REP 411: NICK BAINES

REP 411

With Nick Baines

Nick Baines is one of the USA's biggest Mega Looping riders. If you're in Cape Hatteras, NC and see someone jumping over the Real Slick on a Reedin kite, chances are it's Nick!

Nick Baines one footer over Kevin

Langeree. Craig Kolesky photo

KM: What’s the best kitesurfing trip you have been on?

NB: My best kitesurfing trip would have to be my trip to Cape Town in February 2021. South Africa had just reopened their beaches and the crowds were nonexistent. That winter carried a lot of travel anxiety and it was cool to have everything come together for my best trip to the mother city.

KM: What piece of kitesurfing gear impressed you most for 2022? What did you like?

NB: Reedin’s SuperModel V3 has impressed me the most in 2022. A few small adjustments to bridle design, strut sizing and stitching made for huge improvements to an already stellar design. Having a kite that can handle big air, wave riding, foiling and the park is necessary for me. The SuperWingX is another exciting piece of equipment that has impressed me. Utilizing X-Ply technology, it’s designed to push the limits of freestyle within winging.

KM: What is in your personal quiver? Reedin SuperModel 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 Reedin DreamStickX control bar Reedin 136 Kev Pro Reedin SuperWing 3.6, 4.2 Reedin FeatherBoard 35L Reedin FlightAttendant 1280

Kitesurfing Magazine: Tells us a little about your kiting background and how you got involved with Reedin?

Nick Baines: My kiteboarding career started in 2003 when my uncle, Warren Stansbury, sent me a trainer kite from his home in St. Croix. It was an extremely tough year as I was dealing with the death of my father and I have to say that kiteboarding saved my life. I joined the crew at REAL Watersports after graduating high school and I have been involved in the industry ever since.

Reedin first contacted me to be a team rider in the fall of 2020 after viewing a few videos of me riding the SuperModel. That winter I spent a few weeks with Damien Girardin in Maui and a month with Kevin Langeree in Cape Town. It was really a dream to just to hang out with these legends, let alone help their growing brand.

KM: What impressed you most about Reedin when you started working/riding for them?

NB: I was most impressed to see that Reedin had an amazing product during first year of production. The kiteboarding market is flooded with so many different designs for all the disciplines and here was a kite that could do it all extremely well. The owners, Damien and Kevin, are also just genuinely good humans and that can be hard to find in the watersports industry.

KM: What trends in the sport excite you most?

NB: The massive advancement within big air kiting the past year has been exciting to watch. There are now kids doing tricks that we have only dreamt of and it’s exciting to see what the future holds. COVID really halted the progression in kite park riding, but a solid crew of park shredders are coming to the Outer Banks this spring. It will be exciting to see a resurgence in this discipline throughout 2022.

Ferreira photo

HOME TOWN: VIRGINIA BEACH, VA CURRENT HOME: WAVES, NC

FAVOURITE BOARD AND KITE: 136 REEDIN KEV PRO, 8 M SUPERMODEL FAVOURITE CONDITIONS: 20 KNOTS FOR WAVE/RAIL RIDING AND 35 KNOTS FOR BIG AIR.

OTHER PROS YOU RIDE WITH: KEVIN LANGEREE, CLEMENT HUOT, BRANDON SCHEID AND THE REST OF THE KITE PARK LEAGUE CREW.

LAST TRICK LANDED: FOR BIG AIR, DOUBLE BACKROLL KITE LOOP WITH A LATE ROTATION. FOR RAIL RIDING, FRONT BOARDSLIDE WITH A FS450 OFF THE RAIL.