The Kiteboarder Magazine Vol. 9, No. 2

VOL. 9 NO. 2 THE GREAT LAKES VENEZUELAN DUEL

CHICKEN BIKE ADVENTURE ROBERTO RICCI INTERVIEW

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RIDER MOEHAU GOOLD LOCATION CAPE VERDE SHOT BY BRYAN ELKUS

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LUXURY VEST

LUXURY HARNESS

LUXURY STRAP PAD

CONTACT KITEBOARD 3 134cm - 137cm - 146cm

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CONTENTS

FEATURES: 10 THE FORGOTTEN COAST 22 A DUEL IN VENEZUELA 34 THE ROBERTO RICCI INTERVIEW

48 CHICKEN BIKE ADVENTURE 72 KITEBOARDING INSTRUCTION: SO...WHAT’S NEXT?

DEPARTMENTS: 6

FROM THE EDITOR

32 THE SCENE 44 PROFILED: ALEC DEKTOR AND COLLEEN CARROLL

60 EXPOSED 68 TO THE MOON 70 WISH LIST 76 15 MINUTES 78 ROOTS

On the Cover: Gisela Pulido in Dakhla, Morocco. Photo Toby Bromwich

Josh ‘Cornfed’ Nehf spends some time deep in the green room at a Santa Cruz secret spot. Photo David DeVries

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FROM THE EDITOR THE BIG NEWS IN KITEBOARDING RIGHT NOW IS THE FACT THAT IT HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO BE INCLUDED IN THE 2016 OLYMPICS IN RIO DE JANERIO. Kiteboarding will appear in the Olympics as a sailing class and while the exact format has yet to be decided, rest assured that it will be some form of course racing. Also big news and the cause for some international controversy is that kiteboarding is replacing windsurfing and this summer’s Olympic Games in London will be the last appearance for the windsurfers.

Kiteboarding is in the Olympics. Now what?

Photo Toby Bromwich/PKRA

Since the announcement a few months ago, opinions among kiteboarders have been all over the map as to whether this is great, terrible, or indifferent for the sport of kiteboarding. Reactions have ranged from euphoria to downright hostility. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Some riders think this is the best thing possible for kiteboarding as it will bring us more media attention, larger sponsors, and a more structured competition scene both at the national and international levels. Others think this is the worst news imaginable and will lead to overcrowding, more expensive gear, and a portrayal of kiteboarding as just another form of sailing where we chase each other around buoys on big boards with long fins.

My own opinion is that it will be what we make of it. It’s an opportunity, nothing more. To me, the amazing thing about kiteboarding isn’t that we can ride waves, set speed records, fly for football-length distances over water, explore backcountry terrain in the snow, race against each other, or throw the exact same moves as wakeboarders without the need for a boat or cable park. The amazing thing about kiteboarding is that we can do all of that. No other sport comes even close in offering so much variety.

As long as we remember this and continue to promote everything you can do with a kite, kiteboarding will continue to do well. Racing is just another aspect of our wide-ranging sport. It doesn’t define kiteboarding. Its inclusion in the Olympics might bring us more attention, but we have to use that attention to promote the whole sport, not just racing. Believe it or not, kiteboarding needs to grow in order to survive. More growth means more money and more money gives companies the opportunity to support kiteboarding through advocacy to keep beaches open, creation of stronger instructional programs, and sponsorship of more young riders.

The long term effect of this decision on kiteboarding is an open question, but I’m optimistic about it. The inclusion of kite racing in the Olympics doesn’t mean we all have to start racing. If your goal is to push yourself to new levels of riding waves, there’s no reason why you can’t continue to do that. Just want to go out on a twin tip and see how high you can jump? Keep it up. It’s even more important now that we promote the variety of the sport and not just any single aspect of it. We’re not sailors, wakeboarders, or surfers. We’re kiteboarders and we are being given an opportunity to show the world what we can do.

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Each year, the VOLT benefits from the evolution of its big brother, the Bandit, and is getting better while remaining intuitive and accessible. This year’s VOLT 2 gives you confidence during your first session, with a progressive traction as well as great control of its power due to its depower capabilities. The VOLT 2 is a Delta C Shape design, a F-One patent, and comes in sizes 5, 7, 9, 11 & 13m. Add the all new UNIK Twin Tip board to form the VOLT Pack, and you will enjoy the best progressive pack at a very attractive price.

7 North & Central American Distribution - Bay Area Kitesurf - dealers@bayareakitesurf.com +1-415-573-2619

Marina Chang, Publisher marina@thekiteboarder.com Paul Lang, Editor paul@thekiteboarder.com Shana Gorondy Art Director Alexis Rovira Editor At Large Gary Martin Technical Editor EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Neil Hutchinson, Stefan Ruether, Rick Iossi, Toby Brauer, Brendan Richards, Matt Sexton, Kevin “Irie Dog” Murray, Kinsley ThomasWong, James Brown, Ginette Buffone, Maui Mike, Members of the Central Coast/Santa Barbara CKA

CONTRIBUTORS Joe Bidawid, Phil Midler/www.xlkiteboarding.com, Lydia Snider, Mauricio Abreu, Lou Wainman

PHOTOGRAPHY David DeVries, Toby Bromwich/PKRA, Broneah, Third Coast Surf Shop, Ben Palmer, Bryan Elkus, Marge Beaver, Dave Dalquist, Slingshot Sports, Matteo Neri/RRD, Dave White/RRD, Carol Bolstad, Chicken Bike Crew, Captn. Shelly, Enrique Abreu, Evan Mavidoglou/ www.live2kite.com, Suzie Dorn, Aaron Loyd, Ronnie Mac, Lauren Bowcutt, Tom Briggs, Ivan Zorn, Jim Stringfellow, Carlos Altamirano, Craig Young, Lukas Prudky, Florian Panther, John Bilderback, Erik Aeder, Andrea De Maria, Luke McGillewie/RRD, Bernard Biancotto Thanks to all editorial and photography contributors for supporting this magazine!

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PHOTOS BY JASON WOLCOTT AND LANCE KOUDELE

IT’S ALL ABOUT

THE RIDE. STYLE + POWER

WE SUPPORT RIDING. THAT’S IT. SURF, FREESTYLE, KICKERS, SLIDERS, CROSSOVER, FREERIDE CRUISING, WHATEVER. WE’RE JUST STOKED YOU RIDE.

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Chances are you’ll never guess where this photo of Matt Myers was taken. Photo courtesy Broneah

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The

Forgotten

WITHIN AN HOUR DRIVE FROM MY HOME ARE EIGHT WAVE RIDING SPOTS, TWO THERMAL WIND SPOTS THAT CRANK WITH CLOCKWORK RELIABILITY, AND TWO LONG JETTIES THAT PROVIDE BUTTER-FLAT RIDING CONDITIONS. IN A NORMAL YEAR MORE THAN HALF OF MY KITEBOARDING SESSIONS ARE IN WAVES THAT RANGE IN HEIGHT FROM WAIST TO WELL OVERHEAD.

Coast

By Joe Bidawid

On bluebird days some of my local spots can rival riding any ocean break or open ocean downwinder. When I stand on the endless sandy beach, I cannot see the other side. If it wasn’t for the lack of the strong sulfuric ocean smell, it would be easy to forget that you are standing on the shore of Lake Michigan, which features more coastline than the state of California.

Around the Great Lakes water system spread over eight different states and two Canadian Provinces you will find countless coastal towns that boast some or all of the attributes my own hometown of Grand Haven, Michigan, has to offer. Simply put, the Great Lakes is the real deal.

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A fun day in California? Nope. A good day on the Great Lakes. Photo Mike Killion/Third Coast Surf Shop

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Throughout my life I’ve had an insatiable appetite to travel, to explore and chase waves around the world. Since I travel for several months every winter, I have had the fortune of riding in places such as Tavarua, Namotu, the Hawaiian Islands, and most of the Caribbean Island chain. I’ve also called both Hood River and Hawaii my home in the past.

Many people are surprised that I’ve chosen Michigan as my home. No matter where adventures lead, I always yearn to return here. While Great Lakes waves are infrequent and of lower quality than ocean waves, I have come to cherish the elements, the camaraderie, and drama-free scene. When a fall tempest roars on Lake Michigan and its galeforce winds whip up mountains of wind swell, there is no place on earth I would rather be. Unless you have been here to experience it, it will always appear to be a stretch. However, don’t just take my word for it. If you are not convinced, be sure to ask the likes of Damien LeRoy,

Sky Solbach, Ben Meyer, Nicollo Porcello, or Adam Koch who have personally witnessed and experienced the Great Lakes wave riding scene.

The region has produced pro kiteboarders like Best’s Sam Mydysky, North’s Tommy Fields, and Minnesota’s Alex Peterson, one of the world’s top snowkiters. There are more than 20 Great Lakes kiteboard shops with Mackite, Broneah, Kiteriders LLC, Great Lakes Kiteboarding, Boardsports, and Silent Sports being some of the largest in North America. We also have Kitestock, an annual Canadian event where free love, kite aloha, and wind converge into kiteboarding bliss. The Great Lakes are also home to several hundred of the world’s best amateur meteorologists, all of whom know when the wind swell will descend on their local beaches. To the experienced kiteboarder, riding Great Lakes waves is an undeniable passion that is part

extreme sport and part science. This is largely due to the harsh elements associated with the weather systems that create our waves and the labor of love associated with forecasting the best conditions.

Winds in the region are predominantly frontal. Most of the riding is during spring, summer, and fall between the months of March and November. Water temperatures can range between 45-60º during spring and fall and can reach the low 70s during summer’s peak. Spring and fall winds are generally between 20-35 knots with the lighter summer winds ranging between 12-20 knots. During normal winters ice will cover most of the lakes and riders will trade their surfboards for snowboards as snowkiting takes center stage.

During rare El Nino winters, diehards will brave brutally cold conditions to wave ride year round. Since the conditions on the Great Lakes vary considerably,

The same spot that features waves on one day may feature flat water on another. Photo Bryan Elkus

Jens Hanson is known for tackling heavy conditions.

Photo Ben Palmer

experienced riders carry a full quiver of kites ranging from 7m to 16m.

Grand Haven, a town of just over 100,000 residents, is considered a small town by Midwest standards. Dubbed Coast Guard City USA by an act of Congress in 1998, Grand Haven receives over one million visitors per year. With its mile-long white sandy beach and hallmark lighthouse, Good Morning America named Grand Haven State Beach one of the top five beaches in the US. How does an inland beach on a lake make this list? Consider that most of the 300 miles of Michigan’s shoreline of Lake Michigan is comprised of white sand. The world’s largest fresh water sand dunes line the shore towering as high as 400 feet above water. More importantly, Grand Haven has one of the best sandbars in the Great Lakes created by the discharge from the Grand River, one of the largest in the Great Lakes system. Its quarter-mile long rock

jetties offer clean and protected wave riding conditions. The wind fetch on strong southerlies is over 150 miles long.

In sustained 20-knot conditions, the outer sandbar at Ferrysburg can easily generate overhead waves. On northerlies, the wind fetch is over 200 miles. As the northerly swell wraps around the southern Jetty, the lines at Grand Haven state park can resemble a mini Rincon.

Once you recognize the sheer beauty and ocean-like landscape of the five Great Lakes, it is important to understand the unique dynamics behind the wind and waves. Great Lakes waves are generally smaller and more playful than ocean waves. Wind waves on the Great Lakes

are different than ocean swell, where waves are formed by isolated storms thousands of miles away from land. Great Lakes waves are a result of considerably shorter running swells and are more choppy and unpredictable than ocean swell. As the key element in Great Lakes wave formation, wind is critical to a successful wave riding experience.

The formula varies at different locations but ridable waves are typically created by winds in excess of 15 knots that have blown over water for more than 50 miles. It takes five to ten hours of such conditions for waves to be waist high.

Frontal weather systems in the region can last from five hours to several days

“Once you recognize the sheer beauty and ocean-like landscape of the five Great Lakes, it is important to understand the unique dynamics behind the wind and waves.”

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and can generate waves up to 10 to 20 feet tall. Since the smallest lake, Lake Ontario, is 50 miles wide by 200 miles long, you can begin to understand the magnitude of the possible wind fetches that can generate quality waves. Great Lake wave riding is an extreme sport largely due to the extreme elements involved. The stronger the winds, the larger the waves. Our strongest winds are usually during late fall cold fronts where water temperatures plummet into the low 50s or high 40s. Wind chill is also an extreme danger. Imagine an epic outer reef swell in Maui and then try to imagine kiting in the middle of the ocean storm that generated those waves and you will be one step closer to understanding our waves.

