
How did you interpret this/feel about this?
I was dissappointed that there would only be four women
in the main event. After speaking with Josh I understood
that Red Bull wanted the number of competitiors in the
main event to be limited for safety.
What do you like best about the sport?
I like going exploring on Oahu on my kite. It allows me
to be immersed in nature. I enjoy the solitude.
What has been your biggest sacrifice?
Giving up rock climbing after 10 years of serious commitment.
I had just gone on a three month climbing trip before
I started kiteboarding and I haven’t climbed since.
The other sort of semi-sacrifice I made was I was going
to return to Micronesia to conduct doctoral research on
forest birds but I decided to stay on Oahu and focus my
research on Oahu’s offshore islets so that I could
simultaneously pursue professional kiteboarding.
Is it worth it?
For the most part yes, I miss climbing and I miss the
solitude of micronesia but in return I have gottten a
lot. I have gotten to travel and meet many strong women.
I have been physically challenged and I have also gotten
to live in civilization on Oahu.
What keeps you going?
No matter what I would do.. kitesurfing keeps me sane....without
kitesurfing I wouldn’t be such a motivated doctoral
student. Kitesurfing gives me energy. What keeps me motivated
to keep kitesurfing is my desire to keep physically challenging
myself...I have been like that since I was a kid.
Who has given you the most support?
All of my friends on Oahu – Marigold Zoll, Bo Hickman
taught me how to kite....all the guys on the the North
Shore and Kailua. and more recently Gaastra kiteboarding.
Any words of advice for women getting into the sport?
Take a lesson from a qualified instructor and know that
it’s an easy sport to learn. Safety is what separates
competent and incompetent kitesurfers.
What do you see as the major limitations to
the progress of the sport?
Safety and safety systems Maybe also ways to train on
land to increase body awareness....maybe with a trampoline.
How do you feel about the image/treatment of
women in kiteboarding?
I believe that magazines have a strong roll in how women
are percieved. And some magazines have decided not to
portray women as legitamite atheltes. I think that at
contests....we portray ourselves as talented proffesional
atheltes but unfortunately magazines sometimes don’t
capture that. This is a problem that occurs in many
professional sports not just kiteboarding.
Who is your favorite Kite boarder and why?
I have a bunch of favorite kiters....I am motivated
by all the women that I kite with...I don’t have
a favorite guy...I like John Anmudsen....I think kiters
that push the limits in waves are amazing. I look up
to the kiters who push their limits but respect safety
at the same time.
Who are your sponsors?
Gaastra, gaastra, gaastra, gaastra, mormaii clothing,
shiseido sunscreens
How long have you been kiting?
Almost 3 years
Favorite Place to Ride
I like la ventana
Waves or Freestyle?
Freestyle on waves
What do you think is the future of our sport?
I think as technology changes and improves it could
become more accesible to the main stream in the future.
If technology stays where it is......well we’re
not talking about baseball here.
Who Inspires you?
Tony Hawk ....and do you know who else ..Rochelle Ballard
and the professional women surfers...she’s just
going for it....she’s pushing the limits and she’s
very outspoken about her vision for the future of her
sport.
Words?
Sushi is best in la ventana.
Insights and Observations.
Fish tacos are best with fish...
Who or what would you cancel?
Jeff Tobias because some one needs to do it.
Does size matter?
Yes.....definately
How do you feel about sushi?
It’s hard to get fresh
Where will you be in ten years?
I will be an absent minded college professor still wondering
where I parked my car
Most embarrassing moment?
Losing my car on the university of Hawaii campus for
two weeks
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the work I do related to my
National Science Foundation Teaching Fellowship. We
take kids from kindegarten to twelth grade and immerse
them in Biological Research. This summer we designed
a curriculum for high school students involving tagging
baby hammerhead sharks. Now we are going to take a group
of students to island of Palmyra to do insect inventories
and to practice team building schools and increase self
esteem.
What was your best Halloween Costume ever?
I’ve had a few good ones. If I had to rank them
#1) dominatrix; #2) was sorority girl when I was going
to school at Auburn University school in Alabama (I
was asked out on two dates) #3) uhhhh.....a soiled tampon......
Favorite book?
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Jerry Lynch – It’s
a Taoist approach to athletics.
Who would you vote off if you could?
Jimmy Lewis – love the talent lose the advertising.
