Simon Harwood - landboarding

Hi I’m Simon Harwood aka "Superman"!!. I’m 27 years old and have been flying power kites and Kite landboarding, for about 3 years now. I got into the sport completely by accident when a friend of mine asked if I had seen “those crazy guys who fly huge kites and jump really high”. To which I replied “no”. So I checked it out on Youtube and instantly wanted to have a go, so I bought my first kite, a 6m hornet and a flexifoil mountain board I found cheap on Ebay. (I still owe my sis the money for that kite!!!!)

I was instantly hooked and started to get to grips with the concept of staying on the board and not being pulled all over the place. I would spend every single evening and day I had free up on Blackheath practicing and trying to progress.

I then decided that I wanted to try flying depower. Not knowing too much about kites at that time I bought a 6m ozone access. I rushed up to Blackheath with a huge smile on my face but had a really disappointing session as I couldn’t get enough power from it. This is when I met this crazy guy boosting huge jumps and pulling 360s and board offs underneath a bright pink kite – his name, Ben Hill aka Double B.

From then on Ben gave me tips and advice and introduced me to LEI’s and the AllGoodFun shop and team.

I bought my first LEI which was a 9m Cabrinha Switchblade and learnt a lot from it, but I still wanted more power. This is when I got myself a 16.5m ion 2 – this is when the fun really started!!

I currently fly a 16.5m Ion 2 and ride MBS comp 90 with matrix pro trucks.

One of the things I really love about the sport is that you meet some really great people who are always willing to help you out and share advice and tips. Since starting the sport I have made some awesome friends who I regularly fly with (when the wind is playing), and since then I have progressed onto things such as boosting jumps – grabs – can can’s and attempting board off’s.

Blackheath is still my favourite spot to fly despite the gusty conditions and the inconsistent winds, but when the wind is playing it’s an amazing place to fly and I have definately had my best sessions and funniest times up there.

Since writing this i have also landed some of my first 360s, 720s and very nearly my first no handed foot out :)