The Kiteboarder Magazine Vol. 16, No. 4

KAMCHATKA Cold Water Wilderness

YOURI ZOON Finding Greener Pastures

SAPPHIRE SEAS Surfing Southwest Mada

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FROM THE EDITOR During the course of putting together this magazine I had two wingsurfing sessions trigger ambulances, fire trucks, law enforcement and an exotic medley of red and blue flashing lights. The first of my honorable mentions in Santa Cruz county’s dispatch logs was a 4-mile downwinder along the Santa Cruz coastline with my friend Nick Weighall (profiled on P58).

Two concerned citizens called 911 to report ‘windsurfers’ floundering a mile off-shore, one deemed “incompetent” by the caller (I’m going to point my finger at Nick for that one) and the other winger just guilty of being slow. As we turned the corner just north of Davenport and safely and competently winged to the beach, the parade of fire trucks dispersed, but our state park ranger friends remained. They answered our inquisitive looks, with, “Yes, that was all for you.”

The second emergency call happened at Santa Cruz’s famed Steamer Lane on a brutally stormy south wind session. I had been dreaming of winter storm attacks on the reef and sandy bottom point break with the extra mobility of a wing for months and it went pretty well, except for a few struggles with kelp, gusty up and down wind and constant rolling breakers that required patience and perseverance on waterstarts. Over the frothing cauldron of whitewater and through sheets of blinding rain, vivid colors of emergency vehicle lights amassed on top of the cliff. By chance, a friend in the parking lot explained the whole wingsurfing exercise to the fire marshal and the trucks moved on to the next call. It was an intense session with some amazingly long adrenaline-filled heroic (in my mind) rides across deep unbroken troughs all the way to the base of the pier, and yes, it was sprinkled with momentary flailing, but none of it meriting emergency response intervention.

So why are our wing adventures here in Santa Cruz sounding warning bells? I can’t really say—perhaps it’s because we hunt down rolling swell as mere specs out on the horizon? Or perhaps it’s just the small size of the wings that also happen to look like windsurfers in distress when in horizontal hover mode? When I started kiting almost 20 years ago, there were plenty of false alarms in those days as well. Let’s face it; be it kiters, windsurfers or wingsurfers, most of us like to heave ourselves into strong wind, big waves and nasty conditions—the stuff most other non-wateroriented souls run away from.

What do my wing adventures have to do with kitesurfing and this magazine? These experiences exemplify the core pillars of the kitesurfing experience—challenge, obsession and exploration. Such themes are hard-coded into every story in this issue and into the kiteboarding experience itself. Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this magazine and my recent wingsurfing hijinks—if you faithfully hurl yourself into a life of windsports—the rewards will be infinite, immense and colorful.

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Silvaplana's Swiss Shooter

Having grown up in the Engadin Valley of the Swiss Alps, Lukas Pitsch has trained his lens on Lake Silvaplana’s iconic milky blue glacial waters, sound of music-esque hills and the legendary backcountry snowkiting scene.

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Adaptive Frontiers

Brazilian athlete and male model, Fernando Fernandes, is just about as obsessed with kiteboarding as anyone else, except he kites without the use of his legs. Boosting off wave kickers and carving big turns, Fernando’s approach to kiteboarding has no limits.

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From the Editor

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Frontside

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Profile:

Nick Weighall

Searching Sapphire Seas

Sworn to Fun, Loyal to None

Olivia Jenkins and Patri McLaughlin team up with Jalou Langeree and Ydwer van der Heide on a schooner expedition to search out left-handed perfection along Madagascar’s southwest coast.

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Exposed

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Method

Kamchatka

Travel notes from the log of Paul Serin reveal Manera’s cold water explorations into the pristine landscape of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. As a restricted military zone during cold war era politics, the Russian outpost delivers undeveloped subarctic splendor and one of the most remote kite explorations to date.

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The Real Stig

The Stoke Farm pits professional Dutch kiteboarder Stig Hoefnagel against a fictional race car driver from Britain’s famed TV show Top Gear. In a knockout race through the Dutch countryside, the two helmet-clad characters dash over levees and down narrow canals for the title of ‘The Real Stig.’

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Profile:

Tabea & Matthias Oppliger

Combating Modern-Day Slavery

Jesse Richman's XXL Surf Search

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Wish List

112 Viewpoint

Playing Against the Trump Card

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Roots

The Mille Lacs Kite Crossing

Greener Pastures

After 15 years circling the beaten track of the professional freestyle tour, Youri Zoon trades in his contest jersey for a freeride itinerary that allows unfettered freedom to explore the lesser known, yet equally spectacular kiteboarding destinations of the world.

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On the Map

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Parting Shot

44 100 34 20 70 86 On the Cover

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KAMCHATKA Cold Water Wilderness

YOURI ZOON Finding Greener Pastures

SAPPHIRE SEAS Surfing Southwest Mada

Backed by emerald green fields and the quaint stone village of Wine Strand Beach, Steven Akkersdijk scores this point break in County Kerry, Ireland. Having waited for the evening's high tide, he dropped in on a few bombs before the wind completely shut off and had to swim a half hour back to shore. According to Steven, the session was worth every stroke. // Photo Ydwer van der Heide 11

W W W . P L A T I N U M - S U N . C O M

Marina Chang, Publisher marina@thekiteboarder.com Brendan Richards, Editor in Chief brendan@thekiteboarder.com India Stephenson, Designer/Editor india@thekiteboarder.com Alexis Rovira, Editor at Large alexis@thekiteboarder.com Gary Martin, Tkb Ambassador gary@thekiteboarder.com CONTRIBUTORS James Boulding, Olivia Jenkins, Paul Serin, Jesse Richman, Youri Zoon, Tighe Belden PHOTOGRAPHERS Marshal Chupa, Vincent Bergeron, Samuel Cardenas, Lukas Pitsch, James Boulding, Ydwer van der Heide, Elke Moshel, Wareck Arnaud, Andre Magarao, Le Goetz, Matt Georges, Erik Aeder, Francine Boer, Orestis Zoumpos, Jenn Barnett, Tighe Belden, Lukas Stiller, Jack Lakey, Mateo Vargas, Gregor John 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 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 © 2019 Boardsports Media LLC. All rights reserved.

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FRONTSIDE

Escaping the grip of Squamish’s winter, Sam Medysky lays into a vicious carve in the slick waters of the Bahamas. // Photo Marshal Chupa

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FRONTSIDE

According to Brandon Scheid, scouting fresh riding locations takes a creative eye and a positive mentality in the face of adversity. After discovering his favorite sandbar had been taken out by the erosive power of the Columbia River, Brandon focused up on this limbo tree just outside of Bingen, Washington. // Photo Vincent Bergeron

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FRONTSIDE

Spanish kiter Pablo Amores steps up to the plate in the Slingshot surf department with appearances on the GKA tour and this fall’s pilgrimage to Indonesia’s wave kiting mecca. This classic backside bottom turn sets the stage for good things to come. // Jack Lakey

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Reo Stevens as free as a bird at an empty South American left.

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S I LV A P L A N A’S SW I S S S H O OTE R WORDS BY BRENDAN RICHARDS | PHOTOS BY LUKAS PITSCH

Somewhere in Ireland, torrential rain pounds the tin can roof of an economy rental car as Lukas Pitsch hugs the grassy left edge of a small two-lane rural road. A technical bag tightly packed with an arsenal of Nikon equipment sits shotgun, but conspicuously missing from this working photo trip is his faithful bag of kite gear. At that very moment, 1200 miles to the south, Lukas’ friends apply climbing skins to the bottom of their skis in Switzerland’s Bernina Pass. Exchanging encouragement in staccato Swiss German, they begin trekking into the upper basin, traversing the steep snowy terrain in switchback routes that gain altitude quickly. When they finally reach a steady mountain breeze, they run their lines, pack their skins and launch into the first day of the Swiss snowkite season.

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Silvaplana is one of Europe’s remote kite scenes known for its iconic milky blue glacial waters sandwiched between rolling green hills and monolithic granite peaks that are blessed with reliable summertime thermals and endless snowkiting terrain in the winter. Its stunning backdrops allow for backcountry access to some of the most diverse and pristine snowkite spots in Europe. This is home for Lukas Pitsch, but having recently committed full time to a career in freelance photography, he was finishing up a two-week assignment in Ireland for an international sports company while his friends were scoring the first kiteassisted climbs of the season. Snowkiting season in Switzerland had started and Lukas Pitsch was officially missing out.

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Having grown up in Zurich, Lukas’ family spent most weekends in the Engadin, a long alpine valley stretching up through the Swiss Alps. Plunking down for a small apartment in Silvaplana, his parents became avid hikers, spending much of their time taking gondolas to distant peaks and exploring the green-carpeted valleys and vertical crags of the Swiss Alps, but Lukas much preferred flying two-line kites on the grassy beach park beside Lake Silvaplana. Despite the constant presence of windsurfers and kitesurfers, he never connected his desire to fly toy kites to the watersports around him, at least not until Remy, a friend from school, convinced him to go on a kitesurfing weekend to Lake Como in the Italian Alps many years later.

It was at Lake Como that Lukas took kite lessons on an inflatable boat that immediately awakened his adolescent kite

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skills. When the lightbulb flickered in Lake Como—all Lukas could think about was exploring the kiteboarding opportunities of Lake Silvaplana. After graduating with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and economics, he got a job as a product manager in a large international corporation just outside of Zurich. For three years kiteboarding overtook every spare moment and his wind obsession claimed weekends and vacations—until the call of wind inspired Lukas to quit everything to spend a year kitesurfing around the world. He had planned to travel alone, but in a random conversation with a stranger, Lukas was fortuitously connected with Julian Meister, a young Austrian kiteboarder living in Switzerland, who happened to be planning a similar kite itinerary. In a bizarre twist, the two kiteboarding strangers cobbled together a wind-based travel plan and met at the airport.

LEFT: Lukas Pitsch’s stay in Tarifa coincided with the arrival of the first waves from Hurricane Ophelia. With his camera ready, Lukas captured Wladimir Rodriguez’s ride of the day in once in a lifetime conditions at Balneario Beach. RIGHT: The transition from summer to autumn brings dropping temperatures and dramatic color changes to the trees surrounding Lake Silvaplana. Snowkiting on the frozen surface is just around the corner, and while very few brave the cold waters of the shoulder season, the Indian summer days in the Engadin Valley are an ideal time to capture solo sessions on Silvaplana.

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Captured on a boy’s only weekend, Lukas and Julian Meister explore deep into the Bernina backcountry to find this exposed cornice. With strong winds and good lighting, athlete and photographer line up the perfect blend of action, angle and terrain.

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Open-ended kitesurfing travel is a unique animal; it’s the constant exploratory search of wind and spots of which Lukas and Julian dove in headfirst. They started in Brazil and moved through Columbia, Belize, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. From there they landed in San Francisco and checked a pass under the Golden Gate Bridge off of their kite bucket list. They then traveled to Hawaii, Australia and Sri Lanka. With the freedom to explore diverse landscapes, Lukas’ passion for photography transitioned from a hobby into a disciplined photographic practice.

Fittingly, at the duo’s favorite location, an unknown destination in Belize, Lukas captured a shot of his new friend Julian that landed him his first spread in a kiteboarding magazine. In anticipation of the publication, he recalls not sleeping for three days with excitement.

Looking back at that trip—it was the state of constant travel that taught him the most about kitesurfing. The perpetual search for wind in the most iconic but far removed spots is a unique practice as

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opposed to showing up at your local beach down the road. Scouring maps, reading swell or studying satellite images for flat water perfection is particularly salient to Lukas—it’s the juxtaposition of sifting through data and then diving headfirst into the unknown towards the quest of the natural world’s reality. Travel teaches you to make a plan, and when that fails, make another plan, and in the process, Lukas learned to bank both success and failure as valued added, and above all to enjoy every moment of the search. In some sense, kiteboarding travel has taught Lukas a key element of happiness.

