The Kiteboarder Magazine Vol. 17, No. 2 by The Kiteboarder Magazine

THE GREAT ESCAPE Skipping The Pandemic

VARIGREAT RESURFACES THE ESCAPE fa Illnedsc s ic SkTh ipepS inegcrTehteoP eam

MATCHU LOPES Master of the Backside

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FROM THE EDITOR

In my lifetime, kiteboarding has always been in stable supply without interruption. That was until the infamous year of 2020 rolled into town. So far, the first year of the new decade has thrown two massive monkey wrenches

into my kiteboarding calendar. The first disruption to my steadily scheduled kite sessions was Covid-19. But since the US chose a flavor of lockdown-

light, for us here in Santa Cruz, the pandemic-inspired hiatus was short and bizarre but little more than an inconvenience.

The second great interruption of 2020 was California’s record-setting lightning

strikes. In the wee hours of a hot and humid August morning, I watched an

unprecedented lightning storm send hundreds of multi gigawatt strikes to the surrounding hills, lighting a good portion of California’s coastal mountains N E O P R E N E

on fire, including my beloved Waddell Creek. Typically, during the heat of magazine production cycles, I don’t get as much water time as an addict of

my caliber would like, but while these pages were penned and assembled, I was busy putting out fires (literally, with a 500-gallon water tank and 50-feet

of fire hose). Having chosen to stay with my home just north of Waddell, I spent two weeks pouring diesel into generators, pumping water out of

swimming pools, hosing down burning trees and using whatever means available (chainsaw, tow-straps, pickups and tractors) to clear excess fuel from

neighboring structures. So, if you happen to catch one of those pesky and

superfluous oxford commas creeping into this issue or any other assortment

of grammar faux pas, you can chalk it up to sleep deprivation and delirium. What did I learn from this fiery mess? Having chosen to evacuate my

kites but not myself, I learned one should never separate from your kite

Seafarer.

equipment—even in a wildfire. No matter the natural emergency, there will

always be time for a quick session, even when you are surrounded by fiery hotspots, there’s time for the ocean.

North & Central American Distr. - Bay Area Kitesurf - www.bayareakitesurf.com

In winter, we’re inseparable. Often out of sight but never far away, I am always prepared to accompany you. I’m thinner in summer, but when autumn comes, you don’t mind my extra thickness. Just a whiff of me sparks memories of our past, as well as dreams of our future. Between the ocean and you, there is only me. Without you, I’m no more than a piece of neoprene. Without me, you would be compelled to spend all winter ashore.

other non-natural disasters (think Mauritius with its recent oil spill), but the impact and suffering has never felt this tangible. To have survived a wildfire

of unimaginable ferocity and watch close kitesurfing friends on the North

Coast lose their houses is heartbreaking. Yet, when I think about the qualities inherent in the kiteboarding gene pool—there’s a certain DNA common to us all, a relentless spirit to swim upstream, against the current and endure

a water-boarding-like learning process. This common code of perseverance sheds hope that these waypoints of misfortune are just that—incredibly sour

doses of heartbreak with an extra pass of 100-grit sandpaper that delivers us

to the next chapter of our adventure with much tougher skin and a greater

When you are at sea, nothing is more essential than me.

appreciation for what we have.

D i s co v e r t h e n e w S E A FA R E R w e t s u i t o n m a n e ra . co m . S T A Y

I’ve watched as other kite destinations suffered hurricanes, tsunamis and

S A L T Y

PC: RYAN OSMOND

L E A R N M O R E AT S L I N G S H O T S P O R T S . C O M

The Secret of Illescas

Reo Stevens visits old friend, Martin Vari, to discover a long-held secret wave locked into preservation no matter what the civilized world throws at it.

From the Editor

Frontside

Profile:

Matchu Lopes

The quiet unstoppable force behind Matchu; from Santa Maria to the world stage, conquering competition, monster slabs and the secret to keeping it simple.

Kite Racing’s New Formula

A conversation with Théo de Ramecourt about the international racing scene and Flysurfer’s long bet on completely new airframe technology for course racing.

The Great Escape

When the second wave of Australia’s pandemic was about to break out from the traveler’s quarantine hotels, Ewan Jaspan dodged right, jumped Melbourne’s lockdown border and headed north into Queensland to save his kiteboarding season.

The Shakedown

Matt Maxwell

Exposed

Method

Steven Akkersdijk’s around the world

112

Wish List

114

Viewpoint

104

116

Behind Buddha’s Eyes

Profile:

Dedicated to iterative improvements

With the veil lifted behind the recent rumblings of change at Cabrinha, we discover a leaner, more agile team is set up to carry the brand forward with legendary watermen at the control stick.

Matthias Larsen explores the cross-cultural connections between kiteboarding and Buddhism in the historic district of Hua Hin, Thailand.

Michelle Gabriel

Best deadman in the west

From Freakin’ Out to Foilin’ Freak

Roots

20 Years of Liquid Force Kiteboarding

118

On the Map

120

Parting Shot

22 104 38 66 94 82 On the Cover

Jack Reider performs a perfect wall ride on a towering root ball. Squamishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wintertime storm surge always brings unexpected jib hits for the summer. // Photo Chris Rollett

THE GREAT ESCAPE Skipping The Pandemic

VARIGREAT RESURFACES THE ESCAPE fa Illnedsc s ic SkTh ipepS inegcrTehteoP eam

MATCHU LOPES Master of the Backside

Send It With Blackbeard

Teach’s Kiteboarding North Carolina’s Crystal Coast

Marina Chang, Publisher marina@thekiteboarder.com Brendan Richards, Editor in Chief brendan@thekiteboarder.com

Blackbeard chose these waters and our Barrier Islands for its ever-changing sandbars and strong winds to keep other pirates away. Our treasure and his lie hidden here.

India Stephenson, Designer/Editor india@thekiteboarder.com Alexis Rovira, Editor at Large alexis@thekiteboarder.com Gary Martin, Tkb Ambassador gary@thekiteboarder.com CONTRIBUTORS Reo Stevens, Ewan Jaspan, Steven Akkersdijk, Matthias Larsen, Paul ‘Pablo’ Martin, Gregg ‘Tekko’ Gnecco PHOTOGRAPHERS Chris Rollett, Ywder van der Heide, Matt Georges, Juan de Heeckeren, Martin Vari, Toby Bromwich, Alex Schwarz, Kurt Gabriel, Dave Maxwell, Debbie Jean Hollomon, Kyle Cabano, Frankie Bees, Alexander Lewis-Hughes, Lars Stenveld, James Boulding, Isabella Kiefer, Victor Deweerdt, Patrick Jacobs, James Haining, Vincent Bergeron, Juli Pereyra Visit us at: thekiteboarder.com twitter.com/the_kiteboarder • facebook.com/thekiteboardermagazine ADMINISTRATIVE/ADVERTISING OFFICE 1356 16th Street, Los Osos, CA 93402 805.459.2373

Miles of undiscovered kiting territory 5-star spots and instruction. Our instuctors are professionally licensed, CPR certiﬁed, carry Captain’s Licenses and PASA certiﬁcations.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS orders@thekiteboarder.com • store.thekiteboarder.com | 805.459.2373 Have you got an idea for an article you would like to see in The Kiteboarder Magazine? Send your submission to: editor@thekiteboarder.com © 2020 Boardsports Media LLC. All rights reserved. PROUDLY PRINTED IN THE USA

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FRONTSIDE

Graham Howes sends his Orbit into a spicy mega loop between the gap in Cape Town. Photographer Ydwer van der Heide corrals light, terrain and fleeting athleticism into one single-framed concerto of perfection. // Photo Ydwer van der Heide

FRONTSIDE

Layne Mullard could be airing off a pool coping with a styled-out handplant in an abandoned San Fernando valley swimming pool, but just as impressive are the rest of his photos from this Squamish jib session. // Photo Chris Rolett

FRONTSIDE

The island of Corsica offers spectacular backdrops and endless opportunities for perfect foil conditions. Kitefoiling is often not so much about what you can do, but what you get to see. Paul Serin explores new landscapes with the ultimate all-terrain vehicle. // Photo Matt Georges

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Words by Reo Stevens | Photos by Juan de Heeckeren

There’s a 15-year secret unwinding in the northwest corner of Peru. Amongst coastal desert scrub with flocks of condors circling overhead and one of South America’s largest sea lion colonies packing the beaches, there’s a little-known wave capable of unloading its southern hemi energy in a quarter-mile breathless taper along the dry, sandstone cliffs of a federally protected ecological reserve. Like any valuable resource, the challenge is how to avoid the inevitable race to the bottom when so many want a piece of the action. Having visited Peru back in 2009 during the heyday of kitesurfing discoveries in this region, world-class waves like Lobitos were practically empty with no one around. Back then wave after wave went unridden, but 10 years later the exploitive power of the internet and social media have spawned small surf villages dotted with hostels and guiding services that have filled those once empty lineups with packs of surfers and kitesurfers fighting for waves. Northern Peru, once a frontier, has become the crowded surf destination that, these days, I spend my time avoiding.

ver the years, I had heard rumors of other waves tucked off the map a few hours south, but last year I received a coded message from my old friend, Martin Vari, which suggested there was some kind of truth to the whispers. After almost a decade out of the kite industry limelight, Martin called me up and invited me back to Peru, specifically to a new surf lodge located on a natural reserve on the southern end of Peru’s northwest surf knob. It didn’t take much more than an email with a forecast link along with a few teaser photos to persuade me to book a ticket to inspect Martin’s unknown treasure. My flight from Hawaii landed in the small but modern airport of Piura, where I met up with Chilean photographer Juan de Heeckeren. We loaded up the surf lodge’s 4x4 for the two-anda-half-hour drive to the reserve. The final approach takes you down a winding road through the desert to an arroyo that dumps you out on the beach for the final half-mile sprint to the Punta Luna Surf Lodge. We arrived early afternoon and although the swell had yet to show up, the wind was filled in to 20 knots. The wind blows throughout the year, but the Punta Luna surf season is between 24

April and October when the southern hemisphere swells take aim directly at the point. The wind is pretty reliable as it is a thermal-generated wind based off the cold Humboldt current in the water and sun-heated land. The air temperature throughout the year is warm, but the water is a bit brisk; the majority of people opt for a 3/2mm wetsuit, but I found myself toasty in a spring suit. The wind starts the day offshore, which is ideal for morning surf or foilsurfing sessions and then clocks to sideoffshore starting around midday where the average day shapes up for ideal 9m kitesurfing conditions. It had been a few years since Martin and I had spent any significant amount of time with each other. We had known one another since the early days of kiting on Oahu where he was attending university while simultaneously traveling and winning the 2001 and 2003 PKRA world freestyle titles. Martin is one of the athletes largely credited for changing the direction of the freestyle tour by bringing technical handlepasses to heats that were formerly dominated by big air dangle/board offs. In the years following the PKRA tour, Martin traveled the world looking for the best kitesurfing breaks and started the Vari kite company before setting up a legal marijuana grow operation in Uruguay, yet of all his adventures, the surf lodge seems to be the most meaningful venture so far.

LEFT: Scratching for daylight in the middle section, Reo demonstrates the world-class performance of Punta Lunaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wave unraveling over a perfect quarter-mile racetrack. RIGHT: Having brought a full quiver, Reo could have saved himself the trouble, followed Variâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local advice and just brought a 9m.

Martin was eager to take me on a tour of the reserve to show me the land and the species the reserve is attempting to protect and preserve. Our morning stroll turned into hours of hiking, catching up and scrambling over rocks and along arroyos. Martin explained how Punta Luna’s initial discovery is attributed to Peruvian surf legend, Fernando ‘Wawa’ Paraud. As a big wave surfing champion and early pioneer of kitesurfing in Peru, Wawa was known for his warm and hard-charging spirit and established a reputation as an authentic waterman by every definition. Wawa moved from Lima to the remote surf town of Mancora at the age of 18 and began serving the fish he speared himself in a small restaurant that he built into a hotel. His original hotel, ‘Del Wawa,’ still exists at Mancora’s premiere peak today. Wawa’s intense spirit of adventure and exploration eventually brought him to the wave he called Punta Luna, but he kept this treasure a secret for many years, telling only those closest to him of its existence. He studied the area, its surroundings, the wave and how its environment behaved during each swell. This was about the time that Martin departed the freestyle tour and began traveling the world turning the focus of his Space Monkeys movies towards surfing waves. Martin first connected with Wawa through the other members of the Space Monkeys crew; Jeff Tobias, Ben Wilson and photographer John Bilderback had spent some time with Wawa traveling and kiting together in other parts of Peru. Somewhere around 2005, Martin reached out to Wawa about putting together another kitesurfing trip to Peru and Wawa offered to line up the government permits to access the Illescas Peninsula and camp in the relatively unknown. Martin, Jeff Tobias, Bertrand Fleury and John Bilderback followed Wawa to Punta Luna, but despite Bilderback being on that trip, the photographic proof was never published. For over 15 years the group kept this area secret and the beauty of Punta Luna never lost its awe to any of them.