If riding ocean waves is compared to fighting a dragon, riding Great Lakes waves would be considered fighting ninjas. However, the occasional dragon does rear its ugly head. On June 26, 1954, the Chicago lakefront was hit by a 20 foot wall of water called a seiche (pronounced saysh) that swept eight unsuspecting beachgoers and fishermen off the Montrose Harbor Pier to their deaths. While a tsunami or seismic sea wave is generated by underwater earthquake or volcanic activity, Chicago’s 1954 seiche was caused by a line of thunderstorms racing southwest across Lake Michigan at speeds in excess of 50 mph. The cold downdrafts of air flowing out of the thunderstorms caused a rapid rise in air pressure that pushed a massive bulge of lake surface water toward the southeastern shore. This surge of water then reflected back to the Chicago shore as a large tsunami-like wave.

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Today, kiteboarding at Montrose Beach, a stone’s throw away from the Chicago skyline, still has its risks.

Unlike the elemental dangers of the lake, riding at Montrose Beach without the proper credentials can get you ticketed and possibly arrested. Recently, the controversial arrest of surfer Rex Flodstorm, who paddled into four-foot waves at nearby Oak Street Beach, was at the center of the surfing world.

While the outside world cried foul, it under-emphasized the unheralded efforts of a valiant group of kiteboarders spearheaded by Mike Urban who have been able to restore order in the kiteboarding community by lifting a kiteboarding ban on certain beaches and have also recently helped lift a surfing ban on some local beaches with the help of the local Chicago chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Both efforts were accomplished under strict guidelines and regulations to insure the safety of

Long jetties and small lighthouses are common sights on the Great Lakes. Photo Bryan Elkus

the riders and beach goers. Before kiteboarding or surfing at Montrose Beach or anywhere in the Chicago area, it’s important to check with a knowledgeable local in order to avert a potential world event. Drama aside, Montrose can fire on strong northeast winds where it is not uncommon to find yourself riding head high waves.

While Lake Michigan is arguably the epicenter of Great Lakes wave riding, the other four lakes can each hold court. Lake Huron is home to over 20 riding spots. Two of them are legendary. Tawas State Park is located in arguably one of the busiest riding spots in the Midwest, where it is not uncommon to find 50-100 kiters on the weekends. The large sandbar offers great learning conditions while the open water offers good wave riding. Southern thermals dominate most of the summer. Local fixture Jimbo Olfzewski once told me that he rode 22 days in a row in July with most of those days in board shorts. Across the lake on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, a small rock-bottom bay is home to Kettle Point. Kettle Point offers traditional wave riding conditions with a good day dishing out overhead A-frame surf. Here, when all the stars are aligned, the surf can reach mythical proportions. One of my favorite sessions of the year is always at Kettle Point on the first big north of the year, typically in early August.

Ceremonially, this is my season opener for the wave riding season. Tim Blanchard will typically call it the previous evening and an early morning road trip will have us there by 9:00 am as we drive on the beach all the way to water’s edge. These early fall sessions, while fickle, provide a rare chance to ride warm-water waves on the Great Lakes.

Brandon Scheid uses small Great Lakes waves in Montague as perfect kickers. Photo Bryan Elkus

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Both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie have a relative east-west orientation and are similar in size with a north-south fetch of approximately 50 miles and a westeast fetch of approximately 200 miles.

At each lake’s eastern shore there are numerous wave riding spots with long sandy beaches and clear water. Since the best conditions are generally during spring and fall, riders usually bypass the bustling summer beach crowds. It’s no secret that Lake Erie’s greater Buffalo area on both sides of the border is home to some of the best kiteboarding conditions on the Great Lakes. On the Canadian side, Sherkston Beach is a long-established haven for kiteboarders, surfers, and boogie boarders. On the US side, Angola Beach offers a combination of great learning conditions and, at times, ridable waves.

On the northeastern shores of Lake Ontario, when a beach break called Sandbanks fires, surfers, windsurfers, and kiteborders from the provinces of Ontario, Ottawa, and Quebec point their inner compasses towards this legendary spot. Sandbanks, one of our busiest wave riding areas, is also a very busy tourist attraction during the summer months, but since the best riding conditions are during spring and fall, riders generally show up to large empty beaches. On a

busy weekend, it is not uncommon to find 100 riders here with a well-defined lineup of windsurfers and kiteboarders. The wave periods at Sandbanks are some of the longest in the Great Lakes, providing a more traditional wave riding experience and also allowing a forgiving playground for the wave riding novice.

On Lake Superior, owning to its remoteness and notoriously dangerous seas, wave riding here remains the obscure passion of a few souls who prefer not to disclose any relevant details. This is considered the region’s last frontier.

Since the riding potential around the Great Lakes is endless, many of the best spots will forever remain shrouded in secrecy. Certain mystery waves are so fickle that scoring the right conditions can sometimes take years. Good luck trying to get Michigan’s Matt Myers or Ontario’s Chris Cram to tell you about their fickle full-barrel wave or to have

Michigan’s Jared Roth tell you about the offshore rock reef that he has been watching for two years in hopes that it will produce the largest wave ever known on the Great Lakes.

The early group of pioneers that brought kiteboarding to the region all started in 1998 and 1999. Many had strong roots in windsurfing and had been eagerly tuning in to kite development. In the fall of 1998, I moved back to Michigan from Hood River and was excited to bring back an inflatable kite. I also became the Naish Kiteboarding Midwest Rep which allowed me to network with key regional pioneers who were blazing trails in their territories.

Having struggled to learn to kiteboard on the Columbia River Gorge that summer, returning home to Michigan was just what the doctor ordered with expansive sandy beaches and steady fall winds.

Much to the dismay of a disgruntled local windsurfing crowd, I learned to perfect my skills at Muskegon’s Pier Marquette

“Since the riding potential around the Great Lakes is endless, many of the best spots will forever remain shrouded in secrecy.”

During the summer the beach in Grand Haven can be as crowded as any in Southern California. Photo Marge Beaver

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Photo Bryan Elkus

Photo Bryan Elkus

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Brandon Sheid on a windy day at Frankfort, Michigan.

Photo Bryan Elkus

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Geared up and ready to go!

Photo Bryan Elkus

Beach. Muskegon quickly became the area’s main kite beach. As more kiteboarders began to use the beach, the kiteboarding area became well defined and far enough away from the windsurfing launch to mitigate any tension. Over time, almost all of the disgruntled windsurfers have become kiteboarders.

At the same time other pioneers in the area were also discovering kiteboarding.

In Minnesota, Mark Kedrowski returned home from the Olympic Windsurfing Trials with a Wipika 2-line kite and was bravely able to perfect his riding on White Bear Lake, a gusty inland lake in Central Minnesota. A few hundred miles east, Northern Wisconsin’s Steve Coon, an avid surfer, windsurfer, and owner of Coontail Watersports, had returned from Surf Expo with a Naish AR 3.5. He pioneered kiteboarding in Wisconsin on Trout Lake, a beautiful inland lake with crystal clear waters and yes, gusty winds.

Illinois’s Tim Grossnickle, one of the Chicago area’s avid windsurfers, returned from a windsurfing trip to Maui and brought back a 3 meter 2-line kite. After beating the kite around on North Avenue Beach, he acquired a 7m three-line F-One foil and a 6’7” Bic Surfboard and began to perfect his riding at Wolf Lake, just south of Chicago.

Across Lake Michigan, in Grand Haven, James Otis and Steve Negen were

testing the waters of Lake Michigan, not realizing they were pioneering what would become the region’s wave riding Mecca.

Negen, owner of Mackite, and Otis, an avid Great Lakes wave rider, had become the area’s kiteboarding disciples who would introduce several key riders to the sport including Skip Schott, Marc Hoeksema, and Brad Knoth. Across the border in Toronto, Ontario, John Bryja had returned home from Surf Expo in 1998 armed with a big pink 12 meter Wipika kite and a small directional surfboard. With a small group of riders, one zodiac, a kite and a board, the crew traveled to the Outer Banks to dial in this new sport.

During the winter of 1998, Marty Milne returned to Toronto from Maui with kite stories and inspiration that fueled the infancy of the sport in the Toronto Area.

The following summer, Bruce Varsava, armed with his homemade boards, was at the beach every ridable day dialing in his head-turning transitions. Further south in Windsor, Ontario, Canadian collegiate track and field star and welltraveled waterman Tim Blanchard had just returned from British Columbia and was eager to explore the vast virgin riding potential in his region. Having carefully crafted his skills during a full riding season in Nitinat, BC, Blanchard appeared to be years ahead of everyone else in the region with his polished skills and powerful riding style. He quickly became the poster child for Great Lakes high-performance kiteboarding.

My empowering moment in kiteboarding was during my first meeting with Blanchard at a local pub in 1999. With the support of Naish, we were given the green light to promote kiteboarding around the Great Lakes. In true pioneering fashion Blanchard and I went on expeditions to promote the sport by conducting riding demos and teaching shop owners how to ride and educate the community about the potential of the sport in the region. We ended up in places as far west as the Worthington Music Festival in Minnesota and as

far north as the Traverse City Cherry Festival in Michigan. As the region’s and Canada’s first certified instructor, Blanchard would go on to teach hundreds of kiteboarders. Today, Tim Blanchard’s riding is still turning heads and his Surf Culture Canada kiteboarding school in Mitchell’s Bay, Ontario, is still turning out kiteboarders.

During the spring and summer of 2000, the sport had adopted some of the area’s top windsurfers, surfers, skiers, and snowboarders. This brash brass of accomplished athletes would become the region’s first kiteboarding generation.

Today, the Great Lakes progression threshold stage is shared by a throng of experienced hellmen and a host of young prodigies. Brad Knoth from Holland, Michigan, is known around the region as “Big Air” and has been able to live up to his nickname while continuously setting the pace for performance riding.

Knoth’s notorious riding style is easily recognizable, especially since he charges the biggest waves on the Great Lakes and often rides in condition that are unridable by most. This human highlight reel is one of the region’s most enjoyable riders to watch. Last season during an early fall storm, Knoth kited down the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for 64 miles. The non-stop marathon downwinder started in Ludington and ended in Grand Haven, covering terrain that is consistently beautiful with world class riding conditions for the entire distance. Knoth said, “We ride in fresh water so you ride a bit deeper in the water and, at least for me, a little more on the kite, but the waves are legit and you have to respect them.”

Another avid wave riding devotee is Chicago’s West Hanson. Hanson, a partner in Brokite Kiteboards, has developed a forte for chasing waves and drawing clean lines at popular southern Lake Michigan breaks. Late last fall, Hanson, a Texas native and former Gorge and Maui resident, recalled one of his best sessions of the season, a bluebird day at St. Joe, Michigan. “On Maui, we had a saying about the elephants marching. This refers to the feeling one gets when the waves increase to a size that alarms you. A feeling where the stomach churns, where you feel as though there are elephants marching inside you. Well, the elephants were marching. It was 7m slightly side-on and the waves were 12 to 16 feet and jacking up quickly.”

From the parking lot, I watched Hanson pass up a few overhead waves and settle on a meaty freight train with nice

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Photo Dave Dalquist

shape to it. He screamed down the face laying into a nice drawn out bottom turn, dragging his back hand on the face of the wave. The wave sectioned out but never broke, joined another wave on the inside, and reformed all the way to the beach. I counted nine bottom turns on that single wave. Hanson would go on to ride countless waves that day. He said, “As I was driving over, I expected to ride some waves but I never expected the conditions I found. I would have been flabbergasted if it could have been half that incredible, but that’s part of the magic and mystery of driving around the big lake. You never know until you go. That’s the thrilling part of it.”

“To

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perfectly well with his fluid wave riding style. Haggerman, a Liquid Force Team Rider, is a well-known regional vagabond who will travel anywhere on the Great Lakes in order to score.

Considering the vast geography of the Great Lakes, the list of accomplished Great Lakes riders is a mile long. To fill the shoes of world class riders such as Sam Mydysky, Tommy Fields, Matt and Keegan Myers, Andy Bolt, Vytas Further north, Mike Lanoe, a Naish team Cijunelis, Kris Kinn, Catherine Dufour, rider, is one of Ontario’s most respected Chris Cram, Brendan Schnurr, Daniel riders. Living in an area that boasts several Steiner, Rob Vanyi, and Simon Gill, a spots with world-class riding conditions young up and coming crew that includes and some of the best riders in North Erik Merrill, Chris Bobryk, Artem Ognev, America, Lanoe is a standout who has Felix Gourdeau, Benoit Carrier, and been able to combine a powerful style Alex and Nicholas Prehn is ready to be with an explosive new-school bag of tricks. heard and to continue to assert what Lanoe, whose home is within an hour of the kiteboarding world already knows, that many of North America’s best kiteboarders call the Great Lakes be a Great Lakes wave their home.

rider takes a lot of Another vagabond wave junkie is Jen Hanson from Madison, The number of kiteboarders on the dedication and love for Wisconsin. Over the last several Great Lakes is quickly on the rise the sport as the epic years Jen has not left a single wave and so are the number of windy session go untapped. To balance days per year. In recent years, due conditions don’t come out the solid flat water conditions to increasingly stronger storms around his home in Madison, this through often enough.” from climate changes, the number regular foot has become a fixture of wave riding sessions during at southern Lake Michigan breaks such as two frothy wave riding spots, is one of the each season has also been increasing.