While Lukas had intended to return to the mountain perfection of Silvaplana, he had hoped to do so without a plan. Having grown up in the structured environs of Zurich, Lukas’ whole life seemed to have been precisely ordered within the framework of a tidy timetable; following the pragmatic and well-worn paths through school, work and career. Despite his no-plan intentions, during the last leg of his year-long trip, he

BOTTOM LEFT: Far from the classic kite spots of the Greek islands, in the summer of 2019, Lukas took a spontaneous roadtrip to explore Greece’s mainland and discovered steady, reliable (albeit straight offshore) thermal winds at this uncrowded, picturesque peninsula. BOTTOM RIGHT: Lukas captures his fiancée in a reservoir located high up in the Alps. Connected to river systems that feed both the Adriatic and Baltic Seas, Lucas and Ramona braved 39°F temperatures to get this elusive shot at Lago Bianco.

ABOVE: Two-time European Snowkite Freestyle Champion, Andrea Luca Ammann, caught mid-rotation on this flat handlepass in Bernina Pass. Having traveled from Italy to stay with Lukas and his girlfriend, the two worked together to bring wakestyle snowkiting to the big mountains. RIGHT: With no wind in the forecast, photographer Lukas Pitsch and friend Sacha Oberhänsli hiked and skied the Hochwang backcountry’s endless powder amidst bluebird skies.

Sacha brought one kite just in case, and just before sunset, the wind picked up enough for him to use his light wind weapon to take him to the top of this peak.

came across his dream job in the marketing department of a major camera brand in Zurich. Applying from Sri Lanka, he landed the job by the time he was back in Zurich in a transition so fast, he found himself back at home in a matter of days with a corporate job scratching around to find a suit and tie.

The professional opportunities of the camera company had its perks, but his free time was consumed with kiteboarding and snowkiting. Weekends were spent kiteboarding on the lake in warmer weather and during the long winters, he’d trek into the mountains above Silvaplana on skis and snowkite the extreme terrain, climbing tall peaks with his kites and skiing down. He continued to pursue photography on the

side, his work gaining frequent exposure in magazines and creating relationships with kite brands. After five long years in the camera hardware industry, earlier this year he made the jump to a full-time freelance photographer.

While the compensation rates for a kiteboarding photographer quartered in the Swiss Alps isn’t sufficient to get by, his kiteboarding photography is one of the key forces that has helped him build a portfolio capable of attracting corporate clients. According to Lukas, “kiteboarding is often a conversation starter with clients and they can clearly see my passion for the sport in my work which has helped me land contracts outside of the kite industry.”

Scrolling through Lukas’ social media

accounts, while you’ll see shots of Mitu Monteiro in his home of Cabo Verde, or other professional athletes in Tarifa or Brazil, when it comes to Lukas’ photos of Silvaplana, his subjects are typically the average kiteboarders, many of them his friends, and in some regard, that has shaped Lukas’ approach to his work. In the absence of pro-caliber tricks landing in front of his lens, Lukas has learned how to create captivating images by composing kiteboarding from a broader perspective.

Lukas points out how contract work narrows your focus on a product, a rider or logo placement, typically something that is briefed by the client. But when he shoots to meet his own goals, he has full creativity to frame the shot. Lukas points to an image of his fiancée kiting against a large glacier.

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ABOVE: Lukas captures his fiancée amidst Switzerland’s snowy landscape. More than just a random photo, Lukas framed this in his mind well before he unpacked his camera. Positioning himself in a cornice in order to shoot Ramona exactly on the ridge, Lukas guided his subject to the correct position with a walkie talkie before snapping this shot camera in one hand, kite in the other. ABOVE RIGHT: No need for directions, snowkiters just read the terrain. Using only the force of his kite and the wind to explore Bernina’s endless backcountry, Lukas shoots a selfie amidst Bernina’s road signs.

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They had to travel to the spot two to three times before the wind and lighting fell into place. Such a shot requires the perfect angle, but it’s more than just capturing the rider against the background. Often his efforts orchestrate the rider against the landscape, with special attention to placement, depth of field and framing. Riders can easily be lost in a noisy background or engulfed in an empty sky. There’s a greater harmony in Lukas’ work that not only accentuates the natural splendor of Silvaplana, but also the magnetic action of kiteboarding.

W hen it comes to Lukas’ personal kiteboarding, the advent of foilboards has increased his sessions beyond the limiting factor of strong thermal days. But his real passion seems to lay in winter where local knowledge about terrain and systems is really important along with backcountry avalanche equipment and safety awareness. Lukas’ favorite moment is after you’ve parked your car, slipped skins on the bottom of your skis and trekked up above treeline into large windy bowls. He cherishes that moment when the kite first lifts off and you feel the pull on your harness and your skis begin gliding through completely untracked snow.

For Lukas, it is this engineless world where sliding through a wide-open and remote powder field or the sensation of climbing mountains with just the pull of a kite, is what fires all his cylinders.

In the months leading up to his latest assignment in Ireland, his newfound freelance photo business ‘ProImageHub’ has kept him busy with more gigs than free time. Having quit his full-time job, he envisioned more kiteboarding sessions, but the challenge with a freelance-based career is that it is hard to turn work down.

With a healthy sense of humor, he credits foilboarding’s broader condition envelope for increasing his time on the water rather than the as of yet unrealized freedom of freelance photography, yet the theoretical potential of scoring perfect Monday morning sessions while everyone else is on their way to an office is powerfully seductive. With the freelance equation still in the shakedown stages, Lukas is banking on the days when he will finally have the freedom to embark on bucket list kite projects that require extensive planning, highly specific conditions and yield next level photography.

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ADAPTIVE

FRONTIERS WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JAMES BOULDING

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TOP LEFT: Having earned celebrity status from his early male modeling career, Fernando has remained a famous personality in Brazil known for his incredible fitness, magnetic energy and ability to break barriers. When referring to the learning process, kite coach Gustavo Foerster jokes, “If I would have killed him, I would have had a hard time from the Brazilian people.” TOP RIGHT: Inside the Cabrinha office where the design magic happens. BOTTOM RIGHT: Fernando using his superior upper body strength to control the direction of the board. BOTTOM LEFT ABOVE: Dismantling Fernando’s old setup inside the Cabrinha offices. BOTTOM LEFT BELOW: Making kiteboarding accessible to para-athletes has its challenges but as Fernando has proven it's very possible.

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If you would, go back to the first time you wrapped your hands around a control bar; try to recall those initial timid power strokes pulling you off your feet and that first body drag that taught you the key strokes to maximize the power of your kite.

Think about the fine motor control skills employed throughout your body to stay balanced as the kite levered you up and onto your board. Now imagine going through that entire learning process without the use of your legs and with only the muscles in your upper torso at your disposal.

There’s no playbook for adaptive kiteboarding, and similarly there’s no equipment specifically designed for his predicament.

This seemingly impossible task is what former male model, Fernando Fernandes, has overcome as one of the few paraplegic athletes to master kiteboarding. Having grown up in Brazil, Fernando began playing professional soccer at the age of 17, but the lure of male modeling along with its financial incentives brought him into the world of high fashion. After many years of working up the ranks and modeling for big brands including Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana and Abercrombie & Fitch, on the eve of his breakout role in a major fragrance marketing campaign, Fernando fell asleep at the wheel of his car and in the resulting accident, fractured his spine and lost the total use of his legs.

With his world turned completely upside down in a matter of days, he turned to physical therapy, focused his energy on wheelchair athletics and immediately set his newly bounded ambitions on a 9-mile wheelchair race, a mere three months after his accident. Against the odds and with little familiarity with this new form of endurance racing, Fernando entered the

Saint Silvestre long-distance road race with a borrowed wheelchair that was a couple of sizes too small. Ill-prepared but relentless, Fernando scorched the flesh on his hands from braking down steep hills and persevered past a flat tire to cross the finish line using any part of his arms capable of moving his wheels forward. “In that race, I regained a sense of ability I thought I had lost. When I crossed the finishing line, I realized I could do anything I wanted,” he recalls. Finishing the Saint Silvestre road race was a monumental accomplishment, yet just the beginning of Fernando’s para-athletic career. Changing disciplines, he then focused on Paralympic canoeing which helped return his sense of freedom to explore, train and compete as he quickly gathered four world titles as well as represented Brazil as an ambassador for the Olympic games in 2016.

In 2017 Fernando convinced his friend and now coach, Gustavo Foerester, to teach him how to kite. The kiteboarding learning process carried with it substantial challenges as well as significant risks for both Fernando and his instructor Gustavo who helped him retrofit regular kiteboards with a seat. Since setting his eyes firmly on kiteboarding, Fernando was driven by a fierce determination to kiteboard while coach Gustavo often checked the brakes to maintain safety as they forged the path for paraplegic kiteboarding.

Early in the process, Gustavo insisted on the importance of body dragging, as it is a fundamental drill for kiteboarding students, but Fernando pushed back. It wasn’t until Gustavo attempted a body drag without the use of his legs that he understood the true challenges faced by Fernando. Unlike normal kite instruction, there aren’t many resources out there for adaptive learning. Reflecting on the process, Fernando recalls, “Gradually we created our own way, our own method tailored to my body, and we invested a lot of time into kite control in shallow water which made a big difference.”

Outfitted with a new Cabrinha board better designed for his specific needs, Fernando launches off a kicker with a seat rail grab for style and control. The tremendous physicality of Fernando’s riding limits his sessions to 15 minutes, but Fernando packs a lot of action into that timeframe.

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One of the biggest challenges for Fernando was learning how to maintain his balance without relying on the bar. There’s no playbook for adaptive kiteboarding, and similarly, there’s no equipment specifically designed for his predicament. Gustavo started by bolting chairs to different boards, but they made the biggest improvements when they stumbled upon Cabrinha’s Fireball harness spreader bar. Unlike conventional kiters who face the kite while riding, Fernando is seated sideways to the kite and has to physically rotate his torso to face the controls. The Fireball system permits Fernando to move his abdomen along with the directional pull of the kite while adding extra freedom of movement that has allowed him to succeed in the sport of kiteboarding.

Fernando’s quest to master kiteboarding didn’t stop at riding in a straight line, staying upwind or even jumping. He dreams of landing megaloops, handlepasses and riding waves, but to make these dreams come true, Fernando knows better than anyone else the importance of proper equipment. Because of their early crusade to build adaptive kite equipment, Fernando and coach Gustavo were invited to Maui to meet, ride and work with the Cabrinha team. Arriving at the Maui-based kite company, Gustavo and Fernando were welcomed by kiteboarding pioneer and XXL Big Wave legend Pete Cabrinha along with Cabrinha’s Product Development Manager Lars Moltrup, Product Testing Manager Phil Sobolev and engineer Brodie Sutherland.

In working with Fernando, Lars points to the vast differences between product design for a conventional board user versus a product designed for a sit-down rider.

“The center of gravity is lower and the leverage the rider can exert on the rail is vastly different.” Since much of the Cabrinha design team’s work is based

on personal experience, Brodie asked Fernando if he could try to kite with Fernando’s board-mounted sit-chair.

Completely blown away, Brodie marveled at how hard it was to ride the chair, even with the use of his legs to balance.

“Fernando makes it look way easier than it actually is—the fitness required to stay out, even for just a few tacks, is incredible,” said Brodie.

Fernando’s rowing career along with his exercise regime has allowed him to build incredible upper body strength, yet his sessions on his current equipment typically only last 15 minutes before he has to come in and let his forearms recover. This is one of the areas the Cabrinha team hoped to improve as they set about customizing an adaptive board for Fernando.

"Fernando makes it look way easier than it actually is—the fitness required to stay out, even for just a few tacks, is incredibe," - Brodie Sutherland Using Cabrinha’s Stylus production board as a base model, Lars first began making modifications with the mounting of the chair and the reinforcements that go with it. The size, laminate, core configuration and even fin position became tailored to the specific requirements of the sit-down user. According to Lars, “Fernando puts more stress on the board than most other kiteboarders, not only because he rips and is going for jumps and kiteloops, but the forces are increased even further by the absence of shock absorption in the knees.” Lars worked on the rocker and flex, balancing the strength for the chair’s load while still providing enough flex to make the ride comfortable.

