TheKiteMag #17 - English

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£4.85 ISSUE #17

CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL: STRIKE MISSION WINTER WONDER SESSIONS: NORTHERN LIGHTS BRANDON SCHEID: IN HIS DNA

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The Features 056

// I N H I S D N A Brandon Scheid was pretty much born with a pump in his hands. Kiting has been his thing for as long as he can remember and – having worked at the iconic REAL Watersports for many moons – he has been at the sharp end of the scene for the last 15 years… Here is his story.

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// C A P E T O W N C O N F I D E N T I A L Managing to avoid the mid-season crowds, James Boulding and pals headed to Cape Town to tick off some classic spots and seek out a few less sessioned ones too… It’s a high density of ‘top level pro’ riders and, unsurprisingly, the level is through the roof.

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// W I N T E R W O N D E R S E S S I O N S Kari Schibevaag and friends head off into a blizzard in the hope that – when the storm passes – it will all be worthwhile…

This being Kari, it of course all works out perfectly, and they get to tick off ‘kiting under the Northern Lights’ as well.

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// I N T E R V I E W Steven Akkersdijk is a big man. A big man who spends a lot of time going big. But, as Axel Reese finds out, he’s not ‘all Megaloop’ and generally likes to travel with four boards for four different disciplines… A man of many talents.

Here: A great angle from west Wales in the UK. This shot is of Sarah Rowley, and is taken by her husband Marc.

Here’s what he had to say about it: “This past winter the winds have been a bit fickle to say the least, November saw us in the middle of another wind drought and we decided to head west as it looked like there was slightly more there. So we checked Google Earth, loaded up the van and set off.

This is a beach that rarely works but we hit it just right with only the three of us out in decent cross-shore conditions.”

Cover: Well it’s the first beast-ofburden we’ve ever had on the cover…

And it would of course be courtesy of Dimitri Maramenides, mid-loop in Brazil.

Photo: Gustav Schmiege

The Regulars 0 3 2 // Gallery… Ninja Bichler 0 3 6 // I’m On It… Eudazio Da Silva 0 3 8 // Pro Tips… Getting the shot with Noè Font 0 4 2 // Tangled Lines with Ruben Lenten 0 4 4 // Profile… Irina Veremyeva 0 5 4 // On the List… Australia with Alex Lewis-Hughes 0 9 8 // Technique with Matchu Lopes 1 0 0 // Tell Me About It… Liquid Force Hippy Sticks 1 0 4 // Tested…

1 0 8 // Behind the Clip… Sam Light’s England 1 1 4 // Kite Sista… Award Season 1 2 2 // Meteorology with Tony Butt 1 2 4 // Wrapping up… Tom Court

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Here’s a guy who looks pretty well motivated. Jacob Howard sessioning a pretty chilly looking Canadian spot, with the snowcapped volcano Mount Baker (in the US) in the background.

Photo: Jay Wallace

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W E L CO M E

Hello. And welcome to the first issue of TheKiteMag in 2017!

Here’s a little fact for you: kiteboarding is quite an expensive sport… But you probably knew that.

Before I began working for kite magazines (when – I’m not going to lie to you – barely a day goes by when UPS doesn’t drop off a boxfresh new bit of kit. Sorry about that) I would spend my time trawling eBay looking for something to add to my quiver… A new addition would be a big deal as I knew I would need to get a couple of years out of it. And if I rolled a kite in the surf and saw it coming up with a new ‘vent’ in it then that was £70* less cash to put towards my next kite. Gutting.

Which goes some way to explaining why kiting isn’t as big a sport as mountain biking, snowboarding or surfing – all sports where you can spend a lot of cash or you can spend £300 on a bike or board that will do the job just fine for a few years. I challenge anyone to get by for even one season kiting without needing to spend £300 on something…

There’s not really any easy way of getting around this (although the second hand market is now pretty cheap, and if you look in the right places you can find new kites from the last couple of years for less than £500) so unless you can persuade someone to have a go at kiting, and then watch their face light up as they ‘get it’ and reach for their credit card, the cost of kiting is always going to hold back a lot of people.

So it is all the more impressive that Carlos ‘Bebe’ Mario secured the WKL title for last year. Bebe grew up in Ceará, kiting on Cauipe Lagoon. He didn’t have the means to buy himself his first kite – let alone to upgrade his quiver each year. Yet hard work, dedication and self-belief have enabled him to become World Champion. And – ask anyone on tour – he is also one of the humblest and happiest guys you will meet. It’s pretty inspiring. We wish him and the rest of the riders all the best for the coming season on the WKL Freestyle tour. (And of course to all the guys on the GKA Wave and the KPL Park tours. Wow THREE proper tours!)

Hopefully you’ll find something to inspire you in this issue. We have an interview with another kid who had kiting ‘in his DNA’, Brandon Scheid, plus we check out what went down in some early season Cape Town sessions, and also find out how it is to kite under the Northern Lights, courtesy of Kari Schibevaag. And that’s just for starters.

We hope you have had a great first few weeks of the year, and that you’ve got plenty lined up in 2017 to stoke your own inspirational fire.

Enjoy the issue.

Alex

*if you are after a currency conversion then, due to the fall in the value of the pound, by the time of printing this will probably be the exact same value in euros or dollars…

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S U B S C R I B E TO T H E K I T E M AG The Team:

S E V E N I S S U E S P E R Y E A R (that’s more than any other kiteboarding magazine)

D E L I V E R E D

to you before it gets in the shops

F R E E

top quality tee and Mystic Rashie!

Editor: Alex Hapgood (editor@thekitemag.com) Sub editor: Cai Waggett Art Director: Louise Kelly Assistant Art Director: Andy Gimson Contributors: Gustav Schmiege, Ellen Leplae, Samuel Tomé, Mo Lelii, Sablen Wedman, Jan Bowden, Quincy Dein, Steph Fournet, Irina Veremyeva, Vincent Bergeron, James Boulding, Lars Terkelsen, Tom Magne Jonassen, Lars Erik Tunby, Brendan Pieterse, Axel Reese, Toby Bromwich, Mike Smith, Marcus Gracien, Marc Rowley, Jay Wallace.

TheKiteMag is…

Published by M E D I A in Hayle, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

WATER BORN

Advertising enquiries: advertising@thekitemag.com.

All material in TheKiteMag is subject to copyright.

Reproduction without the express permission of the publishers will result in prosecution.

Submissions: Online: If you have a clip or would like to get something on the website please send it over to us: media@thekitemag.com.

In the mag: TheKiteMag welcomes both written and photographic submissions. Photography should be submitted in both RAW and edited format. Please note that the publication of written content is generally dependent on the provision of high quality photography, so in the first instance please send photographic samples and a 150 word synopsis of your writing to: checkmeout@thekitemag.com You can find TheKiteMag on: N MISSIO STRIKE TS NTIAL: RN LIGH CONFIDE NORTHE TOWN SIONS: HIS DNA CAPE R SES EID: IN N SCH WONDE BRANDO

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This magazine is printed on paper sourced from responsibly managed sources using vegetable based inks.

Both the paper used in the production of this brochure and the manufacturing process are FSC® certified. The printers are also accredited to ISO14001, the internationally recognised environmental standard.

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FOCUS

RIDER SAM LIGHT

LOCATION HAYLING ISLAND SECRET SPOT

PHOTO DAVE WHITE

SL: This was taken on the first day of our England shoot. I must have driven past this spot thousands of times as it’s right when you come onto the island, but I have never ridden it before as it’s a really sketchy launch and it only works on an unusual wind direction and a really high tide. We had a really short window as Patrick had landed in London two hours before and it was the only day of wind and sun on the forecast, so I lined up the photographer and just went for it. Luckily it all lined up and we scored some of the best shots of the trip on the first day.

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FOCUS

RIDER ABEL LAGO

LOCATION SCARBOROUGH, SOUTH AFRICA

PHOTO SAMUEL TOMÉ

AL: Every European winter the RRD team move to CT to do the year’s photo shooting… This session was right at the end of the trip and we shot from the water in Witsand on a very windy day. Local photographer Sam and myself worked hard to get a different picture which combined a strapless jump with the sun in the same photo. It was an amazing effort from Sam who spent a few hours on the frozen Cape Town water working to get the best angles and managing not to get eaten by a Great White Shark.

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RIDER WILL PALMER

LOCATION FORT DE SOTO PARK, ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

PHOTO MO LELII

WP: I’d like to first give credit to the creative brains behind this super fun feature that belongs to Billy Parker.

When you want to kite park features it is not a simple task. On top of the normal time allotted to setting up your kite, you have to build, carry, drag, and set up the features. It is certainly a substantial time commitment most days we decide on this kind of activity, especially since after each session we also have to remove the features and take them home. However, the days the stars align and the feature is set up correctly with good wind meaning no driver necessary for a boat/ski, nor an operator for a winch/cable, plus a friend like Bill to ride with and a photographer like Mo to shoot, it is hard to find better times!

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FOCUS

RIDER GIJS WASSENAAR

LOCATION SOUTH AFRICA

PHOTO SABLEN WEDMAN

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GW: This was a private lagoon session taken during a road trip to Jeffreys Bay. While passing Mossel Bay for some waveriding and freeride sessions in the middle of South Africa’s poorer areas, we arrived at Jeffreys Bay for some good surf sessions. Then one day it was blowing 20 knots straight into the lagoon – shallow, warm water… perfect for some freestyle action!

RIDER LEE ‘PASTY’ HARVEY

LOCATION PORTHLEVEN, UK

PHOTO JAN BOWDEN

TKM: If you kite in the UK then you need to be two things: 1) patient, and 2) not fazed by the cold… For this spot to come alive you need a solid south westerly swell (which is rare) and a north westerly wind (which is cold).

You also need to launch behind a windless harbor wall and make it through the relentless shorebreak before you can sail upwind to the reef. It doesn’t stop the locals from committing a lot of time to checking charts and waiting for the elements to all line up though, and when it’s on it’s usually worth it and – unsurprisingly – crowds are rarely an issue…

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FOCUS

RIDER JESSE RICHMAN

LOCATION MAUI

PHOTO QUINCY DEIN

JR: Often it’s the little things in life that make it so sweet. Sure, one may do a simple Stalefish and be content, but I say NO! Never settle for the norm, strive to make things your own. So I spiced this one up a bit by jumping over a small rock pile while doing the Stalefish; then it gets exciting. This is an idea that my brother gave to me when he would spend so much time on simple tricks. He would go out kiting and only do front rolls for hours, more and more forward rolls, damn did he never get tired of them?! But wow, they looked sick and so different. He took a simple thing and spiced it up with a bit of his personal flavor. This is the way we personalize and create our style. So, my spicy flavor for the day is this Stalefish: simple and sleek mixed in with a splash of danger.

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FOCUS

RIDER JOSHUA EMANUEL

LOCATION BIG BAY

PHOTO ELLEN LEPLAE

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TKM: Josh has grabbed the headlines with his World WOO record jump of 27.5 meters. Yup, that’s big. Here’s what he had to say about it: “The session I had that day was amazing, the wind was strong and the waves had some size, providing some awesome kickers.

There is always one jump that stands out and you feel it in your stomach.

Some serious butterflies of excitement and the “ooo shit I’m high up!” and that was the record jump. Cape Town has just been providing some of the best conditions day after day and I am absolutely in love with it!”

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GALLERY

I grew up be tween moun tains and oceans, and sports ha ve always been an importan t part of my life. Aft er tra velling around th e world, I discovered Mauri tius in 2005 and immediat ely fell in love wi th this island. I wa s windsurfing in wa ves before and start ed to focus on wa ve ki t esurfing in 2010. Th ere are many amazing spo ts in Mauri tius and th e great thing about this place is th e di versi ty; you can find condi tions for all le vels wi th differen t wa ves and wind directions. Th en th e h eadline spo t of One Eye ha s se veral faces and con tinues to surprise me each day. This year, wi th El NiĂąo, we didn't ha ve many big wa ve days, but we were blessed wi th this epic day. Although shoo ting from th e wat er in th ese solid condi tions wa s really challenging for St eph . He is a pure wat erman.

Words: Ninja Bichler/L eena Ballack Pho tos: St eph Fourne t

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NINJA BICHLER

Alexis Redelsperger ha s been my friend since early childhood. We grew up toge th er and h e inspired my ki t esurfing a lo t.

He is a multi-sport man and ha ving fun toge th er is a blessing. Alexis ha s been working for ION CLUB for many years, in se veral destinations around th e world.

For weeks we were looking for that specific day: sun, wa ves and wind. Th e combination is no t always a vailable, but on this day our paradise fulfilled i ts po t en tial and Mo th er Nature offered us a perfect gift.

