Following the news of the passing away of a good friend I've been reflecting on my friendship Brian Smith as well as the influence he had within the kiting community.

In the 90s there were large groups from Toronto and Ottawa areas that met annually at Sanbanks and Presquille in the fall to enjoy the empty beaches to fly kites, to kite buggy the long stretches of hard pack beach and to spend the weekend with friends.

There were a good number of us in Ontario and Quebec that had been kite skiing and buggying for number of years when in the mid to later 90s Brian Smith showed up with gang from Ottawa. Brian was a new owner in a business that was catering to the power kite community and also the toy and novelty part of the business.
When I first saw Brian he was struggling with adjusting the bridle on a kite and a couple of other things and I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondered who this guy was that was about to get his ass handed to him.
Over the weekend we talked and kite buggied and tried some of the kites that his company Active People was selling. Brian was very enthusiastic about the future of the kite industry and as they say that became the start of a wonderful relationship

In the early days Brian's business they produced and sold Quadrafoil kites and were the North American distributor for Peter Lynn. That gave us access to a great line of kites as well as buggies keeping in mind that through the 90s and starting 2000s everyone kite buggied and kite skied using kites with handles. Through Brian there was an opportunity for me to get more involved and become a dealer. Eventually the kiteboarding market started to develop and Peter Lynn came out with the Arc line of kites and Active People took on the new Canadian manufacturer in the kiteboarding market named Ocean Rodeo. Brian would later become PowerLine Sports manufacturing all types of custom lines including the popular Q Power line for kite fliers.
Through my relationship with Brian I was able to share in many wonderful kiting adventures. We went to race buggies across the dry lakes of Nevada and California getting cooked in the desert sun and then rolled in playa dust for that extra bonus. We froze our faces and fingers and feet and more when we went to kite ski in Nunavut. There is nothing like spending an evening at the Legion in Iqaluit. We attended the annual Winnipeg Family kite festival in support of the Independent Living Resource Centre and Brian was always there where he was also able to take the time visit his mother. We chased friends up and down the beaches in buggies under a full moon at Wildwood New Jersey. Brian loved telling the story of the fellow in Galveston that had an unfortunate impalement from the low slung buggy seat and why he was now know as crab ass. Every time we met up it was sure to be a wicked pisser good time.

Brian was one of a small handful of companies that supported and drove the industry and there were huge international buggy events, there was winter kite skiing and snowboarding and kitesurfing was taking off in leaps and bounds.
Being at the leading edge of this meant there was always something new to see, people to meet and places to go.
Throughout the years I've met many hundreds within our sport and have learned, taught, shared, laughed and hurt but I enjoyed every minute and every adventure.
So with this reflecting back over the years I realize that many of the friendships I enjoy the stories I'll tell grew from opportunities and that chance meeting of Brian Smith as he too was starting his business adventure.

Brian's adventure has come to an end but I am grateful our friendship and I know Brian would be thrilled to sit and tell stories and laugh while enjoying a nice single malt with friends.

To you Brian, my friend, cheers.

Mark

I buggyed with Brian many times at wildwood Texas and sbbb
He will be truly missed I still have and use my quadrifoils with q power line
He gave me a q power kite sweat shirt which I treasure
Rest in peace my friend
The kite world lost a veteran

Sorry to hear about your friends passing. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry for the loss of your friend Mark.

a fellow dive coach and good friend of mine, paul lacroix, received an award a few years ago for his dedication to the sport. the man handing out the award said something about paul that i will always remember - "everyone should have a paul lacroix in their life." so true.
sounds like Brian Smith is the same sort of guy, and i wish that i had known him.
may he rest in peace.
tom