a beyond the ordinary magazine
october 2013
HIGH SEAS Ups And Downhills At The Mountain Bike World Championships
the
wild one Elliphant
And The Reboot Of Pop
The world’s Fastest Boats
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Check out www.redbull.co.nz/bike for your chance to win.
NEW PEUGEOT 208 GTi
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IS BACK
THE WORLD OF RED BULL
October 50 leap of faith
Shane McConkey died doing what he loved. This is the story of what happened next
Welcome
You will never forget Elliphant. She is the woman on the cover of this issue, and quite possibly the next queen of world pop. This month we’re blessed with several stories of world’s best, such as the men who race and maintain the ‘F1 on water’ that is the World Powerboat Championship. It has the same high-octane competition as Formula One, but with less fanfare and, some would say, more risk. Back on dry land, we get up close and personal “I realised I with the world’s best mountain bikers as they wanted music gather in South Africa for their sport’s world to be my life, championship, and find that home advantage isn’t not just some side project” always what it’s cracked up to be. Plus, we’ve got ice driving in Finland, the secrets of success on the Elliphant golf course, the biggest failures in box office history and much more. We hope you enjoy the issue. 04
the red bulletin
THE WORLD OF RED BULL
at a glance Bullevard 17 news Sport and culture on the quick 21 me and my body Danny MacAskill 24 kit evolution In-car technology 26 Where’s your head at? Star of Thor and Rush Chris Hemsworth 30 winning formula Surfing science 32 lucky numbers Box office flops
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Features 34 Elliphant
smokin’ on the water
40 Trophy Hunters
Behind the scenes of a world championship grand prix in one of motorsports’ greatest challenges: Class 1 offshore powerboat racing
cover photography: miko lim. photography: alfredo martinez/red bull content pool, miko lim, simon palfrader, nathan gallagher/red bull content pool, getty images, sven martin, reinhard feichtinger
The model-turned-MC leading the charge of new Swedish pop stars
The best mountain bikers chase championship glory in South Africa
48 To Be Pacific How the sounds of the ocean
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inspire Tama Waipara’s music
50 Action Movie
Shane McConkey’s life on film
60 Kings Of Leon
Pre-gig with the Tennessee rockers
62 Kona Conquerer
92 Me and My BOdy
Scottish street trials rider Danny MacAskill has learned the hard way that glory doesn’t come without pain
on location in auckland
Musician Nick Dwyer shares his tips on where you can find the best food and music in New Zealand’s City of Sails
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Bevan Docherty’s triathlon to-do list
66 Legends Of Tennis With Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf 70 Sasha DiGiulian Rising star of rock climbing
76 Untechnical Techno The exciting sounds of Elektro Guzzi 78 The Boats That Rock Life on the edge at the World Powerboat Championship
Action
70 a wheel test
The world’s best mountain bikers head to South Africa to fight for championship glory. One local hero refuses to budge the red bulletin
rare air
Hitting the highs with climbing champion Sasha DiGiulian as she scales a rock face next to Waterfall Boven in South Africa
88 89 90 91 92 94 96 98
get the gear Eco-friendly equipment party Montenegro nightlife travel Ice driving in Finland training Get fit for golf My City A musician’s Auckland Playlist Jack Johnson save the Date Events for your diary time warp Man v flight, 130 years ago
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contributors Who’s on board this issue
The Red Bulletin New Zealand, ISSN 2079-4274
The Red Bulletin is published by Red Bull Media House GmbH General Manager Wolfgang Winter Publisher Franz Renkin Editor-in-Chief Robert Sperl
Caroline Ryder
keith ladzinski One of the world’s elite adventure photographers – he won the Maggie Award in 2013 for best single editorial photograph for his shot of a harrowing ice climb in a gorge in Colorado, USA – Keith Ladzinski joined climber Sasha DiGiulian on an expedition in South Africa. Her goal? Knocking off several first ascents in the striking red-earth terrain, with Ladzinski there to capture the triumph. His snaps of DiGiulian conquering a stunning landscape begin on page 70.
noel ebdon A UK expat who has been living in Dubai for the last 16 years, Ebdon has worked as deputy editor of the Middle East edition of Car magazine, and editor of a golf magazine, a boating and yachting title and two men’s magazines. For this month’s issue of The Red Bulletin, he uncovered the glamour and the grit of top-level powerboat racing (page 78). Ebdon is the father of a one-year-old girl who he and Mrs Ebdon, “a fellow petrolhead”, he says, “hope will be the first female Formula One world champion”.
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The British writer’s work takes her deep into both fashion and music, with the resulting stories appearing in such in disparate places as The Village Voice and Cosmopolitan. This made her the perfect foil for Elliphant, the on-the-move Swedish model-turned-MC. “It’s impossible to ignore her when she’s in the room,” says Ryder of her subject. “Her star quality is underpinned by an unself-conscious, almost naive, sincerity, and she curses like a sailor.” Read the rest on page 34.
Sam Wicks Sam Wicks has been obsessed with music since he saw Split Enz play at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland in 1980. He turned his passion into a career, and has since edited VOLUME, Real Groove and Groove Guide magazines, having his head split open by a flying bottle at a De La Soul show and interviewing Noel Gallagher of Oasis. His dream gig would be to see Prince play with his new band 3rd Eye Girl. This month he traces the journey of honey-voiced soul singer Tama Waipara from small-town life in the Eastern Bay of Plenty to New York. Read it on page 48.
“ It’s impossible to ignore Elliphant when she’s in the room and she curses like a sailor” caroline ryder
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Alexander Macheck Editor Paul Wilson Creative Director Erik Turek Art Directors Kasimir Reimann, Miles English Chief Photo Editor Fritz Schuster Production Editor Marion Wildmann Chief Sub-Editor Nancy James Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Joe Curran Assistant Editors Robert Tighe, Ulrich Corazza, Werner Jessner, Ruth Morgan, Florian Obkircher, Arek Pia˛tek, Andreas Rottenschlager, Daniel Kudernatsch (app), Christoph Rietner (app) Contributing Editor Stefan Wagner Design Martina de Carvalho-Hutter, Silvia Druml, Kevin Goll, Carita Najewitz, Esther Straganz Chief Photo Editor Fritz Schuster Photo Editors Susie Forman (Creative Photo Editor), Ellen Haas, Eva Kerschbaum, Catherine Shaw, Rudi Übelhör Repro Managers Clemens Ragotzky (manager), Karsten Lehmann, Josef Mühlbacher Head of Production Michael Bergmeister Production Wolfgang Stecher (manager), Walter O Sádaba, Christian Graf-Simpson (app) Advertising Enquiries Brad Morgan, brad.morgan@nz.redbull.com Printed by PMP Print, 30 Birmingham Drive, Riccarton, 8024 Christchurch Finance Siegmar Hofstetter, Simone Mihalits Marketing & Country Management Barbara Kaiser (manager), Stefan Ebner, Stefan Hötschl, Elisabeth Salcher, Lukas Scharmbacher, Sara Varming Distribution Klaus Pleninger, Peter Schiffer Marketing Design Julia Schweikhardt, Peter Knethl Advertising Placement Sabrina Schneider O∞ce Management Manuela Gesslbauer, Kristina Krizmanic, Anna Schober
The Red Bulletin is published in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA Website www.redbulletin.com Head office Red Bull Media House GmbH, Oberst-Lepperdinger-Strasse 11-15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 New Zealand office 27 Mackelvie Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1021 +64 (0) 9 551 6180 Austria office Heinrich-Collin-Strasse 1, A-1140 Vienna, +43 (1) 90221 28800 Write to us: letters@redbulletin.com
the red bulletin
Tuam otu s , Fren c h P o lyn e s ia
Vantage Point With apologies to Manu Bouvet and surfers everywhere, this might be one of those times when the photographer is more adventurous than the subject. “I took off in my motorised paraglider from an atoll in the middle of the Pacific,” says Ben Thouard. “I’d fly out, see a set of waves, then follow them in. Manu sees a set is coming because I’m getting closer to him.” The Frenchmen’s unspoken teamwork extends to stress management. “I didn’t tell him about the shark under his board or my broken engine.” www.benthouard.com Photography: Red Bull Illume/Ben Thouard
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An n ec y, Fr an c e
Out On A Limb Low tech high up was how Pierre Augier and Tim Alongi got the shot. “I used a football shin pad to attach my camera to Tim’s leg,” says Augier, a French lensman. Alongi is an aerobatic paraglider who finished third in his sport’s 2011 world cup and is currently among the best in the world. Augier’s portfolio is thick with action sports imagery, but he is also available for weddings. If you and your intended are the sort to say ‘I do’ before your chutes open/the bungee cord tightens, then he’s your man. www.pierreaugier.com Photography: Red Bull Illume/Pierre Augier
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B o u ld e r , U SA
Dirt Dished “Sometimes,” says Dave Trumpore, “the only way to capture the fine details of the action is to literally stick your face and camera right up in it.” There’s mud in your eye. Until recently, the American would have been on the bike and not behind it. His decision to pick up a camera after retiring from pro mountain biking means he sees the angles that other photographers could not compute. Shooting Joey Schusler on home turf in Colorado was, flying rocks aside, a perfect assignment. www.davetrumporephoto.com Photography: Red Bull Illume/Dave Trumpore
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c ali fo r n ia , U SA
pipe dream Think ‘log flume photo’ and you’ll see drenched theme-park goers pulling faces at a camera before splashdown. Then there’s this. Every 10 years, they drain the channel that carries felled trees down the mountains at Tehachapi. Geoff Rowley learned when it would next be empty, and called Anthony Acosta: “We’re going.” Four hours’ drive north of Los Angeles, at 4am, they had the place to themselves. Rowley worked the angles with his skateboard, Acosta did the same with his camera. A once-a-decade shot. www.instagram.com/aacostaa Photo: Red Bull Illume/Anthony Acosta
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october – 2013 Issue 81 moNty betham all black gear maN - errol collINs a week IN the lIfe of sbw
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james horwIll
Vickerman’s Breakers go to work
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I s s u e 81
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Bullevard Sport and culture on the quick
Singular sounds Daft Punk’s helmets give them a signature look, but it’s not unique (Deadmau5, etc). It’s safe to say that the below bands are true one-offs
Roll and Rock Ezequiel Galasso gives broken skateboards a new lease of life as electric guitars
The Zimmers Fifteen members aged 67 to 89 make these venerable vocalists the world’s oldest band. They’ve covered LMFAO and Beastie Boys.
Photography: rex features, picturedesk.com, mr. gif, yael gottlieb, skate guitar
The Vegetable Orchestra Tubers, not tubas: this 12-piece outfit makes new instruments for every concert, after which they cook up a delicious veggie soup.
Every passionate skater knows the deal: it’s easy to smash five decks a year. In 2011, Argentinian instrument maker Ezequiel Galasso was approached by pro skater Gianfranco de Gennaro with a stack of splintered planks and a bright idea: add a fretboard to a messed board and make a guitar. Galasso can make an entire sixstring from two decks. Turns out, a skateboard is the perfect length and shape for a guitar neck. Ever since Mike McCready of Pearl Jam played one of Galasso’s creations at a live concert, demand for his instrument has been extremely high. But he hasn’t gone over to automated production: quality is important to him. If you want one of his $1,000 guitars, you’ll have to contact him personally.
Skate work: two decks make one guitar
www.facebook.com/galassoguitars Anamanaguchi Three New Yorkers who make pop punk rock using sounds from a Nintendo Game Boy and its big brother NES console.
Caninus Hard drums, distorted guitars... and two bulldogs on the mic. Sadly, Basil had to be put down in 2011 and the band ceased to exist.
the red bulletin
phototicker
EVERY shot ON TARGET
Have you taken a picture with a Red Bull flavour? Email it to us at: phototicker@redbulletin.com Every month we print a selection, with our favourite pic awarded a limited-edition Sigg bottle. Tough, functional and well-suited to sport, it features The Red Bulletin logo.
Whistler
Martin Söderström hits the heights on a BMX in Canada at Red Bull Joyride. Dale Tidy
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The three best-selling books in the history of literature
The little studio that could: the most unlikely, and one of the most crowded corners of music history
a tale of two cities Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, released in 1859. Copies published: 200 million.
Cradle of hits Muscle Shoals is a one-horse town surrounded by cornfields in the middle of nowhere in Alabama. But, as a new documentary shows, music history was forged in this sleepy little backwater back in the 1970s. The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett: they all went there to record hits. Keith Richards, one of the many legends who make an appearance in Muscle Shoals, goes so far as to describe it as rock ’n’ roll heaven. Chief among its attractions was a group of four young local musicians who earned a reputation as the hottest rhythm section in the world. In the film, the four men, now of pensionable age, explain how it happened. Fellow veterans, like Richards, Mick Jagger and Jimmy Cliff pay tribute, as do a slew of younger musicians from Bono to The Black Keys. Regardless of age, they all love the Muscle Shoals sound. Muscle Shoals is out now; www.muscleshoalsmovie.com
the lord of the rings The one with moredeveloped Hobbits. Since three vols of 1954-5: 150m copies.
The Little prince Over 140m copies sold of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 fable. Frankfurt Book Fair: Oct 9-13
“IT HAD TO HAPPEN”
A year after Felix Baumgartner’s historic leap, a new film tells the inside story of Red Bull Stratos the red bulletin: How has life changed for you since? Felix Baumgartner: My private life has definitely suffered. I don’t find it as easy now to go to for a drink with friends. But I’ve built up a network of interesting people to hang around with. On the personal level, I’m the same guy I always was. Mission To The Edge Of Space: The Inside Story Of Red Bull Stratos tells a tale of great pressure... ...and of the great relief afterwards. The strain while we were preparing and during the actual jump was at the limits of what a human being can take. But I never doubted myself. I wanted to go to the stratosphere and come back safely. It had to happen.
What do you think now when you look back at the footage? Sometimes it freaks me out. I think to myself: how did you manage to deal with all the ups and downs! And also that I’ll never embark on a project of that magnitude ever again. But actually, if something came along which fascinated me as much as Red Bull Stratos did, then, well, I’d have to do it again. What would you like those who see the documentary to take away from it? That you can make whatever you have in your head come true – if you give your everything for it to happen. The documentary will be available online from October 14 at: rdio.com/redbullstratos
October 14, 2012: on his way into history
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Yamaguchi Unseasonal Japanese weather made Red Bull Kart Fight wet work. Jason Halayko 18
Seignosse Brianna Cope of the US prepares her board for the Swatch Girls Pro in the south of France. Laurent Masurel
Linz
At Austria’s Gugl Games, cyclist Tom Oehler v Olympic 400m hurdles champ Felix Sanchez: Tom won. Enrique Castro Mendivil the red bulletin
Photography: erwin polanc/red bull content pool, jay nemeth/red bull content pool, Sundance Institute
$torie$
OUR GREATEST ATHLETES. THEIR GREATEST MOMENTS.
