Earlier this year some of the world's top windsurfers threw their support behind kiteboarding's bid to become an Olympic sport, but what few realized was that it would come at their own expense.

When the International Sailing Federation announced in May that it had voted 19-17 to drop windsurfing from the Olympic roster in favor of introducing kiteboarding for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the decision shocked many and ultimately divided the communities of the two sailing disciplines.

At the ISAF annual meeting this November, the windsurf class will appeal the decision for kiteboarding being voted into the Olympics, and windsurfing being voted out.

At the Canadian National Kiteboarding Championship being held this weekend at Squamish, B.C., some of the world's top kitesurfers told Xinhua it was originally hoped the two disciplines would be included in the Olympic roster.

"It's a total downer that we were basically pit against each other, and that was a decision made a long time ago in ISAF and there's nothing you can do about it," said Johnny Heineken, a 24-year-old California native who is the 2011 kite racing world champion and himself a windsurfer.

"The most unfortunate thing about it is it's kind of created all this tension. I mean there's like the two classes attacking each other and I think that's completely the wrong way to go about the situation. Maybe in the future we can make it so that both sports are involved."

With windsurfing for men introduced to the Olympics in 1984, and women added in 1992 - Hong Kong's Lee Lai-shan most notably won the Special Administration Zone's only Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games - many feel the sport simply lost out to another board sport that was younger and sexier.

In 2011, it was estimated there were about 250,000 kitesurfers worldwide. With its basic requirements of water and strong winds, the sport is accessible for most as the equipment is affordable and easy to transport.

But going into the Rio Games, it is equipment specifications that could be a moot point for the nascent sport. Unlike Olympic windsurfers that uses a standardized Neil Pryde RS:X sailboard, competition kitesurfers use equipment manufactured under a production class known as "box-rule."

The fiberglass or carbon boards can be no longer than 180 centimeters and no wider than 70 centimeters with a thickness maximum and weight minimum. This creates a set of fixed parameters that the different board manufacturers need to build within.

With the Olympic inclusion, the sport will likely be required to have all competitors on a standardized board from one manufacturer, something that hasn't gone over well with top kiteboarders.

"I've been a part of this sport since the beginning. So for me, if the Olympics decide what we do with our equipment then I don't like it," said American Adam Koch, the 2010 kite racing world champion. "But if the Olympics looks at our sport for what it is, and recognizes that we're a very immature (sport), where we're just starting to figure out what we're doing and apply it to sailing rules and things like that, and if they realize our position and allow us to do some more development on the equipment, then I'm excited about it."

Canadian rider Mark Leng, the race director for the Squamish event, adds there are two options for the Olympics in going with one design where all the boards are identical and provided by one supplier, or working within the box-rule where minor advancements could be made by the different suppliers.

"The kiteboarding community is not yet behind that type of an approach (of one standardized board), because it effectively stops progression and the advancement of design. What most people are hoping for is we stay within the box-rule, which means many different suppliers can supply the boards, so it allows for some innovation."

With his sister Erika also a top kitesurfer, Heineken and his older sibling are being billed as a potential dream team for the U.S.A. for the Rio Games, but he adds it's too early to get excited.

"Four years is a long time, anything can happen. So you pretty much got to keep racing as much as you can, not think only about the Olympics. I'm doing this because I love doing it. It's fun racing. I'm going to keep doing it whether we're still in the Olympics or not."

Heineken, looking every part the California surfer with his long, curly blonde hair and ever-present sunglasses, laughs when asked if kiteboarding is the new snowboarding for the Summer Games.

"Maybe that's what sailing wants us to be. I think they have a little pipe dream that we're going to make sailing cool. We'll see what happens."