TOP LEFT: Pete and company work with Fernando to build a better platform for the sit-chair. TOP RIGHT: Fernando is not content with just mowing the lawn; he aspires to one day master kiteloops, handlepasses and legitimate wave riding. BOTTOM RIGHT: Working with Fernando, Lars Moltrup tweaked everything from chair position to fin location along with board flex and outline. BOTTOM LEFT ABOVE: Design Engineer Brodie Sutherland gives Fernando’s sit-chair a solid go to better understand the forces at work. BOTTOM LEFT BELOW: Fernando and Pete Cabrinha comparing notes during one of the Maui testing sessions.

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ABOVE: Fernando putting his new board to work with Pete Cabrinha observing in the background. According to Pete, “Fernando gets everyone around him pumped up to ride and somehow the sessions with him were a new level of fun for the whole team.”

With shorter length sessions than most kiteboarders, Fernando tends to pack a lot of action in each ride; he is at the forefront of adaptive kitesurf ing and it’s easy to see why. Any preconceptions the Cabrinha team had about what is possible have been blown clear out the water. “This is what gets the Cabrinha design team excited,” Pete exclaimed during an R&D session at the beach with Fernando. “His drive and ambition are perfectly balanced by his warm and open attitude. He gets everyone around him pumped up to ride and somehow the sessions with him were a new level of fun for the whole team.”

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Sports have always played a huge roll in Fernando’s life, and since the accident, he has worked relentlessly to push himself harder in order to change the “physically fragile image of disabled people.” When Fernando and Gustavo walked into Cabrinha's office they found not only a tightknit family that shares the boardsports obsession, but also a group of designers and engineers committed to relentlessly improving the equipment they had created. With Fernando’s determination and Cabrinha’s technical experience, together they hope to continue the evolution of paraplegic kite gear to change the game, making adaptive kiteboarding more accessible to paraplegic athletes.

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SEARCHING SAPPHIRE SEAS

W O R D S B Y O L I V I A J E N K I N S | P H O T O S B Y Y D W E R VA N D E R H E I D E

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T

he alarm clock buzzed at 6am as the sun began rising over the Mauritian horizon. The airport taxi was supposed to pick us up at 10:30am to start the Madagascan leg of our trip, yet my clothes were still drying on the line and I hadn't started to take my surf foil apart. Instead of packing, Patri and I decided to go with some friends out on a boat to swim with dolphins in Le Morne. The dolphin encounters were incredible, but 9:30am came around fast and we raced back to the house. Flinging wet clothes from the line into our suitcases, we rushed to meet the taxi man and make our way to the airport.

Looking at my travel documents, the woman at the Air Madagascar check-in desk gave me a confused look. “You need at least two blank pages in your passport to enter Madagascar and you only have one,” she told me before making a few side remarks to her fellow employees and then walking away. I became a little nervous that I would have to stay in Mauritius (which wouldn’t be awful), but the lady walked back and said, “I will allow it, but I must escort you through immigration.”

Once inside the security of the departure lounge Patri and I connected with Jalou Langeree, Catarina Edin and Ydwer, our photographer.

The flight from Le Morne to the capital city of Antananarivo was a quick two hours. We had only budgeted for a one-hour layover before our domestic flight to Tulear which seemed sufficient on paper but in reality, it was most definitely not enough time. We rushed through immigration and then patiently waited for our bags, surrounded by the feverish chaos of Malagasy travelers eager to leave the airport. We looked around for a separate oversized luggage window, but our massive coffin bags started coming out the main luggage belt with the first of ten bags creating a logjam at its entrance.

Patri scaled over trolleys and shouldered his way to the belt as the rest of us began shuttling the coffin bags over our heads, trying not to hit any other travelers.

TOP LEFT: Navigating Madagascar’s Antananarivo International Airport isn’t that easy with oversized coffin bags; chaotic baggage claims and narrow hallways are the stuff missed connections are made of. RIGHT: The elusive Flame Balls delivers some of the most fun and uncrowded left-facing action in the southern hemisphere. MIDDLE LEFT: Packing light is for fools—Catharina Edin, Jalou Langeree and Olivia Jenkins pose amidst their hoard of kite equipment. BOTTOM LEFT: Jalou and Olivia celebrate their arrival with a pickup game of basketball outside the Tulear airport.

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With only 15 minutes until our next flight’s takeoff, we had to cross the airport and re-check our bags. With four board bags piled on each trolley, we fumbled our way through tiny hallways with bags continually falling off our carts and locals helping us re-stack them. The ladies behind the departure desk had all the bag tags printed for us, but they were in such a hurry that they stuck them onto random bags without looking at names. We weren’t even sure if some of the bags were tagged before being dragged onto the conveyor belt, so it would be a gamble if the bags made it. They held the plane and we boarded five minutes after the planned departure, but the rush was over and we were off to southwest Madagascar.

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Our lodging for the trip was a beautiful 115-foot Gaff Rig Schooner anchored off the southwest coast of Madagascar. Straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, we boarded the 100-year-old ship with its black hull, tall masts and byzantine web of rigging at a small port in the middle of the night. The Luna Moon is a sailing outfit run by Captain Dan and his dedicated but young crew. Billed in part as a certified sailing school, the Luna logs trips around the Madagascan coast, sometimes teaching the basics of yachting to aspiring sailors, other times running the more lucrative surf charters in the southwest.

The next morning we left the port headed to our first destination down the coast—a wave called Flame Balls. When we arrived there were no waves in sight but there was wind so we decided to go kite anyway and test out the launch from the boat. The Luna Moon is so big that she sits quite high above the water. Additionally, there are ropes and shackles everywhere, making kite launches off the boat quite precarious. I decided to be the first person to try and while Patri pumped up my kite over the boom, I ran my lines out along the open spaces of the deck. I attached my lines 48

TOP LEFT: Arriving at the port under the cover of darkness, Olivia and Jalou get some local help stashing their equipment aboard the Luna Moon. BOTTOM LEFT: Killing a day of doldrums with rigging swings off the gunwale and backflips off the stern. RIGHT: With swell on the horizon, the Luna Moon anchors offshore while Olivia and crew go for a flat water cruise.

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LEFT: Olivia tucking in for a backhanded barrel in the Indian Ocean’s school of hard knocks. With the swell building quickly overnight, there’s little in the way of a warm up for mastering Flame Balls while it's firing on all cylinders. RIGHT: When barrel riding goes wrong the kite typically rips you out of the wave and flings you uncontrollably into the air.

on the boat and then jumped into the water while Patri held my kite over the side. I swam away to tighten the lines, yet the kite fluttered in Patri’s hands. After letting go, the kite began to drift aft, and I watched as it floated towards the dinghy hanging on the stern of the ship. It barely missed the protruding dinghy crane and as the kite caught wind I breathed a collective sigh for surviving my first boat launch. For the rest of the day, we kited around on the flat water while Catta and Jalou practiced their strapless freestyle.

After the first day on the boat, we had a few lay days where there was very little wind and had to come up with different activities to keep ourselves busy. Discovering a rope swing off

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the gunwale of the Luna Moon, we practiced backflips off the side, and since I brought my surf foil, Patri and I experimented with foiling behind the boat. We attached a rope to the stern and towed behind, but it was extremely difficult; the Luna under motor moves fairly slow and we had to zigzag back and forth to get enough speed and maintain tension on the rope.

Life on the boat was really slow and for the most part a nice break from reality. We woke up every morning around 6am to the sounds of squeaking floors and aging bulkheads. Over a hot bowl of oatmeal and Nescafe, we would all come together to discuss the plans for the day, which typically consisted of scouting down the coast for waves.

One morning we awoke to Pete, the surf guide on the boat, telling captain Dan to move the yacht closer to Flame Balls. On arrival, the waves were glassy and about a head and a half high. It was the first proper day of surf, so we were all amping to get out. Although five of us paddled out into the lineup, there were more than enough waves for everyone. It had been a while since I had surfed backside so it took me a little bit of warming up; after a few hours, the wind started to pick up so we decided to eat lunch and return to the break with our kites.

Instead of launching off the boat, we took the dinghy out to the break’s isolated island and launched from there. When I got out to the lineup I realized the kite I selected was a size too small and I was

underpowered in pumping waves on a new break. I started off a little hesitant but luckily the power of the wave lined up with the wind so I felt powered enough once I dropped in. Huge barrels roared through the lineup and while I was trying hard to get a few good ones, I was continuously positioning myself too deep. The wave kept closing in on me and my kite would violently pull me through the back of the wave, ripping me into the air. A couple of local surfers paddled out and we did our best to show them respect. I remember one wave where I positioned myself a little too deep and got barreled right in front of them before getting blown up and tugged out the back of the wave. It was a good reminder for everyone about the dangers of surfing with kites. We ended up kiting until after sunset and with the rising tide, we had to land our kites on the dinghy with great caution.

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The following day was supposed to be the biggest day of the trip.

The morning started out with odd conditions—it was too windy to surf but not quite windy enough to kite. Patri was the only one to brave the blown-out surf. Luna Moon was anchored immediately next to the break and as it swayed back and forth, it felt like at any moment a rogue set might come through and flip the boat. We restlessly ate lunch and waited for the wind to pick up. It finally kicked in in the afternoon and I was able to pump up my 6m Neo. Watching as huge barrels lined up throughout the day, I made it my mission to tuck into a good one and make it out the other side.

As Patri sat in the lineup he pointed me towards a step in the wave that jacked up a little bit upwind. He recommended I try to line up with a set wave and pull up under the step, where the wave would just barrel over me. I planted Patri’s words in my head and the next thing I knew I was watching a large set rolling in from the horizon. I tacked fast to get in front of it and sped up to keep up with the momentum of the swell. Aiming for Patri’s step, I crouched into a low stance and grabbed my rail while pulling up into the steepening wall a second before the wave started to suck up massive amounts of water and project out over my head.

Surrounded by the barreling monster, I could see the light of day on the shoulder at the end of the thundering tunnel. I edged my board down the line and held my position tight. After a couple of seconds, the wave slowed down and I came flying out of the tube with incredible speed. There was no photographic evidence of my Flame Balls barrel since there were two major sections to the wave; the upwind and downwind sections with Ydwer and his camera perched lower on the reef at the downwind barrel section.

Photo or not, that barrel will be imprinted in my memory bank for the rest of my time.

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LEFT: The downside of kiting remote breaks is that you often have to make a decision on kite size and live with it. Olivia rigs a 6m Neo wishing she had a bit more power for positioning herself directly under the lip. RIGHT: Patri McLaughlin is the one to watch on A-frame lefts with this powerful transition into a frontside tail slide on the shoulder of Flame Balls.

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LEFT: Flame Balls is a massive conveyor belt of grade-A lefts; Olivia exiting a solid backside hack on the inside with Patri on the outside squaring up to the lip. UPPER RIGHT: After quite a few days aboard the Luna Moon, Olivia dialed in the art of a perfectly executed boat launch. MIDDLE RIGHT: While waiting for swell, Olivia visits a local village and becomes a hit with the younger ones. LOWER RIGHT: Travel and new friends go hand in hand.

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These were the two promising days of really good wind and waves on our trip’s forecast. Based on Windguru’s predictions, we didn't have any expectations for the rest of our time on the boat so we sailed back down the coast to a wave spot that we heard might pick up more swell, but when we arrived, the reef was flat. We launched the dinghy and headed to a remote village where excited kids came running up to us and started screaming in Malagasy. One of the parents gathered them together and they started singing a song for us in unison. It was an incredibly warm welcome to their island. Our guide Pete took us to the local bar and we had a few beers while waiting for the wind to pick up. Spirits were down a bit as we didn’t think we would get any more waves for the rest of the trip.

By the time we returned to the boat and ate lunch, the wind started to pick up and a small wave appeared near the boat so we decided to give it a go. Patri told us ahead of time that he was planning on kiting downwind to explore. Jalou, Catta and I stayed upwind taking turns on the small wave near the boat but it was nothing special. I kept looking downwind to where Patri was and it almost looked as if he was catching some good waves, but it was hard to tell because it was just out of sight. I pointed it out to Jalou and Catta and we all decided it was worth a look.