TUESDAYS 7.30PM / THURSDAYS 9.30PM. SKYSPORT. #RBCHRONICLES
Bullevard
Scott Harris’s giant Hot Wheels track
Creative culture Pot Noodle The Musical, a giant Hot Wheels track and a 100ft-tall, water-hating rubber duck are some of the ideas generated by ad man Scott Harris. Harris is co-founder and creative director of LA agency Mistress and one of the speakers at this month’s Semi-Permanent conference in Wellington. Harris’s talk is entitled Yes F**king Way or Be Nice. “If you’re nice to people,” says Harris, “things you never thought possible get done because people want to make it happen for you.” www.semipermanent.com
Parris Goebel (right) and her ReQuest dance crew
A constant hustle
Chad Moffat as Edmund Hillary
On top of the world Edmund Hillary was a beekeeper before he conquered Mount Everest. Chad Moffitt worked as a part-time hypnotherapist and an animator on the Lord Of The Rings movies before his resemblance to Sir Ed landed him the lead role in Beyond The Edge. The docudrama, about Hillary’s 1953 Everest expedition, premieres in NZ this month. Moffitt is still getting used to the limelight. “Making this movie has been pretty weird for me, but it’s been an incredible experience,” he says. www.facebook.com/BeyondtheEdge
Bergen
Daredevil go-karters hurtle through the Norwegian mountains at Red Bull Soapbox Race. Vegard Breie
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Silverstone
Las Vegas has been good to Parris Goebel. She first visited Sin City in 2009, and led her ReQuest dance crew to the varsity title (ages 12-18) at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships. Since then the 21-year-old has been in demand as a dancer and choreographer. She’s worked with Jennifer Lopez, appeared on US TV show Dancing With The Stars and, in Vegas, choreographed the Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson One. the red bulletin: Do you prefer dancing or choreography? Parris Goebel: “People see me as a choreographer now, but there are heaps of dancing goals I still want to achieve. I’d love to dance at the Video Music Awards and with Beyoncé and Missy Elliot.” You’ve just been making dance movie sequel Step Up 5… “I’m an assistant choreographer and I’m also acting and dancing in the movie. I don’t know how big my part is yet but I’m very excited.” What’s the biggest misconception about the dance industry? “How hard people work. People think of it as a dream life, but it’s a constant hustle and you’ve got to work hard to make it. I do things that other people are too scared or too lazy to do.” www.thepalacedancestudio.co.nz
Spanish KTM rider Jorge Martin saddles up at the start of the Red Bull Rookies Cup. Gold & Goose
Haarlemmermeer The Red Bull Studio Connect stage at Mysteryland festival in Holland. Arenda De Hoop the red bulletin
Words: Robert Tighe. PHOTOGRAPHY: Chad Moffitt, Parris Goebel
After a world title as a teenager, an Auckland dancer has her sights set on Hollywood
Bullevard
Touch a nerve
me and my body
danny macaskill
The Scottish street trials rider, 27, has wowed millions online with his incredible biking abilities, but has learned the hard way that glory doesn’t come without pain. And a lot of outtakes
1 Armed and
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“I tore a disc in my back filming a 12ft jump in 2009, but I didn’t realise immediately. I got bad pain in my back and my left knee too, as it was pressing on the nerve. After an operation to repair it in 2012, it took 10 months to heal.”
Pop your collar
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“Three times in six months I broke my left collarbone. First by falling on a pump track, then tripping up a kerb – I had a metal plate screwed to my clavicle that time. The third was on a downhill mountain bike in California. It was raining hard and I lost it, went over the bars and down a 10ft drop.”
dangerous
“A couple of years ago, riding a kids’ BMX in a dirt jump competition, I fell and now there’s a pin in my right wrist. Then I crashed my mountain bike and got stones lodged in my forearm muscle. I needed an op and a lot of stitches.”
words: ruth morgan. photography: chris parsons Credit:
2 Heel hell
“I’ve broken my right foot twice, my left foot three times and torn ankle ligaments. It happens when you jump down off something backwards and land on an uneven surface. It doesn’t feel as bad as bruising your heels with an impact, though: that’s excruciating.”
Fowl play
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“This is an odd one: I was filming in rural Vancouver in 2011 and less than 30 minutes in I crashed off my trials bike. As I landed, my left foot trod in goose shit, slipped and twisted, tearing my meniscus. I needed keyhole surgery to fix it.”
redbull.com/imaginate the red bulletin
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illustration: dietmar kainrath
Bullevard
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the red bulletin
Bullevard
New view: Mike Allsop decided to climb Everest after surviving a plane crash
Mike Allsop
Flying high
Auckland pilot Mike Allsop has a head for heights and a passion for adventure
Words: Robert Tighe. Photography: Courtesy of Mike Allsop
I
t was 1995 when Mike Allsop decided to live a life less ordinary. He was daydreaming in his mother’s bath. A few weeks earlier, the plane Allsop was piloting from San Francisco to Hawaii ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. He and two other pilots, the only people onboard, survived, and for Allsop it proved a turning point. He was 25 years old at the time. Recuperating at his mother’s, he vowed to make the most of what he considered a second chance at life. Now a 44-year-old father of three, Allsop has written a book, High Altitude, out this month, that tells the story of the plane crash and the adventures he’s had since. Allsop has climbed Mount Everest, run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days and later this month travels to Nepal to attempt the world’s highest the red bulletin
marathon alongside New Zealand ultrarunner Lisa Tamati. “It’s all about finding that place where you think your limits are and going beyond them,” says the Air New Zealand pilot. “One of my favourite sayings is, ‘You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option.’” After he summited Everest in 2007, Allsop looked for another challenge. He found it in a book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, in which the British adventurer recounted his becoming the first person to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. Allsop completed his 777 challenge in February this year, running marathons in the Falkland Islands, Chile, Los Angeles, London, Casablanca, Hong Kong and Auckland. Day five, in Casablanca, was almost a marathon too far. “It felt like my feet were being
pounded by hammers,” says Allsop. “I hobbled home in a bad way. It took me nearly seven hours.” Allsop and Tamati are expecting their bid to run the highest marathon in the world to take at least 10 hours. The start will be 1,500m above Everest base camp and as well as cold and treacherous conditions, the pair will have to contend with the high altitude hack, or Khumbu cough, as it is known in Nepal. “Your throat and windpipe get irritated by the cold and it can make it almost impossible to breathe, never mind run,” says Allsop. Allsop uses his challenges to raise money. His 777 efforts were for children’s charity KidsCan and he’s helped supply power tools to a Sherpa village and restore a religious monument. A mission to the North Pole is in mind after Everest, as is a somewhat less adventurous end game. “I want to sit in a rocking chair surrounded by my grandkids, telling them crazy stories,” says Allsop, “and I want to inspire people to live a meaningful life.” www.mikeallsop.co.nz
Up to the challenge: Allsop is planning to return to Everest to run the highest marathon in the world
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Bullevard
Kit Evolution
Drive Time
How a wheel and a dash became a multifunction infotainment nerve centre
Holding Pattern
What better conjures a vintage sports car dashboard than a trim steering wheel with thin spokes? Beautiful to look at, a workout for the biceps and no thought whatsoever to safety in the event of a collision.
Tune In
Hot stuff
Everyone smoked back then, everywhere, all the time. The cigarette lighter assumes a suitably prominent position, conspicuously labelled CL.
1969
Mazda 110 Cosmo Sport
This avant-garde, two-seater coupĂŠ was the dream sports car of its time, officially sold only in Japan, hence the right-hand-side steering wheel. There was something special in the futuristic lines of this car with its Wankel engine, a status reflected in the interior: round panel instruments and wooden steering wheels were reserved for rare and expensive vehicles. This was the peak of automotive luxury as the 1970s loomed.
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A radio didn’t come as standard at the time. Even when you shelled out for in-car entertainment, such as the Sharp model built in here, you would not get stereo sound.
Mazda 110 S Cosmo Sport (1967-1972): the first production car with a two-rotor Wankel rotary engine; it managed 110hp
the red bulletin
Special Project The head-up display is projected on a clear panel. Readouts appear to be 1.5m away from the driver. That allows the eye to focus more quickly as it switches between street and data.
Hi-Tech Five
A dial to command the infotainment system, surrounded by five buttons – one per finger. This means the driver can control applications without looking away from the road.
Easy Does It
photos : kurt keinrath, kurt printer (1)
The steering wheel is a multifunction console. It lets you operate a mobile phone via Bluetooth, and radar cruise control, too, which maintains a constant distance from the car in front.
2013
Net Result
Plug in a smartphone and bring the Internet into your car.
Mazda3
Today’s automotive designers and strategists face a challenge: how to relay a wealth of information to the driver without diverting attention from the road? Mazda3 manages this balancing act with a 7in screen, well-positioned instruments and projected head-up display. The interior also has to meet the highest standards for comfort, safety and ergonomics.
the red bulletin
The new Mazda3 features Skyactiv technology, conserving fuel while increasing driving pleasure www.mazda.com
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Bullevard
Where’s Your Head At?
Chris hemsworth It’s hammer time again as the mighty Thor returns to cinemas this month. But what about that blond lad who plays him? What else has he got going on?
Change Gear
A Hem!
Out now is Rush, with Hemsworth as James Hunt, duelling with Niki Lauda for the 1976 F1 title. Its director, Ron Howard, says it will drive (yes!) new opportunity for the Hemster: “For Chris… a tremendous breakthrough. People in Hollywood have seen him in the movie and offered him dramatic roles.”
Christopher Thomas Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia, on August 11, 1983. His family moved between city, the outback – among, he says, “crocodiles and buffalo” – and Phillip Island, where he, older brother Luke and younger brother Liam, also now actors, perfected their surfing.
Soap Up
Los Hemsworth hermanos have all appeared in Aussie TV soap Neighbours. Chris also did three-and-a-half years on rival venture Home and Away, playing Kim Hyde. Poor Kim: jilted at the altar; Pa may have offed Ma; stalker-killer girlfriend died in a gas explosion caused by candles on a wedding cake.
See Also
With films in the can, Hemsworth only has a dozen film credits; three as Thor, including box office smash The Avengers, and two as George Kirk, Captain’s dad, in the new Star Trek movies. Of the rest, thriller A Perfect Getaway is not a perfect movie, but it’s well worth seeking out.
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Oh God
“I’ll find a way to save us all,” says Thor, aka Hemsworth, all cape, chainmail and flowing locks in Thor 2: The Dark World, released worldwide from October 30. With a chin like his, you believe he can take anything on it. Thor point: brother Liam also auditioned for the part (they’re still pals).
Michael Mann (Heat, Ali, Collateral) has just finished filming Cyber, a hacking thriller with Hemsworth in the lead. After that, our man has Avengers 2, due in 2015, and, we imagine, quality time with wife Elsa Pataky, who plays Elena in the Fast & Furious movies, and oneyear-old daughter India Rose.
www.marvel.com/thor the red bulletin
Words: Paul Wilson. Illustration: Ryan Inzana
Hack To The Future
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HArd & FAST
Top performers and winning ways from around the globe
Water worlds Rotorua is the setting for the World Rafting Championships next month and a local legend of the water is chasing a fifth world title Nikki Kelly is praying for rain. The 38-yearold will paddle for the New Zealand women’s team in the World White Water Rafting Championships, in Rotorua from November 13-24, and says that downpours of the Biblical variety are needed between now and then. “We’ve had the warmest winter since records began,” says Kelly. “New Zealand Nikki Kelly rivers have a reputation as some of the best in the world and we’re desperate to show them off when they’re at their best. Right now they’re dangerously low.” The Kaituna, Tarawera and Rangataiki rivers in the Rotorua/ Bay of Plenty region are hosting the biannual event. Kelly is part of the Okere Ladies crew representing New Zealand. The adventure tourism instructor won three rafting world titles in a row from 1999-2001 and added a third in 2003, the same year she finished second in the world’s fittest woman contest. Since 2003, she’s had to settle for a silver and two bronzes at the worlds, but with home river advantage she’s confident that her six-strong crew of local amateur paddlers can upset professional teams from Europe, South America and Japan. “Our biggest challenge is that most of us come from a [river] guiding background and you race completely differently to the way you guide,” says Kelly. “But we’ve been training together since January on the same rivers that we’ll be racing on in the championships, so that’s a huge advantage.”
Victory in the MX1GP of Great Britain gave Italian Tony Cairoli his fifth Motocross World Championship in a row.
Daniel Sordo of Spain secured his first win in the World Rally Championship – after 10 years of trying – by a margin of 53 seconds in the Rally of Germany.
A dream run in the Mountain Bike World Championships in South Africa gave the UK’s Rachel Atherton her second downhill gold.
www.2013raftingworldsnz.com
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the red bulletin
Words: Robert Tighe. Photography: graeme murray (2), reuters, Ray archer/ktm/red bull content pool, mcklein/red bull content pool, Picturedesk.com. illustration: dietmar Kainrath
Team work: New Zealand’s women put in the hard yards
German F1 driver Sebastian Vettel returned from his summer holiday to win both the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.
BECKS, APPLETON ESTATE & 42BELOW ARE PROUD TO PRESENT
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Bullevard
winning formula
The Big Issue
break points “Wave particles usually oscillate in either the direction of propagation, like air particles in sound waves, or transversely, like a plucked string,” says physics brain and sports scientist Dr Martin Apolin. “But waves of water oscillate circularly, which you can see very well if you watch a floating cork (fig. 1). The particles underwater also move circularly, but with a decreasing radius as the depth increases. “Due to this circular movement, deep-water waves are always cycloid in form – think of what happens if you place a dot on a rotating wheel and observe it move (fig. 2). Point a in the diagram shows the dot at half radius; point b on the edge of the wheel. Waves of water have precisely the same form as shown in fig. 2, but in reverse. “Thus we can extrapolate the maximum ratio of h, wave height, to λ, wave length. The length of the wave is equivalent to the circumference of the wheel, ie the rolling distance of one revolution, such that U = λ = 2r π, and the maximum height is h = 2r. Therefore λ = 2r π = h π. For a wave to reach 8m in height, as in the picture, it has to be at least 8πm long, which is about 25m. “To calculate speed in deep water, use vdepth = √ gλ/(2 π) where g is gravitational acceleration (9.81m/s²). So a wave of 25m in length is coming in at 6.25m/s, or about 23kph. The surfer needs to already be travelling at pretty much the same speed if he doesn’t want the wave to roll by him, which is why big-wave surfers often use jetskis to bring themselves up to speed. “Water closer to shore is shallower, and particle movement becomes elliptical (see picture). The speed of shallow water waves is vshallow = √ gd , where d is the depth of the water. As the water gets shallower, the lower particles are constantly slowed down, while the upper particles move on unhindered. The wave breaks on the beach because of this inertia. If you fall, you run the risk of being dragged under the wave by the movement of the water. This means that big-wave surfers need one thing more than anything else: perfect timing.” Point break What does a big wave feel like? “It’s like jumping out of a plane,” says Australian boardsman Ross Clarke-Jones. “The acceleration, the centrifugal forces. You think it’s going to strip the fibreglass off your surfboard.” The big-wave conquerors: www.stormsurfers.com.au
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Words: Martin Apolin. photography: storm surfers 3d/red bull content pool. Illustration: Mandy Fischer
How do giant waves form? And what’s it like to surf them? Men who know speak out
Brave: big-wave veteran Ross ClarkeJones at Ship Stern Bluff off the coast of Tasmania
Bullevard
lucky numbers
box office flops
Or, if you will, Unlucky Numbers: movies that wrote cheques their audiences could not cash
2,000
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Length of shoot: 18 days. Production costs: $2 million. Box office takings: $30. The independent US thriller Zyzzyx Road, starring Katherine Heigl of Knocked Up and Grey’s Anatomy, drew precisely six cinemagoers to the Highland Park Village Theater in Dallas in February 2006. Union rules led to a release; hiring the theatre cost $1,000.