Zion, Illinois. Hanson’s forte has become most diversified riders in the region. He This weather model appears to be in taming gale force winds as it is not can handle pass, kite loop, and dismantle a full effect. Scrudder Mackey, PhD, an uncommon to see him riding a 4m kite in wave all in the same session. When asked environmental consultant in the Chicago whiteout conditions. what his favorite riding condition are, the area, said, “Long term models are affable outlaw pro quickly points to waves. predicting more frequent and significant As the wind blows across the region, “Currently, I am really enjoying the wave storm events on the Great Lakes, which it arrives in Cleveland, Ohio, on the riding aspect of the sport and we have will generate more significant waves.” southern shore of Lake Erie and the some amazing conditions here in Ontario Around the Great Lakes, the diehards home of Joel Hagerman. An imposing with a lot of variety. To be a Great Lakes have taken note and continue to search figure at 6’4” and 210 pounds, Hagerman wave rider takes a lot of dedication and for the perfect wave, no matter how is just as imposing on the water as he love for the sport as the epic conditions elusive it may prove to be. is on land. His wakestyle riding blends don’t come through often enough.”

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Eight years after his last trip to Venezuela, Mauricio Abreu returned with a new group of young riders.

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Kiteboarding has come a long way over the past decade.

When considering riding styles you can dispute and debate all you want, but the kiteboarding film Autofocus from ACL Productions was a big turning point not only in wakestyle riding with a kite but in kiteboarding lifestyle in general. The Autofocus trip was one that I will never forget, one that went down in kiteboarding history, but we need to give credit not only to the riders and filmmakers that made that trip happen but also to the location that provided the perfect environment to showcase that evolution: VENEZUELA.

By Mauricio Abreu Photos courtesy slingshotsports.com

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This is how we roll.

t’s hard to believe but it has been eight years since the last time I was in Venezuela.

I’ve moved beyond being just a team rider and am now helping Slingshot with their team program. Recently an opportunity to travel back to Venezuela with some of my team riders presented itself. This idea was exciting for me on many levels, but what really made it unique was the possibility to bring together two of today’s most talented and stylish riders. Alex Fox and Youri Zoon, two riders with very different styles, would be joining us in the same place that fueled our progression almost a decade ago.

I hadn’t met Youri in person before this trip but his reputation obviously preceded him. Of course everyone knows about his amazing athletic ability from his PKRA results. Youri is arguably the most consistent and progressive rider on the world circuit today. He is the current Freestyle World Champion and has been featured in many magazines as the future of competitive kiteboarding.

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Before beginning this trip I had just returned from Panama with Alex so we had been able to spend a bit of time together. Alex is one of our leading team riders and his style represents the true influence of wakeboarding on our sport.

Alex is laid back, non-competitive, and an always-ready-for-a-good-time kind of rider. He is an extremely technical rider on the water and likes to ride more for the cameras than for the crowds.

Bringing Youri and Alex together would give us a chance to really expose how

close or far apart these segments (competition freestyle and wakestyle) of the sport of kiteboarding really are.

We also had a few up and coming riders join us for the trip.

Eric Volpe from Italy, Andreas Salazar from Colombia, and Tibi, the local hero that rides at a professional level, all joined us for my return trip to Venezuela. Besides our amazing crew and location, we also had the help of John Pereira from Slingshot Venezuela and the guys from Gurkha organizing a first-class trip for us. John is an amazing guy with connections all over Venezuela. He really knows everything and everyone there and always knows where and when to go to score some good wind. Without him this trip would not have been even half as productive as it was.

The first destination of our three-stop tour was the legendary Isla de Coche. Like I said earlier, I hadn’t been back there in almost a decade. As soon as we got on the boat from the mainland to the island the nostalgia began to set in. This is a perfect flat water location with consistent wind. Just like the last time I was here, the accommodations were incredible. Victor from Coche Paradise hooked us up with some amazing rooms and it was even more comfortable here than I remembered it being eight years ago. The accommodations here are first class all the way – it’s definitely a few steps above what kiteboarders are usually used to!

One of the cool things about Coche is how close to the beach you can ride. The winds blow side-offshore meaning we could get just inches away from the cameras without worrying about getting them wet. You can ride close enough to the beach to drag your hand in white sand as you cruise across water as flat as a mirror. Coche is also a perfect place to set up rails and the Canoa Kitesurf Posada and Chris Valentine from Coche Kiter’s Paradise had just finished building a kicker and a flat bar specifically for our trip.

As soon as we got to the beach all the riders immediately hit the water. Everyone was riding hard and the level was incredible to watch. Things really got interesting once the rails were set up. Alex was killing it as expected, hitting 5s and

Youri Zoon demonstrates his competition freestyle riding for the camera.

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7s off the kicker and doing some sick presses on the flat bar. It was just then that something unexpected happened.

I was just getting started to get ready to set up my gear when I noticed that my bindings were missing! No way I had forgotten them at home! Looking up from my bags, I was relieved to find them. To my surprise, I noticed that Youri had snagged them and set up one of his boards with my boots. Youri is known for never riding in boots so this was a bit of a shock to us all.

In any other case I would have snapped and taken my boots back so I could go ride, but this was going to be interesting to watch. I let the little thief go ride and just tried to coach him on how to get used to the boots and rails. I have to admit that Youri wasn’t riding at his full potential in boots (probably because he is not used to them), but I noticed that he was having a great time trying something he wasn’t the absolute master of! It was also amazing to watch his progression during that short session. From one minute to the next you could see him becoming more comfortable with the boots and his riding was improving before our eyes. It was easy to see that if he does get in to rails and boots it would be only a few months until he would master that style of riding too.

Coche was a great start to the trip and it really got us amped up to see what else John and the rest of our hosts had prepared for us. Again, this guy is the man! John had set us up with a dream trip all the way. Not only were we about to go to one of the most beautiful places in the world, but we were getting there by a private plane. When I asked him if all this was really necessary all he had to say was, “What do you mean? This is how we roll!”

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As our private plane neared the runway of our second stop, Los Roques, the excitement started. This place has to be one of the most beautiful archipelagos I have ever come across in all my years of traveling and is set up perfectly for kiteboarding. If you don’t believe me just ask Larry Page (Co-Founder of Google) who had visited Los Roques just a week before us for a kite trip. The locals told us he was shocked with the beauty of the place and the consistency of the wind there. A disappointing forecast had us a bit worried about the potential lack of wind, but before we could get to enjoy a little break in the nice calm water, Los Roques delivered its perfect winds.

Cruising through crystal-clear water over

The Gurka opening party in Adicora went off.

Photo Xylia Loubster

Youri signs an autograph for a fan.

Alex Fox shows off his smooth wakestyle riding.

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beautiful reefs and unbelievable white sandbars surely was a wonder.

own style that showed through. In some cases I would even say that technically the moves were almost identical!

It was in Los Roques that the different and almost rivaling riding styles between Youri and Alex started to really show.

Without the crowds and cameras around, those guys were focused on nothing but pure riding. Alex was throwing down really stylish grabs on top of some very technical tricks that could win just about any cable competition in the US. Youri pulled out his A-game with the lightingfast technical tricks that have won him a world title. There’s an ongoing debate whether the competition freestyle or wakestyle aspects of kiteboarding are better for the sport, but at that moment I could see that those two worlds are a lot closer than most people think. A lot of the moves Alex and Youri were throwing down were so similar but each had their

Alex and Youri developed a high level of respect for each other on the water but what was more evident was the friendship they formed off the water. That friendship seemed to let them feed off each other’s style and technique to improve their own riding in general. Of course, what was going down between Alex and Youri was also benefiting the rest of the crew. Volpe, Andres, and Tibi were pushing themselves further than I had ever seen them before and within a few hours it was clear that they were stepping up into a whole new level of riding.

Los Roques was a crazy experience all together. For me it was great to experience kiteboarding progression in the making once again in such a wonderful location and to also witness top riders pushing themselves to new levels of kiteboarding in the friendliest way possible, just like I had experienced before with the Autofocus crew. It was difficult to leave Los Roques, but it was time for us to jump back on our private plane to our final destination: Adicora.

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Youri performs for the crowd in Adicora.

The change of scenery between our last two destinations was nothing less than shocking!

Adicora is a small fishing village that is fast becoming the number one kite destination in Venezuela due to its year-round consistent winds.

I can see that in a few years it will become just like some of the other prime kite destinations around the world, but for now it still remains a cool and low-key place.

Luckily we arrived a few days before the grand opening of the Gurkha Kiteschool and Lounge.

John and the Gurkha crew were organizing one of the biggest parties that Adicora had ever seen and we were very fortunate to be there to witness the craziness! Before we could drink our brains out we had a few more days of kiteboarding demos and appearances to do. It was in Adicora that I was really able to witness Youri’s riding excel, not because he was riding better than before, but what impressed me was how fast his riding adapted to the conditions. I really think that as a competitor this is one of Youri’s most valuable attributes. Alex and the boys were also having a good time but the crowd was going nuts

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with Youri mainly because they were getting a sneak preview of what will be going down in Adicora this summer when this location will be hosting Venezuela’s first ever PRKA event.

Adicora was fun but the best was saved for last. The Gurkha Kiteschool and Lounge Opening Party. And man, it was worth the wait! These guys had a big stage with a sick reggae band playing all night while the drinks flowed nonstop – such a good vibe! Unfortunately because of the flowing drinks I can’t remember much more than that, but I can tell you a good time was had by all.

In the time between my two trips to Venezuela so much in kiteboarding had changed, but it was great to see that the incredible locations I visited eight years ago were still the same. It’s amazing to me how what I thought were such different styles between wake and freestyle have now seemingly found a common place amongst their participants. It really makes me wonder where we will be in another eight years. Although for that I have no answer, I know that kiteboarding will still be evolving, the Gurkha boys will still be throwing a mad party, and Venezuela will still be one of the sickest places in the world to kiteboard.

Overall, the whole trip to Venezuela was amazing, not only for the kiteboarding but also the culture, the warm and great people, and the astonishing natural beauty that Venezuela is full of. We would like to thank the Gurkha crew for all their help and support, Canoa Kitesurf Posada, Coche Paradise, Coche Kiter’s Paradise, Arrecife Posada Los Roques, Posada Galapagos, our friends from Play Los Roques, and Chicho in Adicora for all his hospitality.

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THE SCENE

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1. The car may be small, but it’s got a good stereo. PHOTO CAROL BOLSTAD 2. Claire Lutz, bug eater. PHOTO JIM STRINGFELLOW 3. Guillermo Jimenez at the Festival de Viento. PHOTO CARLOS ALTAMIRANO 4. According to Dimitri, the new Epic boards are so light you have to be careful they don’t float away. PHOTO CRAIG YOUNG 5. Fun with lights on the LF Europe Tour. PHOTO LUKAS PRUDKY 6. The Best Smart Car fits right in with the other beach cruisers. PHOTO CAROL BOLSTAD 7. Alec Dektor on the beach in Malibu. PHOTO PAUL LANG 8. IVKC Riders’ Meeting.

PHOTO PAUL LANG 9. Gregg Gnecco and lucky Pismo raffle winner Michelle Koff.

PHOTO PAUL LANG 10. We’re not sure whether Tom Bridge is flying his kite or if the kite is flying him. PHOTO FLORIAN PANTHER 11. Zach Goepel collects his litter.

PHOTO PAUL LANG 12. Liquid Force Europe Tour plus houseboat equals this. PHOTO LUKAS PRUDKY 13. After session debrief on the California coast. PHOTO PAUL LANG 14. Florida boy Jeremy Lund getting used to the cold water in California. PHOTO PAUL LANG 15. Give college kids a buoy and they’ll find a way to surf it. PHOTO PAUL LANG 16. Even a recent ankle surgery hasn’t lessened Dimitri Maramenides’s passion for jumping over things. PHOTO CRAIG YOUNG 17. Mark Miedama and Teddy Lyons caught in the air at the same time at the REAL Triple S. PHOTO JIM STRINGFELLOW 18. Tony Bolstad at the helm of the Best RV. PHOTO CAROL BOLSTAD 19. Nils Wesch clears the dock in Germany. PHOTO LUKAS PRUDKY 20. Team Slingshot at the 2012 Kitesurfari Belmont Demo. PHOTO PAUL LANG If you have a photo you would like to see in The Kiteboarder Magazine, send it to editor@thekiteboarder.com.