When we got to Patri’s spot downwind, he was dropping in on a bomb and Jalou, Catta and I were screaming at the top of our lungs with excitement. He had found the most perfect peeling left at the end of a reef pass pretty far off the coast with clean faces and slightly offshore wind—it reminded me of the setup at Restaurants in Fiji. You could get about 10 turns per wave and although at this point kiting backside was still hard for me, this wave made it so easy—I could just park my kite. I had some of the cleanest backside turns of my life during this session, and the best part was, as soon as I kicked out and tacked back upwind to the peak, there was always another perfect wave lining up on the outside. It was an incredible experience kiting this caliber wave, let alone scoring it with just your friends in another unforgettable session in Madagascar.

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LEFT: Patri sets his high-speed rail line while eyeing the next open face wave hit. UPPER RIGHT: The view from above with the Luna Moon rolling in the channel and kitesurfers swarming the peak. LOWER RIGHT: Expeditions for world-class surf require a bit of patience and a ton of perseverance in order to milk every last set of a peaking swell.

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The following day we headed back to the Tulear port to depart for our respective homes. We were all excited to head back, but we would miss the waves, wind, empty lineups, friends and the amazing crew aboard Luna. It was a bittersweet goodbye that became more bitter with every flight. When we got to the Tulear airport, the ticketing agent tried to charge us thousands of dollars for our board bags. It took an hour of heated argument before they finally let us through with limited damage to our wallets. During our first layover, I started to feel sick and began to get a fever. I had come down with acute food poisoning, most likely from contaminated ice in my drink. On the flight to London, they quarantined off one of the plane’s bathrooms for my personal use, probably because they thought I had caught Madagascar’s Bubonic plague. There’s no way to sugarcoat it—the way home was the worst travel experience of my life—yet no amount of travel torture could take away from the sweetness of our Madagascan surf discoveries.

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Nick Weighall confidently balances on a resuscitated ladder while practicing dock starts in Santa Cruz's Scott Creek. Having suffered serious damage during previous attempts in the surf zone, the repaired ladder fared much better in the river mouth's calmer waters. // Photo Mateo Vargas

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PROFILED

NICK WEIGHALL Santa Cruz, California

Sworn to Fun, Loyal to None Climbing up onto the ‘not a step’ rung of a disabled aluminum ladder bandaged together with green duct tape and useful sized driftwood, Nick Weighall hovers over his foilboard, readying for a pump start into the placid estuary of Santa Cruz’s Scott Creek.

The ladder start is Nick’s homegrown version of a foilboard dock start, a pissed off plan-B conceived after the Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol cracked down on his late-night foilboard dock start and harbor pumping sessions. If you can read between these lines, Nick Weighall is a mild-mannered outlaw, a relentless force of motion and a classic case of kiteboarding addiction unchecked and spinning radically out of control.

Bouncing back and forth between Northern California and Texas, Nick grew up in the great outdoors led by his dad, a professional mountain climbing guide. Surrounded by backcountry and dirt, when BMX racing came along it was a natural extension for Nick’s boundless energy and competitive drive. BMX turned into mountain biking and in the years that followed Nick became a top tier downhill, road and cyclocross racer in his time outside of school and working in a bike shop. Upon high school graduation, Nick moved to Seattle because the winters are “raining, muddy and super cold—perfect conditions for cyclocross.” While Seattle seems like a natural place to discover kiteboarding, it was a fateful bicycle tour in Europe where Nick first saw kitesurfing in a magazine while waiting for a flight at Heathrow. He bought that magazine and held onto it for five years until he could line up a kitesurfing lesson on Seattle’s Jetty Island.

As Nick picked up twin tip riding he eventually transitioned away from the unremunerative profession of cyclocross racing and moved to Santa Cruz—the unofficial capital of kitesurfing on the West Coast. Landing a job drilling water wells in the coastal mountains, Nick had more time and money to pursue ocean sports. Like most people that discover Santa Cruz’s Waddell Creek on a twin tip, he quickly transitioned to a strapless surfboard and with his gregarious high-energy personality, soon became a fixture of the Santa Cruz kite scene.

While Nick credits his dad with teaching him the basics of taking the family car apart and putting it back together, most importantly,

his parents gifted him with an unbounded sense of curiosity.

Having started his backyard tinkering on a ‘76 Mercedez that he converted to run on vegetable oil (that was about 15 cars ago), Nick’s most recent hack is an ingenious Honda hybrid chassis upgraded with a VW diesel engine—a Frankenstein work of welding art that gets well over 75 miles per gallon. Nick’s backyard ingenuity goes beyond things welded to a leak-proof wetsuit bootie cuff concept that is buried in his van and yet to be licensed. Nick’s approach to most things is a no-nonsense quest to the heart of the matter, often cutting out the middleman.

Guided by a bottomless appetite for adventure and combined with infinite reserves of energy, there’re no limits as to the trouble Nick can get into. If the normal Santa Cruz kite day plays out between 11am and 5pm, Nick is the lone kiteboarder scratching at the horizon, fanatically fitting in a pre-work foil session at 6am on a Monday morning. Often the instigator of mischievous fun, he’s a pusher of good ideas ready-wired to turn bad. Foilboard around the shark-infested waters of Ano Nuevo island? Wingsurf the entire 17 miles of Santa Cruz’s coast solo on a hacked-together prototype wingsurfer? The truth is, these are bad ideas for the normal person, but for a self-reliant MacGyver, a solve-problems-on-the-fly kind of adventure-survivalist like Nick—getting stranded two miles out on sinking jet ski is just another walk in the park.

In the last couple of years, Nick has doubled-down on kite foiling. From prone foil surfing to open-ocean downwind wingfoiling, he has obsessively pursued the art of gliding across swells of all size in the middle of the Monterey Bay. The running joke attributes Nick’s approach to life: “Sworn to fun, loyal to none.” While this motto is aptly used to describe his voracious tear through boats, foil equipment and tow partners, it doesn’t capture Nick’s laidback and contemplative approach to nature and life itself. Having traded his way through four different boats, six foilboards and multiple foil wing systems in the last few years—this might sound like an unhealthy addiction—but to those who know Nick, it’s just commitment to a worthy cause, maximizing performance and fun.

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Tabea and Matthias Oppliger gather at the KitePride workshop in Tel Aviv where they give both kites and people a second chance at life. // Photo Elke Moshel

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PROFILED

TABEA & MATTHIAS OPPLIGER Tel Aviv, Israel

Combating modern-day slavery with kiteboarding In the dingy streets of southern Tel Aviv among multi-story apartment buildings slathered with graffiti and shops closed up with steel shutters, there’s signs of a thriving prostitution trade.

Juxtaposed against the gritty urban backdrop sits the modern headquarters of KitePride—an oasis of open plan workstations, clean, white offices and a trendy display room outfitted with repurposed wood pallets showcasing brightly colored backpacks and tote bags made of recycled kite materials.

KitePride certainly isn’t the first outfit to upcycle used kites into new products, but it is the first organization to use the upcycling of kite bags to provide job rehabilitation for men and women exiting the sex trade and forced prostitution. When KitePride founder Tabea Oppliger learned that even in our modern society, each year 2.5 million people become victims of human trafficking, she immediately sought ways to help those people. A professional masseuse at the time, Tabea offered free massages to try and restore their dignity and sense of self-worth, but she soon learned that what was most important to them was to find a way out of the sex trade.

Tabea set about establishing GlowbalAct, an NGO aimed at combating modern-day slavery through education, jobs and support. With the idea of environmental sustainability in mind, the organization began upcycling wooden pallets into furniture, providing jobs to recovering sex workers. However, the upcycled furniture product presented unique challenges in training her employees to work with wood. Upon a suggestion from a fellow Swiss friend and kiteboarder, Tabea and her husband Matthias Oppliger began sewing old kites into bags and relocated from Switzerland to Tel Aviv to establish KitePride. With nearly 12,000 women, men and children identified as sex workers in Israel, the mission of KitePride, their social business, is to employ individuals escaping human trafficking and modern-day slavery by upcycling used material from kites, sails, parachutes and wetsuits into

repurposed durable and trendy bags. KitePride works with local kitesurfing clubs, surf schools and kite distributors in Tel Aviv to gather old kites that would otherwise end up in the landfill as well as maintain eight different used kite donation dropoff points in Israel where there is a large kite scene along the Mediterranean. While KitePride produces bags with the environment and sustainability in mind, it’s really a social organization where the key product is the jobs it creates that help women, men and transgenders exit human trafficking.

What Tabea and her company learned is that escaping prostitution isn’t as simple as just leaving. People exiting the trade face significant barriers including financial debt and lack of resources such as education and employable skills. Without a proven employment track record, it’s hard to find a job and recovering sex trade workers often end up falling back into trafficking situations. KitePride has become the missing link for ex-sex workers on their way to stable employment.

While most employees get referred to KitePride with some basic sewing skills, others without the aptitude for stitching are trained or given other jobs including shipping, ordering and financial tracking. According to Elke Moshel, KitePride’s Marketing Director, “We have a social worker here full time because the trauma of sex trafficking doesn’t disappear once they exit.” As a result, one of the keys to KitePride’s success in employment rehabilitation is its efforts to provide a safe, flexible and supportive workplace.

While Israel is known for its polarized conflicts between Jews and Arabs and a healthy political schism between the left and right political parties, Tabea’s social business works to maintain an all-encompassing social organization inclusive of all genders and nationalities. With the aim of putting an end to modern-day slavery, KitePride works to offer a second wind to both kites and people.

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EXPOSED

From a torn rotator cuff to an all-consuming promotional tour for the Bubble Film and ultimately a broken ankle, it's taken four years for Craig Cunningham to get back to Taiba and finally hit this stainless rail. // Photo Lukas Stiller

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EXPOSED

Johann Civel carves up limitless rolling high-altitude snowkite terrain above the small French village of Cervières along the Italian border. As one of France’s premier snowkiting guides, Johann knows where to find the goods. // Photo Wareck Arnaud

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EXPOSED

Sam Light launches into this wave-assisted kiteloop in the waning hours of a textbook Brazillian kite day. // Photo Andre Magarao

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Flysurfer’s Jannis Maus puts his tall mast and high aspect foil to work in the endless quest for speed. // Photo Le Goetz

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Photo - Terje NergĂĽrd Photography, 2019

Whether your passion is kiteboarding in the Florida mangroves, paddling the waves of Maui or hiking or even flying in the Cascades, the FLO will enhance your experience and boost your senses. The FLO is unsinkable, strapless and lightweight and is designed for everyday use both on and off the water. From the 8-base wrap frame to the wide selection of lens options catering for every need, the FLO will protect your eyes and enhance your visual experience. Whatever your passion, remember to go with the FLO.

l i p - s u n g l a s s e s . c o m

KAMCHATKA LOG NOTES BY PAUL SERIN | PHOTOS BY MATT GEORGES

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5 2 ° 5 4 ’ 3 1 . 5 ”

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1 5 8 ° 3 9 ’ 2 2 . 3 ”

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MAN E RA’ S BRAN D MAN AGE R, JUL IE N SAL L E S, HAS BE E N PLANNING O FF TH E GRID TRIPS F OR YE ARS, BUT RUSSIA’ S KAMCHATKA PE N IN SU LA IS PER H APS THE MOST RE MOTE AN D E X OTIC AS OF YE T. AS A RE STRICTE D MILITARY Z O NE DURIN G THE COL D WAR, KAMCHATKA HAS ON LY RE CE N TLY O PENED U P TO CIVIL IAN TRAVE L , L E AVIN G MUCH OF ITS PRISTIN E GE OGRAPH Y U NTO U CH ED

BY MODE RN PROGRE SS. E X CE RPTE D F ROM THE TRAVE L L OG O F PAU L SER IN, THE MAN E RA TE AM HE ADS E AST, AN D THE N E AST AGAIN IN TO TH E U NCH ARTED VOL CAN IC W IL DS OF E ASTE RN RUSSIA. J U LY 0 7

The Kamchatka trip is starting but the wind at the Tarifa GKA freestyle competition is still playing tricks on us. I got eliminated pretty quickly but Max is still in the race to win. Our flight to Moscow leaves tonight from Malaga airport, yet the competition for tomorrow is still not canceled. Max is stressed; this season is his—he cannot afford to miss a semifinal, but at 7:30pm we decide to leave even though the competition is not 100% canceled.