Crystals and...
Katherine Heigl’s road to hell
120,000 Matthew McConaughey in Sahara
...Tars Tarkas from John Carter
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With 1,800 costumes, including a wedding dress studded with 120,000 Swarovski crystals, and over 2,000 visual effects, sci-fi epic John Carter (2012) cost $250 million to make: the fourth most expensive cinema production ever. A worldwide box office take of $282m seems good, but with at least $100m spent on promotion, the Red Planet movie is still in the red.
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In 2011, animated sci-fi movie Mars Needs Moms gave Disney the greatest financial headache in its history. On its opening weekend, it pulled in just $7 million, against the $150m it cost to make (it eventually scraped $39m worldwide). A large part of the cost was the six-week motion-capture process lead actor Seth Green had to endure.
For the 2005 adventure Sahara – a film that would go on to lose $78 million or $105m, depending on which side of a subsequent court case you favour – 10 writers were used, at a cost of almost $4m. About $240,000 was needed to placate local officials on location shoots in Morocco. A 46-second sequence of a plane crash, costing $2m, was cut from the final film.
Millions up in smoke: Cutthroat Island
Crash landing: Mars Needs Moms
On the morning of March 6, 1836, 200 Texans fought in vain against 1,800 Mexicans at the Alamo Mission, in a battle lasting six hours. To recreate it on film for The Alamo (2004), took over a month of filming on the biggest set in US cinematic history: some 20.4 hectares, about 30 soccer pitches. The $107 million movie brought in $26m at the worldwide box office. the red bulletin
words: ulrich corazza. photography: corbis (3), picturedesk.com (3), getty images
Flown in for the shoot, in Malta and Thailand, of Cutthroat Island (1995): horses from Austria, carpenters from England, stuntmen from Poland. Also on the bill: 2,000 costumes, 309 firearms, 620 swords, 250 daggers and 100 axes. Oh, and over $1 million for two full-size replica pirate ships. Final budget: $98m. Recouped at the US cinemas: $10m.
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Dennis Quaid in The Alamo
This isn’t your momma’s ABBA. Meet Ellinor Olovsdotter, aka Elliphant, the model-turnedMC leading the charge of new Swedish pop stars Words: Caroline Ryder Photography: Miko Lim Styling: Holly Copeland
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“ sweden was so rude to me. when I left sweden is when I became a human being�
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the red bulletin
the red bulletin
E
llinor Olovsdotter has the flu. The rising star known as Elliphant often gets sick when she visits LA, she explains, raspy-voiced and half naked, completely unself-conscious about her body. The globe-trotting former model from the wrong side of the tracks is part of a Nordic new wave of fierce dance-pop divas, alongside fellow Swedes Icona Pop, Robyn, Lykke Li and MĂ˜ who are pushing the pop envelope. 37
Her music is inspired by jamaicaN Dancehall, dirty dubstep, ’90s rock and techno
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In interview, Ellinor Olovsdotter is subdued. It’s on stage, in music videos and during a photoshoot for The Red Bulletin that she really comes to life as Elliphant, a wild, whirling, joyous performer who infatuates the camera with her exuberance. It’s this sense of self that informs her music. Inspired by Jamaican dancehall, dirty dubstep, ’90s rock and techno, her sound has drawn comparisons to M.I.A. and Santigold. She’s also been compared to Rihanna, a likeness with which Elliphant isn’t entirely comfortable. “I’m a bit surprised by that because I would never have thought that people would think that we were alike,” she told Anthem magazine this year. “What I do is more experiential. It might be because of the way I use the words so it sounds like I have a Jamaican Patois dialect.” With her ethereal, Jane Birkin-esque beauty and expletive-tinged honesty, Elliphant brings more to the table than your average pop princess. For starters, she’s lived a real life, growing up in the gritty Stockholm suburb of Katarina-Sofia, her mother a single parent with two kids by two different men, her father with four children from three different women. “My mom was a junkie,” she says. “She had a lot of problems. Sweden was so rude to my mom. So rude to me. The Swedish system killed me. When I left Sweden for the first time, that’s when I turned into a human being. If I had never left and travelled places, this person, Elliphant, would never exist. I would have been angry. I would probably have two babies and be on drugs right now.’’ Despite the hardships she suffered growing up, Elliphant says music was always a big thing in her family.
“My mom loved music and she was into the whole ’90s thing,” she says. “I was pumped with music; we would stand there waiting for her for hours while she was going through albums in record stores. She bought maybe 10 CDs a week when I was a kid. Everything from David Bowie to the B-52s, to early techno to Frank Sinatra. Everything.” Olovsdotter suffered from attention deficit disorder and dyslexia as a child. She struggled at school and couldn’t envisage a happy future for herself until her grandmother took her to India at the age of 15. The country struck a chord with her, she dropped out of school aged 16 to return there on her own, losing herself just to find herself in the colourful, cacophonous streets. She travelled to India regularly in her mid-20s, returning to Stockholm in between trips, where she dabbled in making music and funded her travels with kitchen work. She explored the urban music scenes of Berlin, London and Paris, where she met a Swedish producer who believed in her abilities. “I met Tim Deneve in 2011, just before going to England,” she says. “He is half of the crew Jungle. When I met him in Paris we were really wasted and he put on
“I had all these ideas about music, but I never knew how they would turn out. certainly not like this”
some music and said he wanted to try to maybe write music for other artists, with his producing partner Ted Krotkiewski. Then I went to London and I missed my flight home to Stockholm because of one of the volcanos erupting in Iceland.” A natural disaster turned into an extraordinary partnership, and with Deneve and Krotkiewski’s encouragement, Olovsdotter morphed into Elliphant, writing lyrics and melodies while her producers took care of the beats. “The real history of me and music started the first time I went to India and got into the jam sessions,” she says. “I felt the music and I really wanted to be a part of it somehow. I was into recording sounds. I wanted to create the biggest sound bank in the world. I had all these ideas about music, but I never knew how they would turn out. Certainly not like this.” With “this” she is referring to the break that burgeoning musicians dream of. The right person becomes your ally, the right producer sees your spark. After creating some buzz in Stockholm, Elliphant teamed up with TEN, the Swedish music management company behind Icona Pop and Niki & The Dove. In 2012, Elliphant was unleashed on the world. Track after track of dubstepinspired dancehall, such as Ciant Hear It, Tekkno Scene and breakout hit Down On Life, the video of which was lauded by Katy Perry, who tweeted: “One of the most bad ass music videos I’ve seen in a long time!” After Perry came interest from Dr Luke, the American producer who has masterminded one chart-topping song after another, and has an eye for female pop virtuosos like Perry, Ke$ha, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Rihanna. Dr Luke signed Elliphant to Kemosabe Records, his imprint at Sony. “I was surprised by his interest in me,” says Elliphant. “He reached out to me. I don’t really know how it happened. I didn’t reach out to him. I think maybe it was because of Icona Pop becoming such a huge thing, suddenly all these big wolves in the industry were hunting for what else they have in Sweden.” If all goes well, Elliphant has a shot at becoming one of Sweden’s biggest exports. But for now, she’s just happy to have a goal in life. “It takes so much effort and so much time to make music, you have got to get something back and get economics to work,” she says. “I realised I wanted it to be my life, not just some side project. Then I did Down On Life and I realised, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s be a performer.’” twitter.com/elliphantmusic
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South African champion Tiaan Odendaal in full flight at the 2013 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships
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y r o l g
S R E T N U H o A f r ic a t t n e w y sic a l bikers h n p i , t a s t a n f u d o hey foun d’s best m t l . s r l r e n de r o a r w d u e e s o m Th t p i d e sh ho refus M art in an d c ra ig K o l esk y h a m pion c w g o n r i e s h a n ch v en hometow us P o wers P h o t o g raph y : S a d n a s track Words: Ang
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“if you can nail it for one run, you’re going to get the gold medal. you have to take every risk, because other people will too” to pay their respects. Afterwards, with seven months of pent-up emotion released, it was back to business. “It’s world champs. There is no bigger race this year and the pressure on the guys at the top is unbelievable,” said race commentator Rob Warner. “On the outside, they might be calm, but on the inside, it’s like full-blown terror. If you can nail it for one run, you’re going to get the gold medal. And you have to take every risk there is, because other people will too.” The riders needed no second invitation. The medical team wound up seeing 20 cases a day. Contused lungs, and broken ribs, legs and collarbones topped the list; followed by concussions and a slew of lacerations and road rash. “This cross-country course is something special,” said Marco Fontana, after leading Italy to the XC team relay
gold medal. “It has really fast rolling sections, handmade rock gardens and tight, technical corners and singletrack. To podium in the men’s race would be really good. If you finish third, you are still a hero. If you are fourth, nobody cares.” Seventeen-year-old Sybrand Strauss clearly didn’t get that memo. He had brought South Africa home in ninth in the team relay: on foot, with a bloodied elbow, blown tyre and snapped chain, almost in tears from the pain after being hunted down by a Russian pursuer in the final straight. Two days later, on the first lap of the men’s cross-country, Fontana was faced with a replay of his 2012 Olympic Games heroics (he won a bronze medal despite a snapped seatpost) when he went down in the big rock garden and broke his saddle. The man-made the red bulletin
Credit:
hey say Africa’s not for sissies, and Ricardo Pscheidt would probably agree. Seconds after finishing the mountain bike cross-country world championship race in Pietermaritzburg, the Brazilian rider crumpled to the ground. His trainer propped him up against the barriers, anxiously wiped down his face and loosened the zipper of his jersey. Pscheidt didn’t look good. His eyelids fluttered and his head lolled. Eventually he whispered something to the paramedic who was holding up a certain number of fingers in front of his face. Pscheidt had crashed hard on the fourth of seven laps, and despite suffering a concussion, had pushed on through the pain barrier to finish just ahead of Renay Groustra, the first South African home. It was a spectacularly brave performance, one which blurred the line between risk and stupidity, and which hinted at how much was on the line at these UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships, the first to be held on African soil. But if Pscheidt finished a lowly 46th, how much more was at stake at the front of the bunch? Greg Minnaar would know. Ever since his win in Austria last year, the prospect of defending the downhill world title, at a track that was literally in his backyard, had been consuming him. Back then, the 2013 world champs had seemed like a once-ina-lifetime shot at glory for Minnaar and Burry Stander, his fellow countryman ranked No.2 in the world. But after tragedy struck and Stander was killed by a minibus taxi while on a training ride in January 2013, the world championships – for South Africans, at least – suddenly became a deeply emotional affair. The day before competition started, a garden dedicated to Stander’s memory was unveiled track-side, and the international cycling community gathered
KEEPING IT PINNED
Credit:
Above: British rider Mike Jones took a radical line during practice, but recovered to finish third in the 2013 UCI Junior Downhill World Championship. Left: Switzerland’s Nino Schurter put the hammer down from the start in the elite men’s cross-country race
“it’s such a great feeling to be racing at home, showcasing this great sport” Greg Minnaar
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the red bulletin
ONE LIFE “I had to dig deep, man. It hasn’t sunk in. It still feels like just a race win, but it’s bigger than that. We’ve got the whole of South Africa here.” Defending world downhill champion Greg Minnaar (facing page and far right) carried the weight of a nation’s expectations on his shoulders, but delivered in sensational fashion in his home town of Pietermaritzburg
obstacles and heavy G-forces in the swooping turns were wreaking havoc. One rider went over his handlebars and smashed a photographer and his camera gear into a river. Race favourite Julien Absalon, unbeknown to his rivals, was riding with three broken ribs, and Manuel Fumic’s charge towards the podium was sabotaged by repeated crashes in the rocks. Only the defending champion seemed untroubled. Nino Shurter dominated from start to finish, destroying the field and reducing what could have been a tactical battle into a desperate scramble for the minor places. Even the trials riders were taken aback by the challenge laid down in Pietermaritzburg. The obstacles weren’t as high as those on the World Cup circuit, but they were creative, fiendishly tough, and were tackled first in lethally wet conditions and then under lights on a bitterly cold evening. The local crowds, new to trials riding, were mesmerised by the sight of cyclists coiled over their saddleless machines, brakes creaking and tyres bulging, hopping and jumping their way around what seemed like a totally impassable course. “The Pietermaritzburg guys really did a good job,” said four-time world champ Kenny Belaey. After breaking his wrist last year, recovering, then fracturing it again, the Belgian had to be content with a bronze medal in the men’s 26in competition. “The course was a lot more technical than in Europe, and it was long. I really liked it. You had to place your wheels very precisely, take off, and then hold on for dear life.” The only riders who knew what was coming were the downhillers. They not only had the fastest DH track on the
circuit to contend with, but Greg Minnaar as well. The Maritzburg course is notorious for the flat, ‘pedally’ transition that links the steep, technical upper section to the flowing lower third, placing as much of a premium on sprint power as on bikehandling skills. Speeds were high, the jumps were big, and with the rock-hard surface complicated by a sketchy layer of dust and grit, if the bike started to slide, you were in real trouble.
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hat is downhill racing about? Consider doing the 400m sprint while simultaneously calculating complex maths equations and juggling a few tennis balls. Or, in Pietermaritzburg’s case, try hitting a 20m table-top jump at 73kph, landing a perfect backside on your exit, then carrying that speed flawlessly through the next series of jumps… all while your heart is knocking at 190 beats per minute. As Gee Atherton, the most successful downhiller this season, put it: “There really isn’t an area of your body that doesn’t get absolutely worked over during a downhill race.” Minutes after crushing her rivals by more than eight seconds – and doing her first interview as a world champion while slumped on the grass – Rachel Atherton breathlessly echoed her big brother. “I’m exhausted!” she said, gasping for air. “My lungs and legs… I thought I wouldn’t be
able to walk ever again. It’s just on fire… your body’s wrecked… so much effort. But I’m stoked.” On that Pietermaritzburg course, the fastest riders seemed to float over the rocks, effortlessly lowered by gravity. They glided through the trees, every twist of the track burnt into their brains, and emerged from clouds of dust to bullet past at more than 50kph. What set Minnaar apart was his knowledge of every root and rut and crumbling berm on the hill. That, and the pressure. Minnaar already owned three world championship bronze medals, three silvers, and two golds. But only two riders had ever won three or more DH world titles, and neither of them had won at home. Minnaar started fast, beating Mick Hannah’s scorching time by more than a second at the first split, before giving up most of that in the punishing second sector. With thousands of fans (and the track marshals) urging him on through a cacophony of vuvuzelas, chainsaws and cowbells, Minnaar dredged up some final strength and, despite a rear wheel puncture, stopped the clock less than half a second in the lead. Minutes before Minnaar’s run, Sam Hill had bounced off his bike and face-planted into the dirt. Another favourite, Aaron Gwin, busted his shoulder, and Steve Smith blew his chances in the first corner. That left Gee Atherton to contend, but when it became clear that even he would be hopelessly off the pace, Minnaar leapt up in triumph, saluted his fans, and crowd-surfed into the history books. www.uci.ch
s e k i b t s e t s a f e h t orld w e h t n i
The world champion’s ‘granny gear’ – a monster 42-tooth cog
NINO SCHURTER’S
SCOTT SCALE 700
Saddle, carbon seatpost, pedals and cockpit components by Ritchey
Scott Scale 700 carbon frame with DT Swiss XRC 100 carbon fork. Total bike weight of 8kg
Three-position fork lockout: normal; travel adjustment for steep climbing; and total lockout
Dugast tubular tyres, on DT Swiss carbon rims, pumped to 1.7 bar
Elite men’s cross-country Schurter debuted his 650B wheelset at the World Cup in PMB last year and it was fast enough to carry him to a second straight XC world title on the same track in August. He runs handmade tubular tyres, glued to the rims, for better rolling resistance and weight savings.