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GALLERY

To ge t th e perfect picture requires symbiosis be tween th e rider and th e pho togra ph er. O ver h ere we say that One Eye means you need to always keep one eye on th e wa ve behind you a s i t might ge t you in trouble if you fall.

Im ' pa ssionat e about ki t esurfing but especially about big wa ves. It's much more challenging and I love th e hun t for adrenaline.

On th ese big days, th ere are only e ver a handful of people on th e spo t...

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NINJA BICHLER

Wat er is my elemen t, I couldn't li ve wi thout i t. It fa scinat es me so much ! Riding in wa ves makes me feel like riding on energy wi th all th e powerful movemen ts of th e wat er. It's th e only way to swi tch off my mind from th e rest of th e world.

It's my way of medi tation.

Depending on th e direction of th e swell i t can be ea sy to manage many turns, but oft en riding One Eye requires a lo t more atten tion.

You need to read th e wa ve properly and hun t down th e line to ge t around th e sections and be able to hi t a nice turn...

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BOARD: 50/FIFTY 138 X 39.5

Eudazio da Silva is at the heart of the pack of Brazilian riders who have been pushing the freestyle scene. He is three time Brazilian champion and has been a solid contender on the freestyle tour for the last few years. A knee injury kept him out the water for a few months, but he is now back training and planning to come back stronger than ever for WKL events in 2017. So, what’s he on?

I have been working with Nobile for a number of years now and this is the fifth version of the 50/Fifty board that I have worked on.

In five years I have seen a lot of how board technology has changed and improved – older boards used to be very hard and would hurt my knees a lot, but now they are very comfortable and flexible. This has contributed a lot to my evolution as a rider!

The board has a hydrodynamic rocker and channels in the base which make it perfect for all conditions and mean that I can ride it with smaller fins if I want.

Although I ride with 55mm fins.

I would describe my style of riding as ‘aggressive’ but with a good awareness of what I am doing.

The board works very well with boots. When I first started riding in them it was very strange, but once I had adapted I could not imagine riding without them.

At the moment I mainly train on the coast of Piaui, and at Lagoa do Cauipe.

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AGE: 23 | WEIGHT: 63KG | HEIGHT: 5’4”

When I test a board the main things I am assessing are the comfort, stability, flexibility and pop.

The new colorway is all black which I love very much, I always liked black!

I like this year’s graphics and every year I am more impressed and look forward to seeing what will be next.

When I am competing it feels like the combination of the 50/Fifty board and kite was made for me: I feel completely confident with both the board and the kite

I also ride the 50/Fifty kite. From the first version until the latest version the kite is totally different – currently the kite is more stable, responds very fast, and for me it is the best kite in the world!

After my injury my knee is now recovering and after a lot of hard work I am feeling much more confident. I have had to fight and suffer to get where I am but I know

I am doing my best and am stoked that I will be competing in 2017.

At the moment I am working hard to improve my maneuvers and am focused on giving them more style and on learning some new things…

For me Nobile are like my family.

I have been with them for a long time and they always try to do the best for me so I always thank them for believing in me!

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PRO TIPS

PRO TIPS With Noè Font Photos: Toby Bromwich

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PRO TIPS

Here we were looking to have a bit more going on in the foreground with the grass, and we also used a flash to get a darker sky and a different vibe to the shot.

Well there isn’t much to say about this one, Toby was playing around with his new flashes while we were sat in the hot tub waiting for the meat on the BBQ!

I’ve been digging the look of these superinverted hand drags lately. On this one Toby wanted me to glide right in front of him in order to have the gorge as a background.

Using the scenery, background and light, Toby turned what is obviously not a hard trick into a really beautiful photo.

What makes a photo special? How do you make it stand out from the rest? How can you get your shots into magazines or doing well on social media? I’ve learned a few things over the past few years on my travels as a professional kiteboarder where I have spent many hours chasing the perfect shot. Here are a few of my reflections on how to get ‘that’ shot.

We don’t always have the budget or the tools to organize photoshoots but even then you can still get the goods.

Nowadays everybody has a camera, even if it is just the one on your phone, and getting stylish shots isn’t just about having the most expensive equipment or best production team.

Sometimes with just a GoPro you can get the best shots. It’s easy and simple and it forces you to think about the creative side of things, to be different and to look for inspiration. You might surprise yourself and come up with the photos everyone looks for.

I enjoy the whole process myself and I enjoy taking photos as much as I enjoy being on the other side of the lens and I think this helps me a lot when it comes to riding and understanding how a shot is going to come out.

When it comes to planning a shoot with a photographer you can either go out and let the photographer do the work, which will probably just get you average shots, or you can get involved and help to plan the best angles and set ups for a shot. Nobody said it was going to be easy and getting those golden shots is hard (and things can get very frustrating when it’s not going as planned!). Remember that communication is key and the rider and photographer have to know exactly what they’re looking for. There are a lot of variables to getting the perfect kite shot, and these can get in the way when you least expect it. The wind, waves, light, other kiters – so be patient, keep trying and that perfect shot will happen eventually.

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PRO TIPS

This is something I’ve wanted to try for a very long time. It’s very sketchy to grab your board while on a rail since you can clip your fingers very easily, but on a pipe there is a slight chance to do it. The photo is a close-up from the danger zone and if things had gone wrong, Toby was in the right place to get hurt. Sometimes you have to put yourself in danger to get those new angles…

This is Craig in Hood River this summer, nose pressing the North Rail, and Toby getting creative with the different lens flares his housing would create with the sunset. We ended up with very beautiful shots that day. The flares and a dark background like that only happen in The Gorge.

One of my favorite photos from our team shoot in the Magdalen Islands. The sunset that evening was epic, the clouds were insane, I remember I was freaking out every time I looked at the sky. That’s probably what makes a big part of this shot. We travel so far, ride for so long and try so many times for photos like this. Then when it comes together it’s all worth it.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU NEED TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE SHOOTING You want your photos to be special, they need to stand out from the rest. Be creative, try new things, they don’t always work but it’s worth the try. A new grab, angle, obstacle or background can make a photo much better.

There is a huge difference when the rider is facing the camera, it makes it personal, people picture themselves doing it.

Some tricks look a lot better in photos. Most of the time, the craziest/hardest tricks look

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the worst. Grabs, slides, stalls are smoother and usually slow down the tricks, which gives the photographer an extra bit of time to capture them. Make sure your photos are as crisp and sharp as possible, no one likes blurry shots.

Remember kiteboarding is a water sport so don’t crop your shots too much… it’s good to have some water in the shots, plus it’s good to show the height of your jumps.

Think about magazines and how they layout their pages, which helps a lot when framing. Look for other elements to be a part of your photo, backgrounds and foregrounds (we’ve all seen the blue sky).

Good branding will make your photo worth something to the brands. Try to get those logos visible!

So get out there, try new things and think about fresh concepts and new points of view.

PRO TIPS

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TA N G L E D

L I N E S

RUBEN LENTEN A MAN WHO NEEDS VERY LITTLE INTRODUCTION, RUBEN LENTEN HAS CRAMMED MORE INTO HIS 28 YEARS ON THIS PLANET THAN MOST OF US DO INTO OUR LIFETIMES. WITH PLENTY OF HIGHS AND LOWS, T H E R E ’ S A L O T TO TA L K A B O U T …

Q

AARON HADLOW

You have always embraced and got excited about crazy and strong wind conditions. Now you’re close to being 100% physically fit again has your mindset on the water changed after your battle over the last year?

More fearless? Confident?

A

That’s true, I love a good ol’ sesh when the wind is nuking. That’s when I enjoy kiteboarding most as that’s when I feel most powered. After my battle against cancer it was my main goal to flush all the poison out of my body and get back to full strength. I was fortunate enough that this process went smoothly and I was back at it six months after my last treatment. Getting my groove back wasn’t as easy as I hoped for… I knew that my body was strong but my mind was like, hey, easy now. The last place I want to be is the hospital so I really had to break some mental boundaries to get fully confident and be hucking Megaloops again. Once I did though I had tears of joy right after landing a proper loop again. I knew I was back and could do what I love again and I was so intensely happy and grateful. So I think I ride a lot smarter and still harder ha! I’ve used my time to test a lot of different gear as I wanted to ease into it and see what fitted my riding most. Now I’ve got some epic new boards and I’m riding the North Vegas which feels pretty damn good. So let’s see where that’ll take me…

Q

NICK JACOBSEN

So Ruben, we go way back… I still don’t get your level of stoke and excitement in your daily routines. I admire that a lot.

You’ve been down the darkest alleys in life, and you are still the most energetic and positive person out of all my friends.

HOW?

A

Haha, thanks brother… So flattering. I do have dark days and can get quite grumpy and shitty too. Trust me – poor Nikki! But overall I tend to be happy, outgoing and rocking it. I am a people person and what helps me to feel energized is doing fun shit with fun people. What helps me is to just get on with things as they are, or if I don’t like them, I change them. When something doesn’t go your way, see it as an opportunity to do something else. You’re drawing on a blank canvas. Use it wisely and happily! It can always be worse…

So just keep it chilled.

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Q

GRAHAM HOWES

So, Ruben, you just got hitched in Cape Town. In true rock star fashion, I was drunk for most of it, so please remind me how it went down again...

A

You were the most sober one there! As long as you remember that it was ‘in true rock star fashion’ and that nothing beats love you’re all good. We really had the best day and night ever and enjoyed it so much. Thank you for being there bru.

Q

YOURI ZOON

So Ruubs I have known you for a long time already, and it seems like you had it all. You won big titles, you had major setbacks , you defeated cancer and found the love of your love and got married! It almost seems like you ticked all the boxes of life. So what’s next?!

A

Yeah, I haven’t been sitting still that’s for sure. I’m always ready to learn and to push myself and I’m sure that life will take me on an amazing journey. So I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride whilst working on my LEN10 brand, and on projects that will push and promote the sport worldwide. I’m excited to fly! And maybe make some babies…

Q

Q

ALEX VLIEGE (KOTA JUDGE)

SAM LIGHT

When is the Big Air tour happening?! I reckon Cape Town, Tarifa and Australia.

You inspire loads of kiters around the world, who inspires you the most?

A

A

That’s a good question. It would be amazing to have a solid extreme Big Air tour. And then a really cool format and a betting website to go with it?! If I find the time… Who knows! I don’t care much about competing though, so I think you’ll see different projects coming from my end. Competing – why? I love to freeride. I mean if they finally up the prize money and it would be worth it then hey, sure, let’s take some risks and show them what we’re made of. But I’m not a freerider in the sense of I will ride for free in contests! That said, I do see some of the proper industry partners interested in our side of the sport, so maybe it won’t take long…

Q

A lot of different people inspire me.

There’s something to learn from everyone who you meet. You just have to feel, hear, see or smell it.

I’ve learned a lot from my parents, good and bad! And that’s how it goes for a lot of things. Aaron Hadlow has inspired me a whole lot in kiting. Riding together has been a blast and learning from each other has always been beneficial.

And I love seeing little kids, they inspire me to be free.

TKM

As one of the most iconic riders in the sport there is obviously lots of chatter around where you are heading now in terms of sponsorship/starting a brand etc. Is there anything that you can share with us?!

A

Haha yes I can imagine! I have always been a bit of an unpredictable rider – I like to be different and feel like it helps to grow the sport and the athletes. In kiteboarding it’s very hard to make a proper living and I definitely don’t want to depend on a company that might change strategy or budgets two years later. As a kid you throw your whole heart and life into the sport and when a company messes with that it hurts. So I’ve taken all of last year to try all sorts of gear to see what fits me so I know which company to talk to. It turns out I only like three or four companies and am talking to some now. I’d love to be part of a big brand again and really move forward all together. Then to create more structure, control and stability I am also growing the LEN10 with more specialized products. There will be some epic boards and goods available soon…

Q

TOM COURT

Nikki and yourself are a power couple!

How does marriage work into such an unconventional lifestyle of travel and adventure?

A

Nikki is the best. Without her I would be pretty sad, lost and lonely… She is the one that keeps me sane. My life hasn’t been anywhere near normal and to have a partner that just keeps her head cool when things explodes is priceless. We balance each other out well. I couldn’t think of another person I could be with 24/7. She used to be a paralegal but I convinced her to quit her 9 to 5 to go explore what she really loves. Now she’s developed her creative skills as a graphic designer, she enjoys doing interior design, and she helps me with my business big time. It’s not easy and when things heat up communication and respect are key! The better we work together the more fun we have.

Q

JALOU LANGEREE

What have you still got on your Bucket List?

A

I’d love to sail everywhere one day! I’ve never been to Tahiti, the Maldives, Argentina, Patagonia, Antarctica and many more places… So I’d like to tick some of those off and then keep riding, flying and traveling the globe until I drop.