All I can think about is Kamchatka as we approach the airport but it is not until we get a Whatsapp message confirming the contest is called off that Max’s trip can finally begin.

J U LY 0 8

Flights follow flights and fatigue sets in. Max, Mallory and I have a day-long layover in Moscow before our evening flight to Petropavlovsk. Mallory has a lightning tour planned for us— first the Kremlin then the Red Square. We walk around the city like zombies, taking in the sights and searching for benches and shadows to take naps. A few hours later we connect with the rest of the team at Moscow airport and board the final flight into Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where our adventure will finally begin.

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J U LY 0 9

I let myself be lulled by the road that leads us to our boat; fatigue catches me and I have trouble keeping my eyes open. The port is sketchy, evidence of wreckage and industrial poverty is everywhere, but our boat is exactly what I had imagined—a clean but well-used trawler—a Japanese military ship in another life retrofitted for just these kind of expeditions. Kristy, our guide, is a kind of Lara Croft character. Born in the Kuril Islands to two military parents, she is strong but incredibly beautiful and teeming with self-assured confidence, even in the presence of her gruff Russian crew. The deafening engine noise starts and the smell of diesel reaches my nostrils as the Omega chugs out of port. I retire to my cabin, the rolling of the swell puts me into the deepest of sleep until hours later when Julien wakes me up. “We’re going foil surfing,” he exclaims. I put on my thickest wetsuit and into the water we go.

J U LY 1 0

The alarm clock is harsh but my first vision of the landscape out my bunk window motivates me to get up. I go up on the upper deck where Vuva, one of the crew members, hands me a fishing rod and begins giving me puzzling commands in Russian. I cast the bait and slowly turn the reel while surveying the marine cliffs, snow-capped volcanoes and rolling plains covered with snow. Salmon and caviar fill our plates for breakfast; it's not usual but why not? I best get used to it because it appears as if salmon will be a part of every meal. The wind fails to cooperate and we pile into a Zodiac. Kristy shows us the wild fauna, sea lions and playful orcas. We close the day with a short foil kite session, but watching the orcas is what really makes our day.

Our evenings are passed with rounds of President (Trouduc as we call it in French), with the loser often taking shots of vodka to add a little spice to the game.

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The jet lag becomes a distant memory and the anticipation of a good session is strong. The boat is covering a lot of distance in the hopes of finding wind or waves, but there is not much on the horizon. We score another foil surf session in a mini swell and later in the day a passing squall brings a solid 20-25 knots.

The photographers set up on the beach while Max and I ride freestyle along the shore. Kristy had warned us of Kamchatka’s dense brown bear population, of which the locals are wary, so Julien stood watch in the hills to guard the photographers’ backs.

The session was short, but it feels good to log some action shots.

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TOP LEFT: The ‘Lara Croft’ of Kamchatka steers the Manera adventure through the rugged subarctic waters off the eastern coast of the island. TOP RIGHT: Paul Serin exploring the vicinity on foil with one of the many active volcanoes backing the horizon.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Taking a break on the diving platform, Paul Serin found launching kites off the side of the Omega to be surprisingly challenging. BOTTOM LEFT: The delayed development (read exploitation) of Kamchatka’s natural resources leaves the island with one of the last great undisturbed ecosystems that supports massive river runs of salmon and steelhead.

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LEFT: Loaded up in a Russian six-wheel transport vehicle, the Manera team heads to a remote volcano rumored to have a seasonal crater lake. UPPER LEFT: Camille Delannoy, Paul Serin and Mallory de la Villemarqué survey the view from atop the all-terrain Kamaz truck. TOP RIGHT: The Omega’s mid-deck also serves as the neoprene drying rack—Magma lining is an essential ingredient for enjoying Kamchatka water temps. MIDDLE RIGHT: Fire and ice play nice in Kamchatka; Mallory de la Villemarqué tees up a foil start while resting on a floating iceberg inside a volcano. BOTTOM RIGHT: Someone forgot the bear repellent so Julien Salles performs double duty from land: watching the filmers' backs while keeping tabs on Maxime Chabloz' trick count.

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J U LY 1 2

After reloading the water tanks in the sketchiest area in Russia, we head over to a lake nicknamed ‘Bear Lake.’ Here we fish and hope to see a bear, but Kristy warns us because of how dangerous they can be, that it’s better that we don’t see one.

We start a cooking fire beside the lake and eat bits of fat and drink vodka. Despite Kristy’s discouraging attempts, I still try to spot bears on the hillside opposite. Two men approach our group, one holding a rifle, the other a machete. They look weathered and lost and they explain how their boat had broken down, stranding them out here for three days. Kristy and the crew do not seem pleased with their presence—there is more but it is not being said. The two poachers surrender the machete and gun and stay with us until we are able to drop them at the closest hunting camp.

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The gentle sound of rain awakens me and I look out the window, hoping that we will ride today. At breakfast, I read a hint of despair in Julien’s eyes. Having worked towards this trip for four years, Julien had planned every detail of this voyage for success, yet there has been little wind for kiteboarding. With the passing of our third day without a real action session, the pressure for us to return with a stockpile of images slowly begins to set in. Our final day on the boat is filled with tow-in sessions pulled by the Zodiacs. Vuva is happy flinging us into waves; he's never done that before and it’s clear, little by little, that a relationship of complicity has been growing between our team and the boat’s crew. The same evening, Kristy makes us go out on the town. In our good French nature, we dance, we drink, we laugh and we finish at 3am in the car drunkenly singing ‘We Are The Champions’ with all our strength.

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Our sleep is short and the alarm clock the next morning is hard. We begin loading our gear into a six-wheel military vehicle that will take us into the mountains where we plan to kite inside a volcano. We are told the glacier inside the volcano melts throughout the summer months, creating a lake that eventually dries up by August. It’s a bit chancy, but our timing here in Kamchatka could be just right. Loading the Soviet vehicle takes longer than expected, but eventually, we are all passed out on our benches as the lumbering monster winds its way up through the permafrozen hills.

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When the truck comes to a halting stop and parks at the top of a hill, I open my eyes and I slap my face. Looking down the incline, there’s a lake full of floating icebergs surrounded by snow and enough wind to try to kite. We rig up, and while sitting on the top of the slope with my 13m in the air and kiteboard planted in the snow, I look over at Max on my left and together we laugh and then snowboard down the volcano’s rim and into the water. Robin and Matt, the photographers, are thrilled and Olivier, the cameraman who has trouble externalizing his emotions, lets slip a smile, which means everything. The water is cold, very cold, and little by little, I lose the feeling in both my feet. Having finally scored a real session, we return to our camp up on the rim and stand by a fire, rehashing the session with beers in hand. Fatigue is catching up quickly and the howling wind never stops blowing, which makes sleep hard for some, but for me, the comfort of my down sleeping bag and the tent’s movement puts me straight into hibernation mode.

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I wake to the pungent odor of burnt wood teasing my nostrils.

The sky is azure and the volcano smokes slightly at various points around the rim. The beauty of this vast place is just amazing, for which I do not have words. Igor, our chef, serves me a cup of black tea and although our photographer Matt is sitting next to me, we do not talk; we enjoy our thoughts. We have breakfast and a few hours later I find myself tightening my laces at the top of the snowy slope ready to descend into the volcano once again. Strangely, it feels like standing at the top of a ski lift, readying to make my first run of the morning.

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Our final day at the volcano brings no wind. We venture to a natural hot spring a few miles from our base camp. The heat coming out of the earth is powerful but the touristy side of the baths is a big change from the previous days of our trip. It’s been six days since digital contact with the rest of the world.

Even though I warned everyone, it's weird not to be able to give news at night or learn what’s happening elsewhere in the world. The longer we go, the more I’m aware of our dependence on devices. Out here amidst the volcanoes, I am good, I am connected to the elements.

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TOP LEFT: The camp atop of the volcano is a hodgepodge of kites and tents huddled in the wind shadow of the hulking Kamaz truck. TOP MIDDLE LEFT: Max wheelie bars across the frozen lake surface, proving the volcano session to be an entertaining hybrid between snowkiting and kiteboarding. TOP MIDDLE RIGHT: Taking breaks and trading tacks amongst floating islands and azure blue glacial water. TOP RIGHT: Mallory de la Villemarqué boning out a stylish nose grab well above the floating ice chunks. BOTTOM RIGHT: Loading and unloading the Kamaz utility vehicle always takes longer when the wind is cranking. BOTTOM CENTER: The key ingredients for a full night’s sleep in the Russian bush is a whole lot of vodka and some blaring Dubstep: Vodka for sleep and Dubstep to discourage the brown bears. BOTTOM LEFT: With volcanoes and icefields everywhere, July yields three weeks of perfect crater lake kiteboarding conditions of which the Manera team couldn’t have had better timing.

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We return to civilization, setting up base in a hotel 30 minutes north of Petropavlovsk. The goal is to recharge batteries, both photographic and athletic, and to regroup for the last part of our trip. The wind forecasts are constantly changing; Julien and Kristy evaluate our options and come up with a new plan to be sure we score waves and wind. The problem is that in Russia you can’t just point to a place on the map and say I want to go there. It takes special permissions—you have to warn the FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, and send an email to Vladimir Putin. We plan out our next couple of days, target an isolated beach and load up in 4x4 trucks, rallying over tough roads to get there.

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Back at the edge of the ocean, our new camp is surrounded by snow-covered prairie grass and black sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. With three hulking volcanoes inland, the raw landscape makes me feel privileged to be here. We pile into the water for our first session back in the ocean with 15-18 knots of side-on wind and a fairly consistent shoulder-high beach break. When evening arrives and we find ourselves around the fire once again, we all agree that the comfort of the hotel and a full night’s sleep is good but being out here in the wild with nature is the best.

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I wake up before the sunrise along with the rest of the team.

The sun is slowly appearing and I slide into my wetsuit to go surfing. A light offshore wind smooths the waves, and Mallo and Julien join me to foil. They have made a habit out of foil surfing exclusively. With this morning’s conditions, I have to give them solid respect because the takeoff is hollow, very hollow, which makes the drop in extremely challenging. We lose track of time, but the cold eventually reminds us. Between two waves I spot Igor busily preparing breakfast on the beach. I wonder what our eggs will be mixed with this morning—probably salmon.

A few hours later the wind kicks in and Mallo and Camille rush back to the water. I watch them tear the little waves apart with precision and finesse. The sandbars set up a fairly solid right-hand wave and the camera team busily works every angle.

The session continues until sunset; the light turns to magic and we keep going. Igor, who never stops cooking, begins his preparation for dinner and I can smell the meaty aroma of soup from the inside of the lineup. I exchange knowing looks with Mallo; we are tired but we continue, just for fun.

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TOP LEFT: After the crater lake sessions, the Manera team heads north out of Petropavlovsk by 4x4 to explore remote black sand beaches on the east coast.

TOP RIGHT: Julien Salles scores a sunset foil surfing session. BOTTOM RIGHT: Loyal to the foil—regardless of the conditions, Julien Salles and Mallory de la Villemarqué are fully committed to foil surfing. BOTTOM LEFT: Taking advantage of the side-on rights at the black sand beaches, Camille Delannoy drops a laidback snap for the videographer. MIDDLE LEFT: Turning the wave’s section into buckets, Mallory de la Villemarqué picks apart the right as it tapers across the sandbar.

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TOP LEFT: A candid shot from the galley freezes Camille Delannoy in a warping kiteloop off the Omega’s stern. Having waited the entire trip, Camille finally scores his high wind strapless freestyle session. BOTTOM LEFT: In stark contrast to the warm weather of his Brazilian homeland, Camille Delannoy shows no signs of slowing down in Kamchatka’s glacial waters.