SRAM XX1 11-speed drivetrain, with a 36-tooth front chainring
Prologo X8 saddle
JULIE BRESSET’S
BH ULTIMATE
FSA stem and handlebars with silicone grips
Michelin Wild Race‘R Ultimate 27.5x2.25 tyres, pumped to 1.4 bar in the front and 1.5 at the rear
Sr Suntour Axonwerx RL-RC 650B fork
Elite women’s cross-country The most dramatic feature on her carbon monocoque BH Ultimate frame is the gracefully curved seat tube, which tightens up the rear triangle to deliver superior acceleration and climbing ability. Bresset also switched to 650B wheels this season.
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Mavic SLR rims
FSA K-Force Lite carbon cranks, 36/24 chainrings, KMC X10SL Gold chain the red bulletin
I he 2013 UC ey t : t s e b e d to be th ons reveal the k e e n u o y at s m pi machine this is wh bike world cha g n i n n i -w n mountai ts on their race n com p on e
Maxxis Minion DHR II 26x2.4 tyres, pumped to 1.8 and 1.9 bar, front and back respectively
10-speed cassette, without the three biggest sprockets, became a 7-speed 11-19 cluster
Prototype Fox RAD spring shock, unavailable to anyone else at world champs
Santa Crux V10 carbon frame, with carbon Enve handlebars, seatpost and rims
Custom-tuned Fox 40 fork
GREG MINNAAR’S
SANTA CRUZ V10 Elite men’s downhill Minaar’s production V10 is probably the most developed carbon bike on the DH circuit: at 14.7kg, it’s 1.5kg lighter than most rivals’. As a puncture fail-safe, he ran both tubes and tyre sealant in his wheels – and needed all the puncture resistance he could get.
Shimano Saint drivetrain: 170mm cranks for extra leverage; 39-tooth front ring
“I got the puncture in the last rock section, and I could feel it down the last few jumps!” – Greg Minnaar Shimano Pro Atherton saddle
Fox DHX RC4 rear shock
Continental Mud King 26x2.3 tyre, running at 1.8 bar
Crank Brothers Mallet 3 clip-in pedals Continental Der Kaiser Projekt 26x2.4 tyre, running at 1.8 bar
RACHEL ATHERTON’S
GT WORLD CUP FURY
Elite women’s downhill
Shimano XTR 7-speed 11-23 cassette
Atherton’s production aluminium GT Fury World Cup boasts a oneoff Union Jack paintjob, and a decal of the Welsh flag on the down tube, saluting her mechanic’s nationality. She geared up from her usual 36-tooth chainring to a 38-tooth front blade.
Tama Waipara
To Be Pacfic
From the North Island’s east coast to North America’s east coast, the sounds of the oceans’ shores have inspired a soulful global music journey Words: Sam Wicks Photography: Nic Staveley
Heard the one about the horn player who became a soul singer after a fuse box landed on his head? That sounds like a set-up for a second-rate gag, but it is in fact a key moment in Tama Waipara’s unlikely musical journey. In 1998, Waipara swapped smalltown Bay of Plenty for the bright lights of New York City, after he won a scholarship at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. Midway through his studies, he was thrown a career-defining curveball when he was in the street outside his apartment and said fuse box fell and struck him, an injury that doctors feared might cause an aneurysm. After the accident, Waipara experienced migraines and vomiting when playing his horn, and looked to singing as a way to channel his passion for music. Given that he only developed his singing voice in his 20s, Waipara’s soulful instrument is a sound to behold. Rich and full-bodied, his vocals have been in demand since he returned to New Zealand with a completed Masters of Arts degree. Since then, the 36-year-old has made it his mission to marry the urban influences of New York with the Pacific Island melodies and rhythms of his home turf, an evolving union that has been fully realised on his new album, Fill Up The Silence. “It’s the whole iwi [nation] on this album,” says Waipara, “everything from the classical bent of my upbringing and training to the flavours from the coast where I grew up.” While Fill Up The Silence crosspollinates diverse Pacific influences – Hawaiian chant rhythms collide with Papa New Guinea-style bamboo beats, Tahitian log drums knock against Maori poi percussion – it’s the coast of Waipara’s early childhood, in Opotiki
in the eastern Bay of Plenty, on which the album’s foundations are built. “When I set about capturing the sound of the coast, it was quite literal,” says Waipara. “I was thinking about the styles and sounds that I’d hear at guitar parties when I was growing up. And I grew up in a house where everything from Hendrix to Bach was played, so the musical version of my coast was always going to be reinterpreted.” Fill Up The Silence’s unburnished soul sound was captured in a state-of-the-art studio in Brooklyn, New York, with
while in New York. He refers to the city as his “other coast”, and considers his two stomping grounds close in spirit. “The beach at Waiotahi in Opotiki is beautiful, but it’s not what you’d see in a postcard,” he says. “There’s a rugged authenticity to the coast, and that’s the same for New York. It’s the dirt under the city’s fingernails that makes its music so interesting. All of these strands of flavour and musical influence have found a home in this record.” With the Bunker Studio sessions in the can, Waipara and Nevezie returned home to mix and master the album at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studio, one of New Zealand’s top recording facilities. The process was enabled by a successful campaign Waipara launched on pledgeme.co.nz, a crowdfunding website. Different levels of financial support were incentivised by a package of rewards that included a personal vocal workshop and a private concert from Waipara, bought for $2,500 by a high-rolling fan. Aaron Nevezie went back to Brooklyn following the Roundhead sessions, but he returns to New Zealand this month for shows debuting Fill Up the Silence’s songs. Waipara is certain he’ll spend more time in New York collaborating with Nevezie, yet he’s adamant he’ll remain on home turf to carve out Pacifican grooves. “Being home is about being in Aotearoa,” says Waipara. “Something here will always call me back, and there’s an ongoing musical conversation that’s important to me. I really believe in doing what I can to bring back the skills I acquired in New York; doing what I can to help the next generation of musicians coming through.”
“Being home is about being in Aotearoa. Something here will always call me back”
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Waipara’s long-time collaborator and engineer Aaron Nevezie at the controls. Nevezie’s Bunker Studio is located in Williamsburg, a New York musical hub. In October 2011, Waipara took up residence with a sketchbook of tunes and plans to stamp these new songs with Polynesian sounds and big-city grit. Waipara formed many of the musical relationships that shaped his Pacific soul
facebook.com/tamawaipara the red bulletin
The line-up Tama Waipara – singer, songwriter, guitarist Discography Fill Up The Silence (album, 2013) Sir+Plus And The Requirements (album, 2009) Leaving Paradise (EP, 2007) Triumph Of Time (album, 2003) Get the hump Engelbert Humperdinck jammed with Waipara on his recent NZ tour, joining Kiwi musicians Ria Hall and Awa Reeder to riff on the crooner’s Ten Guitars. By the Belgian Catch Waipara, Julia Deans and more at Nelson Arts Festival, October 19, for a night of words and music by Belgian singersongwriter Jacques Brel.
Leap of Faith Shane McConkey died doing what he loved. This is the story of what happened next
Photography: www.carroux.com
Words: Ann Donahue
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Shane McConkey and Miles Daisher BASE-jump from the Peak2Peak gondola in Whistler, Canada
“There is no way somebody can see the film of his life and say he wasn’t a loving father and husband”
The cold, hard truth is that in March 2009, Shane McConkey – an innovator in adventure sports, who pioneered the ultimate off-piste sport of ski BASEjumping – died at the age of 39 when his skis failed to properly release during a wingsuit jump in the Dolomites in Italy. At 41 years old, Sherry was left a widow with a three-year-old daughter. Originally from South Africa, Sherry is a petite, sinewy force. She lives in Squaw Valley, California and teaches rehabilitative yoga to athletes injured in ski accidents. Her given name is Scheherazade, a nod to her Persian heritage, and in honour of the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. She wears a necklace with several pendants, one of which is Shane’s ring, another imprinted with a quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci: “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the 52
earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” For Sherry, the four years since her husband’s death have been a dark, turbulent blur, with two major moments of clarity: one, that she had to corral her grief in order to set an example for her daughter, Ayla; and two, that despite her husband’s high-risk career, she had to prove Shane’s unquestionable love for his family. the red bulletin: How difficult is it for you to be involved in a documentary about Shane? sherry mcconkey: It’s been hard for me this whole time, but I know deep down inside that it’s what I want, it’s what Shane would want and I want Ayla to have something really incredible. I knew it would take a long time and I knew it would be really trying and hard and emotional. I’m not moving on. I haven’t moved on. It’s because it’s in my face all the time and it’s a constant reminder. But it’s not a bad thing. I’m always going to remember him, whether I like it or not. When Shane first died, I got a lot of negative remarks, comments online, like: “How could he be a good father? How could he love you if he went out and did this kind of stuff?” You just sit and spew about it in your brain. There is no way somebody is going to walk away [from the film] and say that that man wasn’t a loving father and an incredible husband. Has Ayla seen the movie? She’s watched her segments and our wedding. She wrinkles her nose in delight and I’m behind her just like [mimics sobbing]. That was hard for her, and it’s really hard for me to cry in front of Ayla. You know, we’re attached. We had an umbilical cord. And you remember when you saw your parents cry, you freaked out. It’s awful. They don’t cry and when they do, it’s something big. But my friend said sometimes it’s good for her to see that emotion of how I love Shane. So when she saw the movie, I told her, “I have to tell you, I’m going to cry, because it’s really hard for me. I miss Daddy.” You could see it was upsetting to her, but she got it and the red bulletin
Photography: Brigitte Sire, Ulrich Grill/Red Bull Content Pool
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herry McConkey remembers a conversation she had with her husband, Shane. It was one of those giddy moments in a relationship, where the questions are quick and unrelenting and the thirst for details – no matter how tiny, no matter how silly – is of the utmost importance. “When you die, what do you want to come back as?” asked Sherry. Shane’s answer was instantaneous. “An eagle,” he said. At that point, Sherry knew all that she needed to know about Shane McConkey. Because she wants to be reincarnated as an eagle, too.
Shane McConkey’s life and career is chronicled in McConkey, available for download on iTunes on October 8. Left: Sherry McConkey
right after her scene, it goes to Italy, and she was like: “Are they going to show Daddy dying?” Of course, they don’t. But it’s wrenching nonetheless to see the build-up to the final jump. It was a big conversation. I was petrified they were going to show it, and it was not necessary. But it was totally handled appropriately. For me, I would have rather not seen the exit [of the jump] because that was his last moment, and it’s not fun to see him. I’m his wife and obviously I’m going to hate it. If everyone in the world thinks it’s fine, I’m still going to hate it. But it’s beautiful, the scenery, and this is what he did. His last moment was a double flip. I trusted the directors, if they thought it was necessary, but they were going to stop it where I wanted to stop. And they listened to me. What was the premiere like at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year? Going to New York, I had this anxiety, more than I ever had in my life. It was like I was going to a wedding and funeral at the same time. I was excited because part of me was going to move on, but it’s also 54
a chapter that’s going to close. I was so nervous for people to perceive Shane the way we wanted them to perceive him. I’d seen it several times, but I was super scared to watch it in front of people. I’d only watched it in front of a couple friends and I would have to walk away. It was super hard. I had an escape route if I wanted to leave and I had my friends around me, and it was just... rad. I looked around at one point, and I was obviously crying, and everybody was. It was like, “Oh. Duh. Everyone is going to cry at this part, because it’s hard, and it’s beautiful.” The movie is going to go on tour and be screened around the US. Are you going to go to any of the tour stops? I’m not sure how many times I can watch the movie. I’m very excited for Squaw. It’s my family here and they are so excited to see it, and they’ve been so unbelievably supportive over the last years. I’d also like to see it in a city and not a sports town like here. There was a woman who stood up in New York and said, “Now I’m going to live my life.” That’s what we wanted. This incredible man was so funny and
Photography: Brigitte Sire, Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
“There was a woman who stood up after a screening and said, ‘Now I’m going to live my life.’ That’s what we wanted”
Shane McConkey BASE-jumps from the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa hotel, in Nevada, USA
Photography: Red Bull Content Pool
ACTION! McConkey had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. More info at: mcconkeymovie.com
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Shane on the big screen For the athletes who knew Shane McConkey, the documentary of his life is an incisive look at following your passions – despite the ultimate cost
Charles Bryan (right) Skydiver, BASE-jumper “The movie was a great experience. I didn’t know Shane for his skiing, as most everyone else did. We were skydiving and BASE-jumping buddies. I only learned of his fame and influence in skiing later on in our friendship. It’s a sad reality, the inherent dangers in aerial sports. All sports, for that matter.”
Miles Daisher (left) Skydiver, BASE-jumper “The film stirred up an array of emotions for me. It was good to laugh at his crazy humour and remember some great moments in our lives. The ending was rough. You knew it was going to happen, even if you didn’t know Shane, as the foreshadowing began at the start of the movie.”
dorky, and he didn’t care what people thought. It wasn’t even the fact that he was a crazy, amazing athlete – it was his personality that was so contagious. How did you and Shane meet? I’d seen him around town, but I didn’t know him. He was a skier, I was a snowboarder: different crowds. We started mountain biking together and then it was inevitable. We had so much fun together. He’s so fun. He was a dork and he made me laugh. But he was famous. Was that weird? He was never famous to me. I’d see his movies or see him on the slopes and be like, “Wow, that was amazing,” but he didn’t seem famous. He was humble – well, not humble, but he knew what he was capable of doing. It was his passion. He wasn’t cocky about it. It was what he loved to do and naturally it just bubbled out of him. I think he’s more famous now. One of the best moments in the film is when you do your first BASE-jump. The first one I did, I was so scared, but then it was amazing. I wanted to do it more, so I did it a couple more times. It’s one of those sports where you really want to be a good skydiver. You really want to be one of those quick athletes in your brain, where you figure out scenarios fast. I feel like you want to start when you’re young and you have more balls. I started when I was 35, which is really old, and then I went to skydiving and I got a little more comfortable with it – and then I got knocked up [laughs]. Now I can’t do it. No way. After Shane’s death, why did you start the Shane McConkey Foundation? At first I just did it to hold something on the anniversary [of his death]. I felt a lot of pressure. People were looking at me: “What are you going to do?” And it was an opportunity to raise money and awareness. We did one of these wacky things he liked to do – taking the mickey out of snowblading and acting like a dork
“ Everyone is going to cry, because it’s hard, and it’s beautiful” 58
Sherry McConkey with her dog, Pedro, in Squaw Valley
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JT Holmes (right) Skier, BASE-jumper “It’s a great tribute and a triumph considering the daunting task of doing Shane’s life and legacy justice. Sure, there was a lot to work with as far as story and compelling content, but the expectations from those who knew him are extremely high. The movie is one to be very proud of.”