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Photo Matteo Neri/RRD

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THE

Mestiere Artigiano

OF KITESURFING THE ROBERTO RICCI INTERVIEW

By Paul Lang

Many kiteboarders in North America are aware of RRD, but few know much about Roberto Ricci, the man behind the brand. An energetic and passionate Italian from Tuscany, Roberto started hand-shaping windsurf boards in the mid 1980s. The company literally rose from the ashes after he almost burned down his parents’ house when his shaping room caught fire. Since then he’s grown RRD, which stands for Roberto Ricci Designs, into an international company offering extensive lines of kiteboarding, windsurfing, surfing, and SUP equipment alongside a clothing label.

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A

former professional windsurfer, Roberto was exposed to kiteboarding at its earliest stages in Europe through his good friend and kiteboarding pioneer Manu Bertin. He ended up shaping some of the very first kite-specific boards ever created. We were able to talk to Roberto about his early involvement in kiteboarding and his passion for combining Italian artistry and craftsmanship with Hawaiian-inspired performance in each of his products.

HOW DID RRD GET STARTED? I started windsurfing in 1981. Like most guys at that age I saw windsurfing as the new classic Californian summer sport and I just fell in love with it. I started to race two or three years later and by 1985-86 I was racing all over Europe. In ‘86, I met someone who ended up becoming my first employer.

He wanted me to start shaping boards for a windsurfing company in Italy. I didn’t know anything about shaping. I was just a windsurfer spending as much time as possible in the water.

I had zero shaping experience and was starting from scratch. This opportunity opened up a whole new world for me. I just started shaping boards. At the time everything was done by hand shaping Clark Foam blanks with a planer. Lake Garda was the center of windsurfing in Europe and I was able to learn a lot from the shapers there. It was endless research and development. I was hand shaping 400-500 boards a year. In 1988 I went to Maui and came in contact with the master shapers like Jimmy Lewis, Ed Angulo, and Craig Maisonville.

These were the guru shapers and I learned a lot of tricks in their shaping and sanding rooms.

I decided to open up my own shaping room in the old Pauwela Cannery in Haiku in 1989. I’ve always believed that if you ride what you shape then you’ll know the real story by yourself, better than any team rider can tell you. I started racing on the Windsurfing World Cup, which was a really big circuit at the time. Total prize money was something like $3.5 million – this was the golden age of windsurfing.

I got together a few sponsors for sails, fins, and little things here and there and I was actually able to make a living. These were really my university years. I gave up university in Italy and went windsurfing all over the world.

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five or six of these boards in the oven. At that time I was shaping sandwich boards with composite fibers and epoxy resin and these boards had to be post cured in an oven. They had to be completely cured before you could paint them. This was a homemade oven with a stove inside and the whole thing just burned down overnight. My factory was gone and it almost burned down my parents’ home that it was attached to.

Photo Erik Aeder

The whole principal of RRD has always been to unify the homemade Italian artisanal thinking about craftsmanship with the Hawaiian roots of shaping to create not only beautiful objects but objects that also perform. In Italy everything you create you do with the heritage of your family, friends, and everything you learn. We call it Mestiere Artigiano, basically meaning crafts or trades that people do in the little shops here. I found this philosophy to be very complimentary to the Hawaiian philosophy of shaping.

Around here in Tuscany people work to create masterpieces that you can look at and contemplate. Performance is something that is pretty distant in the Italian heritage unless you build cars. What I tried to do was combine Italian ideas with the functionality and performance I learned from people on Maui, where my boards were put to the real test. I wanted to show that this little Italian guy who came to Hawaii could make beautiful products that also worked. It was a great challenge and very rewarding. Still today, the main philosophy of RRD is what we call Perf-Romance, which perfectly sums up what the company is — a combination of performance and romance.

AT WHAT POINT DID YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND GROW RRD BEYOND BEING A ONE-MAN COMPANY PRODUCING HAND-CRAFTED BOARDS? In 1993 I was back in Italy shaping boards for some riders who were going to Barbados for a race. One night, I left

At that moment I had a revelation. I said to myself, “Look, what are you doing? You’re a beach bum traveling all over the world. You’re having a fun life, but it’s time to wake up and make the move.” The next morning I was another man. I decided I needed to run my brand seriously and properly. I went to a lot of the top windsurfing racers and offered sponsorships to ride my boards. I wrote a contract with Swedish windsurfer Anders Bringdal worth $150,000 and at that moment I didn’t even have a penny in my bank account. I just knew that I had to do it that way. With the encouragement of my father and my friends I took a risk and took out a mortgage on my family’s home.

WHEN WERE YOU FIRST EXPOSED TO KITESURFING? I worked with Anders Bringdal for a few years and was lucky enough to meet his windsurfing coach, a Frenchman named Manu Bertin. We became really good friends and together with Paolo Rista, who was a team rider for me at the time, we were always brainstorming new board shapes and things like that. One night in 1995 Manu called me and said, “Roberto, man, we have a new sport. I bumped into my friend Bruno Legaignoux who is making these kites.” I had no idea what a kite was other than the ones you fly as a kid. He said, “I just have to show you.

I think we have to make some special boards and I’m pretty sure we can move forward with your knowledge.”

I went to pick him up at the train station and he came out with just a snowboard bag. I said, “Well, where’s all your gear?”

He said, “Everything is in this bag. That’s what is so new about it.” We went to the beach and he showed me the kite. I was just blown away. He was using a board that looked kind of like a water ski and he couldn’t go upwind. We spent a few weeks making boards and the first two were really awkward and looked more like little catamarans than a board. This was so early on that I’m sure I was one

Samanthe Batt shows off one of the early RRD kiteboards. Photo Erik Aeder

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Roberto during the recent RRD Importer Meeting.

Photo Dave White/RRD

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Roberto with the very first RRD kite.

Photo Andrea De Maria

of the first people in Europe to witness the birth of this amazing sport. Manu was always getting into funny and weird situations with his kite. One time he went out and realized he couldn’t get back because the wind was completely offshore. This was during the winter and he almost fainted while walking back because he was so cold.

WHAT WAS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS KITEBOARDING WHEN YOU FIRST SAW MANU? DID THIS LOOK LIKE A NEW SPORT OR JUST A STRANGE NEW TRICK OR STUNT FOR HIM TO DO? I really believed it was a new sport right from the beginning. There was challenge, speed, flying, so many things you couldn’t do with other sports. The little amount of space it took up was revolutionary. I had been traveling all over the world with 11 bags of windsurfing gear. That aspect alone was enough for me to say, “We have to go for it.” My first exposure to the sport was a real eye opener, but I couldn’t really fully commit because realistically I had to develop RRD as a windsurfing brand first.

I was just at the beginning of building the brand and I couldn’t just suddenly jump to something completely unknown.

I still had to pay off a loan and I had to pay my employees, so kiteboarding wasn’t a priority, but I knew this would become something big. Knowing Manu and seeing this huge potential in front of my eyes I said, “I want to give you a hand. Why don’t you go to Hawaii and develop it?” He went out there and met Flash Austin and all the other guys who were there at the very beginning. This was really the pioneering time and Manu began mailing me slides and sending me stories by fax. I was convinced this was the start of a new age for watersports.

Things happened slowly at first. My first exposure to kiteboarding was in ‘95, but the first Wipika kites weren’t available until ‘97. That’s when we started to make kiteboards. Flash Austin, who was like a kiteboarding wizard then, didn’t have a board sponsor. He was sponsored

by Naish, but they didn’t have boards yet, so I made boards for him for a few years. Thanks to the experience we gained through Flash, we were able to go to the next level and began making kites at the end of ‘99. We were the third company to license the inflatable kite patent from Bruno.

WHAT’S THE DESIGN PROCESS LIKE AT THE BEGINNING OF A SPORT WHEN YOU HAVE NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE? WHERE DO YOU START? It was a nightmare. We didn’t have any software we could use to design a three-dimensional kite that would tell us how the panels should be cut. Our first kite designer was Thomas Persson from Simmer Sails and with him we went through the real learning curve of trying to make a kite by hand. Believe me, it was a real challenge. To make something that becomes 3D shape when you inflate it is not an easy task. It took us a year before we felt like we got anywhere.

Our first prototype wouldn’t even fly up to the top of the window. It only went halfway. It was more of a trial and error process instead of a real design process.

Now we can send a file to China and the kite shows up here three days later for us to test, but it took us a good decade to become as efficient as we are today.

The first two or three years were really tough, but there were so few kites on the market that we would sell whatever we could produce. We couldn’t make enough.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THE GROWTH OF WINDSURFING AT THE TIME? Windsurfing was at a different mature age. It was going strong, but windsurfing had been dropping since the early 90s in terms of the number of total pieces of gear sold. Because we made performance windsurfing products for the core group

THANKS TO THE EXPERIENCE WE GAINED THROUGH FLASH, WE WERE ABLE TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND BEGAN MAKING KITES AT THE END OF ‘99.

WE WERE THE THIRD COMPANY TO LICENSE THE INFLATABLE KITE PATENT FROM BRUNO.

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Roberto’s true passion is testing and improving gear. Photo Luke McGillewie/RRD

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of windsurfers, we’ve always been able to grow. To be honest with you, the windsurfing side of the company is still growing today. We’ve grown every year, but both in windsurfing and kiteboarding we’ve never grown as fast as some of the other companies. That’s something I really like. Sudden growth is never really healthy and I feel we’ve made a lot of good decisions to get to where we are now.

websites. Behind every product there are brains and hands, blood and tears, hopes and frustrations; it’s so human. Creating a team that can face the challenges of the market takes years. We’re really happy to be where we are with a strong, unified team. The market itself is so hard and the economic picture that we have in front of us is so complicated, but we feel fortunate and able to face new challenges.

Windsurfing diminished because no matter what, it’s a complicated sport. It’s very physical, it’s hard to travel with, and you need a lot of wind to have fun. Those are limits on windsurfing, but it’s also what people like. Some people love windsurfing exactly because it’s tough and physical.

That’s why the core windsurfers are so attached to it. There’s nothing like it.

RRD MANUFACTURES EQUIPMENT FOR KITEBOARDING, WINDSURFING, SURFING, AND SUP. HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR TIME BETWEEN THE SPORTS? HOW DO YOU STAY INVOLVED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SO MANY PRODUCTS? First of all I have people in charge of each part of the company who overlook the development of products for each sport.

I tend to oversee and participate in the whole R&D process. That’s the most fun

You have to realize that companies are made of people, not marketing and

for me — testing, developing products with the designers, comparing with previous products, finding ways to improve products, that’s what I’m passionate about. My life is about testing. I don’t have fun just going out to ride unless the conditions are epic.

I’ll go out in any conditions. I don’t care what the conditions are or what I ride. I just go test. I love to be in the water and will use whatever gear lets me get out there.

I probably spend about a third of my time in the water and the rest is spent doing business and spending time with my family.

My approach is to no longer make new products every year. I don’t want to start all over again every year just to make something newer, better, faster, and lighter. I don’t believe in it. That’s what killed windsurfing and it’s something that hurts a lot of companies. You cannot send untested products into the market.

We did it in the past and learned from

our mistakes. My philosophy, in every area, is to develop products at the proper time.

We only update products in a line once we feel we have a better one.

We have a big line, but now we don’t change 40 kiteboards every year. We change eight, nine, ten, whatever it takes to make them better. Our Vision kite is a perfect example of this. It’s been on the market already for 18 months. It does what it’s supposed to do and it still sells very well. It will stay on the market until we have a better product to replace it.

FEW PEOPLE OUTSIDE ITALY KNOW THAT RRD ALSO HAS AN APPAREL LINE. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? I started selling apparel when I first started RRD. My mom had a little shirt factory in the downstairs part of our house. I learned how to use a sewing machine and cut and assemble fabric when I was a kid. For me it was automatic to offer a clothing line along with my boards. I made t-shirts, shorts, and hats because I thought everybody who bought a RRD board might want to buy a shirt too. That’s how it got started.

Kiteboarding pioneers Max “Wasssup” BO, Robby Seeger, Roberto Ricci, and Teiva Joyeux show off their early RRD boards. Photo Bernard Biancotto

Photo Dave White

Photo Dave White

With two partners, I created a separate company in 1995 for the apparel line. We thought we had such a strong image with RRD that we decided to make clothing with that image, but designed and built with the characteristics of Italian fashion. Not just another surf brand let’s say. We wanted to use special fabrics, build the clothes in Italy, and design them to fit the way Italians like. We got to the point where our clothing was considered luxury beach wear and we started to be sold in high-fashion boutiques all around Italy.