RIGHT: Paul Serin succumbs to his parkour tendencies in the final days of the trip with improvised boat jibs.

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We set an early alarm clock for 5am, but this day proves much less fruitful than the day before. The sun is hidden by clouds and the wind turns more offshore and icy. Since I'm awake, I pump up my kite and wade into the water. This time it will be my ears that will beg me to stop from the cold. It was a session, not the best, but a session all the same.

Kristy gets word of a strong northwest wind coming, but it is decided that the best location is only accessible by boat. The 4x4 road to meet the boat is sloppy; we get stuck and require tow trucks, but we eventually find our way back to the Omega.

During the passage it is obvious, Max is no longer with us and I am thinking of him; back in Petropavlovsk, he hopped a flight to the next World Tour stop. I’m hoping he will make a good result in Fuerteventura; he deserves it so much. As the boat chugs up the Kamchatka coastline, Camille is visibly excited with anticipation; strapless freestyle is best in strong wind and his patience is going to finally pay off. When we finally arrive at the large, unobstructed bay, I stand with Julien on the upper deck watching Camille send double fronts for the camera and Mallo bust huge airs. I can read the relief on Julien’s face. He is happy; this trip is once again a success and in a way different from any of our other trips.

I launch my kite for a big air session and although it is not the ideal conditions to jump high and make kiteloops, I practice board-offs and grabbed rotations. I finish the session by trying to slide the boat’s rigging, experimenting with different angles.

I have a bloody history on Manera trips with this activity and it’s true there is a risk, but I am guided by a good feeling and everything goes well.

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J U LY 2 3

TOP: Paul Serin poking an unhooked tabletop during the crater lake sessions amidst snow-capped active volcanoes and geothermal hot springs. BELOW: Close ties, cold water and tomfoolery antics are the bread and butter of Manera expeditions and in these respects, Kamchatka did not disappoint.

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And here it is, finally the end, which makes me reflect on why I have this job—why I travel around the world for kiteboarding.

There are a lot of reasons, but it comes down to a feeling— kiteboarding gives me a feeling that is indispensable to my balance, and it is a flame within me that is not ready to go out.

These Manera trips are unique—Russia, Scotland, Canada— when Julien organizes these explorations, he understands it is not the countries that we visit, but the incredible adventures that we share with our closest friends. Each endeavor transforms us just a bit, each time. I can’t wait to get home, to share these experiences with my family, yet part of me will miss the freedom of the raw elements—camping and kiteboarding in a crude part of the world. In any case, one thing is sure, Kamchatka, we'll see each other again!

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METHOD

Managing big drops and rail control at mach speed along with line tension and kite placement while eyeing an exit plan, Jesse Richman navigates opening day at Peahi in October.

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IN SEARCH OF XXL SURF WORDS BY JESSE RIC HMAN | PHOTOS BY ERIK AEDER

Kitesurfing XXL waves is the most prestigious game to play for the thrill-seeking, wave-loving kitesurfer. In a league of its own, big wave kitesurfing requires a different skillset and the stakes skyrocket. The highlights of big wave kitesurfing have taken place at the famous breaks of Peahi, Nazare and Cloud Break. Though there are many more big waves that kiters have ridden, and even more spots still to be discovered, these locations are the most iconic because they consistently get the precise combination of conditions necessary to ride big waves with a kite and a surfboard.

For those kitesurfers who chase big waves, lining up the right day with a proper swell and cranking wind doesn’t happen by chance. It requires constant monitoring of weather maps and while waves can be tracked fairly far out (10-18 days), the wind forecast is much less predictable and gives you a shorter lead time (3-5 days).

If you line up the right conditions, you need to be sure you have the experience and skills to handle these beasts. Unlike surfing where you have to physically paddle out through the energy and current of the waves, having a kite makes it surprisingly easy to get right out into a massive lineup. It takes a tremendous number of hours on the water to be able to read the waves and plan for what’s going to happen, and there is absolutely no substitute for experience.

Apart from the apparent differences between small and big waves, one of the most significant new factors to deal with is speed. These moving mountains come in hot at 20-40 mph; exponentially faster than a normal-sized wave. If the goal is to ride these waves with the same aptitude and grace as one would small waves, you’ll quickly learn the added speed has such an impact on your style that a whole new discipline evolves in and of itself.

The wind direction on large waves can be a bit unpredictable. A slight change in the wind direction can make a big wave almost unrideable. Colossal waves can swirl the wind or change the direction on the face. In small surf, you can get away with the wind changing a bit, but when it gets big, a slight variation in the wind makes a massive difference.

Positioning is everything. Knowing where to be and when to be there is an essential skill. Once positioned correctly and feeling confident, then comes the fun part. Getting radical on these waves means long powerful turns, maybe hooking a tight turn under the towering lip or the ultimate dream—pulling into a gigantic, cavernous barrel.

Big waves are incredibly consequential, and preparation is everything. Safety training is one of the most significant parts of big wave riding and so crucial if you want to be a responsible waterman. In XXL surf, anything can happen, and it can happen quickly.

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THE REAL STIG WORDS BY JOE WINOWSKI | PHOTOS BY FRANCINE BOER

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Stig is a great name, an ancient Scandinavian name, heralded for its masculinity and ties to the ancient wandering heroes of the Netherlands. It’s a proper name for Stig Hoefnagel, a professional kiteboarder who explores the world with kites.

There’s just one pesky little problem with the name Stig: it’s denigrated by a mysterious race car driving character on an insanely popular English television show.

If you have cable or the internet, and you like cars, then chances are you’ve probably seen at least one episode of Top Gear—a show about cars; new, old, slow and fast. Top Gear was once at the height of automotive television viewing with hilarious racing segments filled with antics by the show’s three British gearhead hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. One of the show’s most popular segments 90

features the Stig, a fictional character whose identity is hidden by a shroud of secrecy, a Romex racing suit and a helmet. The Stig’s purpose is to set record lap times in cars of all types as well as coach celebrity guests driving jalopies on a closed racecourse.

At the outset of the show, Top Gear’s hosts couldn’t find a race car driver capable of speaking on camera, so they came up with a mysterious mute character instead. The Stig’s identity was anonymous to almost everyone on the show and was described as having a “very small brain, worthless opinions and a single-minded, stubborn and petulant nature.” In the Great Britain vernacular of the hosts’ schoolyard days, ‘Stig’ was the insult of choice leveled at new kids, suggesting an impoverished background and a terrible sense of dress.

LEFT: Professional Dutch kiteboarder Stig Hoefnagel poses with his race car driving nemesis in the background. There can only be one Stig. CENTER: Armed with a Monarch twin tip, the kiteboarding Stig uses the waterways of the Dutch countryside to square off with Top Gear’s Stig character. RIGHT: The Dutch Stig in black versus Top Gear’s Stig in white get ready to pit wind against petrol for bragging rights and claim to the Stig name.

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The Ferrari 458 Speciale has a top speed of 202 miles per hour and can accelerate 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. The Naish Pivot has a top speed of roughly 40 miles per hour; it can jump islands, hop over bridges and can oftentimes sail in a direct line towards your destination.

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Kiteboarder Stig Hoefnagel isn’t any of these things but his friends at The Stoke Farm, a Netherlands-based video production company, cooked up a fictional showdown between the race car driving Stig and the kiteboarding Stig. Set in the Dutch countryside, the two helmet-clad characters dash over levees and down narrow canals in an all-out race for the title of 'The Real Stig.'

However, pitting a kiteboarder against a professional race car driver in a fictional race isn’t as easy as one might think. The white Stig suit was available for rent and the black suit easy enough to fake with a wetsuit and scooter helmet rattle-canned with black paint.

Stig Hoefnagel happened to be friends with fellow kiteboarder and race car driver Rover Dullart who was slated to play The

Stoke Farm’s English Stig, and as luck would have it, Rover had the keys to a yellow Ferrari 458 Speciale. However, the crew struggled to line up good kiteboarding conditions at the chosen shooting locations while coordinating everyone’s busy schedules.

On designated filming days either the car couldn’t make it or rain would shut them down. It wasn't until late September when a strong northwest wind coincided with everyone’s schedule and they filmed the entire skit in one day.

While The Stoke Farm’s intention was never to keep the identities of their English and Dutch Stig characters secret, the producers at the Top Gear show went to incredible lengths to maintain the Stig’s anonymity. Top Gear’s Stig would roll through the studio

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gate in uniform and often used a fake accent, sometimes mistaken as French, to keep everyone in the dark. When Top Gear’s first driver, Ben Collins, was outed by a snooping journalist, he was let go. The show then replaced Collins with another professional driver, who also outed himself when he published an autobiography titled The Man in the White Suit. Top Gear needed a race car driver that could post blistering fast lap times in worn-out jalopies. They needed talent, but they didn’t want the ego or notoriety of any one driver, so they lampooned the driving profession with the Stig and hired their third professional driver who was able to keep the Stig secret until the end of the show.

Back in Holland, the Stig-on-Stig race digresses into an extensive aerial montage narrated by a deep, husky English-accented Top 94

Gear-like voice with fast action cuts to the race on the ground.

Dutch Stig carves through irrigation ditches, jumps over footbridges and carves around windmills while the Ferrari races down narrow farm roads, skillfully avoiding police while getting waylaid by ‘peasants’ blocking his way.

The epic battle of speed and big air finally ends in a harbor with the kiteboarder in the black suit casually drinking a victory beer, triumphantly proving himself ‘The Real Stig’ as Top Gear’s car racing Stig shows up in second. Having pitted the Dutch against the English and the wind against petrol, The Stoke Farm succeeded in shooting one of the most creative and unique kite videos of the year while Stig Hoeflnager triumphantly defended the sanctity of his Dutch name.

LEFT: Maximizing production values with low cost—Dutch Stig spray-painted his scooter helmet black to play the part. CENTER: Coordinating a film crew, a race car driver and an exotic car based on the whims of the wind is no easy proposition. RIGHT: Kiteboarder and race car driver Rover Dullart poses with Stig Hoefnagel at the finish line.

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Photo Vincent Bergeron

CALYPSO CONDOMINIUMS Owning your own piece of paradise is more affordable than you might think! Offering pre-construction opportunities, Calypso affords comfort and luxury finishes that will make you feel at home and provides the ideal place to share unforgettable moments with friends and family. The floorplan includes two bedrooms and two full bathrooms in a 1,076 square foot layout featuring gorgeous views of the Sea of Cortes and the surrounding Cacachillas Sierra mountains. Pricing starts at $153,002. // EchelonCapital.com.mx HOTEL TODO BIEN La Ventana’s newest boutique hotel sits on a beachfront bluff where you'll enjoy sunrises exploding with color over the Sea of Cortez, unrivaled vistas and mesmerizing sunsets. Featuring well-furnished rooms with private terraces, Hotel Todo Bien boasts a cozy bar, restaurant, private beach access with a primo launch, swimming pools, a hot tub, fire pit and outdoor palapa living room as well as paddleboards, ping pong, downwinder and mountain-biking support and more. Centrally located to shops/restaurants and the fabulous farmer's market, rates include a complimentary breakfast.