Chris Davenport (right) Big-mountain skier “Telling the story of any life lived to the fullest, even a short life, is a difficult task. Shane was the consummate jokester and lover of all things fun. The film succeeds, because even though his passing and the story behind it is sad, the viewer is reminded that having fun in life is of the utmost importance.”
Q&A: Scott Gaffney A longtime friend of Shane McConkey’s, the co-director at freeskiing production company MSP Films, is one of the directors of McConkey
Photography: Brigitte Sire (1), Red Bull Content POol (3), Action Images (1)
the red bulletin: What
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were the challenges of going through all of Shane McConkey’s sports footage? scott gaffney: I get ridiculed by the other guys at MSP Films for being a geek and knowing too much about our footage. But I happened to be there as a cinematographer for roughly 80 per cent of Shane’s ski career. I know what happened where and when, and what his emotions were. But BASE-jumpers are video geeks, too. If Shane and three others went to jump an antenna, three of them probably had helmet cameras rolling. So it took a while, but I knew what meant a lot to him and what was just another shot. How did you work with his widow, Sherry, to create the film? We wanted Sherry to have ultimate say in the outcome. Her interviews were obviously instrumental, awesome and a core to the film. We were all proud with how awed she was by the film in the end. What did having McConkey premiere at the Tribeca festival mean for the film? Just being accepted to Tribeca was affirmation that Shane was someone worthy of attention outside our action-sports world. We are kind of pigeonholed into being ‘adrenalin junkies’, yet Shane constantly dismissed that label. What he did meant so much more to him.
and not taking life so seriously. It’s a competition, a downhill on snowblades, which is ridiculous, and everybody dresses up. Like belly dancers, or whores, or both [laughs]. We do a gala; it’s super fun. [With the proceeds] we’ve started [educational] Green Teams in the schools here, and I want to do more environmentally conscious events. It sounds like a lot of work. It’s a full-time nonpaying job [laughs]. For me, it’s prolonged not moving on, but I don’t think I’ll ever move on. Why should I? I loved him. He was my soulmate. I want Ayla to see that both her dad and her mom were passionate about this world and I’ll continue trying to do as much as I can. I know it’s for some reason, through Shane. He gave me so much. It wasn’t only love and a soulmate – he gave me the courage to do things I would have never done in my life. What have you learned about grief? The only way I’ve gotten through all this grief is obviously Ayla. I want to be a strong mother and I want to show her that her dad gave me the courage to do the things I needed to do. And exercise. If I didn’t have my mountain bike, I don’t know what I’d do. That’s where I can go and get all my anger out or be alone for hours and see how beautiful this world is. I don’t have Shane to get pissed off at any more [laughs], so I get to beat it out on a mountain bike ride. Do you visit Shane’s memorial at the top of Squaw Valley often? Squaw gave him Eagle’s Nest [a challenging ski run renamed in his honour] and it was so appropriate. We had this connection with eagles. We discussed, “When you die, what do you want to come back as?” And we both said, “Eagles, duh.” You get to soar, you get to fly. And it couldn’t be a more appropriate tribute to Shane. The most beautiful view, looking down on one of his favourite mountains in the world. I’ve got pictures of a golden eagle up there sitting right next to the eagle [statue that commemorates McConkey]. I went up there on Shane’s birthday, there was one flying. I went up there on his anniversary and there were golden eagles flying. It’s so weird. I don’t know – I’d never seen an eagle there before and now I see them all the time. www.mcconkeymovie.com
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kings of leon
Back On The Throne After the release of new album Mechanical Bull, cousins and Kings of Leon guitarists Jared and Matthew Followill on life without music, Twitter for the single man and the secret of eternal happiness
A suite in the Ritz-Carlton, Vienna. Matthew Followill flops down on the leather couch, exhausted. The lead guitarist’s cousin,bassist Jared Followill, hides his eyes behind black Ray-Bans – “Jet lag, man” – and draws on an electronic cigarette. Six hours to go until the gig.
j: Tell him what you play on [album track] Wait for Me. m: … j: He doesn’t want to say. He’s embarrassed! Is it a recorder? m: You can hardly hear it, anyway: it’s a sitar. How do Kings of Leon get over writer’s block in the studio? j: By taking a two-week break from music. m: Listening to music non-stop. All day long. After about a month in the studio, I reach a point where I’m floundering.
the red bulletin: What do the Kings of Leon do backstage right before a performance? jared: We form a circle and clap hands. Pure superstition, but if we didn’t do it, it wouldn’t feel right. The most important rule of drinking? j: Don’t get too drunk. We all have varying tolerances. matthew: I don’t drink at all before a gig. I’ve messed up a few shows by being drunk. That’s when I realised: you have to be fit. j: I’ve messed up a few shows sober. That’s when I realised: “F— this! I need to drink more.” When you’re in the supermarket and you hear Sex On Fire, do you Kings of Leon live: pre-show rituals, full power on stage think, “Cool, that’s us!” or, “Oh God, they’re playing our music Then I put on my favourite bands – the in a supermarket”? new Wild Nothing album or Thin Lizzy – j: It makes me happy. And when someone and then in the evening it’s flowing again. takes the last carton of milk right in front You grew up in religious families. of my nose, I think, “So what? That’s me Which Bible passage rocks hardest? on the radio – motherf—er!” m: The Old Testament! No, just kidding. m: I’d lay down an air guitar solo for j: The Old Testament is pretty brutal. I think the people in the store. most religions preach the battle of good j: Hearing your own songs on the radio versus evil. As a rock star the thing you is a great feeling. Especially when you go learn is: treat people well when you’re shopping with your wife. I mean, you career is on the up because they’re the want to impress her. same people you’ll meet on the way down. What’s the better way to approach m: And as a songwriter you can find a new album: experiment, or refine great stories in the Bible. the classic sound? j: I’ll say one thing: Sodom and Gomorrah. m: I like experimenting and changing You didn’t have a TV at home as kids. things. On Mechanical Bull we have Was that a good time or a bad time? strings and a steel guitar. m: Probably a good time. But my parents 60
were divorced – when I wanted to watch MTV, I went round to my dad’s place. You named your band after your grandfather, Leon. What has the old man taught you? j: Tons of jokes – and the secret of a good marriage. He says the two most important words for a husband are “Yes, honey.” Another motto: “Do you want to be right or happy?” He’s been married a long time. Can you remember the first song that infected you with the rock ’n’ roll bug? j: The first song that got me really excited, when I was 13 and old enough to understand music, was Where Is My Mind by the Pixies, from the album Surfer Rosa. m: I got one that is way less cool. When I was nine, I heard More Than a Feeling by Boston, [sings] “More than a fee-eeling!” And I thought: ‘Wow, what a great song.’ Is Twitter a blessing or a curse for rock stars? j: I started tweeting when I was single. Social media is great when you’re single. That was the only reason I started using it. It also gives you a chance to correct false rumours. j: Absolutely. And you can include the fans when you’re planning live shows. When a few hundred people on Twitter suggest you play a particular song, you should play it. Do you still get goosebumps on stage? m: Absolutely. When everyone sings along, I can really feel it. j: When the audience starts singing or people jump up and down I get a shiver down my back. And when a girl in the front row lifts up her T-shirt: goosebumps. m: When I get a solo right: goosebumps. j: But mostly when someone takes off their T-shirt. Mechanical Bull is out now: www.kingsofleon.com the red bulletin
photography: Dan Winters/sony, getty images
Interview: Andreas Rottenschlager
Kings of Leon, clockwise from top left: Followills Matthew (guitar), Jared (bass), Nathan (drums) and Caleb (guitar, vocals)
CONQUERING
KONA Bevan Docherty has ticked most of the boxes on his triathlon to-do list. The only things missing are an Olympic gold medal and a win at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii
Bevan Docherty would like to apologise to anyone he has offended during his triathlon career. “I’m not the nicest person on the race course,” he says. “It’s a little embarrassing after a race, but it’s the way I am. As soon as I relax things go wrong, so I’m constantly panicking even when things are going well. I snap and yell at people all the time – race officials, volunteers and fellow competitors.” Docherty once described himself as the Gordon Ramsay of triathlon, but he says he’s mellowed since he made the transition from Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) to the 62
ironman distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run) last year. Docherty won his first ironman in his hometown of Taupo earlier this year and on October 12 he’ll be in Kona, Hawaii, for his first crack at the Ironman World Championship. Rookies rarely do well in Kona. Since 1980 only one rookie – Belgian Luc van Lierde, in 1996 – has won on their first visit to the Big Island. It’s a race that can destroy reputations. Australia’s Chris McCormack came to Kona in 2002 with an incredible record in short course triathlons. Like Docherty, McCormack was an ITU world champion and won on
Photography: Nils Nilsen (3), Gani Pinero/EnduraPix (1)
Words: Robert Tighe
“I really should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around trying to win olympic gold�
Happy camper As part of his training routine Docherty sometimes sleeps in a hypoxia tent, which simulates high altitude. “It’s like a camping holiday at home,” he says.
Bevan Doherty trains at a high-school pool near his home in California. Above right: Winning the Olympicdistance Beijing Triathlon this year. Below right: getting in the saddle at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 US Championship
his ironman debut. He went into Kona in 2002 having won his previous 33 races over various distances. He was unbeaten for three years. Before the race he talked up his chances: “I didn’t come here for a holiday or to get a finisher’s medal,” he told a TV reporter. “I came here to win.” McCormack led off the bike and looked set to win, but 15km into the marathon he was hit by chronic cramps caused by poor nutrition (the fourth discipline of ironman). He was forced to abandon the race and as American Tim DeBoom 64
passed him on his way to his second win in a row, he mocked McCormack with the words: “Welcome to Kona, punk.” It took McCormack five years to figure out how to thrive in Kona, winning the first of his two titles in 2007. Docherty doesn’t have five years. McCormack made the switch to ironman aged of 29. Docherty is 36 years old and he knows the clock is ticking. “I messed up,” says Docherty. “I should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around to try and win gold at the London Olympics.”
Docherty was hoping to complete the set of Olympic medals in London. After silver in Athens in 2004 and bronze in Beijing in 2008, he finished 12th in London last year, well off the blistering pace set by the Brownlee brothers and Javier Gomez. “I’m not in this sport to participate, I’m in it to win and I didn’t enjoy it [Olympic distance] because I was getting my arse kicked,” he says. “It was time to step away. This engine is suited to longer stuff.” Docherty’s first race in the transition from short-course to long-course triathlon the red bulletin
Credit:
Photography: Nils Nilsen, Rocky Arroyo/EndurPix, Ella Brockelsby/photosport.co.nz
Ones to watch Craig Alexander is one of Docherty’s picks to do well in Kona. “He’s just turned 40, but he’s still going well,” says Docherty. “I think Andy Potts is due an amazing race and Eneko Llanos has had an amazing year.”
was the Panama 70.3 (half-ironman) in February 2012. He passed Lance Armstrong 2.5km from the finish and won the race. He followed that up with a third-place finish at the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September last year. Just ahead of him in second was Australia’s Craig Alexander, a three-time Kona winner who compared the heat in Vegas to the conditions expected in Hawaii this month. Docherty isn’t concerned by the prospect of running a marathon through the lava fields of Kona in the 35OC heat that is common in October. “I know some people struggle, but I race well in the heat,” he says. “And where I live [Santa Cruz, California] has similar conditions in terms of rolling terrain and tough winds. I just have to go to Kona in good shape and hope I’ve put myself in the hurt box enough to perform well.” Cameron Brown has endured his share of hurt and heartache in Hawaii. New Zealand’s most successful ironman made
Credit:
“ S ometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder”
his debut in Kona in 2000 and has twice finished runner-up. He’s also failed to finish on three occasions and he rates Kona “the toughest one day race in the world”. “It’s a beast of a race,” says Brown. “It’s the heat, the humidity and the wind. The swim is beautiful, but you can overheat on the bike and have a meltdown on the run. You leave a part of your soul out there.” Brown is a 10-time winner of Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, Docherty’s hometown. Earlier this year Docherty raced his first Ironman in Taupo and not only beat Brown, but broke his course record by three minutes. The win all but ensured his qualification for Kona and the record time suggested he might have the legs to contend for the title. Docherty plans to arrive in Hawaii a few days before the race instead of giving himself a couple of weeks to acclimatise as most athletes do. Cameron Brown isn’t convinced that’s the best preparation. “You can’t go to Kona three days before the race and think you’re going to nail it without learning a little bit about the course,” he says. “I think if you go in there blind, you’ll get a hell of a shock.” But Docherty has always had a reputation for doing things his own way. He trains alone, he doesn’t have a coach and he isn’t fazed by the cliché that to win at Kona you have to pay your dues first. “I’ll go into Kona as relaxed as I can and hopefully I’ve done enough,” he says. “I think some athletes overdo their training because it’s Kona and go into it overcooked. I’ll drive the course in a car so I won’t race it completely blind, but sometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder.” When Docherty announced his move to the ironman distance last year, he said his ultimate aim was to win in Kona. So can he do a Luc van Lierde and win on his first attempt or is he setting himself up for an epic failure like Chris McCormack? “Chris went into his first Kona cocky,” says Docherty. “I’m confident when I know I can back it up. I know if I’m standing on the start line and my training has gone as planned then I can podium. With a bit of luck, there’s a chance I could win.” McCormack has since admitted that his disastrous debut in 2002 was a result of not giving the race the respect it deserved. “I thought I was better than I was,” he told LAVA magazine. “In all those shorter races, I was never pressured. In Kona, I was pressured, and I crumbled.” Docherty will find out on October 12 if he copes or crumbles under the unique pressures of Kona. www.bevandocherty.com
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‘it is
illus to think that setting
achieving them
happy.’ Andre Agassi Graf on the mysteries 66
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an
ion goals and
makes you and Stefanie of success the red bulletin
Interview: Stefan Wagner
THE red bulletin: Together you’ve won 30 Grand Slam tournaments, earned fortunes, achieved worldwide popularity and business success. You raise millions for children’s charities, look after young tennis players, have a strong marriage and are bringing up happy children. Everything you touch seems to be successful, but what was it like after the end of your tennis careers? Did you have to relearn what success is? A tennis tournament begins on a Monday, the goal is victory in the finals on Sunday: that’s relatively straightforward. stefanie graf: And on the Monday you get the new rankings, which tell you where you stand. When I was still playing tennis, a friend once said to me, “You’re so lucky, you can say that you are the best in something.” Today I understand better than ever what he meant. This phrase provides a certain kind of security. A doctor or a therapist never knows exactly how good he really is, there’s always the question of whether or not he could be better. Was it easier for you playing sport than it was afterwards? SG: No, there were different questions. For example, whether the success that you have achieved is actually what you wanted to achieve. For a sports player these questions go even deeper with age. ANDRE AGASSI: I have my own view of success. Which is? AA: I believe success is an illusion. But you won all four Grand Slams, over $31 million in prize money and were world number one. That is an illusion? AA: Success in itself, as an end in itself, is an illusion. Whether it’s in sport or a charitable foundation. Let me put it this 67
way: in the last year, Stefanie has helped 1,000 children with her Children for Tomorrow foundation – and even if it were 2,000, there are still umpteen thousand out there that she can’t help. Would you describe that as success? It would be crazy not to. AA: It wouldn’t, because you describe something as success that isn’t actually success. In tennis I learnt that the final isn’t the goal, it can’t be. That would have meant, ‘Shit, on Monday it all starts again.’ Following your logic, Roger Federer isn’t a successful tennis player. AA: He is, of course – but not because he’s won the most Grand Slam titles, but because he’s the all-time best, which he is beyond a doubt, and yet he still tries to develop. True excellence is the person who understands that success won’t come sometime in the future, but rather here, now. As soon as I understood that, a few important things became clear: it’s not what I do that’s important, it’s how I do it. I won’t accept not giving my best. I won’t accept not wanting to be better. Every day, I have to try to be better, no matter what the scoreboard says or what the world rankings say, or how much I’ve raised in donations. But you can’t separate ‘success’ from goals which are objectively set and attained. AA: Yes you can. In fact you have to. Try it! Set yourself a goal, work hard to achieve it – will it make you happy? No. It’s an illusion to think that setting goals and achieving them makes you happy. How much money have you raised in the last 15-20 years for your charity projects? SG: I concentrate on the necessary amount year by year. In total it’s millions, many millions. AA: For me, over the years it’s been almost exactly $175 million. And do you know how many children you’ve helped? SG: In the past year it was 1,000 children, which was our highest number for 15 years. AA: Recently we had 1,300 children per year in our academy. But you must regard that as success? AA: Success isn’t what comes out, but what you put in. Doing things completely or not at all. Caring about what you do. When it comes to charity: invest yourself in your project. Find out how you can make something exceptional out of it. Does your fame help? Do you have to collect donations yourself? Will you have to spend time 68
So success is subjective, not objective? Andre Agassi: ‘When you see success as a goal, you’ll never be successful. Because it becomes like an addiction, you can never have enough.