TOP LEFT: Martin Vari carries the torch for Illescas Reserve, opening the lodge to small groups while ensuring that Wawa’s vision of preservation carries on. MIDDLE LEFT: Tucked in an arroyo off the point’s wind-scoured headland, the Punta Luna Surf Lodge is somewhat sheltered from the relentless side-offshore southerly wind. Photo courtesy of Martin Vari BOTTOM LEFT: The late Fernando ‘Wawa’ Paraud, captured with his dogs, long-settled into a simple but dedicated life of preservation on the Illescas Peninsula. // Photo courtesy of Martin Vari

Early on, as numbers in local species began to dwindle, Wawa began to notice the negative impacts of poaching and illegal fishing. Fixated on the Andean condors, Wawa began documenting the wildlife declines and in 2011, convinced the Peruvian government to designate all of the 96,800 acres of the Illescas Peninsula as a nationally-protected area. Wawa began to do the policing of the area himself, funding the reserve’s staff personally. His plan was to build an environmentally sustainable surf lodge that would provide resources to continue the preservation work. With the government’s permission, Wawa began building the small-scale eco-tourism lodge he had dreamed of, however, during the construction Wawa slowly started changing his mindset. The

TOP RIGHT: Slashing a committed backside off the lip, Martin spends the bulk of his time managing the lodge and studying every nook and cranny of the wave out front. BOTTOM RIGHT: Reo makes a quick study of Lunaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s break, dialing in the minute details of various sections and tuning the artful mix of speed, lines of approach and the limits of what is possible.

Reo thrusting a powerful bucket slash, demonstrates the subtle yet real difference between kitesurfing and surfing with a kite. Punta Luna is the real McCoy and demands the latter.

TOP: The beach that Punta Luna breaks along is hard-packed sand offering a number of different sections to suit varying swell sizes. Reo on the nose as the swell tapers. BOTTOM: If someone were to show you a few photos of the area, you might mistake the dry marine terrace for a desolate strip void of wildlife. However, the ecosystem is filled with Andean condors, vultures, penguins, pink flamingos, foxes and one of largest colonies of sea lions in South America. RIGHT: Martin Vari charging down the line behind the bend in the wall; it takes a few a days to get the hang of the wave, but according to Reo, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got a little something for everyone.

catch-22 of eco-tourism is that you’re trying to fund ecosystem conservation while bringing people to the land. Injecting humans into an ecosystem brings inevitable changes and the great fear is that once you’ve opened the door to the world, if it goes awry, it’s very hard to close the door once again. Yet, at the same time, secrecy is a weak mechanism for protecting resources in this increasingly connected and digital world we live in. Wawa spent the majority of his time out there working as a ranger to personally fund the upkeep and cost of running the reserve while continuing to observe and study the wildlife populations, however, in 2012, he had a tragic accident that lead to his death. Wawa’s passing left everyone that knew him in shock and the lodge project stalled for some time. Two of the workers who had helped build the lodge and were considered close family to Wawa, decided to stay and continue to patrol the area. Shortly after Wawa’s death, Martin stepped up and began helping however he could, covering the expenses of the house, the salary and food of the rangers, as well as all of the maintenance. Martin describes those as “tough years that took a lot of time and effort to put things together,” but eventually Wawa’s original vision was opened to seven opportune guests at a time. To this day, the reserve is private and you must stay at the lodge to legally access the area, which means beyond the benefits of experiencing the nature of Illesca’s vast undisturbed coast, you’ll never be kiting with more than a crowd of eight (you can’t forget to count Martin). Standing on the second story of the stick-framed lodge, Martin is eager to explain how the wave lines up. I’m dumbfounded as he points out the wave’s peak starting off a rocky point upwind of the lodge and describes its steady mid-section as it bends into the bay. If I had to guess, it’s a good quarter-mile run to the closeout section. Later that day, the predicted swell still had not arrived, so I ended up spending my first session on the water picking my way through waist-high scrappy sections, but as the south swell filled in on day two, I began to really understand how the break worked. The other kitesurfing waves in Peru are known for being long, but they tend to be a bit mushy, however, Punta Luna is not only long, but it’s also fast with steep sections. The length of the wave can be fun for an average rider to make casual turns on the shoulder, but there are long sections that are also challenging for a skilled surfer. The side-offshore wind angle allows you to park your kite which is key to maintaining enough down-the-line speed to keep up with the pace of the wave. Right off the bat, I was struck by the rate at which the wave broke and that it was the first wave I’ve kited that required as many surfing skills as kite flying

Watching perfection unload in front of the lodge is almost as satisfying as dropping in yourself.

TOP: According to Reo, every day he awoke to glassy surf with a wind line forming out the back by noon and quickly filling in for perfect kite conditions until 5pm. BOTTOM: Illesca is a wind machine; when the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and when the clouds keep things calm, there is foilsurfing and tow-ins to keep guests busy. RIGHT: Reo setting up for a barrel section, stalling with one hand in the wall as the wave prepares to go hollow over a shallow section.

skills. The break’s speed allows you to perform basic turns going up and down the wave’s face, however when you want to start performing aggressive top to bottom turns in the critical part of the wave, you run the risk of the wave outrunning you. Even fully powered up, it’s hard to use the kite to correct a mistake and pull yourself back into position. I had to plan my turns, tailoring each one to fit the various sections of the wave. At some points, you have to use some surfing skills to pump your board down the line to generate speed and stay in the section. As one of the most surf-oriented waves I have ridden, at times it felt more like surfing with a kite rather than kitesurfing. It took a full day to get to know the wave and how to ride it. I spent several hours on the water at a time figuring out the best approaches to the wave, and each day I came in with red eyes and sunburned lips—not a good combo in a country that likes its spices. Seeing Wawa’s vision in reality and experiencing the unique power of the wave, I began to experience remorse about bringing a photographer and talking plans for instructional clinics. Martin could feel my hesitation but reassured me Punta Luna’s discovery was a good thing, and that sharing its story will only help to preserve the ecology and Wawa’s memory of the place. The lodge is not only host to tourists, but houses two national rangers and supports two lodge staff members who also work as voluntary park rangers. Wawa’s mission is hitting its stride with substantial success in local wildlife recovery and curbing illegal fishing. The Punta Luna Surf Lodge not only educates its limited number of guests, but most importantly, it uses its proceeds to ensure the reserve’s continued monitoring and policing efforts. Throughout my week at Punta Luna, the swell built to easily double overhead and then dwindled back down to about waist high—all of which were fun to ride. We kited, surfed, towsurfed, foiled and finished each evening around the table with pisco sours and a good laugh. I spent the week at Punta Luna trading waves with Martin and a few other members of his family, quickly realizing why this place was so special to those who know it. There are not that many waves in the world that are this good yet unoccupied, and with the eco-tourism model balancing ecological conservation against the human experience, the Illescas Peninsula no longer needs to remain a secret in order to sustain its beauty and ensure its protection.

PHOTOGRAPHER: YDW ER VAN DE HEI DE

Like a moth to a flame, we must go. It Calls. NORTHKB.COM

Matchu lopes Almeida Words by Brendan Richards Photos by Toby Bromwich

very year Matchu Lopes receives a letter. It travels all the way from Belgium to his home on the windswept island of Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa. Inside the envelope is a heartfelt reminder from a fateful day in Mauritius when the kitesurfing champion’s path crossed with that of a young Belgian family in the outer waters of Mauritius’ famed One Eye. A fishing charter gone wrong in double overhead surf, a mother and father with two small kids were thrown into a closed-out channel. Matchu, along with the Duotone photo team, helped save the family from certain death. From his surfboard, Matchu grabbed a hold of the family’s young son, dove with him under the monster sets and returned the youngster to the safety of the Duotone support boat. On the water and in the magazines, Matchu is known for his trademark backside kitesurfing that brings both incredible levels of precision and intensity to riding waves of consequence. However, Philipp Becker, Duotone’s Marketing Manager, highlights Matchu’s special place on the team, not only as a world champion and top team rider, but as an all-around waterman that has carefully considered what he wants to achieve and will work hard toward his goals, no matter what injuries, unlucky heats and other setbacks come his way. Matchu is an understated legend, both humble and good-natured with a laidback personality that has capably traversed the gap between his small town of Santa Maria and kiteboarding’s world stage.

LEFT: Geared for travel, Matchu spends three-quarters of his year on the road chasing swells, the tour and his dreams, all with the help of a pink neck pillow. UPPER RIGHT: After a sketchy first experience with kiteboarding’s prehistoric 2-line kites, Matchu hastily retreated back to windsurfing. LOWER RIGHT: Caught in the moment, Matchu celebrates an epic wave at Skeleton Bay and a landmark session in kiteboarding history.

atchu grew up bodyboarding and surfing as a young kid, craftily spending as much time at the beach as possible. From an early age, he was connected to lifelong friend and now teammate, Airton Cozzolino. When Matchu was about 10, he tried kiting with a 2-line kite, but at the time, kiteboarding seemed dangerous, unpredictable and crazy. He remembers getting dragged down the beach, tangling lines and losing the kite, and because of that, he stayed focused on windsurfing for a few more years. His turning point was the 2007 PWA Cape Verde windsurfing contest. Matchu had been training with windsurfing legend Josh Angulo, but despite his aspirations, he was not accepted into the event. In hindsight, Matchu considers his rejection a lucky thing; the waves were massive and as a thirteen-year-old, he would have been way over his head. After the PWA let down, Matchu returned to kiteboarding with the help of Libero Cozzolino, an Italian who spent his winters on Cape Verde teaching kite lessons.

Libero started out as a father figure to Airton and eventually became Airton’s adopted dad, but he was a huge influence on both of the boys. Libero gave Matchu and Airton jobs teaching people on the beach—basic stuff like launching and landing and helping out around his kite school. Matchu began making some money to help out at home with the cost of food and his schooling, but it was hard work and the days were long. Every day, Matchu and Airton would go kiting in the morning, then they’d teach some lessons and steal another kite session before teaching a second round of students. When the sun had set, Matchu would hustle to school from 6pm to 11pm. Matchu remembers struggling to stay awake in his classes at the end of those long days, but the inseparable bond between Airton, Matchu and kiteboarding was cemented in those years. At the resort next door, Mitu Monteiro was teaching kiting and was already on his path as a professional kiteboarder. Mitu was about 10 years older, and by that time, he was traveling around the world, sponsored by F-One and was about two years away from his first world championship. Mitu was Matchu’s idol in surfing as well as kitesurfing, and whenever Mitu was on the water, Matchu and Airton were never far away. Matchu still remembers those first moments riding together; Mitu would teach them how to trim their bars or explain where to place their kites during a turn on a wave. “Mitu was like a big brother; he taught us about life around the island, but more importantly, he taught us how we should go about chasing our dreams.”

UPPER SEQUENCE: At a time when many tour riders were trying to approach every wave frontside, Matchu single-mindedly focused on honing his backside game with fearless vertical snaps and floaters of consequence.