Drinks/food also served daily. // HotelTodoBien.com

VAN WORMER RESORTS Van Wormer Resorts has two hotels to choose from: the Palmas de Cortez with a swim-up pool bar, humongous Jacuzzi, day-spa and other resort amenities, and the Playa del Sol—the home of the Vela Baja center with rentals, lessons, storage and beachside service provided by a knowledgeable team eager to help. Guests are sure to love the new look of both hotels, fully remodeled both inside and out to earn ‘boutique hotel’ status. This property has true Baja flare with its open beachfront setting, relaxing atmosphere and communal feel. Day-to-day activities include kiteboarding, mountain biking, freediving, kayaking, paddleboarding and more to keep visitors active all day … with or without wind. // VelaBaja.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, yoga and a restaurant and bar along with its friendly staff, ExotiKite is a wind-seeker favorite. Be sure to check out their Baja Wave Camps—a kiteboarding bucket list must! New for 2019/2020, East Cape excursions with optional private instruction, include all gear, lunch and transportation. // ExotiKite.com

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/or instruction for snorkeling, scuba diving, kiteboarding, fishing, SUPing, hiking, spearfishing, whale shark swimming and new for 2020, tandem paragliding! Lodging includes breakfast/lunch at the restaurant/bar directly overlooking the beach just above the semi-private launch/land area while each casita boasts its own private covered patio with an ocean view. // PalapasVentana.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 14 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. // www.pelicanreefventana.com

LA VENTANA

LOS BARRILES

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 12 one or two-bedroom options in a casual, laid-back atmosphere in an exceptionally upscale setting. Adorned with palms, giant cacti and tropical flowers with hammocks and lounge chairs scattered throughout the property, enjoy healthy, gourmet meals at Coya’s, their oceanview restaurant overlooking the bay. Lodging includes breakfast, lunch, WiFi and use of SUP boards, kayaks and state-of-the-art bikes. // VentanaWindsports.com

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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!

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• Epic La Ventana beachfront location. location!

• In the center of the kiting action, and the best low-stress spot for beginners.

• Quiet, comfortable rooms just steps from the beach.

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STARTING at $153k A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE SEA OF CORTES AND THE SUNSET ON YOUR DECK. Open spaces, social areas and the mesmerizing marvels that only the beach can offer. Located at La Ventana, BCS. the new key place for investment.

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La Ventana NORTH AMERICA'S MOST CONSISTENT WINTER KITE DESTINATION AND THE ULTIMATE LOCATION FOR OUR 2020 FREERIDE GEAR TEST.

Results out in February.

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TODO Bien has well-furnished rooms with private terraces, a cozy bar and private restaurant, Two swimming pools (one heated in winter), Hot Tub, Fire Pit, Outdoor Palapa Living Room, paddle boards, down-winDer and mountain-biking support, beachFront access with a primo launch, ping pong and more!

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WORDS BY YOURI ZOON | PHOTOS BY ORESTIS ZOUMPOS Life on the World Tour is completely geared towards winning titles, which means every decision is a strategic step towards a single goal. Freestyle competition is a hyper-focused part of kiteboarding—it fine-tunes a very specific set of skills within the discipline—but also narrows your perspective of the sport. After 15 years on the tour, this year marked the end of my competitive freestyle career and the beginning of my next chapter in kiteboarding.

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I

celand has always been on my bucket list, yet its inconsistent winds and cold temperatures just didn’t mesh with the realities of the competition-dominated schedule of a professional athlete. But now the beauty of endless fjords, towering glaciers and majestic waterfalls would have to wait no longer. I called on my friends Orestis Zoumpos and George ‘Lazercow’ Daskalopoulo. Orestis is a high-end commercial photographer and George is said to be as calm as a cow and as precise as a laser behind the film camera (he is also known for bringing only one T-shirt on a two-week road trip).

We purchased tickets to Rekjavik for the following week and rented a camper van to explore the craggy nooks of the island nation. Our flight landed at midnight and walking out of the airport, we discovered that the sun was never going to set. Realizing that he could shoot photos for 24 hours a day, Orestis began jumping up and down, but me on the other hand, I just wanted to sleep. We caught a taxi straight to the camper van rental agency, moved our gear into our new wheels and promptly passed out.

We woke that following morning in the industrial neighborhood of Vicht and grabbed breakfast at the corner bakery before hitting the road. This is where I first realized Iceland was not going to be cheap. The check for a casual three-person breakfast was a stunning $72, but our overpriced meal remorse faded as we pointed the camper southeast where we encountered the majestic Skogafoss waterfall and the visual overdose of Iceland’s vast natural monuments.

We didn’t really come to Iceland with a plan. The wind forecast wasn’t showing anything we could bank on but we knew above all else, that Iceland’s weather changes by the minute.

We decided early on that we would just drive the coastal road counter-clockwise, go with the flow and see what we would encounter along the way. The fantastic vistas, frequent waterfalls and rugged coastline required frequent stops and as a result, we only covered a measly 200 miles on our first day.

When we arrived in Vik we spotted a potential kite spot, but upon closer inspection, we could see massive current in the water with super-strong but gusty offshore wind blowing over the mountains. With the air temperatures hovering in the brisk 30s it wasn’t enticing or even smart to attempt a go.

We decided to camp the night there with good intentions of cooking, but we ended up drinking beers and eating a massive burger at a restaurant overlooking the spot instead.

That following morning the conditions didn’t improve so we continued towards the northeast on the ring road hoping to

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TOP: Youri Zoon outfitted with the essential equipment for exploring Iceland: a camper for chasing itinerant wind, a full quiver of freeride kites and a foilboard for breaking threshold barriers. RIGHT: Everywhere you look Iceland’s incredible geography inspires; a bird’s eye view of a glacier field slicing a path through mountains on its way to the ocean. LEFT: Sunny but cold, kiteboarding sessions in Iceland are a true test of personal endurance and neoprene performance.

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reach the small town of Hofn. At the end of a long day of driving and tourist stops, the wind began to pick up just to the south of Hofn. It was still coming over the mountains, so the beaches along the ocean weren’t an option, but we spotted a pristine lake with an amazing backdrop just off the road. Driving down some dirt roads, we eventually found the right track to pull the camper up against the lake’s waterline. The wind was blowing 15-30 knots with severe turbulence from its passage over the glacier.

With that range, I opted for straps over freestyle boots, which was fine by me as the wind-chill brought the air temperature into the low 20s and straps would accommodate my 6mm booties.

In a state of heightened excitement, we started unpacking our camera gear and inflating kites when an older lady came barreling down the road on a quad. She came upon us fast and angry, letting us know we were trespassing, to which we replied that we hadn’t seen a gate. The conversation wasn’t going well until George authentically apologized and offered to pack up and leave. This seemed to prompt a change of heart, and the woman then gave us permission to kite in her lake. It was good to score my first Iceland session, but due to the frigid water, I only lasted about 30 minutes before we packed up and piled back into the heated camper.

TOP: Iceland’s possible kiteboarding locations are a mixture of ocean beaches, public reservoirs and private lakes. While half the adventure is finding wind, the other half is finding a path to the water. RIGHT: Youri and his camera crew stake out Hornafjordur, an iconic black sand beach on the east coast, in the hopes of finding wind. LEFT: Orestis captures a lifestyle shot of Youri amidst a reflective pool before the private landowner shows up demanding commercial photoshoot money and kicks them out.

Iceland was proving to be exactly the kind of kiteboarding travel experience that would have been impossible in the competition dominated schedule of a professional tour chasing athlete. In those days everything was about maximizing training hours while sticking to tour dates and squeezing in photoshoots. Travel always revolved around known windy destinations and while I was flying all over the world, it didn’t feel like real travel because I was always headed to the same places: Brazil, Cabarete, Greece and Tarifa.

In 2014, I was on my way to China for the fifth time, yet despite the repeat visits, I had never had the time to see the Great Wall, one of the world’s greatest wonders. That year I booked a side trip to see the wall because I wanted to see something beyond the flat water where we did our tricks. Having finally planned a trip to Iceland, I was doing the kind of kiteboarding travel that comes with no assurance of wind and no goals outside of limitless exploration. In that frigid private lake, we found an experience we could have nowhere else—a true adventure.

The following day we stayed at Hornafjordur in the hopes of catching a session at the massive black sand beach beside the iconic rock. We paid the parking fee along with the rest of the tourists to visit the private property, but the wind wasn’t cooperating so we decided to take some lifestyle photos in the reflecting pools inland of the beach. No sooner had we inflated a kite and began taking some photos with the iconic mountains 107

in the background, a man came up and demanded more money.

We explained how we had paid the fee, but since we looked like a commercial photoshoot he wanted crazy amounts of money.

Since he allegedly owned the land and the monolithic rock in the backdrop we packed up and moved on.

We kept driving Iceland's coast counter-clockwise, but as we crossed the halfway mark we faced the decision to complete the ring road or drive back towards Reykjavik to re-check some of the spots we had previously passed. Instead of backtracking, we kept going and were rewarded with good offshore wind at Djupivogur fjord and rigged up foilboarding gear for some quick cold laps.

It was a crisp, sunny day but with the freezing water; I only lasted about 40 minutes. These kinds of sessions brought me back to my earliest kite experiences in 2002 when everything in kiteboarding was groundbreaking and new. From the moment I entered my first competition in 2004, I realized that competitions were all wanted to do. Early on, I set goals and two years later I was competing at every tour stop. I won my first World Title in 2011 which for me was a major accomplishment, particularly because I won six out of the seven events leading to the championship and because I was coming back from some serious knee injuries. At the time I was riding strong and landing all my tricks, but I was also the first one to start linking trick after trick combos. I would throw one move, land and then immediately launch into another trick, sometimes linking four technical moves together and this scored high points that helped me gain my first championship title. While that win was sweet, it was the developments in the 2012 season that really challenged me. That year there was a rider’s meeting where everyone voted to put an end to the combo trick. I was the only one against it, but the new rule was one trick, one score. It may not have been good for me at that time, but it was good for the sport and yielded cleaner scoring that was better for both the judges and spectators.

2012 was a hard year—as reigning champion I was committed to photoshoots, demo tours and the other distractions of success that took away from training, but towards the end of the season, I pulled it all together and won my second championship title.

Winning the 2012 season has a lot of meaning for me, but it also came with a lot of sacrifices.

After packing up our foils at Djupivogur fjord, we headed north to Eyoisfjordur, where I decided to explore the area on foot with a run through town. Since the kiting action was sporadic I was trying to keep in shape by running every other day. We then headed west along the northernmost part of Iceland, passing towns famous for whale watching and stopped off at Myvatn Lake which is wellknown for its hot springs and kiteboarding potential. However, when we passed, there were only two knots of wind on it, so we 108

TOP: Many of the kiteboarding locations Youri found were private lakes that required some kind of permission. RIGHT: Looking out over Eyoisfjordur, the quintessential Iceland village perched at the intersection of glacial fjords and the Atlantic Ocean. LEFT: Shooting the gap, Youri framed by a natural bridge during one of his rare sessions on the ocean.

With katabatic winds swirling off the glaciers, Iceland is the ideal playground for foilboarders and those kite travelers who have time to revel in the hunt.

This year Youri turns the corner, embracing Iceland’s off-the-beaten-path adventure that was never feasible during his time on the Freestyle World Tour.

kept driving to the town of Blonduos on the northwest corner of the island. It took us an hour to find a road that would take us to the beach, but we ended up scoring a solid 25-knot session on the ocean. The ocean water was warmer than many of the lakes we kited but the air temperature was still chilly, and by the time we got off the water, all our gear was covered with the beach’s fine grit black sand.

As we raced down the western coast, passing cultural landmarks like the famous black church in the hills, there was plenty of time for reflection. I realized that I hadn’t thrown a handlepass in any of my sessions over the last couple of months. Without the pressure to win, the importance of training was no longer there. It’s not as if I can’t land all my freestyle tricks; it’s just that the moves are not as powerful or high compared to the apex of my riding, but the tricks are all still there. The highest levels of performance in competitive freestyle take time—you have to sweat every last detail while consistently performing in the worst of conditions. Tour riding is a unique animal because even if

someone can do all the tricks, no one wins in their first year because riding competitively has so many variables.

Winning takes a disciplined mindset that comes from single-minded training and experience. I still love to ride freestyle, but without constant training and single-minded focus, I just don’t have the same level of finesse.

Everywhere we went in Iceland, the wind seemed to swirl from on top of the island’s interior glaciers which made a lot of the spots impossible to ride. While the wind was out of our hands, we scored plenty of remote spots that were completely off the map. Driving over a thousand miles, around every corner we found awe-inspiring landscapes and majestic vistas. Iceland turned out to be as spectacular and unpredictable as expected, and a destination I would have never traveled to in my tour days. Having scored challenging but rewarding kiteboarding conditions, this is the kind of trip that takes me back to the beginnings of kiteboarding—the simple joys of traversing the larger kiteboarding world through the lens of exploration.