We’ve always been concerned with making the apparel successful in Italy because we think if we can be successful here we can be successful anywhere. Italy is one of the largest but also one of the toughest markets for fashion. Today we have about 800 retailers in Italy and now we feel ready to take on the challenge of exporting the clothing line to other countries.

RRD HAS TO BE THE ONLY ACTION SPORTS COMPANY WITH A YACHTING DEPARTMENT. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THAT PART OF THE COMPANY? The yachting part of the company is something we started up in 2006 basically because I wanted to build a boat for myself and my family so we could go out to the islands here. I designed a 50’ boat that could hold all the kiteboarding, windsurfing, and SUP gear I wanted to take. We worked in cooperation with a shipyard here in

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Photo Dave White/RRD

Italy where I ended up designing the interiors of two or three other yachts for watersports enthusiasts.

The yachting market is so tough right now. It’s really gone down a lot with the economy. Now we are working on designing a special hull that creates the perfect wake. It will be a 25’ boat that can create a perfect wave behind it. We’re in the stage of building models and testing them in the pool and river.

We’ll actually start building the boat this summer, so I’ll be able to let you know if the wake works as perfectly as we think it will by the end of summer. It’s very exciting and we’re looking at equipping it with an electric motor, batteries, and solar panels. The plan is that you’ll be able to run the boat and surf behind it for 55 minutes between charges.

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WITH YOUR WINDSURFING RACING BACKGROUND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT KITE RACING? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT KITEBOARDING IN THE OLYMPICS? It’s just phenomenal. Every time I jump on that board it’s incredible. So efficient, so much speed, so much angle upwind, so much power. I really hope that the governing body (IKA) has common sense and does good things for the sport. They

I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT IN THE MARKET BECAUSE I SEE MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BUYING A NEW KITE, OR A SURFBOARD, OR A STAND UP PADDLEBOARD, OR A WETSUIT INSTEAD OF A NEW IPAD. need to feel they have a responsibility for the development of kiteboarding. I think racing is a big part of the development of light wind riding. No condition can be as boring as four knots of wind, but racing gear can make that fun and challenging.

simple equation. People also seem to be realizing that real luxury is not in owning a better car or a bigger house, but in having time for yourself. Wherever you start to have that kind of awareness, you have a solid market.

Honestly, I don’t even care about kiteboarding in the Olympics. My experience with windsurfing was that the Olympics didn’t change the sport of windsurfing at all. It can be good or bad, but I’m pretty neutral on it.

I feel very confident in the market because I see more and more people are buying a new kite, or a surfboard, or a stand up paddleboard, or a wetsuit instead of a new iPad. That’s just great.

I really think that’s an accomplishment because people are really considering luxury in a different manner. It’s not buying a pair of new shoes that makes people happy, it’s spending more time outdoors. It’s happening all over the world. We just got a request to sell products in India. Wherever you have a water surface and some economic growth, people become more aware of their environment and they want to be on the water. THAT’S THE FUTURE.

RRD IS A VERY INTERNATIONAL COMPANY. DO YOU NOTICE A LARGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MARKETS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES? Yes and no. There are similarities between many countries. It depends on the type of conditions and the economical growth in each country.

People tend to be more sporty when they have more money. That’s a very

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TIPS:

• If you are having trouble with a trick and are getting frustrated with it, try something else and come back to it later.

Sometimes it will come easier when you try it again after you have taken a break for a while.

• When learning something new, try to visualize it and then commit to it when you are on the water. If you don’t go for it on the water, you are going to wish you did when the wind dies.

• Try to help other riders who may be in trouble or who are unsafe. This way everybody can enjoy the day and no one will get hurt.

Alec Dektor

AGE: 16 YEARS KITING: 4 FAVORITE SPOTS: Central California Coast SPONSORS: F-One, Underwave, Bay Area Kitesurf

GEAR

BOARDS: F-One 6’0” Signature KITES: F-One Bandit 5s HARNESS: Underwave Imperial Waist Harness

Like many teenagers, Alec was first introduced to windsports through his father, an avid windsurfer turned kiter.

Although from Southern California, Alec’s father loves the Central Coast, which is where Alec learned to ride.

Currently a junior in high school, he tries to rush off to the beach after school every windy day and fits his homework in at night when he gets home. Alec said that sometimes he doesn’t get as much sleep as he’d like, but it’s not a bad tradeoff for an awesome kite session.

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How did you first get started in the sport?

I got into kiteboarding through my dad. He has been kiteboarding for more than ten

years. He had me on trainer kites about five or six years ago and then four years ago he taught me to fly a full-sized kite. I got in the water pretty soon after that.

Other than cost of entry into the sport, what do you think is keeping more teenagers from getting into kiteboarding?

I think cost is really the only reason most teens do not kiteboard. If it was not as expensive I know a lot of my friends would definitely take up kiteboarding in a heartbeat.

Do you want to compete professionally?

Yes, competing professionally is my ultimate goal. Although free riding with friends is an amazing feeling, the chance to travel the world and compete with some of the top riders seems like an enjoyable experience as well.

What gets you excited about our sport?

I get stoked when I see other people trying to learn something new. To see them finally achieve their goal, whether it be water starting, going upwind, or landing a strapless air, puts a smile on my face. It motivates me to land new moves in order to get the same feeling and that’s what riding with other people is all about.

What are you currently working on? I’m currently working on strapless front rolls without a grab. They are tricky because you have to really tweak out the rotation in order to get the board to stay on your feet. I just need a little more practice and hopefully I’ll stick one soon!

What was your biggest revelation when learning to stick strapless aerials? As soon as I got the angle of the board correct, they became very easy. Once you stick your first one, you will get more and more comfortable with the feeling of getting the board into the wind. Soon you will be boosting higher without straps than you ever could have imagined.

Is there something about you that you do outside of kiteboarding that most people wouldn’t know? I really enjoy music. I play guitar and constantly work in the studio recording and producing music with friends.

Any words of wisdom to share with our readers? Be courteous to surfers and other people on the beach. The beach is there for everyone to enjoy. The most important thing is to have fun in the water and get home safely.

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PROFILED

Photo Carol Bolstad

TIPS:

• If you’re not having fun, something is wrong. Grab a different board, work on a different trick, or go help a friend learn something new. It’s all about the fun factor.

• The tip above applies to instructors too.

The most successful lessons happen when both instructor and student are enjoying themselves.

• If you’re curious about boots, give them a try. You just might like them!

Colleen Carroll AGE: 24 YEARS KITING: 6 FAVORITE SPOTS: Hood River, Northeastern Coast of Brazil, Cape Hatteras Sponsors: Liquid Force

GEAR

BOARDS: Liquid Force Influence 133 with Melissa Bindings, Liquid Force 5’7” KITES: Liquid Force Envy 7, 9, 12m HARNESS: Liquid Force Bliss After graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies and Economics, Colleen thought she might get a job saving the environment or doing something equally important. Instead, she got certified to teach kiteboarding and started teaching for her local shop in Bellingham, Washington. Since then she has called Hood River, Brazil, Mexico, South Padre Island, and Cape Hatteras home. Much of Coleen’s progression came when she went to Brazil for a season.

Everyday she would wake up, ride for a few hours, stretch, eat, and repeat until she couldn’t kite any longer. She said that riding with riders like Elliot Drury, Craig Cunningham, Kris Kinn, and Rich Sabo also kept motivation high.

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How did you first get started in the sport? I grew up visiting the Colombia River

Gorge as a kid with my parents who were always chasing the wind as windsurfers. In the summer of 2002 while I was still in high school one of my parent’s friends offered to take us out to give kiteboarding a try. It didn’t go so well at first but after a few years of doing it once or twice a summer and with improvements in gear we finally started to get the hang of it.

You were just chosen as a Triple-S wildcard competitor. What do you think your biggest challenge will be at that event? I’m still pretty new to hitting rails. I came to Hatteras in the beginning of May to practice just in case I was chosen as the wildcard. We haven’t had much wind while I’ve been here but we have been able to hit the features behind the Jet Ski. What are you currently working on? I’ve been working really hard to pass the bar in the air for a few of my tricks. This also means riding with more power and trying to go bigger so that I have time for the pass before landing which can be intimidating.

What tips can you give to riders that want to try rails but are a bit intimidated?

Find a rail that you can ride onto and is wide

so it will be fairly easy to balance on. Wear a helmet and remember that speed is actually your friend. If you try to approach the slider slowly it will be more difficult to balance and if you fall, you will likely fall on it instead of off it and into the water. Anytime I hit a slider for the first time I try to find someone that I know has hit it before and I follow their path leading up to the feature.

Is there something about you outside of kiteboarding that most people wouldn’t know? I love to bake cookies.

Where is your favorite place to kite? If I had to choose just one, it would be the Gorge. I feel at home when I kite there and I always have the most fun when I get to kite with friends as well as my family. The Gorge also offers the greatest variety of conditions of anywhere I’ve kited.

What is your most memorable kiteboarding experience? The one that’s been stuck in my mind lately just happened the other night and was a solo session in the slick here in Hatteras with my good friend Lulu Vroman. The wind was super smooth and the water couldn’t have been flatter. We were both working on new tricks and getting stoked for each other.

THE

By Phil Midler I http://xlkiteboarding.com Photos Courtesy the Chicken Bike Crew

CHICKEN BIKE 48

ADVENTURE

A FEW YEARS AGO MY FRIEND MITCH ANDREWS AND I FOUND OURSELVES IN THE BACK OF A TAXICAB IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COSTA RICA AS LOCALS ZIPPED PAST US ON SMALL SINGLECYLINDER MOTORCYCLES WITH DELIVERY BOXES ON THE BACK. They all seemed to be delivering fast food chicken, similar to pizza delivery in the USA. Those small bikes looked like fun so we joked about getting our own and riding them around on our next trip. As the day and night progressed this idea evolved into driving fake chicken delivery bikes from Houston, Texas, to the southern tip of South America with our kiteboarding equipment. It was a late night and we soon forgot all about our harebrained scheme.

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Phil enjoying a session in Houston before setting off on the Chicken Bike Adventure. Photo Capt. Shelly

Long after our trip I got a call from Mitch. He was at a Suzuki dealership and said he found our chicken bikes. “I need to know you’re in and I’ll reserve these little babies for us.” Without any real plan we both signed up to lease bikes for $75 a month. Apparently chicken boxes are actually hard to come by so I built ours from marine grade plywood and epoxy resin. The boxes were designed to be waterproof and lockable. We named our chicken company Pollo Papa and put our logo on the boxes. Mitch is an airline pilot, so we broke our trip down into legs we could manage between work schedules. Our plan was to move the bikes from one city to the next, store the bikes, and fly home until the next leg.

There isn’t a lot of room on a chicken bike. We did some tests before we left and the largest board we could take was about a 135 cm. The boards were secured on top of the chicken boxes with two straps. Our kites, harness, and pump fit in front of the chicken box under the board and directly behind the rider’s back. I thought for sure we would lose a board on some of the terrible roads but when everything was packed down it actually rode pretty well. We’ve been kiting new spots for years in Texas so our plan was if it was windy we would just roll in and find a spot to ride. Minimal planning was the name of the game for this trip.

The first test for the chicken bikes came when we stopped at the Mexican consulate on our way out of town. As we pulled up a guard actually opened the razor wire gate for us thinking we were delivering food to employees.

When we asked where we go for visas he simply asked, “No pollo?” and kicked us out. That’s when we knew our chicken delivery bikes would work perfectly for the trip.

HOUSTON TO GUATEMALA CITY

Before reaching South Padre Island Mitch managed to lose his chicken box lid along with $45 worth of beef jerky. He’s convinced it was due to a manufacturer defect but I believe it was user error. Even though the wind was light, we still managed to do a few downwinders in the surf, during which we used the bikes to shuttle back upwind. We also found that people tend to give strange looks when they see two grown men on a small chicken delivery motorcycle.

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After crafting a replacement lid for Mitch’s bike, we made an unsuccessful attempt at crossing into Mexico. As soon as we stopped on the Mexican side

of the border, a pigeon crapped on me. It should have been a sign, right? At the customs office the chicken bikes were denied entry into the country as we didn’t have the proper documentation to temporarily import them into Mexico. We actually tried to fake some documents, but that was a really bad idea! I seriously thought we were going to a Mexican jail but the customs official and police officers just poked a little fun at the crazy gringos and let us go. We headed back to the USA and checked flights to Houston so we could take care of our paperwork. A few days later we were back at the border, correct (and legitimate) paperwork in hand.

Literally 20 minutes after crossing the border Mitch and I found ourselves pulled over by la policia. I was doing 60 mph in a 60 kph zone and Mitch ran a stop sign trying to keep up with me. In my defense I had a really really bad feeling about those side streets and wanted to get out of town fast. After a

few rounds of negotiations we were on our way again. We rode for over nine hours that first day and rode into the night, which was a mess on those crazy roads. Pulling into Tampico we easily found a safe, cheap hotel.