When Matchu was 17-years-old, he left the island for the first time, traveling with Libero and Airton to the Capo de Capo contest in Sardinia, Italy. It was here that Libero introduced Matchu to Marco Baiocchi, the Duotone importer for Italy. Marco had a lot of influence in the formation of the Duotone team and began watching Matchu’s progression. Matchu got second right behind Airton at the Sardinia contest which turned out to be the beginning of Matchu’s career with Duotone, this year being his 10th anniversary. Baiocchi became an incredibly important mentor in Matchu’s career, helping him navigate the challenges of competing on the tour, working with media and making professional decisions. Matchu recalls Baiocchi believing in him very early on— his guidance and solid grip of discipline and direction helped Matchu focus on a clean line that took him from the beaches of Cape Verde to the international tour. Matchu recollects that somewhere around 2014, when a lot of the riders on the KSP tour were riding switch stance instead of surfing backside, Baiocchi commented on Matchu’s efforts to try to do the same. Riders like Keahi de Aboitiz were succeeding in riding both left and righthanded waves on the tour stops by facing the wave. Having watched Matchu’s season, Baiocchi thought riding switch was wrong for Matchu and encouraged him to stay true to his natural surf stance and attack right-handed waves backside. Taking the recommendation to heart, Matchu began binging on endless surf videos, talking to

legends like Mitu and devoting his entire winter to dialing in his trademark strength in backside riding. Later that year, Matchu returned to the tour with an excellent command of the backside hack, and to this day, has one of the most aggressive backside approaches to wave riding that conveys both consistency and style. When asked about the biggest influence in his progression, Matchu likes to point to surfers like Rob Machado and Mick Fanning. Since Matchu was always skinny with a long afro, growing up, people used to say “hey, you look like Machado” and the Californian’s laidback personality seemed to resonate with Matchu. From inside the kitesurfing industry, Matchu studied Ben Wilson’s approach, but by far, one of his biggest influences was Mitu Monteiro, not just for his athleticism on the water, but because of Mitu’s nearuniversal respect across the industry. Mitu seemed to speak just about any language and demonstrated an uncanny ability to converse with anyone that came to the island. From an early point, Mitu’s personal successes helped Matchu see that kitesurfing was about more than just sponsorship, fame and travel, but a way to connect with people and realize his broader dreams. From Matchu’s first job teaching kiting at a Cape Verde resort to the multicultural connections he’s made traveling the world, he’s mastered at least six different languages, allowing him to speak with tourists from all over the world and connect with people beyond his native Portuguese language barrier.

Inspired by Machado and Fanning, Matchuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early pedigree of bodyboarding, shortboard surfing and windsurfing all come together in a definitive kitesurfing style of power, finesse and precision.

When it comes to Matchu’s greatest kitesurfing accomplishments, he never really aimed to be a world champion, but in his first couple of years on the tour, he pushed hard to prove himself. While he claimed the GKA surf title in 2016, relatively early in his career, he considers it a bit of luck to have reached that goal so soon. Matchu comes from a fairly complex reality; there aren’t a lot of opportunities available to most of the young boys in his town of Santa Maria. Growing up, Matchu’s dad ran a small bar that sold Reggae Rum and cigarettes, but with humble means, the family had very little in terms of material wealth. To be one of the top riders for one of the biggest brands in the kite industry, and to travel the world for contests and photoshoots is a massive success for Matchu. Along with the culmination of hard work and seized opportunities, Matchu accredits his successes to his dad’s gift of freedom. From a young age, his father let him chase the joy inherent in surfing and follow his heart. With humble roots, Matchu prides himself on savoring the simple life, yet his success in the kiteboarding industry has allowed him to purchase a house for his family and invest in rental units for their future. While the kiteboarding world gets to see Matchu’s fiercely competitive nature on the water as he spars with the world’s best kitesurfers, those who know Matchu can attest to his softer side. Duotone’s Philipp Becker recalls launching Matchu at a GKA event in Tarifa, only to see a disturbing look on Matchu’s face. Nervous and full of performance anxiety, Matchu was on the verge of throwing up. Phillip landed his kite,

walked him back behind a dumpster and the two practiced some deep breathing. After a moment, they started laughing and Matchu went into his heat with the mindset to win. Some world champions approach their craft with unflinching confidence and bluster, but for an athlete like Matchu, he seems to take a more cautious approach that uses calculation and pure heart to lead to strong outcomes. When asked about his favorite places in the world, Matchu highlights the Marshall Islands, a recent trip to Namibia and the long barrels of Fiji, but then turns his attention to the wave in his backyard. “It’s the best right-hander slot of my life. It’s the kind of wave that’s right in front of your eyes, but you don’t know it is there—it’s like a monster hiding in plain sight.” Matchu recalls hearing about this wave as far back as his days before kiting when he was surfing and windsurfing, but the whispers of its existence have always come with tales of extreme caution.

UPPER LEFT: With the guidance of Libero Cozzolino and Marco Baiocchi, Matchu snagged a spot on the Duotone team and never stopped working hard. This year he celebrates his 10th anniversary with Duotone. RIGHT: Matchu in pre-session mode, always with the earphones. LOWER LEFT: Every athlete dreams of perfect head high side-off tour conditions, but Matchu is the kind of versatile realist that can make ankle slop strapless look good.

As Matchu’s kitesurfing career took off and he began traveling the world, his attention shifted abroad and he never spoke about the wave in his backyard. The idea of pulling into this wave with a kite was intimidating, yet a very attractive force. When he was home, he would check it out with his friends, but it was never perfect. His friends would say “today is not so good,” and they would find a reason to move on to another spot. The wave has a history of hitting hard; Matchu remembers stories of windsurfer Josh Angulo getting a solid beating and there are other accounts from professional big wave surfers who traveled across the world only to discover its ugly side. To kitesurf this wave you need proper boat support, and while Matchu’s interest has been a mixture of awe, curiosity and terror, this last year he decided to chase it. When the season started lining up and a swell was in the forecast, Matchu invited Keahi de Aboitiz to tackle the slot with him. According to Matchu, “Keahi was just the right person to go with. He is the best barrel rider we have in the industry,” and when Keahi first saw the wave, he was pumped. It was triple overhead, big and gnarly, and Matchu recalls being scared out of his mind, shaking with nerves as he took tacks back and forth, watching the wave hit the shallow ledge and heave out a hollow cavern with bone-snapping speed and power. “If Keahi wasn’t there I wouldn’t do it. Sure I set it up and wanted it, but if I was on my own, I probably wouldn’t do it.”

“ it was like he was laughing at the monster.

They had a boat for backup and photos, and Matchu remembers the look on Keahi’s face as they tracked waves rearing up over the shallow bottom, trying to decide which was the proper direction and size for their first ride. Keahi seemed nervous, “like he was out of his comfort zone, but at the same time he was laughing; it was like he was laughing at the monster,” says Matchu. Matchu kited over to the boat to get a sense of what the boat driver was seeing, and they watched Keahi line up his first barrel, successfully tucking into the pit and accelerating out onto the thick shoulder. Matchu took a deep breath and followed the next set wave into the cavern. With his fears put in check, the next couple of hours were blurred with the most intense barrel rides of his life. Threading the needle through the monster’s gaping slab turned out to be highly addictive.

”

Deeply pitted in the secret slab beyond his backdoor, Matchu tries to tame the long-feared beast of his childhood. With the help of Keahi, Matchu unlocks the door to one of his favorite right-handers hiding in plain sight.

Matchu likes the adrenaline of competition, but when he rides waves all he wants is the feel of surfing, with criticality, smooth style and fun. If he’s not having fun, he’s not riding his way.

In the months that followed, Matchu has returned to his backyard wave with other friends, but they don’t seem to want any part of it. The few waves he’s dared to ride solo feel too sketchy without boat support, but that hasn’t slowed his obsession for this beast. The adrenaline of riding landmark swells unloading over perfect bathymetry has provided another dimension to Matchu’s career. Having located the perfect right barrel, Matchu now has his eye on another spot, a little-known left-hander hiding on another Cape Verde island. The hunt for perfect waves is now firmly in his blood.

With the lockdowns of this year’s pandemic, the 2020 tour season is anything but settled with only the Cape Verde event in March completed. Matchu currently stands in second place with future events in question. Now that travel bans have been lifted over the summer, Matchu is back on the road, traveling across Europe and planning an October wave clinic in Mauritius. With a laidback approach, Matchu is taking it day by day, and keeping to a simple equation: “All I need is time on the water, some good food to eat and my family’s health.”

Kite Racing’s

New Formula INTERVIEW BY BRENDAN RICHARDS | PHOTOS BY ALEX SCHWARZ Fresh off his win on the Hydrofoil Pro Tour and currently sitting at the top of the world sailing ranking, Northern France’s Théo de Ramecourt has been taking the kite racing world by storm. Théo has three French championship titles under his belt and is gearing up for the 2024 Olympic Games. We caught up with him just before the European Championships in Puck, Poland.

Growing up in the birthplace of foilkite racing, ThĂŠo was at the right place and right time. He had access to early foils from small backyard carbon shops like Taraooa that were building custom foil wings for the point to point distance races that cropped up in France.

A LOT OF KITEFOIL RACERS HERE IN NORTH AMERICA ARE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME ON WINGS. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR WINGRACING? I think wingsurfing is great tool for the windsports world. Everywhere on the planet you have big chop and windswell and wingsurfing turns that chop into a playground. It’s both technical and really fun. For sure there will be racing with the wing; it could be really popular because it’s much more accessible compared to formula kite racing. You don’t need much experience to race around a buoy, so it’s probably safer for the riders and organizers and may be a great vehicle for growing the racing spirit. At this point I wouldn’t swap kite racing for wing racing because the kite allows you so much more speed and the limits on that haven’t been reached yet. The wing is much slower, so from a performance perspective, it’s much less interesting to me at the moment. HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY INTO KITESURFING AND RACING? I grew up in Cayeux-sur-Mer, a small town in the north of France and my father had always been involved in watersports. Before kitesurfing, he was windsurfing, and I grew up sailing and then learned a bit of windsurfing. When depower kites appeared, I tried one with a friend of mine around 2009. Cayeux is located on the English Channel and the conditions are tough; you have passing pressure systems and rough water so it wasn’t the easiest place to learn, but from the moment I touched the kite, I was addicted. A couple years into kiting, there was a speed crossing event and I decided to compete with a friend of mine. The competitive side of the sport was really engaging for me, and I got a courseboard and started racing. When the custom foil shops like Taroaa started building the new foils we started doing foil crossing events. The evolution was so fast. Back then, the foil development was happening in small shops, but at every event the wings were improving. At first, foilboarding was something I was doing on the side of courseboard racing, but then foiling became the official racing format. After a couple of years, I got the opportunity to move to the south of France to participate in a sports study program. That allowed me to be close to a great training spot and set me up to begin winning the French championships.

THE EVOLUTION WAS SO FAST. AT EVERY EVENT, THE WINGS WERE IMPROVING. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN RACING SCENE? From the start, foil racing in France has been focused on foil crossing events. The only short course buoy racing happens on the international racing team. The crossings were key to the early development of foil technology and to this day they’re really the only circuit we have. Crossing events bring more people and are much more accessible because the gear requirements are much simpler and it’s more open for friends to show up and have fun. That’s been much more successful for growing interest and participation in racing. 55

Photo Dominik Leitner

I VIEW MY FOIL AND BOARD AS IF IT IS A SYSTEM THAT RUNS ON ITS OWN.

RACING IS A VERY QUANTITATIVE DISCIPLINE. WINNING IS A MATTER OF CROSSING THE FINISH LINE FIRST, BUT WHAT ARE THE NUANCES THAT SET A WORLD CHAMPION APART FROM A RUNNER-UP? It’s a combination of a lot of different things, but in kitefoil racing the equipment plays an important part compared to sports like football and basketball. If you compare the top ten brands of race gear, you’ll find that they are all completely different. If I were to swap kites with Ozone’s number one rider, Axel Mazella, it would be hilarious to watch. We would both struggle to adapt because of the way the kite feels; the way you trim the kite or try to steal some extra angle or accelerate your foil would all be so much different. Aspects of a kite can be very specific, like how you load the front lines on your harness, release the power in your foil or feed input into your bar. Because of that, the equipment’s handling and the rider’s precise adjustments make a huge difference during a 12-minute race; a couple of seconds on each leg can be the line between winning and losing, so equipment is key. Losing a single second can be the difference between passing in front or behind your competitor and at any given moment, that could put you in someone’s drag or you could be slowing a competitor with your drag. Experience is also key. We go so fast and the races are really short, so you need a lot of experience to make the right split-second decisions and avoid mistakes. You have to be very clear with both your strategy and tactics. Part of that is being in extremely fit physical condition and the other is knowing your equipment. I view my foil and board as if it is a system that runs on its own—I know it by heart and that allows me to focus two tacks into the future and keep tabs on my position. There will always be surprises, but the key is to know where you want to be, keep yourself emotionally focused and project yourself toward that goal. Going fast in a straight line during training is not hard; everyone can go fast with training. But to win races, you have to keep everything on track while moving at high speeds on a racetrack that is constantly changing, and that is hard.