NeveR’ away from your children to give interviews? Then you have to do it with all your heart. When it comes to tennis: find out what you’re responsible for, and concentrate on that. Work on your fitness, on your stroke. Don’t lie to yourself and look for shortcuts. Success isn’t a result. Success is a way of living you choose for yourself. So success is subjective, not objective? SG: Absolutely. AA: When you see success as a goal, you’ll never be successful. Because it becomes like an addiction, you can never have enough. Never. But how do you measure success? SG: By how you feel when you go to bed at night. More and more tennis pros come to you in Las Vegas to learn from you. What can you teach these players, some of whom are world class? SG: Actually sometimes it is about technique. Not the basics, sure, but there’s often room for tips.
You once said that you could teach a young player in 10 minutes what you learnt in 10 years. What would happen in those 10 minutes? AA: There are a few things that are important to me, simple things. For example, that there is only one important point you play in life, that is, the next one. And that you should concentrate on the things that you can influence – you can control your attitude, your work ethic, your concentration. If it’s windy or hot or something aches or you’re tired from the match yesterday, then you have to accept it. I also try to teach young players that tennis isn’t a sport where you’ll get perfection. There’s no 100 per cent tennis. There is only the 100 per cent that is within you on the day. It’s all about bringing out your own 100 per cent. SG: I can’t put it as succinctly as Andre, I couldn’t fit it all in 10 minutes. Also I see my task a little differently: I don’t give life lessons. I prefer listening to talking. the red bulletin
Photography: LONGINES
Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi: the first couple of world sports met The Red Bulletin in Hamburg with the help of Longines
In Open [Agassi’s gripping and brutally honest autobiography], there are descriptions of depressive episodes, even after winning Wimbledon and becoming number one in world rankings. Was the pain of losing really stronger than the joy of triumph? AA: Yes, and that still applies. How do you deal with it? AA: I’ve learnt to enjoy every moment. A good day with a major final, that’s a good moment. But you have to learn to value all the moments before that led to it. The moment of victory can’t be better than the moment of preparation. Learning that is pretty much a question of survival for a tennis player. SG: Andre’s right. The feeling you have after a victory fades so quickly. What we call success has a terribly short half-life. You would have been amazed if you’d seen Andre or me after a major victory. There was some relief, maybe, but no rejoicing or excitement. After a major the red bulletin
victory there’s an emptiness, a routine, ‘Let’s go home, we’re done here.’ That sounds really sad. AA: Oh, it is. Learning to see things differently is utterly essential. The day in the weight room, on the training court – that has to count just as much as finals day at Wimbledon. Not understanding that can be dangerous, because you make bad mistakes. So you think, for instance, that money is important, but money is nothing more than an expansion of opportunities for spending your time. Money can’t make you happy. When you’re happy with the opportunities that come with less money, money completely loses its significance. Money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Exactly the same as what you’ve been describing as success: Success isn’t an end in itself. Success doesn’t mean winning. Not many world-famous sportspeople would say that. How does an athlete come to think like that? SG: Life is a good teacher, whether you’re
a tennis player or not. You just have to ask yourself one question and answer it honestly: is the life I live the life that I want to live? Did you already have that attitude during your career? AA: At 27 I was number one in the world, I had won Grand Slams, I had taken drugs, I was divorced, I fell to number 141. I was unhappy. And I had to make a decision: do I keep playing tennis or not? That was the moment when I thought, even if I didn’t choose tennis for myself, because my father did that for me, perhaps tennis will give me the opportunity to get my life together. To do that I needed some meaning in my life. The school I built was that meaning. And so tennis had a purpose, tennis allowed me to create and maintain something which is really important. Suddenly it was all completely simple: tennis became a tool with which I could do something I really wanted to do. You said that fear is a great motivator. Given your life story, what you suffered as a child through fear and pressure – did you really mean that? AA: The fear of losing is an important motivator. Fear of not making the best of a situation. It seems as if you raise your children without fear. With your charities you try to make the lives of others easier. AA: But the fear of losing stays. That doesn’t go away. Ignoring the fear doesn’t help. I have a fear of failing my children: that fear is good and right, because it keeps me alert. Is there such a thing as a life without fear? AA: We humans can love and hate, we feel joy and fear, all these emotions are within us. It would be wrong to try and turn one of them off. Quite apart from the fact that it would be impossible. Can you raise a child to be successful in the conventional sense of the word? SG: No. AA: But you can screw it up. SG: That’s something we’re really afraid of, that we screw up with our kids. AA: You can teach someone to put the scoreboard ahead of everything. But that would be wrong. Children have to learn to push themselves every day. For themselves, not for anyone else, certainly not for a scoreboard. When you see the result on the scoreboard, that’s a bonus. But what’s on the scoreboard shouldn’t be the meaning of life. Life is bigger than any scoreboard. www.childrenfortomorrow.de www.agassifoundation.org
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DiGiulian scaling the Jack Of All Trades route in Waterval Boven, South Africa
The new kid on the rock in adventure sports is a pintsized student and aspiring writer. The dizzying highs and bloodied fingers of climbing champion Sasha DiGiulian
RARE AIR
w o rds : I a n M a c l e o d p h o t o gra p h y : K eit h Lad z i n ski
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ust above the tree line, but still short of where the sunlight begins, Sasha DiGiulian clasps onto a sheer sandstone cliff. Perhaps “clasp” isn’t the word. She’s too poised and graceful. The American rock climber moves on. She’s never in one place for long, and her attack of Rodan in South Africa – a route no woman has yet completed – is no different. A swivel of the torso, a deft repositioning of her pointed right foot and a controlled pull on the grips brings her closer to the light. She finds new holds with her agile fingers: pink painted nails on one side, chalk dust and ripped skin on the other. Practically unbeatable as a junior climber, DiGiulian made her mark on the senior stage when she won the 2011 climbing world championships in Arco, Italy, aged 18. She is also the holder of three US national titles and the world’s top-ranked female outdoor rock climber. But it’s the 20-year-old’s achievements outside of competition that have gained her notice in the rest of the action sports world. Her taming of the inhospitable, spiked wall known as Pure Imagination, situated in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge in October 2011 made her the first American woman ever to climb a 9a route. How hard is a 9a route? Put it this way: more than 50 women have been to space; DiGiulian is one of three with a 9a on her record. She is also the youngest of them. “I don’t really know what I’m capable of,” she says. “But I like to find out.” All of this before entering her second year in college. Around this time last year, she knew exactly where she 72
wanted to go on her summer holiday. She’d heard stories of a rocky playground in South Africa, around 300km east of Johannesburg, near the town of Waterval Boven (‘above the waterfall’ in Afrikaans), known as a climber’s haven. “You find lots of vast faces and ledges here,” she says. “You also need plenty of really technical footwork. And I’ve never used so many crimpers, which are tiny holes you can only get a few fingers or fingertips into.” Now on the brown-orange rock line about 5km out of town, DiGiulian has one more manoeuvre to execute before reaching the crux. Her 13 years of training and competing mean this is routine. Her 5ft 2in frame shimmies up the stone with ease. Growing up in Virginia, DiGiulian did everything from swimming to soccer to tennis. But it was another of her childhood pursuits that convinced her to dedicate herself to climbing. “At the time I was beginning climbing I was also a competitive figure skater,” she says. “And to practise certain jumps we would wear a safety harness like the one we used at climbing. But I remember
Social climber: Sasha DiGiulian, 20, scaled a huge rock face next to Waterfall Boven in South Africa while on her break from college
“I don’t really know what I’m capable of. But I like to find out”
DiGiulian is a threetime winner of the World Climbing Championships
every time I put it on, all I could think was that I’d rather be at climbing practice.” With the African sun slowly edging down the rock face, DiGiulian has reached a rest point on Rodan. Hardly permission to kick back and take in the view; this is just a momentary pause. Arjan de Kock, the world-class South African climber playing host and partner on this trip, first saw a 16-year-old DiGiulian in 2009, “doing some really hard climbs” in Spain. “Above all, she’s driven, focused, and very amped for life,” he says. “Now she also has this ingrained confidence that she can climb at the limit. And her passion means she is taking climbing to a whole new audience, too.” Following a year-long break after high school to travel and climb, she was accepted at Columbia University in New York City, where she’s majoring in creative writing with a business concentration. “I see myself climbing for the rest of my life,” she says, “but sports marketing has my eye as something I’d like to do one day.” For 74
now she lives a juggling act, keeping her sports, studies and everything else in the air at once. In “city girl” mode, DiGiulian cycles and runs for general fitness, and five days a week she visits the indoor wall at Chelsea Piers on Manhattan’s West Side. When her schedule permits, she travels to competitions on weekends. “Sasha’s climbing career doesn’t seem to dominate her life,” says her room-mate Ariana Dickey. “I would say that Sasha finds as much time as any other student for fun. And even during this summer, while she’s been travelling the world, she finds time to check in with me, see how I’ve been doing.” There’s a reason a woman hasn’t conquered Rodan, a rocky outcrop in trout-fishing country, not far from South Africa’s eastern border with Mozambique and the Kingdom of Swaziland. DiGiulian’s petite build and agility are assets for sure, but parts of the route are better served by height and brute force. Even the accomplished De Kock struggled
The American climber recently recovered from a finger injury. She completed the first ascent of Rolihlahla on her return to action the red bulletin
“Each time you’re realising the formerly impossible is possible”
here earlier… and then WHOOOOOSH. For a moment the world’s top-ranked female outdoor climber is drifting in thin air, with only a rope saving her from falling to the rocky path 10m below. DiGiulian lets the rope harnessed to her waist take the strain, looping her back to the rock. She eases the impact with a balletic left leg. Rodan has won this time. But there are other climbs to conquer. Earlier on her South Africa trip, while hiking between routes one morning DiGiulian spotted what she calls “this proud and intimidating black rock face that was striking. There were no chalk marks, but the rock jutted out like it was asking to be climbed.” She and De Kock consulted with locals and determined that they were looking at a route first noted in 2008 called ‘Overlord’ and was yet to be conquered. “It looked so aesthetic, I thought, ‘Why not try it?’” Overlord is arguably more difficult than Rodan. Divided roughly in half by a giant overhang, it demands several big reaches, segments of crack climbing, and a long portion of diagonal slithering across a sheer rock face.
For three days the duo returned to pay homage to the Overlord and survey their latest challenge. “It was a new experience for me,” explains DiGiulian. “When you’re working on a new route, you’re constantly trying to work out if you can climb a rock line. In a way, unlocking the sequence is like solving a puzzle. You have to whittle down each move and then make links to create one solid line. Each time you’re realising that the formerly impossible is possible.”
