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Adriana Harlan smacks the lip with style on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.
Wave of Obsession
A former body boarder discovers the joys of kiting. By Nikki Stephens
touched a surfboard until that day. She was a body boarder growing up, but she never actually stood up on a board to ride. Harlan contributes her quick progression in kitesurfing to the wave knowledge she gained after years of riding on her belly. At 13, Harlan traveled throughout Brazil, where she was living at the time, competing in a professional body board tour. At 15, she headed to Hawaii to compete at Pipeline. Harlan has yet to venture off Oahu to kitesurf other waves, but she has plans to
rider Stats
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Favorite Move: Hitting the lip strapless Kiter Idols: Felix Pivec and Ian Alldredge Favorite Spot: North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii
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harlan instantly fell in love with wave riding and was so excited she didn’t even care that she couldn’t jibe. go to Santa Cruz, California, in July and Indonesia in August or September. After that, she’s looking forward to kiting places like Cabo Verde, Punta San Carlos, Mexico, Scott’s Creek in California and other well-known surf spots. As a body boarder, she favored left-hand waves, but as a kiteboarder, she’s a regularfooter, so lefts are on her backhand. She’s currently working on her switch stance so she can be in a better position to once again enjoy riding long lefts in places like Peru and Sumbawa. While many people talk
about how hard-core the locals can be in Hawaii, Harlan personally has never had a problem with it. “Everyone at my local spot is really friendly,” she says. “The kiters respect each other, and we all get along well.” With her kitesurfing skills dialed in Hawaii, Harlan is anxious to see how she fares when she explores the rest of the kiting universe. Though it’s too early to tell for sure, if she can survive the rough-andtumble scene on the North Shore, she’s well-prepared to handle whatever else the world throws her way.
Photos: chuck harlan (2)
Even though she learned how to kiteboard just two years ago, Adriana Harlan is already making a pretty big impact with her surf-shredding skills. Harlan first took a surfboard out with her kite in February 2009 in 4- to 6-foot Hawaiian waves and more than 20-knot winds. Though she was intimidated by the conditions, she was determined to get out there and give it a go. She instantly fell in love with wave riding and was so excited she didn’t even care that she couldn’t jibe. She took her time learning and didn’t rush into anything she wasn’t comfortable with. Now she’s tearing it up with the big dogs. What’s truly shocking is that she had never even