Photo Dominik Leitner

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the rabbit? This summer ThĂŠo put the revolutionary concepts baked into the VMG2 on the line with the European circuit races that survived the pandemic.

Photo Dominik Leitner

Having spent the bulk of the winter in San Diego working on the VMG2 with Bennie, Flysurfer’s kite designer, Théo joins the rest of the Flysurfer team in La Ventana (L to R: Nico Landaurer, Martin Dolenc, Gisela Pulido, Bennie Boelli, Daniela Moroz, Théo de Ramecourt, Florian Gruber, Lukas Vogeltanz).

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IS A HUGE COMPONENT OF BOTH OPEN AND FORMULA CLASSES OF KITE RACING. YOU WORKED WITH THE FLYSURFER TEAM THIS PAST WINTER TO DEVELOP A GROUNDBREAKING NEW KITE PLATFORM. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? Open class racing is unlimited and the gear is in constant evolution, but for the Formula division of kite racing, the companies have to design and certify a kite which will be the chosen platform for four year intervals. Flysurfer is composed of super passionate people with deep roots in both kiteboarding and paragliding and they have been super focused on pushing the formula class to the next level as we move towards the Olympics in Paris. It was decided last year that Flysurfer was going to do the development for the VMG2 platform in San Diego because it would be the perfect basecamp to test the new race design. San Diego gets a lot of light wind days during the winter, it’s relatively easy to receive prototypes from offshore factories and provides easy access to La Ventana for further testing. Bennie Boelli is Flysurfer’s head kite designer and working with him was a great experience. Bennie has been racing a lot and is not only talented, but is actually a very competitive person on the racecourse. We exchanged a ton of ideas and spent some time talking about the performance we wanted out of the next kite. Since I’m studying physics in school I have the basics, but Bennie took the time to explain the finer concepts of aerodynamics. He taught me a lot about structure deformation—which is a fairly complex design parameter that requires a lot of experience to predict outcomes. Unlike carbon, which you know has fixed properties, the kite canopy has so many complex parameters that effect performance and it was fascinating to begin to learn about this through the prototyping process. THE VMG2 HAS SOME GROUNDBREAKING DESIGN CONCEPTS BAKED INTO ITS SHAPE AND STRUCTURE. WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS AND HOW DO THEY AFFECT RACING PERFORMANCE? Bennie’s plan for the VMG2 started with a completely different construction principle. From the outset, Bennie was looking for a huge jump in performance between current race kites and the next generation. To bridge that performance gap, Bennie started with a revolutionary two-level bridle system that not only reduces the number of bridles and drag, but also changes the angle of attack in a completely different mechanism than the standard 3-level race kite. This is stuff that no-one has ever seen. So far, a lot of the foil kite tech comes from paragliding, but Flysurfer’s 2-level concept is built purely for kite racing. Unlike conventional designs that change the angle of attack through the wing’s camber, the VMG2 is much more efficient when taking input and offers exceptionally crisp feedback to the bar. There was lots of work to be done with wing reinforcements, load spreading and structural rigidity, but by early spring we had a finished prototype that felt like the fastest kite I’ve ever flown, but just as important, felt nice and easy to control. I’m really proud of the final work—now it’s up to Flysurfer’s riders to write history and earn some titles.

ÂŠ 2020 Patagonia, Inc.

Whether Moona Whyte and Keahi de Aboitiz are laughing about their radically different wetsuit choices or how pumping the waves have been, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never know. James Boulding

Our Yulex® natural rubber* wetsuits are here to make oil- and limestone-based neoprene suits a chapter of your dark past. If you knew the dangers of petroleum- and limestone-based neoprene wetsuit manufacturing, would you buy them? Would you let your children wear them in the lineup? (Hopefully) no. Which is why we’ve tapped into alternative methods to construct our wetsuits since we started making them. Our Yulex® natural rubber wetsuits* come from the hevea tree, are made for the sea and leave a lighter footprint on the environment than ever before. It’s time to take a stand against the dirty neoprene peddler and do what’s best for the natural world. Demand more from your wetsuits. Your choice can change the way wetsuits are made. *85% Yulex natural rubber/15% synthetic rubber by polymer content. The natural rubber is from sources that are Forest Stewardship Council® certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Armed to the gills with an Airstream full of Duotone equipment, Michelle Gabriel brings the warrior to the weekend with uncompromising commitment and an unparalleled obsession for the sport of kiteboarding. // Photo Kurt Gabriel

PROFILED

MICHELLE GABRIEL Livermore, California

best deadman in the west It’s 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon. The Airstream was packed the night before; three days worth of food prepped and clothes and gear for two, all ready to go. Michelle Gabriel closes up her hair salon and meets her husband Kurt at home who is hooking up the Airstream to their van. Destination unknown, the two pile into their vehicle and check the forecast; fog on the coast, so they head east out of their Livermore driveway towards the warm and windy shore of Sherman Island. As fixtures of the Bay Area kite scene, Michelle and her husband are the kind of wind-obsessed souls that give ‘weekend warriors’ a reputable name. Highly regimented in their obsession, this couple never misses capitalizing on a weekend of wind. Michelle met her husband Kurt early in life at the age of 18. Spending their younger years barefoot waterskiing, kneeboarding and wakeboarding, Michelle and Kurt first saw kiting on Santa Cruz’s coast. Advised by a friendly Waddell local not to learn there, Kurt and Michelle got the contact details for the legendary Bruce Sheldon in Sherman Island. Michelle watched as Kurt took his first lesson and decided to sign up as well. “I did not want to be a kite widow,” she laughs. Not wanting to get left behind, Michelle dove in headfirst. Back in 2001, the couple began on two-line kites and a Naish Sky Pirate board, body dragging extensively, climbing in and out over the levy at Sherman Island. At the time, Michelle recalls the Sherman Island County Park seemed intimidating because it was full of pro riders and the launch faced onshore winds. After three years, Michelle went in to check it out and witnessed a kitemare in which Sky Solbach got dragged through the field and nearly wrapped himself around a picnic pergola. She shook her head and returned to the safety of the rock levy.

Despite her background in waterskiing as a small child and later competitive kneeboarding, Michelle notes that she has never been a good swimmer and doesn’t feel that comfortable in the water, which makes sense as to why she spends so much time in the air. Michelle has a tremendous amount of pride in her riding and has pushed herself hard while seeking out people for both mentorship and challenge. She points to Rita Kneib as a constant source of inspiration and competitive rivalry and credits formal coaches like Donny and Sandy Parker with her early progression. These days, peer pushers like Ken Adgate are always around to offer up pointers or encouragement to try something new. Michelle and Kurt eventually mastered every inch of Sherman Island and returned to Waddell where they first saw kiteboarding. Despite the heavy beach break and intimidating scene, Michelle made friends and earned quick respect for her lofty deadmans and multiple spins in a scene otherwise dominated by surf. Behind Michelle’s beaming smile and bottomless enthusiasm, there’s an A-type personality that drives her to perfection. She acknowledges her competitive side but seems to have the discipline to keep it fun. Instead of the stress of competitions, she prefers to pursue free kiting as a platform to entertain. “It’s like gymnastics,” she explains. “I try to put together a sequence of tricks; toeside backroll to sent big-air double spin, followed by a deadman.” True warriors of the weekend, Michelle and Kurt will follow the forecast from home to Sherman to the coast and back, a minimum of five hours round trip. As passionate today as they were two decades ago when they first discovered their kiteboarding obsession and with a regimented routine that gets them on the water every weekend, these two characters have established themselves as true fixtures of both the communities in which they kite.

With a contemplative and precise approach, the energetic Matt Maxwell has earned a spot on the F-One international team as a multi-sport waterman. // Photo Ydwer van der Heide

PROFILED

MATT MAXWELL Cape Town, South Africa

Dedicataed to iterative improvements “I’m not really the adventurous type,” Matt Maxwell reflects. “If I really look at it and break myself down, I always go to the same surf spots and I didn’t jump on kiting right away.” Last year Matt was one of the first to try F-One’s v1 Swing wing product and while his athleticism helped him tackle the new sport in a few tacks, he’s now inclined to take a step back and let others figure it out. The same goes for kiting—“Now that it’s all safe and fun”, he’s in, but “I wouldn’t have been the guy pioneering kitesurfing.” One might think this seems strange for an athlete of Matt’s caliber, but it’s a theme that plays out in other parts of his life. As a design student, Matt is fascinated with taking products that have already been established and refining them as opposed to dreaming up fantastical new concepts. Matt’s passion is iterative design, a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product, a process he has learned firsthand watching F-One’s development team. Matt got his start in kiteboarding after watching his dad learn in the early days with two-line kites, armed with only an instructional DVD and vague notions of how to body drag down Langebaan Beach. Back then, kiting was dangerous and because an early kiter had died learning at their local beach, Matt took a backseat, waiting it out until the 4-line kites and safety systems proved more reliable. In 2014, Matt took his first lesson; as he recalls it was a slow, scary process, but by 2015, he was hooked and quickly transitioned through the ranks from twin tip to surf to strapless surfboard. Matt’s quick progression in the last five years is no surprise due to his waterman roots and history as a sponsored athlete. At age 11, Matt first got into SUP surfing, entered his first competition at age 12 and was competing at a national level within just a few years. Matt recalls learning to surf on a shortboard, and since he was adamant about riding shortboards like the pros, his skill-set didn’t explode until he started SUP surfing. Matt quickly learned he could generate so much more speed with a paddle and a bigger board. He likes to refer to SUP and kiting as ‘surfing with a crutch.’

“It gives you an advantage; you can create more power than you can create with surfing. You can be moving faster than surfing. You can go out on small days or when the surfers are groveling in the wind, and now foilsurfing is the next step for really bad conditions.” Matt’s progression in surfing and kitesurfing has been inspired by cross-discipline athletes like Kai Lenny and Airton Cozzolino. After a few years of hard training, Matt’s landed himself on the F-One International team as an all-around SUP/Kite athlete with help from Bruce Crystal, F-One’s South Africa distributor. Matt spent the bulk of his teenage years competing, and while he’s at the top of his game for strapless freestyle, he recognizes that it’s not a long term, sustainable career (although he wouldn’t mind taking a gap year after college to compete, just so he has no regrets). Matt’s experience with technical sports like kiteboarding and SUP has brought him a deeper connection to the products we use, and the realization that there is ample space to redesign, innovate and refine. “If I were just a shortboard surfer, I probably wouldn’t be studying product design, but with kiteboarding, there’s a lot of complexity. Things like the interface system of a kite or the bar—that’s what really excites me about it. It can make or break a kite.” Matt’s connection as an international F-One athlete has allowed him to spend time with F-One’s founder Raphael Salles. Inspired by Raph, Matt explains how important it is to give yourself the option to fail. “F-One products are so good because of the sheer number of prototypes in the process,” Matt says, “because you learn from the mistakes in each prototype.” According to Matt, Raphael is technical and meticulous; he takes a craftsman’s handson approach to building and testing products. “When I prototype in my studies, it’s so tiring, you want to say at this point, I’m going to let it go.” Matt admires Raphael’s approach. “He doesn’t sleep until his prototypes are inspiring and I don’t think there are too many guys in the industry like him.” As Matt finishes his studies at the end of next year and begins looking for design work, the kite industry is in his crosshairs. As a master of SUP, kitesurfing and now foilsurfing, it’s quite possible that Matt could be the quiet, contemplative and highly-obsessed product designer behind your next kiteboarding product. 67