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hree days of painstaking progress and “gnarly falls” and at last the Overlord acceded. “I SENT!” – climbing lingo derived from ‘ascent’ – was DiGiulian’s elated proclamation on Twitter. Following shortly after her with the second-ever ascent of the route was De Kock, and the climbing buddies agreed to rate the line an 8c – technically just short of Sasha’s best, 9a, but on uncharted territory. Time-honoured climbing lore says that the first to complete a route has the privilege of assigning its permanent name. DiGiulian used the opportunity to pay respect to her host nation’s founding father. “I named the climb Rolihlahla,” she says. “It’s Nelson Mandela’s middle name. He’s one of the great men in history, and it’s moving to be here at such a critical period for the country.” At the time, Mandela was receiving treatment at a Pretoria hospital. Appropriately, the name translates from the vernacular as ‘Trouble Maker’. “I really like that spark,” says DiGiulian. “You’re out there taking big, dangerous falls. You’re making trouble! You’re going up there and causing a ruckus on the wall, defying gravity, defying fear. It’s a new form of rebellion.” As she left the area at the end of her successful day of climbing, DiGiulian took another look at the Rodan, the one climb she couldn’t conquer. “Whether I have time to do it on this trip, I’m not sure,” she says. “If not I’ll do it next time.” A few days later, the perpetually kinetic DiGiulian took off for the steel and glass mountains of Manhattan. She’ll be back in South Africa one day, and Rodan will be waiting for her. www.sasha-digiulian.com
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Elektro Guzzi
Like machines, only better
Flawless techno, played by hand on bass, guitar, and drums, always live, never with synthesizers – and the new album is out on cassette (of course). An interview with the most exciting electronic band of the moment
To experience Elektro Guzzi live for the first time is to question your own eyesight. What you see before you is the classic rock ’n’ roll setup of bass, guitar, and drums. What you hear coming from the stage, however, is hypnotic techno. The Viennese trio plays electronic music without electronic equipment or technique. Guitarist Bernhard Hammer sticks metal brackets on his strings to create unusual sounds, Red Bull Music Academy graduate Jakob Schneidewind puts his bass through standard effects devices and drummer Bernhard Breuer soups up his drum kit with saucepans. The band spoke to The Red Bulletin after their concert at the Sónar Festival in Barcelona.
between the strings, which interferes with the magnetic field of the pickups. And it sounds pretty weird. jakob schneidewind: Apart from that we work with guitar effects, like filter and delay. We’ve been collecting these musical landmines for years. Each of us has a shelf full of them in the studio. You use effects pedals, but no computer. Where do you draw the line? bh: On stage we don’t use sequencers.
the red bulletin: How did the idea of playing techno with rock instruments come about? bernhard breuer: When we started Elektro Guzzi 10 years ago, we were techno fans, but we couldn’t Techno, without a computer in sight: Elektro Guzzi really work with computers. And we That means we don’t have any devices weren’t DJs either. And so we played that dictate the tempo or sequencing. We our favourite type of music with the don’t want to be controlled by machines. instruments we were able to play: js: Our requirement is that every sound guitar, bass, drums. you hear at our concerts is played live But why wouldn’t someone who by us on the stage. No playback or other likes techno just get a synthesizer? additional sound sources. bb: We all come from the experimental And do you stick to that concept in music scene. There, the challenge is to the recording studio as well? draw interesting sounds from your js: Of course. Everything is played live instrument. on the record. There are no additional How do you get those sounds out tracks or instruments. of the guitar? Isn’t that a problem, because after all bernhard hammer: I attach little metal the listener can’t see you and has no brackets to the strings. That changes the idea which instruments you’re using. overtone structure and creates bell-like bb: That’s the challenge right there. How sounds. Or I will put a metal plate 76
do you create the widest possible range of sounds from just three instruments? You need to spend a lot of time researching sounds. The trick lies in how the parts relate to each other and intertwine. js: In principle we’re a drum machine and two synthesizers. That’s all. bb: Or a synth with three modules. Techno has been around for almost 30 years. Isn’t it strange that no one had the idea of playing it by hand before you came along? bb: What Krautrock bands like Can and Neu! were doing around 1970 was very close to the idea of handmade techno. The monotonous beat of drummer Jaki Liebezeit is legendary. One of his fellow musicians once said: “Jaki plays like a machine. Only better.” Your new album was released on cassette and not CD. Is that the logical extension of your computer scepticism? bb: The reason for that is really banal. The album is coming out on a label called The Tapeworm, which only releases cassettes. That was a challenge for us, because you construct pieces differently in terms of length and suspense when they’re going to be heard on cassette. Keeping with the theme, do all of you actually own cassette recorders yourselves? all three: Yes. bh: Mine plays cassettes, but unfortunately a bit too slowly. bb: Which with techno isn’t actually a problem. Techno is always too fast anyway [laughs]. Circling Above (The Tapeworm) is out now: www.elektroguzzi.net
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additional photography: kipC.at
Words: Florian Obkircher Photography: Dan Wilton
Members Bernhard Hammer, guitar Jakob Schneidewind, bass Bernhard Breuer, drums Mario Stadler, sound engineer Location Vienna, Austria Influences Techno artists like Jeff Mills and Basic Channel Albums Live P.A. (2011) Parquet (2011) Elektro Guzzi (2010) Success In 2012 the band was awarded the EBBA Award (the European Commission’s music prize) for new musicians, alongside Anna Calvi and Swedish House Mafia.
Elektro Guzzi, backstage at Sónar: (from left) Bernhard Breuer, Bernhard Hammer, and Jakob Schneidewind, with Mario Stadler in the background
PHOTOGRAPHY: Simon Palfrader
Fendi Racing’s 8 LFF8 boat at the UIM Offshore Powerboat Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey
Smokin’ on the
water
Life on the edge at the World Powerboat Championship
Words: Noel Ebdon
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Powerboats smack across the waves in Istanbul, with Victory 3 out in front
This is Class 1 offshore powerboat racing, the highest class of its type
PHOTOGRAPHY: Raffaello Bastiani, Philipp Horak
he time is approaching midnight on the day of Race 1, and the pits are still buzzing. Mechanics and team members push past one another, some carrying replacement parts for performance machines in the highest class of their type, others carrying race-worn bits that need to be cleaned of seawater and dried. Discarded parts litter the ground, machines destined for the waste bin, when someone gets around to cleaning up. This is not Formula One. There’s less than 12 hours until the second race of the UIM Offshore Powerboat Grand Prix, in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Victory 3 boat has both engines removed. Earlier today, the boat, with its two pilots, driver Arif Saif Al Zaffain and throttleman Mohammed Al Marri, spun out in the first of the weekend’s two races, damaging the engines and creating a substantial job for the Dubai-based Victory Team. “These things happen. It’s OK and we’re fine, although Mohammed took a heavy hit to his head” says Al Zaffain, after his accident. “We’ll be back in the second race, if they can get the engines fixed.” The pits, also known as wet pits in powerboat racing, are in a well-worn area of a working marina. This is Class 1 offshore powerboat racing, the highest class of its racing type, so there are freshly livered team trucks and matching uniforms for the staff. There are no hospitality boxes overlooking the pits. Instead, an unshaven guy in a dirty
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Team Abu Dhabi crash out. Below right: Victory mechanics perform last-minute engine checks. Left: the propeller from Fendi Racing’s boat. Above left: a team member tightens the safety harness of Fendi Racing’s Giovanni Carpitella
boats can either spin out and rotate across the top boatlifting crane watches the frenetic activity below him with a look on his face that says he would really rather be at home in bed at this time of night. Under hastily erected spotlights surrounded by fluttering moths, the Victory Team mechanics carry out repairs. A software engineer drops down into the boat’s cockpit to put the electronics through their paces. Victory 3 needs repairs, even though the hull stood up well to being flung at an unforgiving sea at high force. Both engines must be rebuilt, and all parts that aren’t replaced must be flushed of seawater. The team have a busy night ahead of them. Across the way, the mechanics from Fendi Racing sit back in their camping chairs, enjoying a cold beer, revelling in the fact that their boat is prepped, cleaned and packed away, ready for tomorrow. These men know that it could so easily have been them toiling through the night. The sea doesn’t take sides when choosing its victims and water, when struck at speed, is anything but soft and cushioning. It can be as hard 82
as concrete and once it has destroyed your mode of transport, it’ll then try to drown you. The second Fendi Racing boat finished third in the first race, so those responsible can afford a celebratory beverage.
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e can download all the engine data to a laptop to figure out where we are slow, and what the engines are doing,” says Stephen Phillips, an electrical engineer for the Victory Team. “But we can only do this before or after the race, as they banned live telemetry a few years ago to try to keep costs down.” Inside the cockpit, it’s damp and smells of drying sweat. The seats, with the driver’s on the right, are very close
together, separated only by a central support bar that runs through the cockpit. On the hull, to the front and to the side of each seat is a slit window. In here, it feels more like a tank than a high-performance racing vehicle. The controls are: two screens showing GPS information, some switches, a racecar-style steering wheel and two hand throttles. There is nothing here that doesn’t need to be here. This is the sort of place most people wouldn’t want to spend more than a few minutes. Powerboat racing is a glamorous, sexy sport, where daring drivers pit their skills against each other in extreme danger, but taking part is hot, sweaty, unpleasant work. Powerboat racing isn’t a young man’s game. Most competitors are over 40; many of their female companions are not. The men, like the women, are here simply for the thrill of it. Adulation and prize money are both relatively small. High-level sponsorship doesn’t exist here. Some teams are the playthings of rich men; others are backed by national tourism boards. the red bulletin
PHOTOGRAPHY: Philipp Horak (3), Raffaello Bastiani
of the water, or catch the edge of a wave and flip over
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The boats have a top speed of 128 knots (255kph). The hull is almost completely out of the water for much of the time. Too little power and the boat won’t ride on the surface; too much and it will flip over backwards. “Keeping the boat up on the keel is critical,” says Ragesh Elayadeth, Victory Team’s manager. “If you can get the boat running on that perfect level, then that’s the way to win.” The power is controlled by the throttleman, using two hand throttles. They are connected to cables that snake off under the cockpit, which in turn are connected to two very large V12 engines, hidden under the rear deck of the boat, each one capable of producing 850hp. The driver takes care of the steering. In making turns, the driver has to steer around tight enough to get around the bend, while the throttleman also uses the twin engines to help turn the boat. If the two pilots are not in sync with one another, and with their vehicle, the boat can either spin out, skipping and rotating across the top of the water, or it can catch the edge of a wave and flip over. 83
powerboat racing ranks among the world’s most dangerous motorsports
PHOTOGRAPHY: Simon Palfrader, Philipp Horak, Raffaello Bastiani
The action played out close to the rocks in Istanbul as Dubai-based Victory 3 (below) won the race. Team Abu Dhabi (left) came seventh
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n Sunday, for Race 2, there are clear skies and it’s hot. Ten minutes before the start, the pilots put on their lifejackets and drop down into the cockpits. Hatches are dropped into place and locked. Starter motors whine and the engines kick into life. A powerboat is designed so that its cockpit remains intact in the event of an accident, but what happens in real life and what happens by design are not always the same. When compared to other forms of motorsport, it ranks among the most dangerous in the world. Since 1972, 25 pilots have been killed racing offshore powerboats, including four accidents in which two men were killed and one in which three died. In the same period, 16 men have the red bulletin
died behind the wheel of a Formula One car, six of them during a grand prix. Out on the sea in front of the marina, the boats head up to the start line, bumping along at low speed behind the pace boat. There’s no explosion of sound, like with the ignition of an F1 engine. With powerboats the sound is like a turbine at low speed, not at all loud or angry. When the flag drops, the roar from the engines is loud, but far lower pitched than at an F1 start line. With their tiny windows and spear-like fronts, the boats have an evil look about them. In the first moments of the race, they smack across the tops of small waves. Victory 3 seems to be running without a hitch, not that the bleary-eyed mechanics know this. They are mainlining coffee in the team trailer. After only a few laps the boat of Team Abu Dhabi flips spectacularly, landing upside down in the middle of the course. The crew are OK, ungainly exiting through the escape hatch located on the bottom of the boat for just such an
it’s big & brash. money is the main entry requirement
occasion. The race is quickly brought to a stop with the officials’ red flags. “We’re fine,” says the driver Faleh Al Mansoori, as he walks into the pits after the crash, and leaves without another word. Flipping is just one of the many ways to sink a million dollars to the bottom of the sea in powerboat racing. There’s also ‘submarining’ where the boat launches off a large wave, before nose-diving under the surface. Such are the forces involved, this can often separate the deck from the hull, peeling open a boat like a can of sardines. After the restart, Victory 3 powers home in first and back to top of the championship leaderboard. Fendi takes second place with the winners of the first race, Hub Team Australia, in third. Offshore powerboat racing is big, brash and elitist. Money is the main entry requirement. For that reason it will likely always remain a niche sport. Yet that’s what makes it interesting. It is more exclusive than F1, but also more about the race itself than that which surrounds it. Back in the pits, the head has been removed from one of the Abu Dhabi boat’s engine blocks and a mechanic is handcranking the engine, firing a fountain of water out of the piston chambers. A mechanic carries a piece of broken bodywork away from the repair area. “Another long night,” he says. The final round of the 2013 World Powerboat Championship takes place in Dubai on December 5-6: www.class-1.com
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Sound investment: the keys to making music on an iPad. Music, page 94
Where to go and what to do
ac t i o n ! T r a v e l / G e a r / T r a i n i n g / N i g h t l i f e / M U S I C / p a r t i e s / c i t i e s / c l u b s / E v e n ts
Lap land Hurling a supercar around Finland’s frozen lakes takes driving to the next level
photography: ARNAUD TAQUET
Travel, page 90
Slide rules: ice driving fun in a Lamborghini Gallardo
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Action!
going green
get the gear
earth-friendly gear
made in the shades Look good and feel good in these sustainable bamboo sunglasses; buy them and a pair of glasses is donated to someone in need. wearpanda.com
Jason McCaffrey is director of surf at Patagonia
Out with the Neo surfing patagonia’s eco wetsuits are manufactured with plant-based products
take an eco hike Made from recycled materials, the Earthkeepers GT has the traction and stability needed to trek through the worst of conditions.
With a goal of reducing the amount of environmentally harmful neoprene in wetsuits, Patagonia worked for four years with Yulex, a company based in Arizona that taps the natural rubber of the guayule plant. The result is a high-performance garment, 60 per cent of which is made from biodegradable, non-synthetic rubber. The only indication? It smells vaguely of eucalyptus – all the better for leaving it in your car. “I did the Pepsi challenge with our surfers,” says Patagonia’s director of surf, Jason McCaffrey. “I sent them the new suit without saying anything. And they were like, ‘Yeah, it fits great. Same old, same old...’ ” McCaffrey couldn’t hope for a bigger compliment.
timberland.com
ski the treeline With an incredibly low carbon footprint, these sleek all-wood skis are a great ecofriendly option for the slopes. Photography: Jeff Johnson/PAtagonia, Kanoa Zimmerman/Patagonia
grownskis.com
Naturally good After Patagonia was successful in revamping its popular R2 front-zip wetsuit into an eco prototype with the new material, the company invited the rest of the industry to use Yulex with a goal of eradicating neoprene in a few years’ time. It’s next challenge is to make wetsuits 100 per cent renewable.
Guayule Grows in arid climates, like southwest America
Biorubber Ideal for those who have allergies to latex
Wool The interior is lined to keep the wearer warm
www.patagonia.com
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Action!
party
Block party: Club Maximus is in Kotor’s city walls
monte movies Three films to put you in their place
Slav to the rhythm
Words: florian obkircher. Photography: radoje Milic (4)
KOTOR Monaco comes to Montenegro with a superclub of models, yachts – and ancient city walls Sexy house beats, a powerful sound system, flashing laser beams, moving video screens, go-go girls and a dancefloor full of supermodels. A night in Kotor’s glitziest club promises sensory overkill. Maximus is the night-time companion to the noble harbour on the Montenegrin coast. By 2014, Kotor will have 50 landing stages for superyachts: more than Monaco. Maximus won’t just impress the well-heeled clubgoer. The club is built into the city walls, which date from the Middle Ages and are a major part of the city’s status, since 1979, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The walls, which are 2m thick, once protected Kotor from the Ottomans. Now they ensure that a nightclub’s neighbours are not disturbed. MAXIMUS Stari Grad 433, Kotor, Montenegro www.discomaximus.com
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The Dark Side of the Sun Brad Pitt’s first lead role, shot in Montenegro in 1988, before the wars in the former Yugoslavia broke out. A lightweight romantic drama, but there are great sunsets.
With a capacity of 4,000, Maximus regularly hosts big-name concerts
Get Ye r C oat, Dragi Three chat-up lines in the local language
1 Your eyes are the same colour as my Porsche.
Casino Royale The most famous film to be set in Montenegro wasn’t even filmed there. When Daniel Craig is supposedly hounding his way through Kotor, he is actually in the Czech Republic or the Bahamas.