Q

JESSE RICHMAN

Bud, we all know you have had some serious ups and downs, and we can clearly see you have grown stronger from it.

What I hope you can share with us is what it was that picked you up and gave you the motivation to keep on going when times were the darkest?

A

The main thing is that it’s not over until it’s over… I believe positivity is the number one thing that keeps you going. When you’re positive everything is good, even when it’s not. You crack a joke, talk shit or just get on with it. The power of love is amazing. I’ve received so much love and support from around the world, so who am I to let anyone down?

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PROFILE

Irina Veremyeva I’m an architect and interior designer and have been fond of painting from a very early age. I love to travel and to meet new people and this has always given me the material for everything I create.

When I learned kiteboarding, the more I practiced it, the more I fell in love with the sport and with the ocean – its power and its beauty.

I was on the Cape Verdian island of Sal when I first really felt the connection between me and the ocean during kiteboarding – the strong feeling of being in-the-moment in the turquoise water, with the speed of the board and with the wind blowing. There I saw Mitu Monteiro, Matchu Lopes and some other guys who had this complete “connection” while riding the waves. Then I met photographer Maria Enfondo, who gave me the idea to combine two of my passions: ocean riding and painting.

The process of creation It starts with finding a shot that captures the moment of a trick, a beautiful wave, or just a good combination of the wave and rider.

It could be my shot, or could be made by any photographer. But it needs to be a photo so that I can make detailed and precise graphics, which is impossible to do ‘live’.

My first drafts were taken from the pictures of Maria Enfondo, who was also on Cabo Verde. So I was doubly inspired as I was listening to and riding the same ocean that was in her shots.

I use paper, pencil for the initial draft, and then liners of different thickness for the final picture. When I need to make a colorful drawing, acrylics are my favorite for their brightness and saturation.

Then, when the picture is made, I scan it and do vector graphics from it if needed, or just treat it a little bit in Photoshop.

It’s a special feeling I get when I see a photo and can visualize how it will become a graphic. I feel the power of the moment which has stopped in a photo, then I see what I want to focus on, which details could be used to best transfer the power of nature in correlation with the rider’s movement, and how to add the color if needed. And then the process starts, and I am fully inside it. I find it is always best to draw between kitesurfing sessions – then the feeling of the moment and the feeling of what you are doing is at its strongest.

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I R I N A V E R E M Y E VA

1

2

1.Matchu From Maria Enfondo’s shot. It seems like the Cape Verdian riders know more than others about the ocean’s power and how to deal with it. The color of the Atlantic Ocean is essential as well…

2. Fishing in Ponta Preta This is from a picture of Gabriele Rumbolo. As always the photography out of Cabo Verde has a special meaning for me, and the huge powerful waves in Ponta Preta inspire regardless of whether there are any kitesurfers or not…

3. Vasco

3

This one was made thanks to meeting Vasco Santos – a Portuguese rider. The photo was already very graphical with the jump and colors, so as soon as I saw it I immediately understood how it should be painted.

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PROFILE

4

5

6

4. Egypt

5. Mitu

The original photo was given to me by Maria Enfondo (I don’t remember whether it’s hers or somebody else’s, but for sure she was there, in the boat). I liked the bright colors of the Egyptian summer together with a nice combination of the yacht scene, which served as a frame for the picture, and the rider in the background. This one was very close to the original photo as I was looking forward to giving it as much detail as possible to make it as realistic as I could.

I did several drafts of this with the same shot. This one is the most graphical, showing the power of a Mitu Monteiro jump.

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6. Kite jump Besides the super energy of the shot, I liked the fun of the idea itself: to jump in the water in sneakers!

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STUFF

S T U F F W E L I K E T H E L O O K O F

AXIS Division

It’s been overtime central at AXIS coming into 2017 and they have gone hard out reworking a lot of their shapes. One of the boards receiving the full treatment has been the Division. AXIS took the good bits from last year’s board and then added in some of the features of the higher end boards such as the Vanguard and the Limited – so they laser cut slots in the wood core, and then pressed the features into the board afterwards giving the board improved handling and ride. Top-end tech at a competitive price point…

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North Vegas

A kite which needs very little introduction, especially in this season of Big Air and high risks… For 2017 North have focused on improving its in-flight traits, with particular focus on super-precise handling. The middle section of the kite has also been revisited with extra panels, a Dacron frame and the new 3D shaped canopy. The outcome: an extremely stiff and durable kite with better lift and even more aggressive pop. If you’re serious about freestyle then the Vegas has all that you need – and probably a little bit more…

Flysurfer PEAK3

Flysurfer tore up the rulebook with the PEAK, and it is now onto its third incarnation. It’s a single skin kite so there is no inflating or pre-inflation required: just roll it out and you’re ready to go.

Plus with less cloth there is significantly less weight giving the PEAK3 turbocharged performance and with the Reef Line Safety system you can have it out of the sky in seconds ready to pack up and boot it back down the hill…

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STUFF

Nobile Infinity Split While twin tip riders have been able to stow away their boards in golf bags and take some of the pain out of the oversized baggage sting, there is no pretending that a surfboard is anything other than a surfboard… Unless you’ve got an Infinity Split. The board splits in two and then comes in at 110cm. So you don’t even need to worry about a golf bag – you can just slot it in your normal luggage and be through passport control with a beer in your hand while your mates are still digging out their credit cards…

Liquid Force Solo V3 The Solo set the benchmark for lightwind ease-of-use and performance when it first landed on the scene a few years back. For V3, profile design improvements reduce flutter in the critical areas of the wingtip, increase stability in gusty wind and create even more engaged power delivery… We’re looking forward to getting our hands on one.

CrazyFly Bags It’s not all about top quality European-produced board and kite action from the CrazyFly team, they also do a fine line in well-styled functional baggage. Pictured here we have the wheelie Golf Bag, the Single Board Bag and – so you’ve got somewhere to put a bottle of water and a banana for mid-session – the backpack.

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STUFF

EPIC Oxygen V3 The Oxygen is EPIC’s lightwind machine, but is also happy to stay on the water when the wind picks up. So there is a nice flat rocker, a wood core and flexible tips to provide maximum comfort, even in chop. Then the predictable control and refined rails provide plenty of stable pop for enjoying powered moves. So it’ll get you going in eight knots and you can focus on much more than just mowing the lawn…

Ocean Rodeo Jester The Jester has come into OR’s board line up this year as a livelier companion to the well-established and much-loved Duke. It’s got a relatively low volume but a flat rocker so will get you going nice and quickly and is then just asking to be chucked around... Oh, and that green doesn’t just look great in print, it is just as fresh in the flesh.

Slingshot Turbine What do you do when everyone loves your ‘lightwind’ kite? Why not try making it in smaller sizes too. That’s what Slingshot did and they found that what made for a super-efficient light wind kite, also made for an insanely highperformance ‘normal’ wind kite.

So you can expect massive air, incredible hangtime and raceworthy upwind angles for foiling.

Who would’ve thought it…

RRD H-Flight foil RRD put plenty of R&D hours into the H Flight. They wanted to spend the time refining the set up to ensure they were offering a top quality all-round foil first time. They decided on a cost effective aluminum foil (available in three lengths) coupled with a full carbon fuselage and changeable rear and front wings. The result: A well-priced and well-balanced foil that will take you from your first few shaky runs through to ‘foiling legend’ status.

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ON THE LIST

O N

T H E

L I S T WITH ALE X LE WIS-HUGHE S

Making your own fun. Alex and Ewan build a rail...

Photo: Paul Smythe

It’s fairly accurate to concede that a blunder in the land down under could potentially cost you your life. If you’re not eaten by a Great White kiting or surfing it’s likely because you didn’t make it down the track to the beach in the first place as you were bitten on the leg by a brown snake… Of course that’s if you were lucky enough not to get attacked by a spider packing your kite gear into the car, or mauled by a drop bear whilst walking under that low hanging tree. Jokes aside: Australia’s great. Just don’t touch or look at anything.

If you mention Australia most kiters will likely bring up WA/Perth as it’s well known for its strong consistent sea breezes (the doctor) throughout the summer months. Sadly, what WA isn’t well known for is practically everything else… If you were to compare WA to the rest of Australia’s states and capital cities, WA is basically a barren desert, great for kiting and surfing but pretty boring for much else.

The East Coast. Well known in surfing culture for having a competition in the most crowded spot in the world (Snapper Rocks), probably not too well known in the kiting world for much

at all. Truth is the East Coast is full of hidden gems, from as far south as Melbourne all the way up to the very tip of Queensland (past Cairns) there’s a ton of unique and exciting spots to explore.

There’s actually so many spots that you’re never going to see them in one trip and likely wouldn’t kite them all in 20 trips. So what’s the catch? The catch is it isn’t always windy every day. Sometimes it’s

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windy two weeks straight, sometimes there’s nothing for two weeks straight. It’s the luck of the draw. However, if you compliment your kite holiday with sightseeing/adventuring and surfing there’s no way you can’t be impressed by the East Coast.

The Sunshine Coast and below are great in the summer months, whilst above the Sunshine Coast (Townsville and Cairns) have great consistent trade winds throughout the winter. The difference in climate from north to south (Cairns to Melbourne) is what most would expect from traveling to completely different countries.

Melbourne could be eight degrees in winter, whereas Cairns would still be sitting at a toasty 30 degrees that same day.

So where to go and how to do it? There’s no right answer but I think renting or buying a van/car is the best and coolest way to do it. You can get to the spots and see things you would never see otherwise.

AUSTRALIA - A BLUNDER DOWN UNDER

So you’re probably thinking, “What can I eat and drink over there?” And I guess there’s actually not too much that doesn’t exist elsewhere apart from Vegemite and Timtams. Just be sure that you eat them in that order. Australia also has a ton of good beers, but if you really want to experience true Aussie life you’ve got to drink the sh!thouse ones. Start with Victoria Bitter and move down from there, if you’re lucky you’ll finish with a sack of goon (the cheapest cask wine) so you can blow up the bag afterwards and use it as a pillow in whatever bush you sleep the rest of the night in. Next morning you’ll no doubt be feeling rough, best bet is to stop at the servo (gas station) and pick up a dog’s eye (meat pie).

These fun things are a great source for all your essential vitamins and minerals, scooped up straight from the abattoir floor into a neat little self-contained pastry petri dish. Just a heads up, beer and ciggys aren’t cheap, average cost of a six pack of beer is about 20AUD and cigarette prices are through the roof… Better you quit smoking and start doing meth instead.

VITALS: GETTING THERE:

Obviously you need to see Koalas and Kangaroos whilst you’re here, I’m not a tourist so I would have no idea where you would search them out, but I’m sure there’s a ton of sanctuaries up and down the coast where you can prod and poke these violent critters.

So, a big country – if I only had a few weeks what would I do? Well I’d drive from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast (or the reverse). It’s a great trip with hundreds of spots along the way to stop into and check out, many of which will have absolutely no one else kiting.

You want to go in the summer months, October to February are the best chances for wind and my personal tip is to go before Christmas as I think it’s usually more windy then.

Big country, a lot of airports… Decide where you’re heading and take your pick.

IN THE BAG:

You kind of need it all but if you’re really stretched a 9 & 12m should cover most days.

NOT IN THE BAG:

Fosters lager. Nope, we really don’t drink it over here.

RUBBER:

3/2 or shortie for most days.

BEER:

€4 | $4.15 |£3.50

M O S T L I K E LY T O H E A R : “It’s a 16 hour drive!”

L E A S T L I K E LY T O H E A R : “Another pie?”

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F E AT U R E N A M E

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F E AT U R E N A M E

in his dna: brandon scheid There are a few people in our sport who began kiteboarding at a very early age and in the very early days of the sport. These guys literally ‘grew up’ as kiteboarders; they are the guys who have always had kiting at the top of their list of priorities no matter what. It’s in their DNA and they define 100% kiteboarding commitment. Right at the upper end of the list is one of the most active riders in the sport: Brandon Scheid. Brandon has always lived and worked kiteboarding, and he has now also come to help define kiteboarding.

Photos: Vincent Bergeron

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IN HIS DNA: BRANDON SCHEID

Hey Brandon, thanks for taking the time to catch up with us. For anyone who’s not familiar with you, can you tell us where you’re from, and how your kitesurfing journey began…

Well, let’s start at the beginning.

My name is Brandon Scheid and I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I have been riding professionally for about 10 years and I have been an avid kite flyer since

I was seven. Thanks to my Dad, I started my obsession with the wind at an early age.

We used to go to the local park and fly all kinds of different kites. During this same time I was a board sport and adrenaline junkie, I skateboarded, snowboarded, rock climbed, mountain biked, and put in plenty of flips on the trampoline.

