LSD Kiteboarding is headed up by the Armstrong family, Peter, Eamon and
Paul. Coming from a family of sailors, the wind and sea have always been
an attraction, and we have been flying kites in and around the LSD area
for nearly 10 years. Our first powerkiting experiences were using stunt
kites in gale force winds to try and drive home made kite buggies - it
wasn't very successful! We progressed on to real power kites and buggies,
somehow managing not to injure ourselves, and we met other local kiters
by chance around the area.
The attraction to kitesurfing started when a kitesurfing magazine was
sent over from America - we had never seen this sport before but instantly
knew it was something we wanted to discover.
Eamon and Peter started kitesurfing properly in 2002, with Paul starting a few years later. The gear back then was bad - there were no safety systems on the kites, and we often rode home made boards. Who would have thought that the gear would improve so dramatically in the few years kitsurfing has been around?
Peter - The boss
Peter finished an engineering degree in 2007 and decided that an engineering
job was not what he wanted to spend his life doing. Having 7 years of
experience as a sailing instructor teaching many different levels and
classes, he decided to become an instructor of his new passion - his highly
addictive hobbie of Kitesurfing. In the summer of 2007 he became qualified
as a BKSA instructor as well as becoming a bit of a krusty and buying
an old red left hand drive VW. After lots of daydreaming in Harry's Bar
with Eamon and Paul, together they decided to start LSD Kiteboarding School.
With Eamon and Paul being the slackers that they are, and both still in
the education system, Peter decided to set the wheels in motion in October
2007 and started the company. Since then, he has done...well not much
as its been winter and baltic outside, but with a successful end to 2007,
2008 promises to be even better and bigger for LSD Kiteboarding team...
More about Peter...
Peter also has a fetish for sleeping bag style Peter Lynn kites, Barry's
Tea, pimping his old school bright red VW camper, Buckfast, and facial
hair growth...Peter's one greatest fear in this world is 'Sandwiches'...
Also known in the LSD team as...
The brains of the operation (or the guy who makes sure Eamon doesn't get
his hands on the company credit card)
Peter is sponsored by Peter Lynn Kiteboarding
contact: peter (at) lsdkiteboarding.com
Eamon - The poster boy
Back in the kiting heyday of around 1999 when we first got into kite
buggying and field jumping, Eamon was always the guy who wanted to take
things one step further. It would be things like: "hey lets jump this
big thorn bush" with the kite, or, "lets make a seatbelt for the buggy
a use this ditch as ramp to throw ourselves off..." For most of these
things he was the only one crazy enough to try them and so, with that
said, its no supprise how Eamon later became known as 'the guy who is
better at kitesurfing than Peter and Paul by a fair bit' and went on to
do well in national competitions and get sponsership deals.
Now the top freestyle kiter in the country, he is also a top class instructor,
with seven years experience as a sailing instructor and a BKSA Kitesurfing
instructor qualification.
Eamon likes doing kung fu's and megaloops with the 5m atom, and getting
whiplash from slamming his body into the water at crazy speeds. He is
currently in his final year of industrial design in NCAD and he does all
the graphic design for many Irish kitesurfing websites, as well as doing
t-shirts, logos and business cards.
Eamon is sponsored by loads of people - Flexifoil, Underground and Sooruz
so contact him if you have any questions about any of their products and
he will be happy to give you a demo.
Contact: eamon (at) lsdkiteboarding.com
Paul - The Tin Man
Paul started kitesurfing soon after Eamon and Peter in 2003. After a
promising start, his kiting career was tragically cut short due to a crippling
illness. After undergoing massive spinal surgery he was forced to sell
his gear and wear a girdle for much of the next two years. Paul made an
astonishing return to form during our trip to Egypt in 2006, and was trying
ralies, landing backrolls and generally putting Peter to shame after the
two weeks. Paul is currently repeating his second year of engineering
in Galway. He's not stupid, just lazy. He has had to get a real job to
afford nice new kites, but hopes to qualify as an instructor in 2008.
Paul is responsible for making this website look nice and also does a
bit of freelance web design.
Contact: paul
(at) lsdkiteboarding.com