After a bit of trouble getting into Mexico, I have to say the scenery was beautiful after the first 100 miles or so.

The next day we slept in a little bit and set off for Veracruz. This was a really long day of riding on back roads through all the small towns and our butts were killing us by the end. The next day we headed to the Guatemala border. The crossing took hours and was a huge hassle. The border town was crowded and had me looking over my shoulder a lot. As soon as we left town though, the drive to Guatemala City was amazing! We were surrounded by mountains, streams, and jungles the whole way.

In Guatemala City we found a hotel for the night and began our search for a place to keep the bikes for the next two months.

None of the options sounded good. The next morning the options that had sounded OK after a few beers sounded terrible. We decided to leave the bikes at the airport parking lot, the cheapest place we could find. Our language barrier with the parking attendant made it really difficult to explain our plan of leaving the bikes for a long time.

We ended up just giving the guy a high-five and left to make our flight. Immediately we had a bad feeling about leaving the bikes in an open-air lot in a bad part of town.

GUATEMALA RESCUE MISSION

Fritz the Cat

Two weeks later I found myself getting back on a plane to Guatemala to move the bikes to a more secure location. My heart jumped out of my chest when I couldn’t find the bikes where I thought we had left them. Then I remembered we had to move them to the adjacent lot at the last minute. Still feeling nervous I walked to the other lot and there they were! I jumped around and yelled a bit which attracted a small crowd of guards who called me “poco loco.”

I talked to the lot supervisor Richardo (a German living in Guatemala) and he told me to steer clear of cops because it was illegal to drive a motorbike without a helmet in Guatemala. Great! I hadn’t even thought to bring a helmet with me! After about 20-30 minutes of battling my way through one way streets I made it to the hotel where I had worked out a deal to store the bikes. Or so I thought. I checked into the hotel and only when I showed up with the second bike was I informed that the general manager would only store the bikes for $10 a day per bike – crazy money for six weeks of storage! I headed back to the airport parking lot to see if Richardo could help us locate another place to store them.

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Richardo agreed to let us keep our bikes in a shed near his office for just $14/month per bike – most excellent!

With the storage problem solved I went out for dinner where I met a group of Guatemalans who asked me if I wanted to go with them to a Guatemalan funeral. As soon as I agreed we were off in their 1980s-era gold minivan appropriately called the Mystery Machine. This little baby’s dash was lit up like a Christmas tree with any and all warning lights either lit or blinking. My new friends taught me to whistle by sucking through my lower teeth, which is how all Guatemalans whistle. They also did their best to teach me to roll my Rs without success. They kept rolling their Rs at me thinking that would help me learn. It didn’t and I still can’t do it. Since I had to be at the airport at 5 am we called it an “early” night around 1 am and they dropped me back at the hotel. A few short hours later I was up so I could move and secure the second bike in the shed. I locked both bikes together and to one of the shed’s girders. Just 20 hours after landing I was back on a plane home!

GUATEMALA TO HONDURAS

Back in Guatemala City we found the bikes in good shape albeit very dirty. We loaded up and hit the road to find some chain oil and maintenance supplies to do some work on the bikes. We found what we needed and made our way out of town on the highway much later in the day than we had hoped. After a few hours the road turned into a gravel mountain road, which is normal in Central America. Long after sunset a bracket that keeps the speedometer cable out of the front tire came loose and hooked on one of my front spokes, throwing me off the bike into the dark jungle.

Luckily we were only going 20-30 mph when it happened. Mitch was in front and kept going until he realized that I wasn’t following. I crawled out of the Gas? Check. Passports? Check. Money? Check. Mustaches? Check.

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Mitch doesn’t look too thrilled after a long rainy night with no camping gear.

Ushuaia, the end of South America.

jungle and got my bike out of the road to figure out if it was something I could fix. I ripped off the speedometer cable and all the attachments to eliminate any possible future problems. We were soon moving again but we both felt very unsafe on that road at night. When someone in a village gave us an estimate of four hours to the next town we decided to turn around and head back to Guatemala City.

The next day we left early and made great time to the border crossing. After 2.5 hours of horrible paperwork and endless copies of every piece of paper we had on us we were in Honduras where the roads were great, the people were super nice, and the scenery was fantastic. The little throw from the bike really got me into maintenance mode when I started thinking about what could have happened if I had been traveling a lot faster. We stopped in a dirt alley and gave the bikes a much needed oil change along with some other general maintenance.

It was time to fly home again so we drove to Tegucigalpa, home of the second most dangerous airport in the world. Mitch used to fly here on a regular basis so he knew exactly where to go to watch the planes coming in to land. We managed to get on top of the hill just in front of the approach of the runway. The first few planes flew by really close, but the third plane (a Copa Airlines 737) came by so close I hit the deck. The pilot was very low on the approach and had to add power to make it over the small hill we were standing on. As the pilot added power it was loud and looked to be heading right for us! Needless to say Mitch teased me endlessly the rest of the trip for wussing out when the airplane went by.

From there we went to the airport to find a place to store our bikes. Luckily at the first place we went we met a very nice woman named Vanessa who helped

us broker a deal to store the bikes in a building on site. With the bikes secured we headed home. At this point we were really starting to appreciate the distance involved with our adventure.

NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA

Returning to Honduras we cruised through customs, got the bikes out of storage, strapped on our kiteboarding gear, and were ready to hit the open road again. One of the coolest things about traveling on a motorcycle with kiteboarding equipment is all the questions you get from people on the road. We ended up pointing a lot to the XLKITES stickers on our bikes that had a kiteboarder on them. A few times we brought out the kites and pumped them up to show the locals how it all worked. Some of the villages we rode through didn’t even have running water so I think kiteboarding seemed pretty out there for sure.

By the end of the day we found ourselves in Choluteca, Nicaragua, a very small town that happened to be having a two-week-long carnival.

The guy at our hotel said we would not be safe at the carnival but it looked very friendly and full of families so we decided to give it a go. We immediately headed to the showcase ride of the carnival – the Zipper. Now the Zipper is generally accepted as the scariest carnival ride in existence.

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The only thing scarier than riding the Zipper is riding the Zipper at a Nicaraguan carnival. Apparently Mitch and I were too heavy for one seat so we got split up between two cars.

The open road.

I noticed fluid leaking in through the holes in my cabin and once I caught the smell I knew it was gear box oil. I looked up to see that one of the gear boxes had blown a main seal and was leaking all over the place. Did they stop the ride? Not in Nicaragua! We went looping and spinning for the next four minutes while trying to dodge the spurts of gear oil being slung around the broken drive train.

Our route from here took us to the city of San Jorge where we had to catch a ferry to Ometepe Island where we were hoping to do some kiteboarding. After a long day of riding through rainy conditions, we were both wet and uncomfortable, but we were excited that we might get to ride the next day. The ferry ride was about an hour long through the darkness on Lake Nicaragua. The roads on the island started out paved but we ended up on some of the worst wet, muddy, and flooded dirt roads we’d seen so far. We got totally lost and ended up meeting two French dudes who thought it was hilarious that we were lost. After making fun of us for a bit they gave us directions to Santa Cruz, which we almost missed a second time as the town is made up of about four small buildings. After a few really large beers we retired for the night after 15+ hours of travel.

The next morning we headed down to the beach only to find that due to the very wet rainy season there was no beach. We were forced to pump up in a 20’x10’ space between a house and trees under power lines. Sketchy!

We rode for about three hours all over the north side of the island. We even rode out to some small islands about five miles away. Riding on the island was amazing as you’re in a bay on a huge freshwater lake between two massive volcanoes. The lake is one of the only places in the world with freshwater sharks. While we were riding the locals stopped what they were doing and lined the shore to watch us. Mitch and I may not be all that good but those people thought we were pretty cool as they were yelling and cheering when we made our jumps and grabs.

After our ride we packed up and headed back to the hotel. While grabbing a quick rum drink at the bar we met a French kiteboarding couple, so we all went back to the launch we used and helped them get going for another hour session. Afterward we spent the night drinking rum and stumbling through the pitch dark forest to a bar owned by an Irish Oakland Raiders fan.

The next day we managed to catch the morning ferry back to the mainland so we could hit the road to Costa Rica. The border crossing went relatively smoothly thanks to a couple from Canada who arrived before us and were able to explain the process. They were touring on BMW all-terrain bikes that made our little chicken bikes look like toys. They had GPS, communication gear, custom storage containers, full crash suits and boots, integrated helmet cams, everything. I think they thought we were crazy to be doing the trip on our bikes.

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Driving in Costa Rica is beautiful and fast. We were cruising at 60-65 mph and out of nowhere a large monkey walked into the road. It was so close that I didn’t even have time to react! Well, I scared the piss out of that monkey for sure because he gave me one glance

Loading the chicken bikes for the boat trip to Colombia.

The guy doing the work doesn’t look too sure of himself.

Photo Vanessa Baumann

Even this biker thought the guys were crazy.

The policia get a chance to laugh at the gringos.

and got his butt back into the jungle. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself – I almost hit a monkey with a chicken bike. Things just got real!

We arrived in Liberia and headed straight for the airport. Mitch was able to talk to the Continental Airport Manager who was awesome and offered to let us keep our bikes in his backyard at his house for free. With the storage problem easily solved we flew home again. The only hassle was getting my bar and lines through airport security!

PANAMA AND ON TO COLUMBIA

The next leg of our trip took us through Panama and into Columbia. There isn’t much of anything from the border with Costa Rica to Panama City. We had a hard time even finding gas. We thought we were going to run out for sure before we found gas at a rural hardware store. After weaving through terrible traffic in Panama City we hit the road for Colon. The drive east was beautiful as we followed the Panama Canal and drove fast through rolling hills covered with bamboo and sugar cane. Colon is a port town and a total dump for sure. If you’re looking to get in a fight or just get shot this is the place you want to go. We were told by an armed guard that we should not stop in the streets or we would be shot and robbed and he was dead serious.

Costa Rica.

We were in Colon to try to find transportation into Columbia as there are no roads through the mountains between the two countries. This was turning out to be harder than we thought. We talked to a boat captain who was taking his ship to Turbo, Columbia. He said he could take our bikes but not us. He seemed very suspicious,

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so we looked for other options. We didn’t trust any of the shipping vessels or captains we met or heard of. We looked into flying the bikes, but that was way too expensive – they wanted $900 cash for each bike! After a lot of searching, we were able to find a situation we were comfortable with on the 50’ sailboat Fritz the Cat. The captain (an Austrian) agreed to strap our bikes to the deck and sail us to Columbia via the San Blas Islands.

Our trip through the islands was amazing. The autopilot on the boat had failed so we had to take turns through the night steering the boat and the winds were awesome which made for terrible upwind catamaran sailing. The swell was huge and pounded the boat all night. It was pretty incredible to be at the helm of a boat in the middle of the Caribbean. Our bikes had been tied to the front of the boat and we just prayed that they would start again after numerous salt water rinses. We were able to stop at a few islands for some amazing kiteboarding. We had crystal clear water, kicking winds, white sand, and not another soul within hundreds of miles. We rode between islands, over shallow coral reefs, and between coconut palms. We also did some spear fishing, snorkeling, and a lot of drinking. The crew was from all over the world including Australia, the UK, Austria, Germany, Ireland, and the USA. Everyone had stories from their travels so we kept ourselves entertained with stories or by watching dolphins and yellow fin tuna chase our bow wake as we made our way to Columbia.

COLUMBIA AND ECUADOR

We arrived in Cartagena after six days at sea on Fritz the Cat and then stayed at a hostel until our paperwork and importation papers were finalized. We ate everyday at the Black Cat Café owned by our first mate and good friend Elke, who makes the best crepes in all of Columbia! She actually was so inspired by the chicken bike adventure that she bought a 125cc Suzuki motorbike herself and joined us for the first 50 miles out of Cartegena. During our time waiting in town we headed to the beach and found a small launch where kiteboarders would rig and then ride downwind to another beach on the other side of town.

The wind was light but the riding was great with small swells and awesome scenery along the ride with lots of spectators and locals checking us out as we rode by. The best riding was on some islands to the north but we had no time to check it out because it was time for us to get back on the road.

ECUADOR AND PERU

This was a quick leg involving 1,200 miles of driving over three days. Most of the way was desert especially in Peru but through southern Ecuador there were some awesome mountains. Even though this was a fast burn to cover a lot of miles we had a few interesting things happen.

Mitch and I were driving along and an oncoming semi blew its inside front tire so it swerved into our lane. Mitch was in front when it happened. I immediately slowed down but Mitch looked back to see if it was me that made the loud gunshot noise of the tire exploding. He saw my look of shock and swerved, missing the truck by only a few feet. I still can’t believe he was able to bank that hard and fast to get out of the path of the truck. The truck went tearing past us into a ditch and got stuck in a sand dune.