Really whatever I could do to get my shred on. All of these unrelated things eventually coalesced when I finally learned to kiteboard. I started on the frozen lakes of Michigan with some exploratory snowkiting. I already had all the snow gear and I had just recently picked up a used Wipika Hydro 9m. So for me it was an easy start into the sport and those first sessions still stand out in my mind. That following spring my parents went on vacation to Cape Hatteras and they got me a job at real watersports on grounds maintenance…aka trash and kite bitch. Little did I know I was launching kites for some of kiteboarding’s elite riders, and starting to help build one of the first standing slider parks in the world.

I had fallen head first into the wakestyle epicenter of the world, and at the time I really didn’t even know it.

Not a bad result for an aspiring grom! So what effect did that have on your style and approach to kiting?

When I first started at REAL I was thrust into the wakestyle center of the kiteboarding world. At the time I really had no clue what was going on. I began

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immersing myself into the new culture and its quirky language; Raileys, Front Rolls, Indy Grabs, the slick, “I’m lit”, gusts, lulls, steeze, presses, and let’s not forget: boots.

It was like deciphering an intricate code. I quickly learned that in the slick, de-power (chicken loop bars) was for pussies and boots were mandatory.

So, I speedily returned my Proof 151 learner board and got a LF Drop 136 and a pair of boots, hoping I would fit in.

I think that first summer set the tone for the type of riding I came to love and respect. The endless hours spent in butter flat water surrounded by people pushing the wakestyle scene really molded me into the rider I am today.

So which guys did you ride with back then?

I had the wonderful opportunity early on

in my kiteboarding life to ride with most of the legends of kiteboarding. Jason Slezak also called Cape Hatteras his home, so we shared a lot of memorable sessions over the years. Then there were the boys: Dre, Moe, Bertrand, Norman, Stone, Hamish, Hadlow, Best, Morris, and plenty more.

Getting to have sessions with all the guys that I saw in the videos of the time was just shocking, it really cemented the idea that REAL is where I wanted to be. They all destroyed it when they were on the water, and off the water they were some of the nicest people I’ve met. This humble attitude was something that stuck with me throughout the years. It didn’t matter how good you were on the water, if you were a dick on land it showed. All the boys ripped however, any one of them will tell you that Dre was on another level back then.

No one was even close in terms of speed, technicality, or style. His session on the Red Bull fun box will forever stand out in my mind. He’s a beast, hands down.

Real have always been at the fore of creating groundbreaking new features – can you take us through a few of the standout features they have had over the years?

With Jason Slezak at the helm, REAL has always had a longstanding tradition of slider riding. The area is perfect for rails, and it just seemed to attract the rail riders like a moth to flame. There have been some legendary moments in the slider park, certainly more than I can remember.

The first big feature REAL built was the Red Bull Funbox. I believe it was built for the Red Bull King of the Air qualifier, one year before the first Triple S. It was a behemoth, and it took us over a month to build the whole thing. The best part, or maybe the worst, about that one was that someone miscalculated the weight, so it never really sank deep enough in the water. What was supposed to be a ride on, transfer style box, ended up having about a foot high ollie on. Big Oops and one hell of a learning experience. The next big moment in the history of the park was the delivery of the first HDPE rail, built at the time by Pat Panakos (a legendary wake guru). I still remember the day we put it in the water. REAL hired a forklift to carry it off the truck and put it into the water. We were all betting if the machine was powerful enough to lift the rail.

I believe I lost the bet, as it picked it up with grace. However, no one expected it to fully tip forward, nearly crashing into the water, as it extended the arm to drop the slider in. I think there were several brown trousers after that one. Nowadays the slider park is comprised of several features built by Joby Cook at Jibstruction. They are all 100% welded HDPE and are built to last 50 years. It’s come a long way from the early days of shoddy kiteboarder construction, and I’m happy to know that there will always be features waiting for me on Cape Hatteras.

The first thing I do on the water at a new spot is find all the creative possibilities for shooting. This particular session at a secret spot in the Gorge was no different. We spent the first part of the session shooting full rigs and a variety of other shots, however I was eyeing this rock cliff the whole time. I only ended up hitting it a handful of times, due to its gnarly nature. Luckily, Vincent was in the right place and we were able to capture it in all its beauty. Sometimes putting it on the line is worth it.

Showing Vincent all the subtle nuances of the bottom shape on the Echo in the flat waters of The Gorge.

Riding the park in the fading light is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening in Hood River. Usually the wind dies down to a more manageable speed and all the frothers leave the park after a full days riding. Locking into an uncrowded back lip is one of the perks of a solo session in the Slider Project Park.

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Every year at the Hood River Slider Jam we try to make a few features that step up the gnarly factor for the riders. This year saw the corrugated tube step-up get put into place. There were some consequences for missing the step up to the tube and a few of the competitors found themselves into the legs of this feature. Once you got over the mandatory hop up it was smooth sailing, and the sound that the corrugated pipe makes is just oh so satisfying.

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IN HIS DNA: BRANDON SCHEID

2016 saw a really solid line up of park events – why do you think this part of the scene seems to be getting a lot of traction right now?

I am really happy to see the park side of kiteboarding gaining more support. 2016

saw a big boom in the kite park scene, I think this has to do with several factors.

First, all the fellow park riders finally got together and decided to take our niche side of the sport into our own hands and we formed the KPL. This allows us to compete all over the world on a level playing field and crown a champion at the end of the year. I think this has helped legitimize the smaller rail events into a more grand tour. The formation of the KPL has helped these small events gather more resources and gain more support from within the kiteboarding industry.

This in-turn helped grow the scene and encouraged other riders to look at park riding as a legitimate career path within our industry. Second, I think the collapse of the PKRA and VKWC forced a lot of the tour riders to re-assess what they wanted to do in kiteboarding. We have already seen a ton of riders coming over from the freestyle scene to compete on the KPL and I think we will see even more in 2017. All of this has made the slider riding a lot more marketable, and the kite brands are taking notice. This means that brands are more

willing to invest in legitimate features and park events, growing our scene even more. I think the 2017 season with the KPL is shaping up to be one of the best yet, and I’m excited to encourage more riders to come and ride sliders with us!

The crew of riders on the park scene seems super tight knit – are you all good pals? And how is it now with the younger riders joining your ranks?

The park riding scene started out as a bunch of friends coming together to build and ride rails, so naturally it became a big brotherhood/sisterhood. It’s like a large world-traveling horde of shred friends.

We get to see each other all over the world and it always goes back to the grassroots feeling of camaraderie.

Building, maintaining, and setting up rails takes a solid, motivated crew, and I’m happy to say we all have great attitudes and strong work ethics. Making an event happen takes a lot of work, and we do most of it ourselves.

So it’s important that we all get along and can work together. That doesn’t mean we don’t argue, or that when the competition is on we go easy on each other. But when all is said and done there is always plenty of high fives and hugs to go around. Lately there has been an increase in the number of younger riders coming up in the park ranks. I think it’s great, they bring a breath of fresh air into the scene. They also keep

the old dogs on point, forcing them to keep up with the progression.

Who are the standout riders at the moment and which moves have most impressed you recently?

Throughout the years there have been several people that have dominated the park scene. It started with Dre winning the Triple S three years in a row. I followed his three-peat with three wins of my own, and Sam Light followed me similarly. So it now seems there is a slight changing of the guard as the younger generations come into the park scene. I am continually impressed with all the park riders, they seem to get better and better each year. However, I think my favorite rider right now is Ewan Jaspan. He rides with conviction and style and has been steadily progressing over the past few seasons. Riding with him helps

keep me motivated on the water, and he is the only person really pushing it hard off the kickers right now. I personally get the most impressed with big progressive kicker tricks, something everyone has been working on this past summer in Hood River. It was great to see so many 900’s go down, as well as all manner of technical handle pass tricks. Honestly, not to toot my own horn, but I think my Mobe 720 as seen in the 2017 Echo video was the most progressive trick of the year. Not bad for an old dog.

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IN HIS DNA: BRANDON SCHEID

Moon Patrol in the air...

You ride for liquid force, and rumor has it spend quite a lot of time in hood river working with the brand.

How does your relationship with them work and what are they like as a brand?

I have been riding for Liquid Force for all of my professional career. I am happy to say I have found a home with the LF family and I love getting to work with all the great people at LFK. I made the move out to Hood River about five years ago to get closer to the core of our kite team and it has been an amazing adventure. We have a small team and we all are great friends inside and outside of the office. We all ride together often, and we try to get out on the water as much as possible. It’s the passion for kiteboarding that got us into the industry,

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and it’s that same passion that drives our day to day work. My responsibilities mainly lie in the marketing and the development side of the brand. I handle all the video and Photoshoot planning as well as the online and social marketing.

Additionally, I work really closely with Julien Fillion (our designer) and Jason Slezak on anything R&D related. There are a lot of products to be tested, so it seems to be a never ending job. It is really great to be involved with a brand where we can make a huge impact on the direction of the products and really drive the kite line how we see fit. Our day to day is filled with a ton of hard work and plenty of laughs, it’s really a tight knit crew and we all carry a lot of different responsibilities. I really couldn’t be happier with the people I work with and the job I am lucky enough to have.

You have your signature board, the echo. Can you tell us about this and where it sits in the broader liquid force range of boards?

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be

offered the chance to collaborate with Jimmy Redmon on a new board shape for my pro model board. It all started with some cardboard cutout mockups late one night in my garage. After a few calls with Jimmy, several proto boards, a naming session, and plenty of test sessions we ended up with the LFK Echo. The goal of the board was to offer top notch wakestyle/ freestyle performance in an affordable construction. The Echo rides fast and aggressive, its wide tail block provides explosive pop and its wood core gives a forgiving flex profile. The board is built

IN HIS DNA: BRANDON SCHEID

around a 100% profiled wood core, and with some creative shaping techniques we were able to add a ton of bottom shape to the board, giving it exceptional grip and hold. It really is my dream board and I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to make it come to life. As far as where it fits into the LFK line, luckily it sits on the top with the two other pro models, the Element and the Legacy. All of these three boards offer top notch performance and each one is a little different, to appeal to slightly different riders. The Echo is a little more forgiving than the Element, and more aggressive than the Legacy and it falls in a lower price category than both of the boards. We strive to offer segmentation in our board line, hopefully having a price and performance option for all levels of consumers. So, I think the Echo really rounds out the profiled core boards and

offers a ton of performance in a more cost conscious package.

Liquid force have a couple of interesting looking new shapes for 2017 as well, what can you tell us about these and do you like to ride them?

This year we are introducing the Hippie Sticks into the 2017 line. We are really excited to bring these to market, and they are something we’ve been working on for some time. They are inspired by all the surf-style shape boards being made in the world of snowboarding, and ride like a dream. We wanted to open up the idea of the directional favored twin tip again.

Some of you may remember the mutant boards that were common in the early days of kiteboarding, they are sort of a homage to those early boards. The line consists

of two boards, the Space Craft and the Moon Patrol. Both are optimized for one direction of travel, but still can be ridden both ways like a conventional twin tip. The Space Craft is more akin to a traditional twin tip, and the Moon Patrol is more like a directional surfboard. The boards work great in small surf, or the onshore mush that most kiteboarders deal with. They rip turns, throwing huge fans into the sky. Every time I get one under my feet, I can’t help but smile. They bring a fun new vibe to the twin tip market and I feel that a lot of kiteboarders could use a little more fun. Best of all they give the carvey, turny feeling of a surfboard without the fear of breakage when jumping. They are also half the cost of a conventional kite surfboard, making them a great option for the average kiteboarder.

Moon Patrol in the water...

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The setting sun in Hood River has this magical golden hue to it, unlike anywhere else I’ve kiteboarded. I think it’s because when it sets behind the mountains, it is still far from the horizon giving it extra golden light power. If the light is good, sometimes you don’t need a big trick to make a killer photo. Just rip a turn and throw some water up into the golden light.

You are one of the best riders at generating good quality media content – how important is this to you as a professional rider?

I think being able to provide unique, high-quality media is an essential skill for someone in my profession. Making yourself marketable is one of the best things you can do for your professional career, and it is why the brands want to align themselves with you. I strive hard to make high quality media a major priority on all my trips and it is something you have to work extremely hard for.

A lot goes into a good photo, or an amazing video clip, and that’s something I think a lot of people don’t understand. You have to be willing to go above and beyond.

Whether that’s riding somewhere out

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of the box, performing one trick over and over, or just having a creative eye on the water. Gathering all this amazing media wouldn’t be possible without a hardworking videographer/photographer.

They have to be just as willing as you to go the extra mile to get that perfect shot.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with many talented photographers over the years. No matter who’s shooting one thing remains the same, the hardest workers get the best shots, hands down.

In today’s world of over saturated media and 10 second videos, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out.

You work a lot with vincent bergeron – is it easier to work with familiar photographers and videographers?