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

NEW FREERIDE & FOILING FREAK:

THE GHOST V1 INTRODUCING AN ALL-NEW PARANORMAL SHAPE FROM TONY LOGOSZ , THE GHOST V 1. DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP TO BE LIGHT, SIMPLE , AND INSANELY FUN TO FLY, THE GHOST IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING NEW KITES IN OUR RANGE . IT ’ S AN OUT OF THIS WORLD ALL AROUND KITE THAT HAS JUST ONE STRUT FOR INCREDIBLE HANDLING AND STEERING PRECISION FOR BEGINNERS , EXPERTS , AND FOILERS ALIKE . IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A LIGHTWEIGHT ULTRA-SIMPLE KITE TO TAKE YOUR RIDING , FOILING , OR KITE TRICKS TO THE NEXT LEVEL , THE GHOST IS YOUR FRIENDLY COMPANION. THE FIRST SIZE RUN FOR THE GHOST WILL SPAN FROM 2 .5 ALL THE WAY TO A 17. ITS FLYWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION, ONE STRUT DESIGN, AND SEGMENTED SWEPT WINGTIPS COVER BOTH LOW AND HIGH END WIND GIVING IT A NICHE IN THE MARKET. IT ’ S COMPACT SWEPT C SHAPE DESIGN AND SEGMENTED SWEPT WINGTIP MAKE WATER RELAUNCH IMMEDIATE AND ITS WIND RANGE INFINITE .

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ION Apex Curv 13 Select Naughty or nice, everyone deserves the support, comfort and style that comes with the new Apex Curv 13 Select. Even lighter weight than before, treat yourself or a loved one to this premium harness loaded with new high-end features like the C_Bar 3.0, Double D buckles and kite knife multi-tool. With the Ion Apex Curv 13 Select you can be comfortable and ready for anything. $349.95 // www.ion-products.com

PATAGONIA Black Hole Duffel Bag 55L Redesigned to be 100% recycled for 2020, there's over 10 million plastic water bottles in this season’s Black Hole bags. The 55L Duffle is the perfect size for a fun weekend or carefully planned extended trip. Featuring burly recycled polyester ripstop with highly weather-resistant TPU-film laminate and a DWR (durable water repellent) finish, Patagonia’s Black Hole bags represent Patagonia’s continued commitment of moving towards 100% recycled and/or renewal materials in all of their products. $139 // www.patagonia.com

MANTA COMPANY Mexican Surf Blankets Inspired by kite and surf trips down the Baja peninsula, Manta textiles brings a modern twist to the classic Mexican blanket. Their blankets look great in your home and are durable enough for any outdoor adventure. Pad the inside of your surfboard bag with a Manta blanket and bring the positive vibes wherever you go this winter! Made by artisan weavers in mainland Mexico and designed in Hood River, Oregon. $55 // www.mantacompany.com

PLATINUM SUN Leggings UPF 50+ Moisture-wicking and breathable 50+ UPF fabric is a rare combination but Platinum Sun’s new leggings offer even more than this. Their high-performance, heart-shaped bottom leggings are perfect for any workout from HIIT sessions at the park to supersets at the gym. Wear them while kitesurfing, surfing or any watersports activity to stay warm and protected from the UV light. Tastefully added mesh panels on the backside of the knees help to drain water so it doesn’t build up inside the leggings, plus they just look cool. $59 // www.platinum-sun.com

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ZIPLINE MEDICAL ZipStitch You never know when you’re going to meet the reef, so make sure you’re prepared with ZipStitch®, an ER-quality wound closure device available without a prescription.

Zip technology has been used by hospitals worldwide in over 600,000 procedures.

The kit has everything you need to treat minor lacerations in seconds with less pain than other first-aid solutions—right on the beach. Use code Kite30 for 30% off your order + an additional 20% with the purchase of five for a total of 50% savings. $29.99 // www.ZipStitch.us

NEILPRYDE Freeride Helmet Protect your noggin with NP’s new Freeride Helmet. Based off of NP’s best-selling 2019 helmet, the new Freeride is packed with upgrades and now features fully removable EVA ear pads that are both soft and function to protect your eardrums. The design team also added a new twist tightening system to provide the perfect fit. The Freeride Helmet is CE approved to EN 1385 standards with its ABS shell and NP’s unique non-water absorbing EVA liner for comfort and ultimate protection. $54.99 // www.neilpryde.com

GOPRO Max MAX is the most creative GoPro ever. It isn’t just one camera; it’s three cameras in one—a HERO camera, a 360 camera and a vlogging powerhouse. With Max HyperSmooth, Max TimeWarp and Max SuperView—it’s serious creative freedom and everything you want from a GoPro. Plus, GoPro minimized one very important 360 headache with MAX—post-production time. With in-camera stitching, it’s super easy to get cinematically smooth 360 footage offloaded to the GoPro app for editing in just seconds. MAX fits seamlessly into the lineup with built-in mounting fingers, a waterproof rating to 16ft (5m) and a 1.70in (43mm) touchscreen. $499.99 // www.gopro.com

MANERA 747 Boardbag Series The 747 Boardbag Series is part of the all-new Manera collection and the go-to bag for riders that want high protection for their gear. Built with soft wheels that make it light and convenient to carry around, it’s got an outside pocket for wet gear and features 8mm high protective foam to ensure your gear is safe. The 747 comes with or without wheels in two sizes: 190cm/6’2” or 175cm/5’8”. $219-259 // www.manera.com

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VIEWPOINT

PLAYING AGAINST THE TRUMP CARD Words by Joe Winowski | Photo by Evan Mavridoglou

It’s rarely the case that American politics deliver brute force impacts on the kiteboarding world, but this year President Trump’s unilaterally issued trade tariffs against China have brought sweeping uncertainty to some of North America’s key distributors and retailers.

According to Nico Ostermann, owner and operator of Bay Area Kitesurfing (BAKs), the 15% tariffs levied against kiteboarding equipment coming into the United States is creating a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the kite retail market. Owning a kite business in the US is typically a labor of love rather than money, but when the government taxes kite goods everybody loses.

While Trump has publicly misstated tariffs are “paid for mostly

by China, by the way, not by us,” the fundamental truth is that tariffs are paid by small businesses like Ostermann’s when they pick up product orders at the port.

As an importer and US distributor of kite equipment, Ostermann’s business requires planning a year ahead of time in order to supply his retailers with accurate pricing and quantities, but when the landed products suddenly cost an astonishing 15% more, it slashes thin profit margins and disrupts the entire business model. Historically speaking, tariff wars result in higher consumer pricing while businesses often carry less inventory to reduce risk and thereby offer less choice for the consumer. According to Nico, “it’s not that we can’t order a desired product, the tariffs just mean you will pay more and have to wait longer for it to arrive.”

Under the Constitution of the United States, “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,” but long ago, Congress enacted legislation that authorizes the president to raise tariffs temporarily if there is “an adverse impact on national security from imports.” Justifying his Presidential trade

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war, Trump has elevated the Chinese trade deficit and its abuse of American intellectual property to the level of ‘national security’ threats. While the intellectual property argument is undeniable, the economic pluses and minuses of trade deficits have long been debated. Some economists believe the concern over the size of the trade deficit is an outmoded form of analysis of an American economy that has shifted away from manufacturing and towards service/innovation-based commerce.

Trump’s tariffs are meant to raise prices on Chinese-made products, influence consumers to purchase locally-made goods and encourage companies to move production out of China. The reduction in trade is meant to hurt China’s economy and encourage favorable policy change. While the logic is seductively easy to follow, with regard to the kite industry, the problem is that the labor and availability of raw inputs are not available in the USA, so there is no USA manufactured kite alternative. Consumers can purchase kites from brands that manufacture in Sri Lanka or Vietnam, and while shifting production to these countries could punish China’s bottom line, it is unlikely that international kite companies will move their complicated and technical knowledgebased production lines to other foreign countries just to suit North America. Tariffs are just hurtful to the American kite industry.

Osterman doesn’t disagree with Trump’s goals of changing Chinese policy and practices, but rather how Trump’s methods hurt small businesses and consumers alike as well as the entire economy in the long run. If bringing manufacturing home and reducing the trade deficit is the end-goal—perhaps using taxes and penalties on small businesses is not the most effective mechanism. It is however, aggressive, sensational and headline-grabbing—all things which have worked in Trump’s political favor so far.

Racers in the San Francisco Bay backed by a monolithic freighter doing the heavy lifting in our offshore manufacturing procurement system.

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THE LEGACY OF THE MILLE LACS KITE CROSSING Words by Tighe Belden

As the snowkite season comes to a close each year, snowkiters from all over North America descend upon Garrison, Minnesota, to test their skills and endurance at the Mille Lacs Kite Crossing.

Conceived in 2005 by Michael Fox and a handful of dedicated locals, the event is an extreme endurance snowkite race that pushes its participants to their physical limits.

Like most weather-driven events, the Kite Crossing’s history has been marked by diverse and often challenging conditions. Having worked on the Redbull Kitefreeze and the annual Windsurfing Crossing, Michael Fox used his Fleet 8 organization to help promote the 28-mile out and back crossing of the lake. Based upon the wind direction and forecast, the racecourse is chosen the morning of the event. Reflecting back on the first year, Michael recalls Mother Nature dumping nine inches of fresh dry powder in the days prior with a solid breeze and blue skies taking 25 racers across the 200-acre powder field without problems. He remembers thinking, “this seems easy compared to the challenges of the water crossings,” but the conditions in the following years proved otherwise.

With the weather always playing a key role, the conditions can range from quite comfortable to a brutal lesson in survival kiting. One year we had a thick fog roll in, making it hard to see your kite and the extra moisture froze, building up heavy ice on our kites and lines. Inflatable kites could be bounced on the snow to shake off the ice, but the inner baffles of foil kites

became clogged. Most years the course is dotted with massive ice heaves and pressure ridges that randomly stretch across the ice. Plowed roads can create hard walls of snow and while ice fishing shacks are usually removed the week before the race, there’s often big drifts, chunks of ice and the occasional wood pallet to be navigated. In the warmer years, racers blaze massive wakes as they blast through puddles on top of the ice and although some events have had no wind whatsoever, the weather has never killed the spirit of the community of snowkiters that come together for this race.

There is something quite surreal, being out on that huge flat sheet of white. In the center of the lake, the white extends to the horizon in all directions. Blue skies often help to define the big flat white plane, and competitors typically spread out across the 28 miles. While the Kite Crossing was designed as an extreme endurance event, it’s not just for pros. Although there’s a small crew that attempts to shave every second off their time, the completion of the event is intended as the ultimate prize.

Since the Minnesota snowkiting community is often spread out geographically over the state’s 10,000 lakes, the Kite Crossing is the one yearly event that brings everyone together, along with a community of snowkiters from the Midwest, Canada and beyond.

With an assortment of planned activities including tandem races, a terrain park, trainer kite races, a boost zone, and instructional clinics, events like the Mille Lacs Kite Crossing are crucial in keeping the snowkite community connected and strong.

This year the 16th annual Mille Lacs Kite Crossing is slated for the weekend of February 28. Event info at www.fleet8.com

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The Mille Lacs Kite Crossing is the longest running snowkite event in North America. With fun-filled activities for riders of all levels, the Kite Crossing weekend is one of the biggest snowkiting events in the Americas. // Photos courtesy of Fleet 8, Jenn Barnett and Tighe Belden

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ON THE MAP

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Stig Hoefnagel // Netherlands

Lukas Pitsch // Silvaplana, Switzerland

Paul Serin // Kamchatka, Russia

Fernando Fernandes // Maui, Hawaii

Youri Zoon // Iceland

Olivia Jenkins // Madagascar

Photographer: Alex Schwarz

#SHARETHESTOKE

FOLLOW

FLYSURFERKITEBOARDING | FLYSURFER.COM

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Olly Bridge megalooping on location in Cape Town making the case for admitting foil kites into Red Bull's King of the Air. // Photo Gregor John

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