A cat took a piss on my seat overnight in a hostel parking lot, so I had to lose my seat pad as it smelled terrible. That’s going to hurt later. We hit some major rain along the way and Mitch had tucked his rain pants into his boots so the rainwater funneled right into his boots, filling them up. On some rainy jungle god-forsaken gravelly road I managed to rattle my chicken box cover off the box so I lost it forever. I guess I’ll have to make another one before the next trip. Three days of non-stop riding had us in Lima, Peru, where we stored the bikes for the next leg.

PERU TO BOLIVIA

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Our temporary importation paperwork for the motorcycles was good for 90 days in Peru. This hadn’t been a problem in any country so far as we’d traveled through them all well before our paperwork expired. This trip though we were both busy with work and weren’t able to get to Lima until shortly before our time was up. Our plan was to head down with plenty of time to get the bikes out of Peru. However, this time of year there are very few flights to Lima and needless to say they were fully booked up.

The chicken bikes blended in perfectly with the local delivery bikes.

We finally got on a flight but only had three days to get down there, drive the bikes out of Peru, and get back home. The main problem was that Lima is in the center of Peru and not really close to any other country that we could easily travel to to renew our paperwork. Our best bet was to take our bikes over the Andes and into Bolivia, over 1,100 miles of travel in two days over roads as high as 16,000 feet on 250cc chicken delivery bikes. Then we’d try to hop flights from La Paz, Bolivia, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then a Continental flight back to Houston. At best the whole plan sounded farfetched, but what the hell?

The trip through the Andes was one of the most difficult and spectacular parts of the journey with temperatures below freezing and super high altitudes. It was a tough ride but the mountain views and picturesque roadside groups of llamas and alpacas made the trip worthwhile. Riding along the mountain roads we often faced winds of more than 30 mph. We couldn’t help but think some of the mountain lakes would be perfect for kiteboarding if they weren’t half frozen. Our journey brought us to Cuzco which is the closest town to the famed Machu Picchu ruins with a runway. As we got closer to the town we saw more and more tourists traveling to see a part of history.

Towards the end of the ride through Peru we ended up riding on the shores of Lake Titicaca, one of the largest lakes in the world. The shoreline of the lake is surrounded by reeds and fishing villages where it would be perfect to launch a kite for a quick freshwater session. All along the road locals were stringing ropes for use on the fishing boats. The border crossing to get into Bolivia was a piece of cake. It only took about 20 minutes to get into the country with all of our paperwork in order. The border was located in a small fishing town so there wasn’t a lot going on for the customs guys. Because of the remoteness of this crossing very few foreign travelers pass by, especially on motorcycles. After two days of more than 16 hours riding each we arrived in La Paz and the rest of our plan worked out just fine.

LA PAZ TO BUENOS AIRES

Bolivia turned out to be one of the toughest countries we traveled through on this trip. We had to deal with not being able to buy gasoline, local protests, road blocks throughout the cities, and road construction and closures on 70% of the roads we were using. The Bolivian government subsidizes gasoline to keep it cheap for local citizens. Because of this people

from neighboring countries were coming into the country to buy the cheap gas so they outlawed its sale from most gas stations to anyone without a Bolivian driver’s license and Bolivian plate on their vehicle.

As you can imagine this was hard to understand at first and very inconvenient for the chicken bike crew. We only ended up getting gas in La Paz thanks to the help of an awesome cab driver who let us siphon it out of his car.

We paid extra (about $5) at our hotel in La Paz for a private bathroom only to find out that we had no water at all in the room or otherwise. As you can imagine we were pretty happy to get out of town when the time finally came. We did get new tires on the bikes along with some other mechanical upkeep and repair. After all the work was done we hit the road hard and didn’t look back, glad to just be out of town.

USHUAIA, THE END OF THE WORLD!

Our final leg took about two weeks to get from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and figure out how to get the bikes home. Most of the area we were driving through was flat desert and we used our extra fuel tanks the whole time as gas stations were regularly spaced 100 miles or more apart.

The flight from Houston to Buenos Aires is a night flight so we arrived at 5 am and made it to the bikes early. We wanted to hit the road so after packing up our gear, doing some maintenance, having lunch, and taking a quick dip in the pool, we were off. We managed about 170 miles the first day which is a lot after a night of little sleep and so much traveling. We stayed in the small town of

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Sunset somewhere in Central America.

Azul where it was very hot all night. Our hotel had no ventilation whatsoever so neither of us slept very well. We were both amazed at how hot it was down here. We had brought a ton of warm clothes because it was supposed to be very cold in the south.

On the next day we made it to the town of El Condor where we hoped to do some kiteboarding.

It must have been a holiday or something because the two hotels were totally full. We had two choices for accommodations – either camp with no tent, sleeping bags, or anything or drive back to the large town about 30 miles away. We were over driving the chicken bikes for the day and we really wanted to go kitesurfing in the morning so we opted to camp with no equipment. This turned out to be a bad decision with the strong winds and six hours of thundering rain storms that flooded our makeshift tarp and motorcycle tent. The kiteboarding in the morning was pretty good and just about made up for the terrible night. We were the only ones out there and managed to bring a huge crowd to watch us ride.

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After our session we packed up for the ride to the town of Sierra Grande, located at the start of the desolate plain that is southern Argentina. The next morning, about 20 miles out of town, Mitch suffered a major rear tire blowout. He had a piece of metal and two wooden spines in his tire. We pulled them out and filled the tire back up with goop and started riding again, but we kept having problems with it. We broke our pump about 50 miles from the next town, so Mitch was forced to drive on a flat tire. Running on fumes we made it to a gas station that also did tire repair. They fixed Mitch up and actually remounted my front tire which had been wobbling since Bolivia. Back on the road with good tires and full tanks we ended

the day in a town called Comodoro Rivadavia.

Our next day on the road was short as we ran out of gas – kind of. We were going through full tanks and sometimes using our extra gas cans just to get to the next gas station. On one of these legs we got to the gas station and they were out. We didn’t have enough juice to get to the next town so we were forced to stop for the night. The little town was called Tres Cerros and consists of a gas station, restaurant, and small hotel in the back.

The gas delivery showed up during the night so we were off bright and early to Rio Gallegos. This town is on a tidal river that had absolutely huge tides of 30-40’. They also had some really old train engines from the coal mining days on display. Our next day brought us into Chile across the Strait of Magellan where we made use of all our warm clothes as it was freezing and windy all day.

Our final 300 miles took us back into Argentina and through the mountains to Ushuaia. It was freezing, windy, and raining the whole way! Nobody said this was going to be easy and it wasn’t. The last 100 miles had wind, rain, freezing temperatures, mountains, gravel roads, everything, but we finally made it! The goal we set out to achieve back in Houston had been accomplished with an official distance of just over 12,800 miles from Houston, Texas, to Ushuaia, Argentina, over a year and a half time period.

Once we got into town we started working on trying to find a way to get the chicken bikes home. Even after a trip halfway around the world we still don’t own these bikes (remember, we leased them), so we had to get them back. Flying them back was expensive, but we managed to find a customs broker who had another four motorcycles in a shipping container going back to Miami. The bikes won’t ship for awhile and we’ll have to drive them back to Houston from Miami but its close enough. With that settled I climbed a mountain above the city that was about 4,000’ high, quite high considering there was no trail and I was in cowboy boots and moto gear.

The flights home were all full for another two or three days so we had a chance to hang out in the world’s southernmost city for a few days. The plane ride home felt really short – just four hours to Buenos Aires and another 10 to Houston to cover the distance our little chicken bikes had taken us. Those funky little bikes did a great job and we’re planning to have a celebration in Houston for them when they finally return from their halfworld adventure.

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EXPOSED

BUSTIN’ OUT Niccolo Porcella has been a professional kiteboarder since the 2-line kite days when he was a little pre-teen grom on Maui. A decade later Niccolo’s personality has become much more mellow, but his riding has only become more explosive over the years. Photo John Bilderback

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EXPOSED 62

KEEP IT LOW Nils Wesch scores extra style points for keeping his kite extra low in Kiel, Germany. Photo Lukas Prudky

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EXPOSED

BELOW THE RADAR Billy Parker always seems to be able to keep a low profile between competitions, but his riding style always takes center stage when he hits the water. Spotted here during the REAL Triple-S, Billy is both one of the nicest people you could meet and one of the most aggressive riders out there. Photo Jim Stringfellow

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EXPOSED

THE NEXT GENERATION At only 11 years old, the UK’s Tom Bridge represents a new generation of kiteboarders who have literally grown up around kiteboarding. Photo Florian Panther

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TO THE MOON Photo Enrique Abreu

ALWAYS FULL OF GREAT IDEAS ON HOW TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING, THIS ISSUE LOU WAINMAN MIGHT HAVE JUST THOUGHT OF EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE THE MOST OF UNRIDABLE DAYS ON THE WATER. You’ve been handed this gift of a new sport the and first thing you notice is that your bank account is $3,000 lighter. Next you realize that your schedule has shifted to mimic the predictions of the WindGuru or iKitesurf websites. The game begins on how to afford the time off to ride as much as possible. Over the next few years your knowledge and skills will grow in all conditions and styles of riding. The need to keep things exciting pushes you to ride in waves, snow, at night, or even in conditions so scary that people might think you’re insane. Finally after about five or ten years of this you’ll find yourself wondering, “What’s next?” or, “How can I improve this?”

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Incidentally all along this path you also have to deal with other people. For example at any spot where you choose to lay out your towel and rig your kite stuff, there are for sure the riders around you who need a launch, a light, an FCS key, or who just talk to you for 20 minutes. This can be great but it can also be torture. You never know what you are getting into when you start talking to someone on the beach. Maybe the guy has an electric pump, but he could also be the funniest dude ever or might be somebody you like to listen to. The bottom line is you’ve got to say hi to everybody and in the end we spend about an hour doing this while taking up a lot of space.

In the future things will be much better once all the missing links are discovered. For sure rigging time will decrease and the sport will become even safer, but I think there is something completely new just around the corner. Faster finless boards along with seriously different types of kites for each discipline will emerge along with better harnesses, bars, step-in binding systems, and the incorporation of your smart phone loaded with music attached to some sick waterproof headphones with a microphone.

However, I think there is a huge need for something totally different. It must be a non weather-dependent tool, similar to a standup paddle board but without the hassle of such a large object. It has to be safe, portable, simple, and affordable. Those who cannot afford factory versions of this new piece of gear should be able to build one out of hardware store materials.

The reason we need this new toy is to allow more space for people to breathe and do something fun in a hell of a lot more spots. Kiteboarding is awesome, but we have a need for something that doesn’t require specialized water access, wind, waves, and a valve that doesn’t leak. What we need is a toy anybody on the beach can see, easily pick up, and give a successful try.

What we need is a sleek hydrofoil pogo stick. Until then be safe, be funny, and be happy out there.

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WISH LIST

2. DRYCASE

1. CONTOUR

Scan for the TKB Review

4. GOPRO

3. FCS

5. KURTIS USA, LLC

6. M YSTIC

4. GOPRO WI-FI BACPAC COMBO KIT — Enables full 1. CONTOUR CONTOURROAM WATERSPORTS KIT — Contains everything you need to capture action video including the ContourROAM, Surfboard Mount, and the ContourROAM Waterproof Case. $249.99 www.contour.com

2.

DRYCASE DRYCASE BACKPACK — Keep your stuff nice and dry on downwinders or island crossings. $79.99 www.drycase.com

3.

FCS FCS MISSION PREMIUM — Ergonomically designed,

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surf-focused weekend or overnight backpack. $90 www.surffcs.com

remote control of up to 50 cameras at a time, live preview, playback on smart phones and tablets, and more. $99 www.gopro.com. For the TKB Review, visit www. thekiteboarder.com/2012/06/gopro-wi-fi-bacpac-review or scan the code.

5.

KURTIS USA, LLC ALAIA SERIES ECO-BAMBOO SUNGLASSES — Natural, sustainable, eco-friendly handmade bamboo frames with polarized lenses designed for kitesurfers. $159 www.kurtisusa.com

6.

MYSTIC STAR KITE IMPACT VEST — Works with waist and seat harnesses and offers impact protection and good floatation. $142.95 www.mysticboarding.com

8. PROMOTION WETSUITS

7. LIQUID FORCE

9. ELEMENTAL HERBS

Scan for the TKB Review

10. UNDERWAVE

12. WATERFI

11. WATERFI

7. LIQUID FORCE LUXURY STRAP & PAD — Utilizes a nylon-molded plate designed to provide a ridged connection while allowing the board to retain a natural flex pattern. $159.99 www.liquidforcekites.com

8.