Tvoje ocˇi imaju istu boju kao moj Porše.
2 I’ve lost my number. Can I have yours? Izgubio sam svoj broj. Mogu li da dobijem tvoj?
3 Don’t I know you? You look like my next girlfriend. Da li se znamo, jer puno licˇiš na moju budu´cu djevojku?
Smash & Grab A 2013 documentary about the Pink Panthers, a gang of jewel thieves with their roots in Serbia and Montenegro. They bagged half a billion dollars’ worth of loot in more than 500 raids.
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Action!
travel
Cold play: 100kph in a Lamborghini Gallardo on a frozen lake in Lapland
And anoth er thing The Finnish Line
Excite Adrenalin to spare? Jump on a snowmobile and power through a forest in search of the Northern Lights. www.experienceisosyote.fi
Snow drift
While children dream of a trip to Lapland to meet Father Christmas, adults are sent into a similar frenzy by the thought of going there to drive at 100kph on ice. Not that kids are forbidden from swapping Santa for supercars. “Last year we had an 11-year-old driving a Lamborghini,” says Daniel Eden, owner of D1 Ultimate-GT, a motorsport tour organiser. “There are no rules or regulations on frozen lake circuits at all. Anyone can get behind the wheel.” But it’s adults who most commonly layer up for a sub-zero spin. “I’ve driven lots of race and high-performance cars before,” says German entrepreneur Frank Scheelen, who travelled to Finland last year, “but this is how you learn to really push a car to the limit. There are no barriers on the lake, and I had four-time WRC champion Juha Kankkunen by my side giving advice as I went, the car was our classroom. “The Porsche 911 was great, you’re essentially drifting. But most fun was the Lamborghini Gallardo. It’s so powerful. You have to be quick-witted to stop it spinning at 100kph, but that’s Prices start from where the adrenalin kicks in. €3,569 (plus tax) You really feel the power of for an all-inclusive three-day, two-night the car. It was actually an emotional experience. I know trip including one full day at the track. I won’t find the freedom of www.ultimate-gt.com driving like that anywhere else.” 90
Eat “Did he say turn left at the snowdrift?”
Advice from the inside Cold as ice
“Be aware of the weather,” warns Daniel Eden. “As soon as you arrive in Lapland it hits you. It might be as low as -40°C. Even though we send out info on how to prepare, many still turn up at the airport in T-shirts; we’re all dressed like Eskimos.”
Home improvement
“Every driver should try it,”
says Frank Scheelen. “On ice you can safely push the car, find where the limits lie. Then you’re a better driver on the street and in a racecar. I’m calmer now. I know what to do in almost every situation.”
For a most Finnish of feasts, it has to be reindeer, whether that’s reindeer ravioli, sautéed neck or a simple steak. www.monterosa.fi
Explore For a break from engine noise, take a husky-drawn sled out to explore the wilderness in almost total silence. www.visitrovaniemi.fi
the red bulletin
Words: Ruth Morgan. Photography: arnaud taquet, juha kankkunen driving academy, Shutterstock (3)
ice Driving Ever wondered why the Finns excel at motorsport? For them, drifting a Lamborghini around a lawless frozen lake racetrack is child’s play
Action!
workout
What you putt in GOLF Flexibility and air-dried meats are key elements in the make-up of a champion golfer
Words: Ulrich corazza. Photography: getty images, chris garrison/red bull content pool. illustration: Heri Irawan
In 2010, aged 17 years and 188 days, Matteo Manassero became the youngest winner of a European Tour event at the Castello Masters in Spain
Matteo Manassero puts in the hard yards for the year-round slog that is professional golf. “Training should consist of both endurance and strength exercises,” says the Italian, who turned 20 in April, the month before he won his fourth European Tour event, the BMW PGA at Wentworth. “The most important thing in golf is to have springy muscles, especially in your hips and legs. So I go for a low number of explosive reps, about eight.” Manassero tops off his training with Pilates and stretches, to give him the core stability and flexibility he needs. What’s also important before a five-hour round of golf is a nutritious feed: “I’ve got into the habit of eating a bit of bresaola [the beef equivalent of prosciutto] and white rice.” twitter.com/manasseromatteo
the aim gam e don't be green on the greens What’s the formula for the fewest putts? “On the one hand, it’s a matter of technique,” says Manassero, “but mainly it’s a matter of confidence in getting the ball in the hole. You can only get that by practising. My routine consists of 15 minutes of putting technique exercises, 20 minutes of putts from 1.2m and then 20 minutes from 6m.”
the red bulletin
Pitch perfect: Manassero uses Pilates to keep in the swing of things
co r e valu es “Two things I always include in my training routine,” says Matteo Manassero, “are squats and various Pilates moves.” Here’s how to make like Matt.
1
Stand with your feet pointing slightly outward and shoulder-width apart, and a barbell on your shoulders. Pick a weight you're comfortable with.
Bend knees and squat. Breathe out on the way down; in on the way up. Never fully straighten your back or take your knees past 90º.
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Lift both legs and bend your knees about 90º. Lift your upper body off the mat, with your chin down to your chest and your hands on your lower legs.
Stretch your legs while making semi-circles with your hands above your head and tensing your stomach muscles. Repeat 12-15 times.
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Nick Dwyer’s work has taken him to more than 70 countries, but he’s never happier than when he’s hanging out in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby. The DJ, TV producer and musician used to be embarrassed when overseas friends came to visit him. “If you hang out with musicians and artists you get instant and inside access to the heart of a city.” he says. “They know all the coolest spots. I used to freak out when friends came to my town because I didn’t know where to take them. There wasn’t much happening.” Not anymore. The city has been transformed in the last few years. “We’ve got some really cool places to go now,” says Dwyer. “Britomart in downtown Auckland has really taken off, the dining in the city has improved and Ponsonby has gone through some incredible changes.” 92
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1 CONCH RECORDS & CAFE 115a Ponsonby Road “The team at Conch is keeping the spirit of the local independent record store alive. The music is always on point and their backyard café serves the most amazing Central/South American cuisine.”
organic coffee beans in this converted 1930s post office, so the coffee is incredible. I love my meat, but this is the one place where I’m happy to embrace my inner vegetarian.”
4 GOLDEN DAWN orner of Richmond C & Ponsonby Road “This place reminds me of a cool, hipster beer garden in Berlin. They’ve got a great music policy and the outdoor area has a cool vibe in the summertime.”
water
Another ferry ride will take you to the sleepy seaside town of Devonport. North Head was a military stronghold during World Wars I and II, and the old tunnels and the views back across the harbour make this a popular day trip.
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2 EL SIZZLING CHORIZO 136-138 Ponsonby Road “Corra, the owner, is from Argentina and used to have a food truck on Waiheke Island. We think we have a barbecue culture in New Zealand, but Argentinians are the barbecue masters.” 3 KOKAKO CAFe & ROASTERY 537 Great North Road “They roast their own top-quality
5 FLOTSAM AND JETSAM 86 Ponsonby Road “‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, or so the saying goes, and that’s certainly the case at this second-hand store. Old cookbooks, paintings and knickknacks are crammed into a space that rewards a good rummage.”
U2 wrote a song called One Tree Hill in honour of their New Zealand roadie Greg Carroll, who died in 1986. In 2000, the Auckland volcano the song was named after became No Tree Hill, after Maori activists attacked the tree with a chainsaw.
the red bulletin
Photography: richard edghill, graeme murray
AUCKLAND Music and food make Nick Dwyer’s world go around. he shares his tips on where you can find the best of both in New Zealand’s ‘City of Sails’
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There are 48 volcanoes in the Auckland region and Rangitoto Island is the most well-known. Catch a scenic ferry ride across Auckland Harbour and climb to the summit, 260m high. Run fast if you see smoke.
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“Happy to embrace my inner vegetarian”
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Nick Dwyer: tracking down his hometown’s best beats and bites
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L A DE DA IN ASSOCIATION WITH RED BULL PRESENTS
AUCKLAND DUNEDIN WELLINGTON
LOGAN CAMPBELL CENTRE EDGAR CENTRE TRENTHAM RACECOURSE
8/9 OCTOBER 11 OCTOBER 12 OCTOBER
TICKETS FROM WWW.DASHTICKETS.CO.NZ & USUAL OUTLETS
ALBUM OUT NOW!
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music
Pop art Jack Johnson: songs covered around a beach campfire near you
Music and surfing are Jack Johnson’s areas of excellence. He qualified for the Pipeline Masters surf championships in his home state of Hawaii when aged just 17, the youngest man in the field. Yet rather than pursue a life on the ocean waves, he went to California to study film and make music. Johnson’s first five albums of summery folk songs have sold 15 million copies worldwide. To mark the release of a sixth, From Here To Now To You, the 38-year-old reveals inspirational songs for you, here, now.
Chords and boards Playlist Jimi Hendrix confused him into playing guitar. Fugazi filled him in on punk. The surfersongsmith on music that moves him
Musicians swapping vinyl for oils
Bob Dylan is currently exhibiting at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Can you pick out his work, and match the others with their mainly musical creators?
a
www.jackjohnsonmusic.com
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2 Fugazi
3 Michael Kiwanuka
“I often went camping with my dad when I was a kid and always had the tape of the Hendrix album Electric Ladyland in my Walkman. It had auto reverse so I’d fall asleep with that album on. I found this song incredible. I couldn’t work out how he was making the noises on his guitar. It was pure magic and it made me want to start playing guitar myself.”
“One time I was listening to the radio on the way to school and this song came on and hit me in a big way. It was different from anything I’d heard. Such a driving sound, with that teenage energy to it where I felt, like, if we [him and his friends] get together and turn our amps loud enough, we can sound like that. I think I formed my first band because of that song.”
“Michael’s voice reminds me of Bill Withers and Otis Redding, but it’s unique. Also, he’s the sweetest human being I’ve ever met. I hung out with him in Australia at a festival. My wife and I got a babysitter so we could go and watch him play. He’s one of those guys where now that I got the chance to know him a little bit, I love his music even more.”
4 Tame Impala
5 Violent Femmes
“Four years ago in Australia, some guy gave me his band’s first album and it was all I listened to on the rest of our tour. Lonerism, their second album, is even better. Tame Impala took a sound off The Beatles’ Revolver album and made a genre out of it. I don’t mean that in a way that every song sounds the same, but it’s like they took that sound and built a new branch on the same tree.”
“When I was 12, my older brother made me my first mixtape. It included this gentle song by Violent Femmes, which I still like to play now at soundchecks. I like how there’s so much energy in the song. It has a punk mentality, but it’s on acoustic guitar. Sort of like, you can get a lot of energy, but still play acoustic instruments. I learned a lot from them.”
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
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Patti Smith Marilyn Manson
keyed u p Portable piano, man
Miselu C.24 This will make the iPad a must-have for travelling musicians with the emphasis on the travel: a two-octave keyboard that connects to the tablet and doubles as a protective cover. Ingenious and genius. www.miselu.com
Paul McCartney
Bob Dylan
the red bulletin
Words: florian obkricher. Photography: universal music, picturedesk.com (3), Rex features (4), reuters, getty images
1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)
Answers: A - Patti Smith, B - Bob Dylan, C - Paul McCartney, D - Marilyn Manson
1 Jimi Hendrix
RED BULL TROLLEY GRAND PRIX 2013. WHERE GENIUS MEETS RIDICULOUS.
BE THERE. AUCKLAND DOMAIN NOV 10 TH
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save the date
don’t miss more dates for the diary
10 october On stage The Big Band Build is supported by NZ musicians like SJD and Shihad. They’ll help build a house for charity and make music at Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral until October 16. www.bigband build.co.nz
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october Wellington Phoenix (right) hope to challenge current Premiers Western Sydney Wanderers (left)
On pace American teenager Winter Vinecki is aiming to run seven marathons on seven continents before she turns 15. Cheer her on at the Great Barrier Island Wharf to Wharf Marathon. www.the barrier.co.nz
Phoenix rising
A pint-sized Costa Rican striker and a 60-year-old Scotsman have been charged with turning things around at the Wellington Phoenix. The Phoenix finished bottom of the A-League ladder last season, but a new coach in Ernie Merrick and the signing of Carlos Hernandez, league MVP in 2009-10, has given fans reasons for optimism. The Phoenix host the Brisbane Roar in their opening game in Wellington followed by a trip to Napier. www.wellingtonphoenix.com November 2 October 9-13
Axing times
October 5
Indie Idols British indie superstars Foals return to Auckland after a two-year break for what promises to be one of the gigs of the year. www.foals.co.uk
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Francis Ford Coppola’s first feature-length movie, Dementia 13, will be brought to life at the Herald Theatre in Auckland, as seven musicians, four actors and a sound effects artist add a live audio track to the axe-murder movie projected behind them (with the sound down). livelivecinema.co.nz
Raging river Going for a trail run after rafting down a choppy river sounds like a recipe for extreme chafing or an exciting new event, depending on your perspective. The River Wild Raft & Run team challenge will be held in Turangi on the North Island, the self-proclaimed trout fishing capital of the world. Teams of six will negotiate 18km of white water on the Tongariro River with the help of a professional guide followed by a 6km trail run. www.raftingnewzealand.com
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october On track The Cycle Grand Prix gives cyclists an opportunity to ride around two of the premier motor racing circuits in the country in a thee-, six- or 12-hour endurance event for teams and solo riders. www.event promotions.co.nz
the red bulletin
words: Robert tighe. photography: Steve Gullick (1)
OCTOBER 13, 27
P RO M OT I O N
1 BOARD SHORTS Billabong - Invert $99.99
2 SATCHEL Billabong - Field Satchel Camo $59.99
3 WATCH Nixon - Sentry ss Gunmetal & Blue Crystal $419.99
4 SHOES Havaianas - Rasta $29.99
5 SUNNIES Electric - Knoxville XL Matte Black $174.95
6 CAP Billabong - Panama Cap $39.99
available at selected astores nationwide.
Time warp The Wright stuff
Photography: imagno/getty images
On a hill in north-east Germany in 1893, Otto Lilienthal (below) embarked on a series of human-powered glider flights that would break distance records and inspire a sibling duo of inventors in America, dreaming of taming the skies. “The world owes to him a great debt,� said Wilbur Wright, of Otto, whose man-can-do attitude will be seen, 120 years later, at the Red Bull Flugtag in the Islamic Art Museum Park in Doha, Qatar, on November 1.
the next issue of the red bulletin is out on November 5 98
the red bulletin
Marc Webber for Pepe Jeans London
www.volkswagen.co.nz
Often copied, never equalled. Before the GTI, there was no such thing as a performance hatchback. After 37 years and seven generations, the GTI still shows the way, with 162 kW of power and 350 NM of torque rocketing it to 100km/h in just 6.5 seconds. And with 18 inch alloy wheels, red brake callipers and lowered sports suspension, the GTI looks just as impressive at a complete standstill. But to know what the three letters on the front grill really stand for, you have to be sitting in the driver’s seat.
Call 0800 Volkswagen or visit volkswagen.co.nz to book a test drive today.
*Optional extras shown on image. VOL3322