PALAPAS VENTANA Warm, welcoming and knowledgeable about all things related to Baja, Palapas Ventana is like your second family. Guest reviews consistently rave about the accommodating staff and quality of food along with excellent excursions and instruction. Experience snorkeling, scuba diving, kiteboarding, fishing, SUPing, hiking, spearfishing, whale shark swimming and gray whale tours. Lodging includes breakfast and lunch at our restaurant bar that overlooks the beach just above the semi-private launch/land area. Each casita has its own private covered patio with an ocean view. // PalapasVentana.com HOTEL TODO BIEN Treat yourself to the best, and enjoy La Ventana in style. The hotel features 8 spacious and well-furnished rooms with private terraces, king beds, and quality linens along with a cozy bar, restaurant, private beach access with a great launch, swimming pools, hot tub, fire pit, outdoor palapa living room, ping-pong, high-speed internet in every room, and more. The resort also offers two 3-bedroom, beautifully furnished villas for rent. At Todo Bien, you’re guaranteed unrivaled ocean views, a complimentary hot breakfast every morning, and a friendly, accommodating staff. Todo Bien is a Punto Limpio destination, a certification only granted by the Mexican government when a hotel implements a rigorous set of safety protocols and staff training procedures. // HotelTodoBien.com PELICAN REEF From a stunning 4-bedroom luxury villa to breezy homes with gorgeous views to fully equipped, comfortable studios, beachfront Pelican Reef/ Ventana Resort & Kite School offers a variety of lodging options to choose from to accommodate singles or groups up to 10. Each offers full access to their private beach and two patio areas. Breakfast, snorkeling gear, SUP boards, kayaks and gear storage are all included in your stay. Lunch is just $5 at the beach bar. Kite school and private excursions available. // PelicanReefVentana.com

Photo Gregor John 68

VENTANA WINDSPORTS With a large launch/land area directly in front of the property and a 2,000-gallon hot tub for soaking after your session, Ventana Windsports offers 13 one or two-bedroom options in a peaceful upscale setting adorned with palms, giant cacti and tropical flowers with hammocks and lounge chairs scattered throughout the property just steps away from the best beach in La Ventana. Guests enjoy healthy, gourmet meals at Coya’s, the oceanfront restaurant overlooking the bay. Resort-wide Covid 19 protocols in place! Lodging packages include breakfast, lunch, WiFi and use of SUP boards, kayaks and cruiser bikes. Alas Del Mar is their onsite full service rental and instruction sports center for kite, windsurf, wingfoil, and MTB. // VentanaWindsports.com

EXOTKITE ExotiKite Kiteboarding has been providing exceptional kiteboarding lessons for all levels since 1998. Lessons are conducted with progressive teaching methods and a non-competitive and encouraging atmosphere at a beautiful, uncrowded location. With on-site studios, SUP rentals, beach yoga, bar/restaurant and an experienced, friendly staff, ExotiKite is a wind-seeker favorite. Be sure to check out their Baja Wave Camps in the spring—a kiteboarding bucket list must! ExotiKite operates in accordance with IKO COVID-19 safety recommendations for kiters. // ExotiKite.com

Baja Roadmap LA VENTANA

LOS BARRILES

Hotel & Villas La Ventana, BCS

Need

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

hoteltodobien.com

Things always look better from the front row.

• Epic Baja La Ventana location in the center of the kiting action, and the best low-stress spot for beginners. • Quiet, cozy rooms just steps from the beach. • Onsite Kite/Foil/ SUP/Mt. Bike center; rentals & lessons. •Waterfront dining; delicious food; Breakfast & Lunch comes w/your room! • Yoga and massage available. • Giant beachfront hot tub, too!

VentanaWindsports.com

A B E A C H F R O N T W AT E R S P O R T S R E S O R T KITEBOARDING • FOILING • WINDSURFING from our private beach location

Guests enjoy complimentary breakfast, stand up paddle boards, kayaks & snorkel gear. Downwinders are our specialty!

Certified INSTRUCTORS

La Ventana, Baja, Mexico info@pelicanreefventana.com

WhatsApp +52 1 612 197 3689

(includes former Captain Kirk’s Resort)

www.pelicanreefventana.com

The Best of Baja

USA 1.310.594.3483 MEX 52.612.111.9188

contact@palapasventana.com

EXPOSED

If you didn’t get the chance to make your summer pilgrimage to Hood River due to the pandemic, here’s a shot of Vetea Boersma against the iconic grassland knolls of the Columbia River Gorge’s eastern corridor. // Photo Debbie Jean Hollomon

EXPOSED

When Kevin Langeree talks about all the supermodels showing up at the beach, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get too excited, unless you like staring at new kites more than hot bodies. // Photo Ydwer van der Heide

EXPOSED

Willem van der Hooft makes sit-kitesurfing look deceptively easy with his hard charging carves in Cape Town. Willem is working behind the scenes to make affordable sit-kitesurfing equipment and instructional courses for those athletes with physical disabilities. // Photo Kyle Cabano

EXPOSED

Rocking a powered snap during the pandemic days in Maui, jack and master of all, the one and only Jesse Richman, demonstrates that one highly-refined and seasoned athlete can do it all. // Photo Frankie Bees

EXPOSED

A chip off the legendary Des Walsh block and part of the next generation of Naish men, Tim Walsh lays into a heated heelside carve flashing this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limited edition Naish graphics. // Photo Frankie Bees

Born in Santa Cruz, CA | RIDEENGINE.COM

Unity Spreader Bar System

QUEENSLAND

Bribie Island Brisbane

Byron bay Nambucca heads

NEW SOUTH WALES Newcastle Sydney

VICTORIA Torquay

Melbourne St Kilda

THE

GREAT ESCAPE Words by Ewan Jaspan | Photos by Alexander Lewis-Hughes

Nothing worked out like it was supposed to—this could be the tagline for 2020, and not just for me, but for almost every single person around the world. As an athlete on the competitive circuit, my year started with the Australian Nationals and then the King of the Air; that’s where things went a little haywire. In one of my heats I broke a rib and hurt my knee, which coincided almost perfectly with the first round of the Covid-19 virus spreading its sneaky little tendrils around the world. There’s never a good time for a pandemic, but as a professional athlete with injuries, the chaos sewn in the spring of 2020 worked somewhat to my favor.

UPPER LEFT: Ewan scoring a much needed round one pandemic session at his home in St. Kilda just to the south of Melbourne. RIGHT: When the second wave of the pandemic was brewing, Ewan and Katie packed their van, secured a cargo pass and headed across the contagion border. LOWER LEFT: Having landed his first pro-model twin tip, Ewanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal was to escape Melbourne and shoot promotional materials for its release.

travel bans were instated and various levels of lockdowns hit kite destinations around the world, my girlfriend, Katie Potter, and I retreated to our home in St. Kilda, a small bayside suburb on the southern edge of Melbourne in southern Australia. The first wave of the virus hit pockets of the city fairly solid and the shutdown that followed killed just about everything. Fortunately, we were able to kiteboard for most of March, except for one week when no one was allowed outside. Since mandatory social distance rules required people to completely isolate from their friends and spend time only with their immediate household, it turned out that the kiteboarding beach was just about the only place and time you could be around other people. We were lucky to have kiteboarding and a community that was protective of that privilege. In the parking lot you’d see these weird circles of kiteboarders standing six feet apart, catching some rare laughs, yet taking care to self-regulate in the hopes that the authorities wouldn’t shut the sport down. As the Australian winter started to set in mid-April and the lockdowns relaxed a bit, we decided to escape Melbourne and head about 1.5 hours south to the surf town of Torquay to live with my good friend, Mick O’Leary. Funnily enough, with all my years traveling around the world for kiting, I never really learned how to surf, and this seemed like the perfect time to finally spend some time groveling through the basics of paddling small boards and catching waves. Surfing is tough, especially coming to it as an adult, and specifically the part about reading waves. The other challenge was

opening up my back and chest after years of hunched over kiteboarding; that was almost as painful as feeling like a total beginner for weeks on end, but I slowly began to make progress. While most of Australia had the virus under control, we began to see signs that Melbourne was falling apart. Every state in Australia had created special quarantine hotels to protect the general population from travelers arriving from other countries. While most of the country used the military to control these hotels, Melbourne had sub-contracted the job to shady private security firms. From a single mismanaged hotel, the virus jumped into a public housing project and from there, back into the community. We knew the writing was on the wall when the government began shutting down the roads that lead out of the state of Victoria—it seemed like we were headed for the most severe lockdown as of yet. Katie and I loaded our little van, paying special care to pack our gear to look brand new, professional and neat. We obtained a special freight and logistics pass which allowed us to ‘run freight’ for a Naish shop and plastered the designated G-label to our front window as we headed out of town. Heading up the east coast, we encountered a three-mile line of cars at the border. Normally just an imaginary line, the Victoria state line had become a roadblock, but luckily the border guards took one look at our freight pass and waved us through without any questions. Having escaped Australia’s single hot zone, we headed up the northeast coast to Covid-free territory with next to no restrictions on activities.

LEFT: Built to slash and tail slide with confidence and control, Ewan demonstrates the Traverse’s freeride agility. UPPER MIDDLE: Nambucca Heads was the perfect foilsurfing playground for Ewan to dial in his prone foilsurfing game. RIGHT: Posing with the Traverse, Ewan is incredibly proud of his new board and its versatility for stylish all-terrain freeriding. MIDDLE LOWER: Having learned the basics of surfing in Torquay during the first assault of the pandemic, Ewan steps up to the magic carpet pogo stick during the second wave.

From there, Katie and I headed farther north to say hello to the Naish Australia guys in Sydney and then continued to score our first real kite sessions in Byron Bay. Winter kiteboarding on the central part of the east coast can be hit and miss; you might get one really solid day a week, but the bulk of kiting tends to be bonus light wind foil sessions. The plan was to venture north and cross into the state of New South Wales, but our first stop was to visit the ‘Kite and SUP’ kiteboarding shop in Newcastle. The guys at the shop took me out for a foilsurfing session on a big 1400 high aspect Naish wing and the 60L wing foil board—that was the easiest setup to learn on

and it got me hooked. The main spot in Newcastle is a river mouth with a rock jetty on either side where the current keeps pushing out and you have to catch a wave with your foil and ride it in order to maintain position. At first, I couldn’t get my feet in the right place to catch a wave, so the current pushed me into the sharky waters outside the river mouth and I had to paddle around and jump back in. Eventually, I started getting waves and the boys from the shop helped me figure out how to link up my turns. Carving turns without the pull of a kite requires you to use your hands and body in different ways, but by the end of the week, I was linking up some proper turns (at least that’s how it felt in my head) and we were ready to move on.

Aside from escaping the pandemic, the second largest item on our road trip agenda was capturing media of my new twin tip pro-model, the Traverse Ewan Jaspan Pro. It looked like Byron was going to be the place where we’d finally get some time on the water and we ended up going to the famous surf break called The Pass, perched on the tip of the peninsula. We spent a ton of time at The Pass where there’s an inside lagoon with a slick, and on the other side of the rock, there’s an outlet that leads to the ocean where you can ride waves on the outside. While the wind was slightly offshore and gusty, it was perfect for testing out the impact of kiting on my freshly rehabbed knee and ribs. Because of my competition-

heavy approach, you might think the Traverse would be designed for tour-level freestyle, but it’s actually geared to the type of freeriding you see in snowboarding. In kiteboarding, sometimes freeride is mistaken for ‘beginner’ level kiteboarding, but in most boardsports, freeride focuses on mixing up the disciplines with style and creativity. The Traverse is a little longer tip to tip and has a narrower template which makes it smooth for slashing up turns in waves, doing fun carves and blending in airs with grabs. Freeride doesn’t have to be mowing the lawn, in fact, it should be super fun and the Traverse is the laidback freestyle board that is accessible to riders of all ages.

UPPER LEFT: Ewan scored the most rewarding session at â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Passâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Byron Bay. The inside lagoon has smooth water with rocky outcroppings and the outside offers endless kickers. RIGHT: April is pre-season on the northeast coast, but Bribie Island delivers wind, mangroves with smooth water and bonk-worthy sandbanks. LOWER LEFT: Having left Melbourne at the perfect time, Ewan scores some water time while Covid-19 rages at home.

LEFT: Ewan boosts over his buddy at Bribie Island in calf-deep butter. UPPER RIGHT: Ewan demonstrating the kind of fun freeride the Traverse was built for. LOWER RIGHT: Narrowly escaping Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second wave is validated by a classic evening session at Bribie Island.