Yeah, I think developing a good working relationship with your photographer is essential to getting high quality media.

You have to be able to work, live, and travel together. You have to be able to deal with the ups and downs of the job and continually push the limits of riding and photography. Your shots will only ever be as good as the photographer, so it really is an important relationship. I have been able to develop this relationship with Vince over the past few years and it has come to be one of the most productive ones I’ve ever had. We get along great and our work ethics are very similar. We both love to explore and find amazing new spots, and his motivation levels match mine. There is no one I would rather be working with within the industry!!

Most of the time while I’m kiteboarding I keep a cool, composed face, however once I’m airborne all bets are off. I like to think of it as my face mirroring the intensity of the maneuver, in this case mid flat pass off the kicker. There is something ethereal about the fleeting moment in the air that draws me to this shot, high up in the blue sky.

Getting the session in The Gorge can sometimes take more work than the ordinary kite spot. Strong currents, shifting sandbars, and deep water are a few of the many challenges with shooting in the mighty Columbia River. With a positive mindset and a willing attitude, the session of your dreams is well within your grasp.

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IN HIS DNA: BRANDON SCHEID

Kiting has a rep as a bit of a ‘tropical’ sport, but we know that hood river gets pretty chilly and your hometown of michigan isn’t the warmest! Where have been your coldest sessions and do you really enjoy being on the water when it is sub zero?

Ha! I think that the whole tropical vibe of kiteboarding is a little played out.

Most of us don’t get to kite on tropical islands and wetsuits are the reality of most kiteboarders. I think that embracing the cold can lead to some amazing new locations and I am fully ready to take the icy plunge. I think the coldest sessions I’ve had have been here in Hood River. Being a big part of the development team means year-round testing, and it isn’t always convenient to jet off to somewhere warm to approve a kite. So Jason and I spend a lot of time braving the wintery conditions.

We have been on the water when there were floating ice chunks in the river, and the snow line is down to the water. Kiting in these conditions takes a particular mindset and can be extremely dangerous. That’s why we always kite in a crew, it helps the

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motivation and for obvious safety reasons (hypothermia sets in quick in 4°C water).

I can’t say I necessarily amp on the freezing cold sessions, but there is something about being the only one on the water. The natural beauty of the Gorge in the winter is really amazing and those frozen sessions really stick with you throughout the rest of the season.

You’ve traveled a whole lot with your kiting – is there one place that really stands out for you?

I’ve been very fortunate in my travels and I have been able to see a fair bit of the world. There are so many amazing spots filled with stellar memories. I think each spot has something to offer and some really do shine more than others. From the desolate beaches of Southern Australia, to the howling winds of Cape Town, the tropical beauty of the deep Caribbean, or the rugged Magdaline Islands, there is something to remember from each location. However, at the end of the trips I am always excited to go home to Hood River. I think the variety of sessions, the park, the lifestyle, the town, and all the

other things that make Hood so special stick with me all over the world and I find myself constantly comparing everything to it. So for me, my little home town is the magic place.

So, this is our first issue of 2017 and we’re excited: what’s the year got in store for you?

My plans for 2017 are still coming into fruition, although it’s pretty hard to plan a full year in advance. Starting with the Blue Palawan Open, I will be attending all of the KPL events and competing for the overall title. Additionally, I will be working harder than ever on the 2018 LFK line and I will continue to try and help make the best products LFK can offer. I’m sure I will have time to plan a few photo and video trips with Vincent and the boys and also to help grow and maintain the Hood River Slider Park. If all goes to plan, I will also have plenty of time for powder turns, mountain bike shuttles, and hydrofoil sessions. Hopefully 2017 will be a killer year and I look forward to making the most of it!

There is something to be said of the natural beauty found in the Columbia River Gorge.

Steep rocky walls and towering evergreens combine to make some of the most picturesque backdrops. The cold waters and raging wind are not for all, but for those that embrace it, glory awaits.

Having the right setup is essential

I couldn’t be more stoked

to a successful session, so I always

with the Echo for 2017!

carry a few different sizes of the Echo just in case...

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Riding in the Columbia River Gorge offers

tons

situations. rocks,

of

There

trees,

unique are

boats,

riding

plenty trains,

of and

more to find if you look in the right

places.

The

backdrops

on

offer are unlike anything else in the kiteboarding world. When my favorite

photographer,

Vincent

Bergeron, finally made it out to Hood River we spent most of his time chasing hard to achieve shots.

I’ve always wanted to capture this cliff bonk, to really showcase the complicated

nature

of

the

spot.

There is plenty of risk involved with the train, power lines, and bridges.

But, that is half the fun, seeing if you can pull it off and come out in one piece. I think the thing I love the most about this shot, is it takes a second to find the kiteboarder, it’s a complicated shot, and it draws you deeper into the scene.

Me and the Slingshot kicker have a great love/hate relationship. I love hitting it every day, and my knees and back sure hate it. There is just nothing like sailing weightlessly through the air with speed and style.

It’s something I never seem to get sick of, even if my body is crying on the inside.

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Kiteboarding missions are always fun, they may not always be productive, but they certainly do have their special moments. This particular spot has only been ridden once, and never been shot.

When Vincent asked me to go I could only think of one other rider that would be down for the effort required to get to the spot, Eric Rienstra. It took us a while to find a safe way out to the small sandbar to launch. After several dead ends, we ended up walking through neck deep water with all the kites and camera gear on our heads. Over the next few hours we proceeded to ride every feature we could possibly ride on.

We bonked logs, jumped over islands, stalled the top of sketchy pylons all in the name of getting that perfect shot.

Out of all the features, I think this one was the most fun. A sketchy log slider over rocks, certainly not for the faint of heart. But for Eric and I it was jib heaven.

There are not many places you can kite with a snowy mountain backdrop like this. It took a dedicated rider and photographer to line this shot. The wind needs to be the perfect direction and extremely strong to fill into the little cove on the Washington side of the Columbia River. Even though it was a mission to make it all happen, it was 100% worth it in the end.

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C A P E T O W N CONFIDENTIAL

Touching down before the true full-season mayhem kicked off, an all-star collective of riders rolled into Cape Town and made the most of what was on offer before riding off into the sunset‌ Thankfully James Boulding was there to document what went down.

Photos: James Boulding and Lars Terkelsen

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Keahi’s backhand attack is a force to be reckoned with. Here he connects with one during the golden hour session...

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CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

The only way to fully earn a sunset beer is a fully-committed sunset kite

Keahi defying gravity once more

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CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

Graham Howes showed us some of his secret flat water spots whilst also showing us his signature ballet hand drag

In kiteboarding speak there are a few migrations that rank high up on a long list of kite destinations. Cape Town undoubtedly sits on the top of this list, and for good reason. Offering cheapish living, waves, flat water, stunning scenery, amazing food and wine and possibly – in the King of the Air – the greatest spectating kite event on the planet, it is easy to see why people flock here for the winter months.

For a brand it also makes sense as a destination – bringing the Cabrinha kites international team together from all parts of the globe isn’t the easiest logistical task and finding a destination that will satisfy the riding demands of this varied team is also not simple. Cape Town might be one of few locations these world champions and record breakers can get their fix of the specific riding they need to hone their skills and stay sharp on the water. Famous for strong wind, waves, kickers, as well as flat water spots, it seemed a fantastic place to throw the team together with a brief to go shred and document the trials and tribulations along the way. Being such a diverse place, we thought we would also take along with us a quiver of the most diverse kites on the market – the Switchblade – and put them through it alongside the other kites we use for different disciplines. We would use it for surf, freestyle, boosting,

looping, kickers and anything else we could think of. Not intentionally planned, we would also reverse over one with our car and let another glide half a kilometer out to sea in a light offshore thermal at a notoriously sharky 7 degree cold water surf spot. Nick has Keahi to thank for the safe retrieval of that one, but all that to come in the forthcoming video.

Back to the matter at hand, for now it was time to get busy and with a Windguru forecast full of purple and blue days it was clear we were going to be in for a very windy trip.

With a solid swell forecast hitting Cape Point, we mapped out the spots we thought could work and each day got on the road in search of wind and waves. Keahi de Aboitiz is no stranger to big waves. Growing up in Australia and spending his winters on the North Shore of Oahu, kiting waves of consequence, he is rarely phased when arriving at a spot and looking out to a view of pounding waves and swirling currents. The rugged landscape and spots further south towards Cape Point make for some stunning backdrops. The water is much colder down this side of the mountain and the turquoise blue color pops right out.

You’ll want to make sure you have a thick wetsuit down here though, and if the wind gets funky late in the day you’re going to want to make sure you can get in fast…

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CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

Liam enjoying an early morning Big Bay session. Cape Town is famous for its left foot kickers

Keahi takes to the skies for an aerial maneuver this time.

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I was a little anxious for Nick’s wellbeing during this session. The swell was huge and pumped relentlessly, and any accident or problem would have left Nick in an exceedingly dangerous situation

CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

As we scoured the coast in search of the ultimate perfection in wave riding conditions, we started struggling a little, there was just too much swell pumping through, it was just closing out our intended spots.

After trying to force it on the road for a few days we took a step back and took advantage of the swell as it wrapped round the cloud spewing Table Mountain.

There was certainly no one complaining about waves here. Add to that 30+ knots of wind each day and we settled in to the rhythm of classic Cape Town conditions.

Keahi observed, “The best thing about Cape Town is that it has conditions for basically everything and it’s almost windy every day in season. Although Cape Town isn’t as perfect for wave riding as somewhere like Indo, it’s home to some very fun waves and the consistency is what makes it awesome. We were only there for three weeks but I think we kited almost every single day. You can kite flat water, fun waves, do downwinders or boost, and it’s big enough to handle the crowds.”

In normal conditions, winds above 30 knots just makes water choppy and lumpy, but here the waves smooth out the water in between sections and it becomes the perfect boosting playground. It can be pushing 40 knots and it’s still butter flat in between waves, which is what gives you exactly what you need when going big…

And when it comes to big air madness, there is one man who needs no introduction. Nick Jacobsen has been at the front of this aspect of the sport for some time and in the midst of a recent mega storm in his home country of Denmark, obliterated the biggest jump record on his 9m FX with a whopping jump of 26.7 meters. In these conditions he really shines – the level of control and apparent comfort he is in whilst 20 meters up in the air inverted in a front roll is quite astonishing. Whilst it sometimes looks like he has no regard for his safety and wellbeing, he is actually a very calculated kiteboarder…

With such strong wind days you wouldn’t think it would be the best place for freestyle, yet all the top freestyle guys have spent winters here to perfect their skills in a variety of conditions. It’s definitely true that if you can do your tricks in Cape Town then you can do them anywhere. Liam explained, “The conditions in Cape Town don’t suit my style perfectly, it is usually a bit on the strong side for freestyle, however, living in Tarifa I’ve learnt to adapt to almost any conditions. In Cape Town I would freestyle early in the morning whilst the wind was lighter. It was really fun hitting kickers left foot forward as I don’t get that at home. Then in the afternoon when the wind would kick in strong I would go out with the crew for some big air Megaloop sessions!”

James getting level with his Switchblade off a kicker

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CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

And in terms of our target of riding the Switchblade in all conditions, the versatility and all round performance of the Switchblade is something that makes this kite my personal kite of choice. Wherever I go in the world and whether it be using it in the park, freestyle or hitting wave kickers, there’s a stability that shines through no matter what the wind or slider is doing. I can literally park it and forget about it and concentrate on what is in front of me. So seeing Nick blast over the 20 meter height mark with ease one howling beautiful afternoon on a 9m confirmed everything I believe about it being the perfect all round kite, and chatting to him afterwards in the bar sipping down a cold IPA he reflected, “I have not ridden the Switchblade much before going to Cape Town with the Cabrinha team. The first few sessions, I had to get used to the kite. I normally use the FX kite which I’ve also helped develop over the last three years.

It was quite surprising how fast I got to grips with the Switchblade. What blew me away was the hangtime and pull this kite has, when you also think of the de-power it has. I always ride a surprisingly big kite in strong winds for boosting. When riding a 9m in 35 knots, I really need to have some de-power to help with positioning myself correctly in the air, and that’s exactly what the Switchblade had”.

Local hero and Cabrinha rockstar Graham Howes lives in Cape Town, he’s watched kite tourism boom here and is the life and soul of most parties. His “live hard ride hard” attitude on and off the water is infectious, and him and his Dirty Habits crew definitely know how to have a good time and quickly we were engulfed in the madness they create on a day-to-day basis. Life is good in Cape Town and my suggestion is to just immerse yourself in the good time vibes.

This being said we were on a mission to come up with the goods, each day counted and when the light and conditions lined up it was time to get busy in front of the lens.

Although most kiters ply their trade along the famous Table View stretch of beach, there is great reward for venturing off a little and escaping some of the crowds.

