TractionKiting.co.uk - The history of what is now.
Owain, one of the co-founders of TractionKiting.co.uk, grew up on the Isle of Tiree where he learned to windsurf. During the winter months however the cold was too much for him so he looked for alternative sports which allowed him to harness the constant winds of Tiree, without getting wet. He bought his first 2 line stunt kite.
Many years passed and Owain went to University and kiting took a back seat until he went on work placement and earned some extra cash, he bought his first 4 line traction kite, a PKD Buster 4m and of he went to the beach with his partner Judith to see what the difference was between the 2 line stunt kite he was used to and this new toy, the kite had serious amounts of pull and Owain was instantly hooked, only weeks later he went out and bought the little brother of this kite, a PKD Buster 2m. Judith fell in love with this wee kite and the pair tried to get out kiting as often as possible.
Owain and Judith decided to setup a website to promote Tiree as the perfect kiting location, with Owain's local knowledge of the Tiree beaches and website design background and Judith's sales and marketing skills, www.OGDW.net was created. The site was all about kiting and information about Tiree but then after a year Owain and Judith could see Scotland needed an entire site dedicated to it, not just Tiree so they decided to redesign and re-brand the website, TractionKiting.co.uk was created.
With a new site on the web for Scotland based kiters the site began to grow, the forum became more and more popular and then the shop was added to allow local kiters to buy locally.
Owain and Judith became fully qualified kiting instructors and started to teach kiting to others. Learning to fly a kite in the morning and by the end of the day their students can expect to be buggying or land boarding in a safe and controlled manner.
As the months and years passed TK has become the largest kite related website in Scotland, with this growth, exciting times have followed.
TK on Tiree:
This started as Owain and Judith heading back to Tiree to simply enjoy the beaches Tiree has to offer and posting on the TK forum saying if anyone wanted to join them they were more than welcome. 5 years on and TK on Tiree 5 is looking to be the largest group heading over to date. TK on Tiree 5 will be held from the 1st August 2009 - 8th August 2009, if you wish to join the TK crowd on Tiree, you are more than welcome. View the events section for more information about the Trip.
TK in the Park:
Located at Balado, the home of T in the Park. TK hired the area and held a very small event for the TK forum members. Members of the forum brought their own BBQ, Beers and music and enjoyed a weekends camping at Balado. Flying kites during the day and late in to the night and then continuing the party far in to the night.
Just Add Wind: 
Scotland's premier wind festival held at Balado. After several successful TK in the Parks, Owain and Judith decided to organise something bigger and open to the public. They invited kite manufacturers, microlighters, Blokarters and X-sailers along with static kite display teams and some of the UK's best kite freestylers to attend the events. With the events free to the public to attend, it was a great day out on the Saturday and Sunday for all the family.
Chill and Ride:
The aim of these events was to allow kiters of all experiences to meet up at a beach, chat, learn from each other, chill and ride. We are still running these informal events so please check the events section of the site to see when and where the next one will be.
Working with the media: 
Owain and Judith have both had experience working with the media while promoting kiting in Scotland. Judith has been interviewed for radio shows and outdoor magazines while also supplying her own photographs to kiting and outdoor sports magazines. Owain has taught presenters for the BBC and STV on how to kite and also put on demonstrations for the programs.
Attending other events:
The beauty with TK is we can travel to any location in the UK, we have attended kite festivals in South Wales and the West coast of Scotland which had been organised by other organisations and councils. We also work with other agencies to supply demonstrations at their events.
With the growth of the website Judith and Owain have made some great friends, some of these friends have also become TK Team members, Angus, Aaran, James, Ped and Jim. These guys have all brought something to the team ranging from their kite skills to spreading the word of TK and the sport they love. You can read more about the individual team members within their rider profiles.
Angus and Aaran were the first to join the team. Angus has moved from land boarding at St Andrews and pulling of huge jumps on the beach to spending as much time as he can on the water but still pulling off huge airs and constantly pushing his limits. Aaran, based in Tiree, loves to get out with his land board and kites as much as possible on Gott bay, although not seen as often by the team as we would like he is a brilliant source of information for the latest news and gossip from Tiree.
James has been pushing his own limits in the buggy for over 3 years now, he can be found on the West coast of Scotland with his buggy learning new spins and aerial tricks. From time to time he can be found on the east coast if TK are holding an event at St Andrews or he fancied a change of scenery.
Ped is a bit of a Jack of all trades when it comes to the buggy, he enjoys buggy racing but also enjoys strapping himself in to his Flexifoil buggy and performing some freestyle moves or just going for a buggy safari.
Jim is the newest member to the TK team and enjoys just flying a kite or jumping in to his buggy and cruising around.