By this time, things were getting pretty serious back home; the lockdown had reached phase 4 and the government had instituted a curfew that banned people from leaving their houses between the hours of 8pm and 5am. People were forced to stay within three miles of their homes and masks were mandatory at all times. Only one person from each household was allowed to go to the supermarket each day—everything else was closed, including kiteboarding. The Victoria borders were now on severe lockdown and I felt grateful for having escaped between the first and second wave because as remarkable as it may sound, life outside of Victoria had gone back to normal. Up north, there were no masks and no restrictions—everything was open, including massive social gatherings in places like pubs and even football games (as the whole Australian football league has moved to Queensland to continue the season). In the north, the virus had been stomped out and all interactions were back to what it had been before the pandemic, at least until it was discovered that you were from Victoria. We thought we had slid through the cracks, but when people learned we were from Victoria, they stepped back and regarded us with suspicion and judgment. We became fairly tuned into this and got good at defusing tense situations by swiftly explaining the distance between us, Victoria, and ultimately the virus. There was a funny internet meme circulating on social media; it depicted Australia’s prime minister giving Queenslanders permission to take a perfectly legal dump on the bonnet if they saw a car with Victorian license plates. We found things like that hilarious, but it also gave us cause to worry that our vehicle would be keyed when we left it for a session. Now, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, we are hoping to score more wind as the windy season is almost upon us but so far, not much has been on offer. I have spent a ton of time in the Maroochydore river mouth

developing my foilsurfing skills, getting into paddling shape and learning how to read swell and understand how waves break. As I’ve spent more and more time foilsurfing, I’ve transitioned from super stable downwinding foils that are easier to pump back out and I’ve learned that I like the carving feel of the lower aspect wings such as the Jet 1250 from Naish, which is easier to turn and actually surf the wave. Having spent so much time around surf spots, this was the first time where I’ve understood the real dynamics and the culture of riding waves. Most days we feel very lucky to be around friends and above all else to have the basic freedoms of movement and social connection, but we also routinely feel the limitations of living out of our van. When we left Melbourne, we packed the bare necessities for what we thought was a kiteboarding road trip, but now we are living a bit more like Covid-19 refugees. While we are missing some personal effects or a dedicated living space, this is a small gripe when there’s much greater sacrifice and suffering going on in the world. We spend a lot of time thinking about what is next, but with the tour cancelled and international travel still very much on shaky ground, the lives of professional kite athletes aren’t likely to return to normal soon. This is my first year becoming more involved in the R&D department at Naish and I was looking forward to spending time in Maui working on the gear, which I can’t do, but hopefully, these opportunities are still available in the future. While there’s very little the world can agree on, the second wave in Melbourne teaches us that travelers are likely going to be the key source of flare-ups and governments will continue to struggle with the most effective measures to restrict the spread. With the kite season in Queensland about to kick off, the one thing we do know is that we are lucky enough to be in a good place until things in our real home begin to stabilize.

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AROUND THE WORLD

WORDS BY STEVEN AKKERDIJK | PHOTO BY L ARS STENVELD

Most of the time kiteboarders are quite limited with the wind. You have a wind window and if your kite leaves that window it falls out of the sky. But what if you could manipulate that wind window to your liking? The around the world is a maneuver where you make the kite fly a full 360 circle around you, forcing the wind window to rotate all the way around. The trick is speed; you need to ride so fast that you create your own wind window—we call this apparent wind. Equipment choices are key to making this easier. You’ll want to select a foilboard wing that has high speed and low resistance to complete the circle. I’ve tried it with shorter lines, but found that 14m lines are ideal and 18m lines are barely possible. A bigger kite means lower wind speeds so it will be easier to perform the 360. On the other hand, a bigger kite flies slower and has more drag. I’ve found a 10m kite in about 16 knots to be the ideal combo. 92

Start the trick on a broad reach with a good amount of speed. Steer your kite up to 1pm so you start the trick with your kite relatively high in the window and then initiate a downloop in the direction you are traveling, allowing the kite to fly horizontally straight across the window. During the downloop you’ll gain a lot of speed and your board will begin to head downwind—your goal is to accelerate. The moment your kite reaches 10 or 11 on the other side, it will want to continue past the edge of the traditional wind window. It won’t do this by itself but because you are pulling the kite with your downwind speed, the kite keeps moving forward. In order to keep the kite traveling around you, once the kite is upwind of you, it is important to maintain a consistent carving circle. You and your kite should be directly across from each other. Eventually you’ll head through the eye of the wind and your kite will re-enter the traditional wind window. The kite might have lost some altitude through the move, so you might need to do an upward power stroke to keep moving as you exit the carve going in your original riding direction. This move can be fun, but it should be considered an advanced trick because failed attempts typically produce slacked lines with your kite floating in the water and a lot of technical relaunches. Be aware of those around you and attempt this move at your own risk.

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SHAKEDOWN WORDS BY BRENDAN RICHARDS | PHOTOS BY JAMES BOULDING

This fall, Cabrinha is releasing a 2021 product portfolio that had largely been re-engineered from the ground up. For a market-leading brand with 20 years of history in the industry, a product reboot of this magnitude is no easy feat and in Cabrinha's case, was accomplished only by a complete organizational reset.

hange can sometimes be confusing—from the outside, it can be interpreted as signs of distress, while on the inside, the reorganizing might be deliberate and carefully orchestrated to create a leaner operational structure. As one of the cornerstone brands of the kitesurfing industry, Cabrinha has undergone some significant changes in the last two years that have caused a great deal of speculation. Having spent its first two decades as a subsidiary of Neil Pryde Ltd., a foreign-owned windsports holding company, the cascading changes started with the resignation of their longtime kite designer in 2018, followed by the relocation of key design staff from Hong Kong to its current office on Maui. Since Pete Cabrinha had licensed his name to Neil Pryde, he never owned the actual company until February 2020 when Cabrinha announced it had been acquired by Pete Cabrinha and a private investment group led by former Cabrinha-sponsored athlete, Jon Modica. For product development manager, Lars Moltrup, the recent changes at Cabrinha are most apparent on the product side. Cut free from a big company, shedding layers of management and oversight, the product development path is now much easier to navigate. “Having Jon and Pete, both dedicated and talented watermen, put their money behind the brand has made a big change in how we look at products, and has given us the freedom to move product development forward that otherwise would have been inhibited by a larger organization.” Something as simple as buying a mold or getting certain parts could have taken weeks or months to get the proper approvals in Hong Kong, but now it’s a single phone call away and for the design team this modification has made a huge impact on the agility of the process. Having grown up in Denmark, Lars first discovered kiteboarding in a fjord outside Ringkoebing, called Kloster, just off the North Sea. Known as one of the best northern European wave spots, on the inside there’s plenty of flat water and this is where Lars remembers becoming obsessed with kiteboarding, riding any conditions including ice, searching for open water with 5m booties. Lars started out as Toolmaker, working with CNC machines and then got his bachelor’s degree in design which, led to a windsports job on Maui. Hired by Cabrinha, Lars moved to Hong Kong, but with Cabrinha’s recent purchase, he is now back in Kahului, working side by side with all the Cabrinha staffers out of the new office.

UPPER LEFT: World Champion Keahi de Aboitiz is not only the top barrel rider in the industry, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also an integral part of the Maui test team. UPPER RIGHT: Having relocated all their technical staff from Hong Kong to the home office in Kahului, Cabrinha has tightened their communication and development loops, setting themselves up for the next era of Cabrinha history. LOWER RIGHT: Pete Cabrinha at the design table with Lars Moltrop; the design team is a close-knit group of watermen feeding the innovation pipeline. LOWER LEFT: Do it all; Pete putting the versatile Autopilot board through its foilsurfing paces.

UPPER LEFT: Brodie Sutherland in the shop, bringing his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands-on technical approach to the rapid prototyping process. UPPER RIGHT: The people behind the brand are the brand; Evan Netsch closes the loop between the sales department and high-caliber kitesurfing. LOWER RIGHT: Cabrinha uses some of the stiffest Dacron in the industry with the highest quality ripstop that makes kites like the Drifter super responsive and built for the longhaul. LOWER LEFT: Team rider Lucas Arsenalt engages with Lars Moltrop (note the healthy pandemic beard) on the beach in Maui.

Lars noted that the new foil system that Cabrinha plans to release is a prime example of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new structure. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a lot of progress in construction and performance in foilsurfing and the team needed to come up with a completely new platform to push the envelope. In addition to newly designed wings, the Cabrinha design team developed a new mast and fuselage design that eliminates load points, creating one incredibly stiff body that all flexes together and provides a much more high-performance feeling. The front wing is seamlessly integrated in to the front fuselage, creating a singular composite structure, which has superior stifness, while maintaining low drag. Lars said that while the wings may change, the platform itself represents the best technology, materials and design concepts across foilsurfing, wingsurfing and kiteboarding. Lars works closely with Brodie Sutherland who does a lot of the technical engineering at Cabrinha. The son of diehard windsurfers who set up a composites business in Hood River two decades ago, Brodie grew up in a fabrication shop serving the aerospace drone market in Columbia River and is no stranger to molds, carbon and a lot of resin. Out of college, Brodie took a job with an aerospace company building unmanned vertical take-off aircraft, but when he got an offer from Cabrinha to work in the kitesurfing industry, he signed up immediately. When it comes to the Cabrinha design process, Brodie highlights how Cabrinha has an incredibly talented team. They can do a lot more prototyping in-house which means they can test and evaluate their prototypes in a shorter time period which increases learning with each iteration and reduces the product development cycle timeline. The development team has also started collaborating with an institute in Norway that uses flow tanks and cavitation tunnels to measure drag and lift in Cabrinha products. According to Lars, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very hard to gain that detail of measurement, but with the help of master students, Cabrinha is developing an entirely new metric for assessing the performance of its designs.

Cut free from a big company, shedding layers of management and oversight, the product development path is now much easier to navigate. While Cabrinha has been working on fine-tuning its R&D processes, by far one of its strongest competitive advantages is the Maui team’s tight-knit family mentality that brings a lot of talented watermen under one roof, where a positive work environment allows great ideas to germinate and get kicked around the office. Both Brodie and Lars are quick to point out how every member of the team is instrumental in the design and testing process. There are a lot of new projects being unleashed this year— rehashing Cabrinha’s kite control systems, Brodie has reconfigured the control bar, shedding weight and streamlining the features in the harness connection. With an icon like Pete Cabrinha at its helm, surfing is at the core of the Cabrinha culture, so it’s also natural that Cabrinha’s surfboard line is undergoing some significant changes. Its high-performance shapes are getting a new pro-construction upgrade that features a honeycomb deck with carbon stringer that brings an incredibly light but solid feel to those riders that push the limits of surf or strapless disciplines. The second version of the Crosswing wingsurfing product features a novel dual spar boom that addresses one of the biggest design challenges to wing construction. The new boom design brings incredible stiffness to the wing’s boom and increases the stiffness of the canopy and the wind range of each wing. In addition to a new handle concept, the Crosswing is intended to make wingsurfing easier and more appealing to the progression-oriented wingsurfers that are just getting their feet wet.

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UPPER LEFT: From Maui to Hong Kong and back, Lars’ time abroad provided tremendous insight into Cabrinha’s manufacturing partners, building solid relationships and communication skills that proved extremely helpful during the travel lockdowns of the 2020 pandemic. UPPER MIDDLE: This year’s Switchblade can be purchased in standard colorways or as part of the ‘Icon Series,’ a limited edition graphic rollout that celebrates Cabrinha’s 20-year legacy, replete with an official badge collectors number and corresponding Icon kite bag. LOWER RIGHT: Keahi proving that foilsurfing is just a gateway drug. LOWER LEFT: The new Crosswing starts over, completely redefining the wing category with groundbreaking design elements that will shake up the wing formula as we know it.

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LEFT: With its carbon stringer and honeycomb deck, Keahi de Aboitiz sticks the new pro-construction surfboard technology into his aerial game. RIGHT: The guy that started it all; legendary waterman Pete Cabrinha takes the reins and sets up for an exciting next chapter in Cabrinha history.

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For months there was speculation and innuendo amongst industry insiders that something was amiss under the hood of Cabrinha. Rather than dysfunction, the rumors of change were signals that Cabrinha was undergoing a massive reorganization that takes it back to its waterman core values with a small but agile team of hands-on designers pushing the sport forward. Cabrinhaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shakedown has resulted in a smaller organization where everyone involved is personally invested in the brand and its core values. As Pete takes the company back to its roots, Cabrinha now operates as a tight-knit and cohesive culture with an agile decision-making structure that is driven by master watermen.