You don’t have to travel far to enjoy the same conditions alone with just your mates. In the end that’s what optimizes Cape Town to me, it’s those unforgettable sessions with mates followed by the day’s stories over a sunset beer before doing it all over again the next day.

The more you force expectations of grandeur, the more it feels like you aren’t fulfilled where you should just be lapping up what is on offer that specific day and going with the flow.

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Once again, the most decorated kitesurfer in the industry lines up kite, wave and Robben Island backdrop for a classic Cape Town snap

weirdest moment of the trip Liam: Meeting the Dirty Habits crew. There was flying dildos, hair burning and genital electrocution, not your average first night of a trip.

Anders: At Dunes when Nick decided to throw his kite and the wind shifted and took it up and out to sea. The water was probably 7 degrees and full of Great Whites, and Nick was helpless. Keahi took action and paddled 600 meters out in just boardies on a finless surfboard. A film production company who were at the beach at the time and saw what happened called the rescue services as they thought he would die of hypothermia, the rescue boat showed up just as he arrived back to the beach.

James: Once it was established that Anders’ big unkempt locks of hair were extremely flammable, it was set fire to numerous times. I’ve never seen something burn so fast and absolutely reek, it would stink the whole bar out.

Keahi: Chasing 100 Rand down the main road in Table View for 500m after the wind blew it out of our car was probably pretty entertaining for anyone watching me.

Never underestimate the wind in Cape Town and, note to self, make sure you hold on tight to anything you’d like to keep when its 30+ knots over there.

CAPE TOWN CONFIDENTIAL

When duty calls, Nick J puts his body on the line for the shot

3, 2, 1: say cheese and strike a ponderous wave assessing pose

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WINTER WONDER SESSIONS NAME

WINTER W O NS ED E R SSIONS You might look at the life of Kari Schibevaag, the number of insane spots she seems to ride, and the number of unique experiences she manages to have with her kite and think she is lucky to always score it.

You’d be wrong. The fact is that ‘luck’ does not really come in to it. What Kari has is 100% commitment.

Here, once again, it pays off…

Photos: Tom Magne Jonassen (unless stated)

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WINTER WONDER SESSIONS THE Q UICK R O U TE DO W N . . .

It’ll soon become winter in Norway and the nice cold days with powder, sun and Northern Lights are coming back. It’s been a long summer and I am starting to get ready for more action in the mountains with my kite and skis again.

So the questions begin in my head again. Which place to visit?

Which mountains to seek? What gear to use and when is the best time to go? I am sitting looking at the internet for new places to go and at the same time looking back at my pictures from the last white season.

Last winter was great and I was lucky to strike good conditions.

I now know from years of experience that chasing the wind can turn out to be a winning or losing adventure depending on the conditions in the winter and depending on how lucky you are on the day...

For this trip we ended up in Husbykollen at Vesterålen, which was a magical place. We rented a cabin in the mountains where we could launch the kites just outside of the door. It was a paradise for snowkiters, with powdered mountains and small hills all around. Husbykollen is located at the small island called Hadsel in the Vesterålen region in northern Norway. To reach the cabin, you have to walk up to it, which takes around an hour. If you are lucky you can get a hike with the Red Cross skidoo. The cabin is situated 513m above sea level and you have an amazing view in all directions from up there when it is clear.

CR UISING S PEED . . .

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THE CALM AFTER THE S T O RM

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WH IT EO UT

When we first arrived though, there was actually no view at all. We had crazy snowstorms for the first few days and we were just sitting waiting in a complete whiteout for the wind to decrease and hopefully some sun to appear. The forecast was looking promising though, so we knew we had exciting days ahead – as kind of a reward for seeing out the snowstorm!

And yes, the day came. We woke up to a breathtaking view with clear blue sky and perfect wind. The heavy snowstorms even left us a great amount of fresh powder just outside the doorstep to play around in and all of the hours spent waiting for good conditions were suddenly forgotten and we found ourselves in a white, untouched kiters’ paradise. It was time to have fun!

Husbykollen has no trees, just several nice peaks, so the possibility to pack and ride makes this mountain even more spectacular. You can ride all the way from peak to sea level. It’s all a natural snowpark to play around in.

Then, after spending all day outside, it started to get dark and it was time for food and a sauna inside. We just left the kites outside of the cabin, because we all knew what clear sky would give us in the arctic part of Norway, and it was still windy when we went outside to chill down from the sauna heat.

Suddenly we saw the Northern Lights dancing on the sky when we were snowbathing. We jumped back into the gear and got our kites in the sky.

It became a crazy night; kiting around in the mountains with a headlight and the green light dancing around us upon the sky. Perfect conditions and perfect light.

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K A R I A N D N O R W EG I A N CO M PAT R I O T LO N E H E L L E TA K I N G A B R E AT H E R

P R I VAT E P L AY G R O U N D

We got some good days in this powder mountain and didn´t want it to come to an end. But I knew the snowstorms had left more powder heavens in the surrounding mountains, so I was not too stressed when packing our car.

Dyrøy kommune is located between the cities Harstad and Tromsø further up north in Norway. This was the next stop and the conditions were looking really good. We approached the mountain of Børringen which I wanted to climb with the kite. It’s around 800m above sea level and a really nice playground for skiers and kiters. A friend living there told me about the place and after all this talk I just had to go there.

It was cold and the crazy snowstorms had been working their magic on this mountain too. Again we found a new powder heaven and the sun was shining. I felt I was too lucky on this trip, when you have the star over your head, you know it. Sometimes everything you plan for happens, and you just strike lucky. The conditions and adventures are just all super easy.

I love the winter and I love the summer and sometimes it’s hard to say which is best, but one thing is certain: I need them both!

T H E V I E W BY N I G H T

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T H E V I E W BY DAY

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Steven Akkersdijk is one of the world’s best Mega-Kiteloopers. He is always a contender at the King of the Air event as well as the extreme European events.

But it isn’t always ‘all about the loop’, he is actually a very versatile kiter and, in addition to his boards for Megaloops and wakestyle, he always travels with a surfboard and a skimboard.

Axel Reese sat him down on a recent trip to Brazil and we were also stoked to get some fresh Cape Town shots in just as we were going to print…

Photos: Brendan Pieterse (unless stated)

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INTERVIEW: STEVEN AKKERSDIJK

Do you know what most of the entries under your name in Google are related to?

Yeah, big crashes and Megaloops. Due to my crash at the Red Bull Megaloop Challenge in 2015 the first two hits are videos from that day. I guess people just love watching crashes!

Then let’s start from scratch. You are one of the world’s best Megaloopers. Did this simply just happen? And when did you first think, ‘I can make a living out of this!’?

My entire “career” is built on fun. I love riding and I love what I do. For me kitesurfing just started as a sport/hobby, but after a while I noticed I was good at pulling kiteloops and above all I enjoyed them. The realization that I could actually be “someone” in this scene came up after I won the Kiteloop part in Red Bull Boven N.A.P..

What is the kick you get from jumping so high and then turning the kite so slow and deep when it is blowing 40 knots?

The speeds and the acceleration that you get from pulling a loop in strong winds are just incomparable. This together with a freefall and high speed landing make this move addictive for me.

What is the biggest event for you?

Red Bull King of the Air! This competition is just insane and already taking part is a lifetime experience. I can call myself lucky enough to have competed in this competition four times now. My results have been all over, but the impression this event leaves on me stays the same every time.

Is your body size and weight an advantage?

It’s hard to say as the conditions aren’t always the same. With low winds I am at a big disadvantage. Because of my weight I have to take a bigger kite and they don’t jump as high or loop as fast as the smaller kites. When the wind starts to pick up it’s a different story. I can hold my kite for a lot longer and should have a slight advantage over the smaller guys.

What are the necessary factors to pull kiteloops?

Kiteloops are actually very simple. You need to go high and just pull the kite in a circle. But it’s very important that you go

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high enough so that your kite can catch you again. The amount that you steer has a huge impact on the turning circle of your kite and the pull that you get. The bigger the circle the more power you will feel. Also the moment of pulling your loop is very important. If you pull early (on your way up) you’ll get a lot of pull and forward speed. This will result in an aggressive loop where the kite doesn’t recover as fast as it would with a loop that you pull very late.

Megaloops are an increased risk. How did your accident at the Red Bull Megaloop Challenge two years ago come about?

That crash was just bad luck. I pulled the loop in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong wind. Just as I took off I caught a big gust, this gust took me up faster than expected and threw my timing for the loop off. Instead of looping close to the apex of the jump, I looped the kite too early and got a massive acceleration downwind. When the gust ended (just after my loop) I was flying faster than the wind and my lines became slack. From that moment on there was no recovery.

Keyword “recovery”. Were the accidents by Lewis Crathern and Lasse Walker “inevitable”?

I wouldn’t say crashes are inevitable. Both crashes have been human error like mine. Lewis seemed to over rotate his kite making for a long fall down with no chance of the kite catching him again. When I looked at Lasse’s crash I got the feeling it was fairly similar to mine; steering the kite too low too early and flying close to the wind speed. On events like Red Bull King of the Air, riders take a lot of risk. This is their own choice as they want to go bigger and higher than the rest. One mistake though and you’re going to end up on a stretcher.

At your accident you ended up on a stretcher as well.

And what you first said when you came round was, “oh, I had a beautiful dream”!

I was talking with the guys who dragged me out a few weeks later, and they’ve told me their side of the story. It was funny to hear from them that the first thing I said when I got my consciousness back was something like: “I had such a nice dream”. I got knocked out on the impact and probably had a low oxygen level, this often makes your brain trip. You hear this a lot from people who have almost drowned.

Checking out the competition

Steven breaking cover...

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INTERVIEW: ALEX NETO

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Mixing it up...

I N T Reese ERVIEW: ALEX NETO Photo: Axel

A ‘straps and shirt’ session Photo: Axel Reese

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Where are the limits and how do you see a further development of Megaloops?

At the moment there are a lot of guys riding in their boots when they do Megaloops. I did as well as I prefer the steady feeling on the landings. With boots you really narrow down your options though.

I’ll probably start riding straps again so I have a wider range of options that are possible. Hopefully with that I’ll feel a bit safer as well to try out new stuff that hasn’t been done before.

We have been watching you riding a lot here in Brazil and you have proven your multiple talents more than ever.

How many boards do you take on a trip to have fun?

I love to ride everything out there. Kiting is so diverse, so why only stick to one part of it?

I always take my twin tip with boots. I love to perform some unhooked, wakestyle tricks and sometimes hit the cable park.

Next to that I take a board with straps. Sometimes it’s just nice to go big and be capable of taking a foot out on a big jump or even kiteloop. In the strapless department I always love riding my wave board in the waves and my skimboard in the flat or choppy water. It’s crazy how quick you can progress in these riding styles and how different the tricks are.

What type of competitions do you compete in?

I am not the biggest fan of competitions as they are so in the moment. You have to wait for your heat and then you have to show your skills in seven minutes. For me this is not enough. I participate in competitions when I happen to be around, like the Dutch nationals (I’m actually a former Dutch champion) and wave competitions. One event that I always travel to is King of the Air though. This event is so special for me and the kiting world that I can’t skip it.

Would you consider entering any of the strapless freestyle competitions?

To be honest I just love riding strapless, because there is not really a certain way how you should do it. It’s all very open and free. I don’t really plan to compete as competitions just put your riding style in boxes. That’s exactly what I don’t want at the moment.

What are the advantages of this riding style?

Strapless freestyle is a riding style that is actually coming up a lot. Because you’re riding a surfboard you can kite in lighter winds as you have more surface area. In the end it’s more fun though with stronger winds. I just love it because the crashes are less hard. When you crash with your boots you can catch a backside edge and this results in a hard hit on the water. With strapless freestyle everything is more like playing, and as you are not attached to the board the crashes are less hard.

The trick in making the board stick to your feet is angling them in the right way so that the wind pushes it against your feet.

And we still see you pulling off wakestyle tricks on the water.

Are you still enjoying it?

I still like wakestyle a lot. But to be honest I don’t like it nearly as much as I did a few years ago. This riding style is so heavy on the body if you want to progress at a high level and I would still like to walk when I’m 40 without crutches or pain in my knees!

How did your riding style become so diverse?

I started traveling around the world six years ago. In this time I’ve seen many places with a lot of different riding conditions.

Low winds, strong winds, gusty. When riding at these spots you have to adapt to the conditions you have. If the wind is strong you won’t be unhooking that much, so I started pulling kiteloops. If there are good waves I prefer to hit them on a surfboard instead of trying to freestyle on my twin tip.

You have told us that your father and mother did have a lot of influence on your current life.

