FEW people in his home country would recognise the name Aaron Hadlow. Most Britons may not even have heard of the sport — kitesurfing — of which the 17-year-old is the world champion. But in the Hawaiian island of Maui, however, the shy teenager is a celebrity.

Girls swoon over him, photographers capture his every move and corporate sponsors hover in the sand dunes. The attention is baffling only for as long as it takes the young master to leave the shore. Out on the waves, his kite cutting brilliant arcs through an azure sky, it soon becomes clear that here is a boy who can fly.

There are an estimated 200,000 kitesurfers worldwide and Hadlow was only 16 when he captured the Professional Kiteboarding Riders’ Association title last year after a series of eight events from the Canary Islands to the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Barring a freak result in next month’s final contest of this year’s championship, he is about to become the first person to retain the world crown.

He seemingly defies gravity to soar through the air for up to eight seconds, reaching heights of up to 60ft and covering distances of more than 100ft while performing acrobatic moves with a lazy elegance that lends a balletic quality to a series of high-speed stunts. Hadlow has joined competitors from 20 countries on Hookipa beach, in Maui, for this weekend’s finals of the Red Bull King of the Air contest.

Born in Maidstone, Kent, he grew up in Cornwall. By 12, he had won a junior league and by 14 was a fully fledged member of the senior world tour, ending his first season in sixth place. He won last year’s title at a canter. But success has come at a price. Since the age of 13, Hadlow has been home-schooled. The newness of the sport and its edgy reputation explain the attraction for a host of teenagers, and the image cultivated, not unlike snowboarding, is of carefree rebels. Corporate brands in the youth market have not been slow to jump on board.

In addition to the many thousands of pounds in prize money, Hadlow has three main sponsors: Red Bull, Chiemsee, a clothing company, and Flexifoil, a British kitesurfing equipment manufacturer.

The PKRA World Tour, which Hadlow is expected to win this year, has prize money of around £25,000 for each of its eight events. Event winnners can expect to win around £5000 to £7,000. Red Bull may be paying about £30,000 to “keep” Hadlow. Other sponsors may be paying with a mixture of smaller payments, equipment and flights. There are some who confidently predict that Hadlow will become kitesurfing’s first millionaire. For now, he will admit that it gives him “a comfortable lifestyle”, but not much more. In an accent that hovers somewhere between Kent, California and South Africa, he said: “I can’t stand being in a city, away from the water. Every day I want to go out there (he points to the ocean) and do it.

“I get a real buzz from travelling the world, inventing new tricks, winning competitions and being the best guy out there. But most of all, when you’re out there, it’s just really chilled,” he said.

SPORTING TALK

To crash hard to bail from a particularly harsh wave

Power zone area of the sky in which the kite develops its power

Gutter filth a pretty girl

Sick excellent, top-notch. Also defined as stupid

Rippin’ pulling off an audacious move on a wave

Fully sick when your mate is rippin’ and asks how he went, say, “fully sick, mate”

Poledancer a windsurfer

Soul sesh a state of mind after an enjoyable session

Throwing down loops where kite is looped beneath rider and board

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