Ian Young is the pioneer of kite surfing in Australia, bringing
the first commercial system, Cory Roeseler's KiteskiŠ into the country in 1997 - before
inflatable kites were available. After teaching himself through trial and error, he
then started teaching others and established Australia's first kite surfing school in
1998.
Ian helped found the Australian Kite Surfing Association in 1999. Although based in Perth, he has been professionally teaching kite surfing throughout Australia since 1998, is an IKO Level 2 Instructor and has taught overseas including Japan, Indonesia, East Timor, USA and Europe.
Since the very early days Ian has been involved with competitions both as a rider and an official including:
 | 2nd in Australia's first ever kite surfing competition behind Kane Hartill of NZ (Adelaide 1999) |
| 2nd - Port Stephens International Kiteboard & Buggy Assault Masters (Jan 2000) |
| 2nd - Australian Kite Surf Challenge (Adelaide Mar 2000) |
| 2nd - Australian National Championships Masters (Melbourne Jan 02) |
| 1st - Open Ledge to Lancelin Ocean Classic Marathon (Jan 02) |
| 2nd - Open Jurien Bay Island Sprint (Jan 02) |
| Set the Australian distance record with Graham Currie on 7th Dec 02 (120km Fremantle to Lancelin) |
| 1st - Safety Bay Marathon (Dec 02) |
| 2nd - Esperance Waves Event (Dec 02/Jan 03) |
| 1st - Open Ledge to Lancelin Ocean Classic Marathon (Jan 03) |
| International Judge Kiteboarding Pro World Tour (KPWT) New Caledonia (Oct 03) |
| 1st - Geraldton Blast Marathon (Nov 03) |
| 1st - Open Ledge to Lancelin Ocean Classic Marathon (Jan 04) |
| Organizer Rottnest Classic (Mar 04) |
| Technical Director Gravity Games H2O (Oct 04) |
| International Judge KPWT New Caledonia (Oct 04) |
| 4th - Australian National Kitesurfing Championships Masters (Geraldton WA Jan 05) |
| Technical Director Australian National Kitesurfing Championships (Geraldton WA Jan 05) |
| 2005 Race Director KPWT Italy, Turkey, Brazil, Gravity Games Perth, New Caledonia |
| 2006 Race Director KPWT Italy, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Portugal, France, New Caledonia |
| 15 Jan 2007 Kited Scarborough to Lancelin (112km) in 4hours 13 minutes. Maximum GPS recorded speed 46.2 km/hr |
| 2007 Race Director KPWT Italy, Turkey, Morocco, France, Portugal, Brazil |
| 1st - WA Kitesurfing Association Big Air (Jan 08) |
| 1st - Open Red Kite Grand Prix Course Racing (Dec 08) |
Kite Surfing media exposure featuring Ian Young has gone to air or been published on many TV stations, videos, magazines and newspapers including all major Australian TV stations' evening news, Channel Nine's "Just Add Water", UK based TWI's "High Five", Alex Sanz video magazine, Action Asia magazine, The Western Australian, Panorama magazine, The West magazine, The Sunday Times, People magazine, Boarder magazine, FreeSail magazine, Subaru Sports magazine, and KiteSurf Quarterly magazine.
Ian was born in 1960 in Albury NSW. From Jan 1977 to Dec 1998 Ian served in the Australian Army, primarily in Special Forces and travelled extensively throughout Australia and overseas including operational tours in Somalia and Kuwait. He has worked as a consultant as the UN Deputy Chief of Security in East Timor in 1999 and for many other organizations in places such as Iraq, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan.
Ian's other interests include sculpture, hang gliding, paragliding, tow-in surfing, waveskiing, cycling, touch rugby, squash, four wheel driving, and bush-walking.
WinDesigns Australia
Design and Sculpture
Kite Ski&Surf Australia 
Last updated 07 Sep 2009