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UNDER BUDDHA’S EYES Words by Matthias Larsen

After an exhausting 11-hour flight, we traded our blustery German winter for a jet bridge opening up to a small heatwave in the arrival terminal of Bangkok International Airport. Glued to the large windowpanes of our taxi bus, our twin boys’ eyes are wide open with amazement as they take in the immense size of Thailand’s capital city, its crowded streets and staggering traffic. The four-hour transit takes us out of the mega-city along an endless stream of strip malls and overpasses before depositing us at the long sandy beach of Hua Hin. Nestled along the eastern coast of the Thai peninsula, Hua Hin was once a quiet fishing village and home to the summer palaces of the Thai royal family, but since the 1920s, Hua Hin has become a fashionable seaside destination for the wealthy residents of Bangkok and more recently, kiteboarders.

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Photo Isabella Kiefer

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e check off the first tasks on our list: a visit with longtime friend Dzevad Durgut, one of the first kiteboarders in Germany to be published in the magazines boosting big airs, who now owns a shop here in Hua Hin and is the importer for Duotone in Thailand. Gifted with a great sense of humor and a ton of energy, Dzevad entertains us in his kite shop plastered wall to wall with kites and lines us up with a nanny to help entertain our twin boys while we head to the beach to drown out our jetlag with our first kite session. Kiting out into the middle of the bay, I gain a better perspective of the town’s long sliver beach, lined with resorts at the waterfront with temples built into the hillsides. As you follow the beach to the south, it terminates at a small mountainous peninsula that is home to the Buddhist temple Wat Khao Takiap with its sitting Buddha statue overlooking the bay. From February into May, Hua Hin gets a consistent south wind from the Gulf of Thailand. Starting around noon, the southerlies build through the afternoon, ramping up until sunset. Like clockwork, the south winds deliver a solid, reliable 13-20 knots coming from the right side of the beach. May and June are generally very hot and July through October are monsoonal months with lots of rain. The northerly wind season starts in November and lasts until the end of January. It’s strongest in the morning and slowly decreases during the day. Typically, the north wind is less predictable and often requires larger kites and foilboards, but you may get lucky with a 10m kite and shoulder high waves. Our Thai nanny goes by the affectionate nickname of ‘Cream’ and quickly connects with our boys and becomes part of our family. She is extremely friendly and keys us into the heartfulness of the Thai people. Armed with a perpetual smile, Cream brings the boys small edible gifts, like tiny bananas that they’d never seen before, and steers us with insider tips to the best markets that only the locals know. Everywhere we look, Buddhist spirituality seems to be present in both the people and the places of Hua Hin. Cream helps keep the boys incredibly busy and we book massages that are surprisingly inexpensive and relieve the muscle stresses from our recent flight and a long day on the water. Our stay here gives me new insights about Buddhism, particularly how it is different from other world religions. The teaching of Buddha tells us that everything is connected and that we should always control our thoughts because these are what is creating our reality. Unlike western religions, Buddha is not in the protection business nor does he seem to offer guarantees of wind in exchange for prayers. I am told to expect life to be unpredictable, and with the great Buddha as my teacher, he will help me stay balanced and find my center.

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FAR LEFT: One of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original kiteboarders, Dzevad Durgut landed in Hua Hin eight years ago and operates a hotel, shop, school and bistro combo while importing Duotone products to all of Thailand. // Photo Matthias Larsen UPPER LEFT: With ideal foil conditions, Hua Hin is the perfect place to improve your technical foil tricks. // Photo Isabella Kiefer UPPER RIGHT: Young Buddhist monks on their way to spread the word of Buddha. // Photo Victor Deweerdt BOTTOM RIGHT: Matthias takes one of his twins for a quick spin. At two and a half years old, the boys approached their first kite ride with a bit of apprehension but ended up loving it. // Photo Isabella Kiefer BOTTOM LEFT: Coated with porcelain and seashells, The Wat Arun temple in Bangkok is devoted to the Hindu god of wind and is one of the classic landmarks worth seeing. // Photo Matthias Larsen

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BELOW: A view of Hua Hin from the north. Sitting atop the Hyatt Hotel bar terrace, you can see clear across the kiteboarding beaches to the Wat Khao Takiap temple perched on the peninsula to the south. // Photo Matthias Larsen UPPER RIGHT: Foilboards are the perfect vehicle to slice through Hua Hin’s choppy water and navigate the wide range of winds. // Photo Isabella Kiefer BOTTOM RIGHT: The tourist scene on Hua Hin can be a bit overwhelming in the morning but once the wind starts blowing the beaches tend to clear out. // Photo Isabella Kiefer

Early in the trip, with Buddha watching from the hilltops above, I take my foilboard for a spin; the consistent south wind encourages me to explore the deeper waters outside the bay, but from a state of perfect high-speed glide, my foil slams into an abandoned fishing net. While the crash is spectacular but not painful, my foil wing gets wrapped up in the net, becoming so entangled that I cannot, however hard I try, clear myself from the mess. The current outside the bay is noticeably stronger and I begin to tire as my frustration with the net grows as I am hopelessly being pushed towards the north. Gazing back at the shiny temples perched amongst the hillsides, I think about how a little supernatural help or minor miracle from an altruistic higher power would be nice, however, I know

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the Buddha on the hill is not coming. After a bit more struggle, it’s a welcomed sight to see the face of an old travel acquaintance as my friend Lewis comes out to check on me. Having crossed paths many times, Lewis is an Englishman who runs an ice cream shop in Spain but returns to Thailand every year. Seeing the helplessness of the tangle, he heads back to the beach for some help. Alone once again, I force myself to relax, let go and allow myself to drift with the net and the current while staying positive. Perhaps not the help I was looking for, but mental discipline is the only thing on Buddha’s spiritual menu. Back on land, Lewis commandeers a sharp knife from the kitchen of one of the beach bars and returns to help me saw through the tangled mess. Once freed from the net I gladly return to the beach and join my wife for a triumphant sunset beer.

With its warm, shallow waters, tropical temperatures and reliable sea breezes, the kitesurfing scene at Hua Hin can get quite busy. Within the past few years, a big foil kite scene has evolved, drawing many Koreans, Chinese and Japanese foil racers to train in Thailand’s steady wind and choppy waters. There’re two main kiteboarding spots along Hua Hin Beach—on the north side of the bay there is the Duotone Club which is run by our friend Dzevad, and farther south, you will find the SurfSpot and the KBA kite schools. The SurfSpot crew offers storage, repair service and for a fee, you can also get access to the infinity pool on the first floor and a beachside lounge area with shade as well as a cardio and power room along with an amazing yoga studio. The SurfSpot is also home to Pa Yoon’s Café, where you can find delicious Thai food for very little money.

Hua Hin’s resort atmosphere has its roots in the 1920s when the Thai monarchy built the first of their summer palaces on its sandy shores. You can visit the historic Mrigadayavan Palace on the north side of the beach, but the current Thai monarchy maintains the Klaikangwon Royal Palace in the south. If you kite upwind, you might find that the Marine Patrol will intercept you and ask you to move away from the royal grounds. It is said that you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the young Thai king jogging through the King’s park; if you’re curious, you can find his portrait on the front of the country’s banknotes. Rumor also has it that one of the local kite instructors was arrested by the police while teaching kite lessons because he was secretly camping in one of the King’s fields. Hua Hin might be the intersection of royalty, Bangkok wealth and kiteboarding, but underlining all this is the Thai sensibility of warmth and hospitality.

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UPPER LEFT: With its vibrant colors and ornate structure, Hua Hun’s historic train station is one of the area’s top tourist stops. // Photo Matthias Larsen UPPER RIGHT: Hua Hin is not only a foilboard hot spot, its infinite kickers make it super fun for freestyle kiteboarding. // Photo Isabella Kiefer BOTTOM RIGHT: Just a 20-minute drive from Hua Hin Beach, the Hutsadin Elephant Reserve was the Larsen family’s favorite attraction. // Photo Patrick Jacobs BOTTOM LEFT: The Larsen family poses with the instructors from the SurfSpot; these guy speak excellent English and are known for their foilboarding lessons. // Photo James Haining

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Unlike western religions, Buddha is not in the protection business nor does he seem to offer guarantees of wind in exchange for prayers. While Hua Hin may not be the ultimate kiteboarder’s paradise, if you steer your mind away from its detractions, you will be seduced by its charms. If you’re anywhere near the main road, you’ll be assaulted with the constant noise and fumes of racing motorbikes coming from Bangkok on the Petchkasem Road. It’s best to book lodging as close to the beach as possible, but still, you can find the beach overrun with tourists in the morning hours before the wind comes up and clears them out. We’d watch the owner of our guest house constantly sweep the sand out and around from his place, spending hours obsessing over every grain. He’d scowl at our noisy, sand-drenched kids and tell people to leave if they were bringing too much sand into the house after days spent at the beach. Too much negativity can ruin your dream kiteboarding vacation—luckily Buddha is everywhere to help you control your thoughts and remain positive. Escaping the bustling streets and tourism in Hua Hin, we drove south for 20 minutes and found the meditative temple village of Kao Tao. Here the beaches are empty and there are much fewer kiteboarders on the water. Kao Tao had a long, beautiful beach surrounded by nature without the urban backdrop. While you can find accommodations here, it is a bit more remote and lonely compared to the action and amenities of Hua Hin. A kite vacation isn’t complete without a bit of culture and local tourism; the King’s lively city has many craft markets and a historical train station that was quite fun to explore with the family.

There are modern water parks and a cable park, but our favorite experience was the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation, a donationbased organization and a must-see for kids. The sanctuary is a refuge for abused elephants, saving them from the common mistreatment of zoos and circuses in the streets of Bangkok. Visitors can sign up for small tours with the elephants in nature and walk beside them. Children can ride on top of the little elephants—we fed them bananas and showered them with a hose for an experience the kids will never forget. These beings are truly wonderful; there’s something calming and nurturing about these animals and the money spent at the sanctuary goes to rescue, protect and revitalize these beautiful creatures. Hua Hin is perhaps not the ultimate kite destination for high wind, surf or perfect freestyle conditions, but its easy beach setup and cultural ambiance are certainly worth the journey. Upon the completion of a high-speed rail system directly from the Bangkok airport, it’s only going to get easier to get there. With its straightforward access to kiteboarding and ample beachside amenities, Hua Hin is above all else a great warm water escape from a chilling northern hemisphere winter. Under the eye of the Buddha sitting atop his hilltop temples, it’s hard not to reflect on the values of Buddhism, dabble with some introspection and reorder your thoughts towards a more positive way of thinking. Buddha may not be watching over you, but a trip to Hua Hin may clear your mind and help you find life’s big solutions, even if it comes in the form of a bit of luck and a kitchen knife from a beach bar.