Your childhood and the environment you grow up in always has a huge impact. My mother unfortunately died when I was eight-years-old, due to a heart attack. Since then I’ve always handled my frustrations and anger by going out and doing sports. I started windsurfing at the age of nine and a few years later I gave kitesurfing a try. I was hooked from the first taste.

My dad has always encouraged me to travel and do what I love.

In that way I ended up where I am now.

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INTERVIEW: STEVEN AKKERSDIJK

All this traveling isn’t cheap, how did you finance it from the start?

Kitesurfing isn’t a cheap sport but when you know the right people it can become a bit cheaper. I’m super lucky with my group of friends and colleagues that I have known for many years now. I started working for Kitemobile (a kitesurf school in Workum, The Netherlands), and have been teaching there for many years. The owner provided me and the other instructors with a free place at the campsite just a two minute walk

from the beach. In the winters I would travel over to a different spot in the world and teach for the season to earn my ticket and some spending money. After that one of my friends started “Core ‘n’ More” (a kitesurf shop in Workum), he offered me a little contract so I could get my kites cheaper in return for some local promotion.

This really gave me a good boost. I’m super grateful that I got to know the people I did in those times, it makes all the difference.

Today you are a “professional” rider with CORE. Can you live from your sponsorship income?

Although kitesurfing is an expensive sport there is not a whole lot of money in it. Despite this I can call myself very fortunate to be capable of actually living from this sport and my sponsors. The more work I put into the media the more money I get out of it. Next to that, CORE also offered me a part time job within their company. This really is a lifesaver!

Finally, you have mentioned about a new “project”, a new kiteloop. What can you tell us about this?

Kiteloops are always done in a circle. And at the moment there is not much more to it. Maybe a rotation or the size of the circle is different but the principal is the same. I would love to try some different varieties of steering. Ruben was talking about steering the kite back the other way on the lowest point (like an S). I would love to give this a try…

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Ticking all the ‘Cape Town shot’ boxes

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TECHNIQUE WITH M ATC H U LO P E S S T R A P L E S S

S U P E R M A N

T H E M OV E

This is a full commitment move as you need to spend some time without your hands on the bar. So you need to be get plenty of height and be confident of where your kite is before you grab the board‌ As you can see here it is a great way to make a transition and impress all of your mates on the beach!

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PHOTO: GABRIELE RUMBOLO

T H E ‘ H OW T O ’ For all strapless airs speed is really important so generate as much as you can before you start to send the kite.

Send the kite up to 12 O’clock and then pop the board up as you would for a normal strapless air.

you can then take both hands off the bar and grab the board.

You also us the momentum here to begin to rotate your body and the board.

Get as much height as you can and then bring your knees up and get ready to grab the board.

As you start to come round and you pass the top of the jump, take one hand off the board and get it back on the bar – then begin steering the kite and powering up ready for landing.

This is the main bit as timing is very important – you need the kite to be just going through the top of the window and

Once you get close to the water, let the board drop down and ride away.

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TELL ME ABOUT IT

TELL ME ABOUT IT

HIPPY STICKS Liquid Force’s Gary Siskar takes us through a couple of the most head-turning boards we’ve seen for a few years… photos : vincent bergeron It’s super nice to see some truly fresh boards hitting the market, and your Moon Patrol and Space Craft are certainly eye catching!

Can you tell us first of all how you arrived at (or returned to!) the concept.

Yeah! So, the idea came to life when Jason Slezak and myself came off the water on a particularly big wind day in Hood River. It was super gusty, blowing into the low 40s with sizable river swell. But, due to the crap wind quality, the water was choppy and all over the place making it hard to stay connected

to the surfboard sans straps. Almost simultaneously both of us blurted out “wouldn’t it be rad if we could ride a directional, carvey, snowboard out there?” So there you have it. The revitalization of the directional or “mutant” kiteboard. It is crazy that everything always runs in full circles!

Snowboards back in the day started as directional and then evolved into some pretty funky shapes that became easy to ride all over the mountain and to ride switch. Snowboard brands such as Avalanche, Barefoot, Sims with the Kidwell, and Look with the Lamar Trick Stick, were introducing shapes that started to break the mould, progressing to functional weird shapes. Then snowboards evolved to twins, boring...

Now, fast forward to the past couple of years, the directional oriented, functional snowboard shapes have come back along with a rejuvenated passion by snowboarders to carve, search for pow and shred the entire mountain. Brands like

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Spring Break, Gentam Stick, United Shapes, Korua shapes and Arbor have been making directional boards that perform no matter which way you are riding. That is where we pull our inspiration from… Making a modern day directional that carves both forward and switch off the heel or toe, boosts huge and handles a wide range of conditions.

So is the construction the same as your twin tips?

Yes, so the construction of the Moon Patrol and the Space Craft share our “profiled” wood core construction that the Drive and Aloha twins use.

And which elements of your twin tip range do they borrow from?

Besides the profiled construction, both the Moon Patrol and the Space Craft have an asymmetrical rocker or “surf ” rocker line. What this means is there is more nose rocker than tail rocker. The nose of both share the rocker line of the Legacy twin and the tail rockers are equal to that of the Drive kiteboards. This allows for smooth heel to toe turns, and also soaks up the pesky chop.

How is the stance set and what are the options here?

To talk about the stance, we do have to talk about the outline shape. The wide point of the outline is slightly oriented towards the tail. This allowed us to give a set back stance option to get a very surfy / snowboardy, carvey feel, or you can still run a centered stance for a more traditional twin feel.

HIPPY STICKS

Space Craft

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TELL ME ABOUT IT

What are the fin options?

The boards are designed with four standard fin placements.

However, the board comes with six fins. 4 x 4cm and 2 x 5cm fins. We did this so you have the option to step up the rear fins to give a bit more drive and hold if you find yourself ripping in the surf or some heavy slashable chop.

Would you look at switching your feet around when you’re riding then?

Nah… the boards are still meant to be ridden with straps and they are still pretty small to be switching the feet. At first glance they may look a bit daunting to ride switch (tail first)

but actually the way the tails are designed and with the Drive rocker they ride tail first pretty much just like your twin.

Also, come on: everyone loves to jam a toe to heel slash transition!

What are the sizes?

Both boards are in a singular size. The Moon Patrol is a 146 with a roundish nose and moon tail. This board I would equate to your side country or back country powder snowboard. Good for drawing big floaty lines, smooth, stylish straight airs, and chop domination. The Space Craft is a 144.

This board would be more like your inbounds all-mountain board. The Space Craft makes the water feel like fresh carved corduroy and is snappy for quick tricks.

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Where have you ridden them and what would you describe as optimum conditions?

We have been riding these boards all over the place and in all types of conditions. First rides were in Hood River in messy, sloppy river chop and swell, and they make the rough stuff a blast. There are a few stand out session memories at a location called Rufus, which is notorious for its sweeping river swell. The Moon Patrol made these big lumps of water feel like bounding off snow pillows! We have also used the board extensively in surf! I personally have had a few stand out sessions on the Oregon coast where getting though the inside on a surfboard was hectic, but on the Moon Patrol boosting over the white water walls and carving the open wave faces brought me a whole new appreciation for a board that is so manageable with straps. Also in Cape Town, where Jason Slezak, Jarrod David and myself would fight over who would use the board in the nuking wind and super messy surf in our Dolphin to Doodles downwind shred sessions.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture: the Moon Patrol and Space Craft deliver smiles for miles.

Did you see any other brands with their binoculars out when you were testing them in Hood River?!

Hood River is great to test gear in general – other than surfboards of course – and yeah there are plenty of other

HIPPY STICKS

brands here putting future product through the paces. So we did keep them a tad under wraps as we knew we were onto something special!

These are obviously going to be super-fun boards to ride – do you see guys taking them on as their main board?

For sure people are going to adopt either a Moon Patrol or Space Craft. The boards have versatility that reach beyond a standard twin. If you are one of these riders that spends most of the time in choppy conditions in a lake or bay, with a once in a while jaunt into the surf, these boards will be the 100% call.

They’ve been available for a couple of months now – how have sales been and what has the feedback been like?

Every Moon Patrol and Space Craft that we have made has been sold! So that is GREAT news! The retailers are bringing in a small selection and for the most part if they are in their wind season they have sold out! The “want to try” is off the hook and there are a lot of people who remember the old “mutant” days who naturally equate these boards to the past mutants and to the negative aspects of these so they want to demo. After the first run their minds are all changed and blown away!

How are the boards different and who is going to want to ride which one?

Both boards share the same design concept in terms of a slight set back wide point that allows the ability for a setback stance, also the asymmetrical nose and tail rocker. The boards have a slight increase in nose rocker over the tail, and both boards use the same profiled solid wood core with a nice single concave tip to tail. The Moon Patrol however has a more “organic” shape and is in a 146 length. Works great for riders looking for longer drawn out turns, smooth upwind carving, and lofty airs with a large platform landing. I equate the Moon Patrol to a backcountry or side-country snowboard. The Pow searcher. The Space Craft is a 144 and has a more geometric shape. The shape lends itself to tighter more snappy turns and technical style trickery. As for the sizes and people’s size.

I would not let the length scare off smaller riders. Give them a try! They will add a new dimension of fun to anyone’s riding.

So will there be more Hippy Sticks in the range for next year?!

Oh time will tell… But I will say that we are having a blast on these and with the current success of the Moon Patrol and Space Craft, we have been exploring what the next step would be for the Hippy Sticks line…

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CRAZYFLY ATV No, your eyes do not deceive you, this really is a pure ‘surfboard’ from CrazyFly with no additional bamboo reinforcements through the deck. And, if you are going to

have a ‘pure’ surfboard, then why spray it up – keep it clean and white. Which is exactly what CrazyFly have done, and

we think it looks great. This is the third version of the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) and the shape has

been refined once again. It has also lost the 5

x finbox set up and is now a pure thruster.

The outline is relatively full through the nose with plenty of volume between your

feet and it then comes into a relatively tight swallow tail. We had the 5’10 on

are Futures and there are additional

The 15-19m remain focused on lightwind riding, the 11 and 13m

as well as carbon patches on the

option on moderate days for regular riders, and there is then

things nice and solid here and to

freeride machines – they are designed for boosting big and for

are riding it strapped. On the water

range is also designed with an eye on the foiling market.

get you up and going and powering

take a few sessions to fully appreciate its potential, but once

rode it on a couple of decent cross

the Turbine could do... Hacking big jumps on the Turbine

high range and were very impressed

recent antics in Cape Town you can see its real ‘top end’

its carving abilities. Although the

the bar sheeted it gives a superb secondary lift and plenty of

performance board we found that you

tricks – it isn’t twitchy at the bar and doesn’t show any signs

commit to your turns. The construction

easy with Slingshot’s compact bridle systems. For foiling you

have gone hard out and introduced a whole new range of sizes.

reinforcements around the finboxes

sizes work as lightwind kites for most guys or as a ‘nuked up’

final quarter of the deck to keep

5, 7 and 9m versions which are now high-octane performance

give you plenty of confidence if you

riding hard. And – with the upwind performance – the whole

and the ATV has plenty of volume to

We were intrigued. We rode the Turbine for a while and it did

out through the whitewater. We

we were there we became ever more impressed with what

offshore days in the shoulder to head

is a great experience (and if you take a look at Sam Light’s

by how well it held an edge and by

potential), it gives you a proper pull off the water, and with

outline is fuller than a real high

float and hang time. The Turbine is also good for un-hooked

could have real confidence and fully

of the backstall or overflying. Relaunch is also quick and

means that the ride is smooth without

really do appreciate the upwind performance and the smooth

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sections…

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and philosophy of the ATV for

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the last couple of years, and

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In a sentence: We’ve liked the shape

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of depower. You can get up and

you like on tap. We have really enjoyed the larger

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light days, but the smaller

sizes are very well refined for more moderate days.

In a sentence: It’s a different

is significantly improved.

you have it tuned you can get a

way of flying a kite, but once

whole lot of white-knuckled performance out of the new smaller Turbines.