PROMOTION WETSUITS MS LS NEOSKIN TOP — Add a bit of warmth when boardshorts are not enough while cutting wind chill and stopping UV rays. $84 www.wetsuit.com

9.

ELEMENTAL HERBS SUNSCREEN SPORT 30+ — Coral-reef safe, non-greasy, fast-drying, and made with 100% organic ingredients with natural antioxidants to protect your skin. $15.99 www.elementalherbs.com

10. UNDERWAVE IMPERIAL VACUUM HARNESS — Using an air-tight pouch within the shell, the Imperial harness molds to your back when you pump the air out of it, creating a truly customized fit. $269 www.underwave.info. For the TKB Review, visit www.thekiteboarder.com/2012/06/ underwave-imperial-vacuum-harness-review or scan the code.

11.

WATERFI WATERPROOF SHUFFLE — Waterproof from the inside out, no cases needed. Works just like a normal iPod shuffle and is compatible with any regular or waterproof headphones. $134.95 www.waterfi.com

12. WATERFI WATERPROOF 16GB NANO — All the same functionality as the Waterfi Shuffle plus a multi-touch screen, 24-hour battery life, FM radio, watch/clock function, and more. $363 www.waterfi.com

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What does the decision to include kiteboarding in the Olympics mean for kiteboarding instruction?

Photo Toby Bromwich/PKRA

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SO...

WHAT’S NEXT??

By Lydia Snider

Kiteboarding’s recent media attention from the announcement of its inclusion in the 2016 Olympics has increased awareness of and curiosity about the sport among the general public. It has also raised some concerns among kiters.

While some see this as an opportunity to establish a strong economic foundation for the industry, others worry it will ruin the sport with overcrowding. For many it brings new urgency to the debate on instruction. Who’s teaching the newbies? Are they qualified to teach? What makes an instructor qualified?

What do we do about poor instructors?

Currently, there are two kiteboarding instructor certification options in North America. We talked to each about the state of kiteboarding instruction.

A New Direction for IKO

The IKO currently offers the only worldwide kiteboarding instruction certification program.

The organization achieved rapid growth but also gained criticism that it had strayed from its original mission to serve the kiteboarding community and had become too business and money oriented. IKO responded with a major reorganization. Frederic Bene, involved with KISS, the first instructional program offered in the US through Wipika, is now in charge. David Dorn revamped the training department by redesigning the entire program with a new instructor manual, more examiners, video support, more online courses, and more safety directives and theory for continued education of instructors and certified riders. They also reorganized their fee structure to make initial and ongoing certification more affordable. Universal liability insurance for individuals, schools, and instructors is is expected to be completed this summer.

To ensure that people seeking kiteboarding instruction can confidently select a highly qualified instructor, IKO is implementing a new online rating system. It will show each instructor’s number of hours and allow for student reviews and ratings of the instructor. IKO expects to have this system available to the public by the end of summer.

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The training manual overhaul was a collaborative effort started in 2008 with a gathering of IKO instructors and examiners to provide input on what was really happening in the field. In 2011 the new manual was released. During the intervening time, standards, protocols, and procedures were tested and assessed to determine best practices for kiteboarding instruction. David Dorn explains, “The manual isn’t the result of just one guy who knows a lot about kiteboarding. It is the result of the experience of our instructors and examiners worldwide.”

David explained that IKO’s mission is to establish and maintain effective communication between the association and IKO instructors and examiners, making sure necessary changes are made and that all IKO representatives are informed of the standards and protocols.

Since there is enough information, as David puts it, “to fill a phone book,” supplementary courses in specialty areas and courses for instructors’ mandatory CEUs (Continuing Education Points) are now available online, ensuring all instructors have access to the most current information. To build better relationships with the communities it serves, local IKO representatives will be appointed. They will provide information on IKO’s services and resources and will assist IKO in keeping up with emerging trends, needs, and concerns of the kiteboarding communities.

PASA: Communication is Key

Chris Moore of PASA is confident that PASA certified instructors are well prepared to produce well-educated, safe riders. He explained that PASA certification includes a strong emphasis on developing an instructor’s communication skills as well as knowledge of the information. Being a great rider or memorizing the instructor manual does not necessarily mean a person will become a good instructor.

According to the PASA philosophy, a good instructor is a person who not only knows the information, but who also can communicate effectively with students.

PASA recently launched a website that features an instructor rating system where new students can check the qualifications of PASA certified instructors. The system shows each instructor’s level of experience and student reviews of the instructor’s enthusiasm, professionalism, patience, safety, and ability to communicate.

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When asked if there should be one association and system for instruction, the resounding answer from all parties was “Absolutely not.” Each asserted that competition among certification

Some riders fear more media attention will mean more crowds.

Photo Evan Mavridoglou

Photo Suzie Dorn

associations ensures better programs.

A monopoly could lead to complacency or even abuse of power and would result in poor instruction. With multiple associations, each feels the need to continue development of training practices, post-certification accountability of schools and instructors, and follow up support of instructors.

How do we weed out bad instructors?

If PASA and IKO created the perfect certification process would there still be graduates who are poor instructors?

Absolutely. Kiteboarding is no different from any other certification process. There are teachers, doctors, and lawyers who are poor at execution despite high quality training. Likewise there are some people who are poor kiteboarding instructors despite excellent training.

Both PASA and IKO now provide valuable tools for instructor accountability with their online review systems but these tools are only as effective as the input from the community. When you take kiteboarding lessons from an IKO or PASA certified instructor the best way to support improvement of kiteboarding instruction is to take the time to provide feedback for your instructor. It is IKO and PASA’s responsibility to ensure their instructors are properly qualified to teach

kiteboarding. It is the kiting community’s responsibility to direct new riders to the most competent instructors.

Get to know the instructors in your area.

Are they turning out responsible, safe kiters? Are their lessons conducted in a way that is safe for the student, other kiters, and others using the area? Talk to their students about their experience learning from that instructor. Check out your instructor’s IKO or PASA profile and rating. Refer people to the instructor you find is the most competent.

The Kiteboarder Magazine is stepping up their commitment to the safety of our growing community by revamping their online school and retailer listings.

They will now only list schools and shops that have business licenses, have gone through a certification training program, and carry insurance.

What if a certified instructor in your area is missing the mark? Both IKO and PASA encourage the community to report concerns. The only way they can support an instructor in making improvements is if they know there is a problem.

Complaining about an instructor on the beach or on the forums solves nothing.

Let their certification association know your specific concerns.

Professional Kiteboarder Damien LeRoy explained that the IKA will concentrate on designing kiteboarding instruction specifically for the sailing world. It will be primarily focused on instruction from boats as the locations of sailing schools often have limited to no beach access. Instruction will be adapted for riders with extensive experience with sailing other classes of boats. The program will be provided to US sailing clubs and organizations.

Photo Toby Bromwich/PKRA

The certification associations are responding to the demand for more accountability for their instructors but they have absolutely no influence over the guy on the beach teaching without certification, the kiter teaching his buddy, or the person who thinks, “I’ve surfed for years. I’m a great sailor. I’m generally awesome. I’ll teach myself to kite.” The community is the first line of intervention to direct these riders to proper instruction.

I am passionate that new riders learn from certified instructors. I’ve noticed that kiters teaching their buddies tend to tell them random facts. Without a welldesigned instruction plan they usually forget one, two, or ten safety principles and soon we have a major hazard out on the water and on the beach.

I’ve adopted the Homeland Security motto of “If you see something, say something.” Yesterday I talked a guy out of giving lessons to his buddy and connected the student with our local school. Today he was learning with a certified instructor. Had he gone to the “My Buddy’s School of Kiting” he would have been on a full sized kite in mid twenties gusty winds. People who think they can teach themselves often approach me to buy kites. What they end up with is an introduction to our local kiteboarding instructor and a clear understanding of the benefits of lessons from a certified professional.

One of the concerns of some kiters is that with the growing media coverage, overcrowding is bound to occur. Chris Moore of PASA asserts that the issue is not the number of kiters. It is the quality of their instruction on kiting safety and etiquette. Recently there were 100 kiters at one Hatteras launch “the size of a postage stamp” without a single issue.

Chris attributes this to the locals’ strong sense of leadership and ownership of the safety of their beaches and their desire to educate visiting kiters of the wellestablished procedures.

What does being in the Olympics mean for kiteboarding instruction?

With kiteboarding’s inclusion in the Olympics comes a new dynamic in instruction. According to Dan Jasper of the ISAF (the governing body of sailing), the likely result will be unification at the national and international levels and elevation of coaches and instructors to a professional level.

ISAF does not provide training programs. It provides resources for members to create their own sailing training programs. Many emerging countries choose to adopt the ISAF syllabus template, as creating their own would be prohibitively expensive.

Other countries with more established programs select items a la carte to round out their programs. ISAF training materials are available at www.sailing.org/training and materials relating to kiteboarding are expected to be online by summer’s end.

To earn ISAF accreditation, national organizations must demonstrate alignment with safety and training standards.

What this has created in other sailing classes, and what it will likely create for kiteboarding, is a national standard sanctioned by an international standard.

The result is standardization of training.

Jasper was very clear that the ISAF is not creating nor advocating a “one size fits all” training program. What ISAF provides is an international standard. It is up to each nation to determine their best method for achieving that standard.

Dean Brenner is the Chairman of the US Olympic Sailing Committee, which oversees the development and management of the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing program in the US. He emphasized the importance of developing an effective pipeline for instruction, coaching, and skill development for any sailing class that wishes to be competitive at the Olympic level. Olympic athletes represent the tip of the pyramid of talented riders. The broader and stronger the pyramid base the more competitive riders of a particular class will be.

Get Involved

Some riders may be upset that kiteboarding instruction seems to be developing under the umbrella of sailing.

I can hear the chorus crying out “We are not sailors!” My response is that we have to start somewhere. Kiteboarding is in a growth spurt stage and while instructional organizations are making every effort to put effective systems in place to ensure we maintain our strong safety record, they are only half of the solution.

Success and safety through this transition requires leadership and commitment to being part of the solution from the whole kiteboarding community.

About the Author: Before Lydia discovered kiteboarding she had a very respectable career as a special education teacher. When the stress of that job literally started killing her, her kite lines became her life lines. One of her current goals is to help establish a strong economic foundation in the industry and help shift kiteboarding business owners from survival to thrival.

Learn more at www.lydiasnider.com.

Markus Schwendter, Head of the IKA (International Kiteboarding Association) explains that Photo Toby Bromwich/PKRA every sailing class participating in the Olympics needs an association to manage things such as running competitions to give athletes the opportunity to develop world-class skills and ensuring proper training information is available. The IKA has stepped up to fill this role for kiteboarding’s Olympic bid.

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15 MINUTES Get your 15 minutes of fame and a chance to win some killer swag by submitting your photos to editor@thekiteboarder.com.

Shaper Gabriel Loyd at Pismo Beach. Photo Aaron Loyd

Dentist Eric Vanek finds some water time after a long day of cleaning teeth.

Photo Paul Lang

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Florida’s Jeremy Lund had to get used to riding in a wetsuit on his first kiteboarding trip to California. Photo Paul Lang Scott Edwards going big during the 2012 Liquid Militia Team Weekend.

Photo Ronny Mac

Kristi Pahklimagi cruises the blue Caribbean water in Cabarete. Photo Lauren Bowcutt

Ryan “Toast” Toaspern is known for going big on Maui. Photo Tom Briggs

Teddy Lyons getting vertical in Ventura, California. Photo Paul Lang

Minutes after this photo was taken, Zach Goepel’s board snapped completely in half. Photo Paul Lang

Fletcher Chouinard is lucky enough to work down the street from this. Photo Paul Lang

Victor Sellinger on the Central California Coast. Photo Aaron Loyd

Tommy Fields spotted near Assateague, Maryland. Photo Ivan Zorn

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ROOTS Words by Ken Winner | Photo courtesy North Kiteboarding

This photo shows the 2001 North Rhino in both two-line and four-line mode. It was widely thought at the time that two-line kites were preferable for beginners, owing to the simplicity of two lines vs. four. Obviously, thinking on that subject quickly changed and two-line kites quickly became obsolete for all users.

The kites were able to fly on two lines because of a two-line bridle I designed.

Functionally it was similar to the two-line bridles commonly found on other kites, but it worked with the attachment points found on all four-line kites. For a short time some brands offered both two-line and four-line kites. We only offered fourline kites that could be converted to two-line if desired.

For more about the history of North Kiteboarding, be sure to check out the book TRUE: 10 Years of North Kiteboarding. Learn more at http://northkites.com

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RideR: Jan marcos riveras/nico Franco/tom bridge_PicS: Ludovic Franco/FLorian Panther

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