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RIDE ENGINE Bird Machine Kite Foil Board

Not too big to get in the way and not too small to make things hard, this 3’10” kite foil board brings you closer to the sensation of flight. Its smart design features precise rail chines, a bottom shape that breaks surface tension promoting deflection, a more kicked nose to achieve early planing and eliminate nose pearling, and a kick tail that allows you to pump efficiently though the lulls, all in a strong lightweight construction. $999 // www.rideengine.com

ION Seek Wetsuit

Combining the surf-fit of the Onyx line, the favorite suit amongst hardcore surfers, with the windsport-specific fit of the Strike line, beloved by kiters and wind-seekers everywhere, the 2021 Seek offers the best of both worlds. From the Core version to the feature-rich Select level, Ion offers the Seek in a variety of price points and with both front and back-zip options. For women, check out the similarly combined Trinity and Jewel lines that yeilded the all-new Amaze line of women’s suits. $169.95-$559.95 // www.ion-products.com

ROBLINE Kite Line Mini Spools

Whether you’re into racing or freestyle, check out the new mini spool kite lines from Robline and customize your control bar. Guarda SK99 was specifically designed for winning kite races with foil kites; it is as small in diameter as possible and reduces drag while having the best anti-stretch characteristics available. Capetown SK79 was built for professional-level freeride and freestyle kiters on LEI kites. LEI kiters need ultimate strength and greater chafe resistance while still having the best anti-stretch characteristics for premium performance. $49 - $85 // www.murrays.com

PKS DISTRIBUTION K.I.S.S Carbon Foil Control System

The K.I.S.S Foil Control Bar is handmade entirely in the USA by kiteboarders. Available in three sizes, it features a floating full carbon bar, spectra leader loops and full carbon line winders. The center hole is hand polished for smooth travel up and down the center line. The K.I.S.S. bar is inspired by the engineering concept of ‘keep it simple, stupid.’ With this approach, they have eliminated everything except the bare essentials and have created a complete control system that can weigh as little as 9 ounces, including the fly lines. $175 // www.kiteboarding.com

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SLINGSHOT sUP WINDer

Jump into the sport of wingsurfing with the SUP board you already own. The sUP WINDer is the first of its kind stick-on keel fin that mounts to any standard SUP board. It’s the perfect tool for teaching aspiring wingsurfers; with a little technique, you can stay upwind and return home to the same place you launched from. The keel is easily removable, while the streamlined stickon fin-box remains attached to the bottom of your board. $110 // www.slingshotsports.com

PATAGONIA Stretch Thermal Jacket and Pant

The ultimate pre and post session kite, surf and foil wear! The outer material is Patagonia’s recycled stretch boardshort fabric backed with their recycled wetsuit lining to make the most comfortable and functional ‘session tracksuit’ ever. The Stretch Thermal Jacket and Pant are also an essential component of any camping trip while on the search for adventures off of the beaten path. Jacket $195 | Pant $119 // www.patagonia.com

MANERA Exo 2.0 Harness

Taking DNA from their Eclipse harness, Manera applied Adaptive Shell Technology to the Exo model to provide better support, reduced weight and increased durability. Thanks to a stiffer center area, the Exo 2.0 shell supports a large part of the back while still allowing greater freedom of movement due to its different levels of rigidity, especially its flexible outline. The soft part of the EXO 2.0 is built in one ‘single foam’ so it doesn’t absorb any water, keeping the harness light and comfy once in the water. $279 // www.manera.com

WAYDOO Flyer One

The Flyer One is the finished product of over two years of R&D into Efoil accessibility. The team aimed to produce a product that was as safe, stable and as affordable as possible. As a result, the Flyer One takes a minimalist approach that is easy to assemble and operate. Powered by a robust 6,000-watt propulsion system with a 25 mph top speed, 22-mile range and 85-minute max ride, get incomparable performance at an unbeatable price. The Flyer One is sure to have tons of people flying over the water this season. $4,899 // www.waydootech.com

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VIEWPOINT

FROM FREAKIN’ OUT TO FOILIN’ FREAK Words by Paul ‘Pablo’ Martin | Photo by Matt Georges

My wife and I were doing a “downvinda” on our SUPs in La Ventana the day I fell in love with foiling. We were riding the swells along the beach when a kitefoiler came dancing through the swells around us, gliding silently perched on his little dinner tray. I was hooked at first sight. I’ve been windsurfing and kiting for nearly 30 years—that’s 5 in San Diego years—but it took me a while to give foiling a legitimate go. In 2019, I started my dive into kitefoiling; I only logged about 10 hours of chaotic foil time on the water—some behind a boat (awesome), some with a kite (harrowing), and others on a prone surfboard (too fast and too soon!). Most of my time was spent trying to get out of the water—and I could barely stay on a foil when I did. Porpoise, anyone? Fast-forward to the winter of 2020 in La Ventana; I was fresh off the boat and on the beach when Brian Friedmann of F-One put a wing in my hand. The moment I grabbed the boom, my windsurfing muscle memories came back to life. I was right at home and in direct control of how much or how little power I wanted. As I held onto the wing boom, I felt it in my core: “THIS is my jam.” So here’s my road to wingfoiling, 10 hours in, using a 4.2 F-One Swing. Hour 1 (Standard SUP, 12-16 knots): Slogging on a SUP is wingsurfing’s version of the body drag. It’s a must. I spent most of my first downwinder learning to keep the wing tip out of the water, then figuring out how to flip the wing back over when it did. You thought the body drag was humbling? Get ready, kook. By my third downwinder, I had the wing dialed and was ready to put a foil under the board. Hours 2-4 (120 liter SUP foil, 12-16 knots): From the start, my goal was to focus on the basics: hold onto the wing and stand up. However, I never experienced that much control when I was flying a kite. Standing on the SUP, I pulled the wing in for a little more power when I was ready, and as I gently pressed down with my back foot, the board slowly rose out of the water. This was nothing like the bare-knuckled, teeth crunching, wanna-be porpoise foiling I experienced before. Surprisingly, it was even better than getting towed behind a boat. With the wing, I was

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controlling the power supply. And of course, it was nothing like prone-surfing, when you have just a split-second window to get up on the foil. In less than two hours, I clocked ten times as much foiling time as I did in 5 hours of prone surfing and kiting. Hours 4-7 (105 liter SUP foil, 15-20 knots): I was able to get up on foil in both directions and could make rough adjustments, like slowing down and changing direction without a problem. There were awkward moments, but 5 hours into wingsurfing I was already feeling the foil. Hours 7-10: (90 liter 5’10” Rocket Wing, 15-20 knots): Now, proficient with handling the wing, I was ready for a smaller wingsurf board. I used the wing’s lift to easily get on my knees and then feet. The smaller board required a lot less lift and on my third attempt, I was transitioning onto foil right away. If it was too much, or too fast, then I depowered the wing to slow things down. No problem, I was cruising on the water again; I refocused, sheeted in, and got back on the foil. Two hours into my session, I just let it happen. I wasn’t jibing or making any real turns, but I’d go as far in one direction as I was willing to swim back, depower the wing, turn the board around, get back on, and do it all again. I was foiling. In fewer than 10 hours on the water, I was in total control. With the wing in my hands and steady wind, I could give the foil as much or as little juice as I wanted. Of course, it wasn’t all floating on clouds. At times, I’d forget how to depower the wing or the hydrofoil and I’d somersault into the luff. Or there was the time I put the foil through the OG Martini’s brand new Swing walking back up the beach (sorry dad). But in four days on a wingsurfer, I went from being a freaked out foiler, to a foiling freak. Not that I’m any good yet, but now my daughter rolls her eyes and exits the room whenever she hears the word foil.’ I know one day, and it’s going to be soon, she’ll be begging to borrow mine. Pablo Martin is the son of Tkb’s Technical Editor, legendary Gary Martin, and is the chair of the Arts & Humanities Department at San Diego Miramar College. Pablo’s ideal setup for San Diego is a 6.5 Swing and a 7’0”, 100 liter SUP foil.

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20 YEARS OF LIQUID FORCE KITEBOARDING Words by Gregg ‘Tekko’ Gnecco

Tony Finn, inventor of the Skurfer, and Jimmy Redmon, founder of Redline Designs, came together to start Liquid Force Wake in 1995, and by 1999, Liquid Force had entered the kiteboarding market. Early riders such as Lou Wainman pushed LF to get into kiteboarding and they made their mark when they sponsored the first legit kiteboarding video, High, by Tronolone Productions. In those earlier days, LF had supported Shannon Best on the wake team as a cable rider before he transitioned to kite and became an early icon of the sport. It was also about that time that the legendary Picklefork board, designed by Jimmy Lewis and massproduced by LF, became the first commercial production twin tip kiteboard, which launched simultaneously with the brand’s first kite, the Flite kite, a 2 to 4-line convertible remake of the Wipika Classic. Asa Giffen led the kite division in the early years, building a legendary team of lifestyle riders including Moehau ‘The Goose’ Gould. Moe was exotic, fun and inspired all those around him. His signature board, the Element, was amongst the most popular boards of all time, and the first production kiteboard to have a single concave to quad-channel bottom. Post Asa, Jeff Burton held the reins while LF worked with Peter Schiebel of Caution Kites to design kites including the Tension and Spectrum.

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molded board. It was 2007 when I joined, taking over sales in the west and managing the team and marketing. LF launched into surf kiting in 2007 with the release of boards shaped by Fletcher Chouinard. These boards were glassed like a surfboard rather than a molded windsurf board, as was common at the time. That same year, LF signed Mauricio Abreu and began working with shaping legend Pat Rawson, releasing a line of surf boards purpose-built for kiting and with performance characteristics years ahead of their time. 2010 saw the release of the Envy, the first full production modern 3-strut kite platform, and at the beginning of the new decade, LF shifted into high gear as action sports industry legend Gary Siskar took the helm as Brand Manager. Gary’s leadership brought together a tight-knit dedicated group that expanded markets, made great products and promoted a positive service-oriented vibe wherever they went. The LF kite offices moved to Hood River, Oregon and key riders including Brandon Scheid and Sensi Graves gained notoriety traveling the world representing LF while Christoph Tack from Belgium won the last PKRA Freestyle World Championship to be held before that tour faded away.

Jason Slezak was the next key addition to the team and played a prominent role in both the image and equipment of the brand for the following 15+ years. Jason and Jimmy Redmon began working on boards immediately, and in 2005, released the Mission. This was the first of over a dozen years of signature Redmon/Slezak boards including the Influence and finally the Legacy. LF’s board designs were always groundbreaking and continue to live on in the quivers of many kiteboarders.

In 2014, LF produced the Solo, the first modern single strut kite platform which stretched ranges and light wind performance. A few years later, domestic reorganization brought Rich Sabo and eventually Blaine Baker to the sales team along with Peter Mehrhoff to the design team in the Hood River office. LF launched a groundbreaking aluminum hydrofoil product line that brought an affordable version of foilboarding to local beaches across the globe. LF further innovated the foil segment with the Happy, Rocket and Impulse foil products and earned the 2015 AWSI Kiteboarding Brand of the Year award for its technical and athletic contributions to the industry.

You can’t talk about LF’s early days without mentioning their Luxury footstraps, the Ultra Suction wake boots or the evolution of the no lace multi-wrap Ultra’s that really took boot riding to the next level. These products were seen on the feet of wakestyle riders from all brands for many years. In 2006, Corky Cullen came on board to head the Encinitas office while Julien Fillion joined the brand and took over the design responsibilities, launching the Assault II and Havoc kites which led LF into depowerable bridled kites. Davey Blair joined the pro team which coincided with the release of the Recoil, LF’s first ABS rail compression

The Liquid Force kite division was shuttered earlier this year due to challenging economic conditions and shifting priorities of the parent company. LF kite’s legacy of innovation will continue for years, cherished in aging LF quivers and passed along as hand-me-downs. It will also be remembered for developing core industry products and categories that have been adopted and implemented by other brands to this day. Of all the brands’ accomplishments over its 20 years, the most notable features of LF’s legacy are the core values of its people and culture; dedicated to sharing the stoke, passion and fun that is kiteboarding.

UPPER LEFT: Gary Siskar in the office and out of his mind. UPPER RIGHT: Tekko demonstrating early LF kitefoiling technology with boots and a beer. LOWER RIGHT: Double Trouble: Rich Sabo and Brandon Scheid pose in front of the secret R&D ambi-turning switch foil. LOWER LEFT: Gary Siskar and brand icon, Jason Slezak, load up some Hippy Sticks for testing on the spit. MIDDLE LEFT: Kite couple Brandon Scheid and Sensi Graves spread the LF gospel far and wide. // Photo Vincent Bergeron BYLINE: Gregg â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tekkoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Gnecco learned to kiteboard on a LF Picklefork 171cm and a Flite kite in 2001. Having joined REAL Kiteboarding in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina as retail manager, Tekko sold LF kites for years before joining LF Kites in 2007. Tekko is often regarded as the encyclopedia of LF kite and has ridden, sold and/or represented almost every product LF Kite produced over their 20 years in kiteboarding.

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ON THE MAP

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ThĂŠo de Ramecourt // La Ventana, Mexico

Matchu Lopes // West Africa

Matthias Larsen // Hua Hin, Thailand

Pete Cabrinha // Maui, Hawaii

Reo Stevens // Illescas Peninsula, Peru

Ewan Jaspan // Byron Bay, Australia

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Sometimes kiteboarding is less about what you can do on the water, and more about where you can go and what you can see. // Photo Juli Pereyra

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