TEST

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sizes for foiling on super-

in the new construction the performance and responsiveness

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as much or as little power as

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going easily and then you have

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working with it to seek out the right kind of

power delivery and massive amount

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conditions the width and float keep it ticking

over nicely and you can keep it moving and keep on

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Last year they thought they would experiment with

weights 3kg. Very respectable. Fins

‘performance all-rounder’. In more onshore

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range for a while as their lightwind kite.

downsizing it… And they were impressed. So for 2017 they

well balanced and we would class it as a

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The Turbine has been in the Slingshot

test which comes in at 22.5 liters and

any ‘slappiness’ and overall the shape is

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SLINGSHOT TURBINE 9M

LIQUID FORCE NV For the eighth incarnation of their iconic ‘do it all’ kite Liquid Force decided

it was time to revisit the name as well as the design, so from 2017 we are now looking

at the NV rather than the Envy. (So in years to come you can tell those whippersnappers at

the beach how you ‘remember the days when the NV was the Envy’ and they will give you confused

looks…) In terms of what has changed on the kite, there is a completely new profile and airframe geometry

and there have been changes in the wingtips as well. Pumping up and you will also notice that the LE has

shed some volume. The NV is supplied with the new Mission Control Bar and a lot of thought

has clearly gone into this, with a simple push away chicken loop with easy reload, a really

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can immediately feel the changes that LF have made. Firstly the stability of the kite has been massively

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not over complicated and moves LF right up towards the top of the ‘quality bar’ table. Once in the air you

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good swivel, and a clean clam cleat depower system. The whole thing is very well engineered,

improved, and with the reduced weight in the canopy the NV stays parked in the neutral zone with no signs of overflying. The power delivery from the NV once hitting the water has also been improved and is now smooth but with plenty of power and feedback at the bar, and with the forgiving nature of the NV you

can correct any mistakes without getting a spanking. Unhooking the NV is also a pleasure – then there is

some pretty epic pop and great control on landings. For jumping, the NV has got some great lift and, maybe

slightly unexpectedly, whilst you’re up there you get a really nice floaty boost which is assisted by the mid-AR

of the kite. Then the NV is at home looping, where its smooth progressive power and improved sheeting ensure

that it catches you on the up stroke. Depower on the new NV has also been improved, with previous versions the ‘Envy’ did seem to lose steering when fully sheeted out, but the NV steers well even when completely sheeted out.

In a sentence: The Envy was a great kite, but for us the new “NV” really is an exceptional kite and will meet the needs of 99% of riders.

throughout before the wings pull it in towards a more high

performance swallow tail. The Spade also has a step rail enabling

the board to have the higher volume and float but to still offer hold

and performance characteristics in the rail department, and it also has a deck concave to really give your feet something to grip on to

and to keep you stuck to your board… On the water OARD TE RFB BUIL S T and the Spade is a truly great board to cruise SU D S Q F

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around on. The width and volume mean that

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you are easily up on the plane and can hold

your speed nicely even when the wind is

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marginal. For riding in sloppy surf this also pays dividends as you are able to maintain plenty of speed through weaker sections.

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Where the Spade’s outline really works for

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you though is when you put it into a turn.

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In more high performance waves the stepped rails engage

balance between ‘versatility’ and ‘performance’ just right…

air and our initial thoughts were that it was surprisingly quick

around the window for such a large and powerful kite. It was also pretty responsive to steering input which was a nice surprise

as many kites that sit in this category tend to be ‘all power’ and give you very little performance or ability to do much other than mow the lawn. The low end was excellent with smooth power delivery – it did get windier while we were testing and it is fair to say that it is then time to come and change down as it didn’t like being overpowered. We found that boosting was good and if you wanted to get stuck into some big jumps and old school moves on a lighter day then the Emotion MK2 would deliver. Another obvious purpose for the Emotion is

foiling – as it is so light, it will stay in the air in a super-light breeze so you

could easily get out on this kite in less than eight knots with a foil.

In a sentence: Very well-tuned lightwind

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kite which will get out in minimal wind but still see you pulling a few moves.

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In a sentence: The Spade is a true ‘one board quiver’ which gets the

few kites now and are yet to find fault with: it’s a great bar. In the

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what you need to fully commit to your turns.

The Emotion flies on the Global V7 which we have tested with a

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nicely for plenty of grip, and the tail and fin configuration give you

due to the fact that there is no additional support through struts.

END

the board round tightly and keep it in the pocket.

addition as there is more stress placed on this part of the kite

H HIG

You can feel the transition from rail to rail and

the tighter tail means that you can really snap

additional reinforcements on the LE panels. For us this is a good

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The entry point is wide and the board then holds this width

towards the tips to improve upwind performance. There are also

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is a pretty wide board (the 5’6 comes in at almost 20 inches).

what has changed, the profile has been updated to make it flatter

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well thought out kite-specific fin. In terms of the outline, this

sized Emotion, the 14.5M (there is also a 12 and a 17). In terms of

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up and ships with Cabrinha’s Hex Core RTM fins which are a

to see what was new for MK2. For this test we had the middle

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bamboo and cork reinforcement. The Spade has a thruster set

delivered a ‘pure’ feeling of power. So we were excited

SABIL CES IT Y AC

Construction wise and there’s an EPS core wrapped up with

to a 5 strut kite), pumped up in seconds, and then

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rest of the team riding when they aren’t charging Pipeline…

down to virtually nothing (certainly compared

IN

all board’, and also the board that you will see Keahi and the

you have taken it out of the bag. It packed

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Spade which we had on test. The Spade is a crossover ‘do it

The benefits were immediately clear – before

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Squid Launcher (freestyle and mushier conditions) and the

of the first ‘strutless’ kites on the market.

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now three pure surfboards, the S-Quad (quality waves) the

RRD’s first version of the Emotion was one

RE SU ES

range having been simplified and trimmed down. So there are

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It’s all change in the Cabrinha surf lineup for 2017 with the

RRD EMOTION MK2

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CABRINHA SPADE

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SCAN ME FOR THE FULL TESTS!

The Whip is now into its third year

It has been around for many years and the

this whole genre of boards has and for

the standout feature for us is F-ONE’s HRD

rail which is unique to their board line and delivers precise rail response depending

on the part of the rail that is engaged at any

particular time. So the tips have a thin rail

for precise take offs and landings and plenty

of grip, then between these and the mid-

section of the board – where your feet are –

the rail is thicker and inverted. This prevents

the board from bouncing around and also

generates additional lift for early planing. The

mid-section is then thin and sharp to maximize

grip and hold on the water. It’s clearly not the

simplest or cheapest way to put a rail together

but it is great to see that F-ONE are prepared to

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grip is fantastic, and we rode this in some

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serious chop in the UK and for a board

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above the water. For all elements of freestyle, the Trax can deliver –

the pop is impressive and there is

plenty there for wakestyle trickery

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and for really getting some height. For

boosting you can really load up and hang

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on to the edge giving you a great launch pad

for some serious airtime, and landings are then nice and smooth with the rails and bottom contours dispersing the water nicely and preventing any unpleasant jarring…

strikes a good balance between durability,

responsiveness and flex. The Whip has

always been a popular board with the team

at TheKiteMag, particularly when testing in

the UK when we get our fair share of smaller

onshore days. Looking at the shape there were

some concerns that with the relatively flat rocker

and the large tail, the board might lack a little maneuverability so we were pretty surprised that the opposite was the case – with the fin placement and the bottom contours, the Whip is actually a much looser board than last year. We had the 5’2 on test and found that there was plenty of float and volume for

getting

around

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but

that the short length really

enabled you to maximize what

you could do with the wave and

to really jam in some turns. The

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– it really feels like you are riding

well established within their range and

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moves it is a very comfortable ride

North’s ‘classic’ construction which is now

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that is capable of top-end freestyle

it trucks upwind. The construction is

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performance’ board to cruise around on. The

maintain momentum and ensure that

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thing and it pays dividends on the water, where you

would be hard pushed to find a more comfortable ‘high

rail line is also even straighter to help

IT

put the R&D time and money into this kind of

to keep the board moving, then the

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into the lineup… In terms of construction

plenty of float under your back foot

SU

pleased to see a bit of color introduced

in marginal conditions when you need

UPWIND

from the graphics department. We’re pretty

planing and improve the performance

T

and the graphics overall have had a visit

tail is much wider to promote early

H

continuing to add a bit of bling to the Trax

particularly with the outline. The

WE IG

better each year. This year sees the Lite Tech

2017 there are some obvious changes,

E LIN E-

meaning that the Trax just get a little bit

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changes each year are always incremental

as a noseless board. It has evolved as

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that have achieved pure ‘legendary’ status.

FREE

NORTH WHIP CSC

The Trax is one of an elite number of boards

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F-ONE TRAX HRD LITE TECH

wider outline of the tail and the swallow

tail also ensure that you don’t get stuck in the foam and have the float you need to get around sections. If heading for the air is your thing then the even swing weight and the fact that you can really load up the tail ensure that this will tick the right boxes

for the Matchus of this world. We also rode the Whip in some

decent conditions and it really held its own with plenty of grip and some nice drawn out carvy turns. So if you are looking for a true all-round board in anything up to head high conditions

In a sentence: For top quality construction and performance in

then it ticks all of these boxes.

continues to be right at the top of the pack.

livened it up considerably and it is now a small to medium wave

all intermediate to advanced freestyle departments, the Trax

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In a sentence: Some significant tweaks to this year’s Whip have specialist.

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Photo: Mike Smith

BEHIND THE CLIP

Sam Light’s England When you reach the level of ‘super stardom’ that Sam Light has, you can hope for a bit of flexibility when it comes to your media options. With that in mind Sam proposed a ‘UK video’. Tough sell. And with only two weeks to get it in the can an even tougher sell… Thankfully – with a bit of help from M&S service stations and the Volvo’s heated seats – they put in the hours and got the job done.

Hey Sam, thanks for taking the time to talk about your clip. Why did you decide to put together something about England?

Wadup! Having grown up kiting in the UK I know how good the conditions can be.

I have wanted to do a proper video from the UK for a long time but I also know it can be very hit or miss as we get frontal wind which is not as consistent as places with trade winds like Brazil. But all those tropical places have been done so many times and you see the same tricks from Brazil every year in the same lagoon, so this year I decided to stay home and bring the photo shoot to me and do something different. I have so many ideas of places and things to shoot at home; we literally only touched the surface of what is possible, which is exciting!

Was it a tough sell to your sponsors and to Volvo?

I put my neck on the line and told them I could deliver. I had to sell to them somewhat, as any shoot is a considerable investment and companies naturally want to see a return on their investment. Plus Slingshot needed marketing assets by a certain date to keep the

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wheels moving so it was a big call. But I went for it and it worked out.

There’s some great work on the drone – do you know what set up Patrick had?

Did you plan the trip based on the forecast or was it more of a hit-and-hope mission?

He was using a DJI Inspire drone with the upgraded 4k camera, he’s got some skills! He’s working with a company called Drone Nerds producing a lot of their videos so he’s always got his hands on the latest and greatest drones.

I planned to shoot in the autumn before the clocks went back as it’s normally a great time of year for wind, autumn colors are amazing, and the light is great provided it’s not cloudy.

Also the days are still long, and it’s not too cold. I had a huge list of things I would like to do near where I live, and plenty of options I could do condition dependent. That time of year you can normally find wind somewhere in the UK, you just might have to drive all over the country! We got pretty skunked for wind, we didn’t get one day of prevailing SW winds during the two weeks – I was hoping for those classic stormy south westerly’s at my local, but there was a high pressure system sat on top of the UK which meant we were getting strange NE winds. Thankfully I had plenty of great back up plans and it actually worked out really well as it meant we got some amazing scenery shots driving around the country to places we wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

Then did you have someone else shooting on the beach or did Patrick mix it up?

Patrick was the only videographer, then we shot with a few different photographers including Dave White and Mike Smith. One photographer I was going to shoot with fell off a ladder the day before the shoot!

How did Patrick find filming in the UK compared to some of the more temperate spots he is used to?

The colder temperatures actually didn’t bother him. He is from Florida so I was impressed by his resilience. I did make sure we had plenty of warm clothes and I always made him put on full waterproofs and thermals if I knew he would be standing in the wind for a few hours. It’s fine as long as

“Did you get that?!”

you’re prepared, it’s when you’re not prepared it sucks... Even in Brazil when we have shot flash at night, quite often I get cold because I’m only wearing boardshorts and the temperature suddenly drops off and I’m not prepared. My dad always stressed how important the five P’s of preparation are, and it’s stuck with me.

Some pretty competent looking dinghy helm work – what type of craft was that and are you partial to a bit of dinghy sailing?

That was not a dinghy! It is a beautiful British built 22ft Drascombe Longboat! It’s actually got a lot of history, my grandpa bought it new about 40 years ago, and they passed it down to me so now I look after it. It requires a lot of maintenance as it has wooden rigging but I use it loads in the summer. It’s great for taking out friends and I even have a custom build tent that fits over the top for camping trips! I did a lot of sailing growing up so I have always enjoyed wind power.

Did you kite or cable every day or did you pencil in some downtime?

We went hard but it’s impossible to keep going full tilt for the whole two weeks so you have to find a balance. I always give it everything I have during a shoot and I probably gave it more than ever for this one because it was my home turf so I wanted to make it as good as I possibly could. However, it can get to a point when it’s just not productive. We did a few silly missions. One weekend, for example, we had a big night on Friday, filmed sunrise Saturday morning, cabled Saturday afternoon, went to the BKSA awards Saturday night in Brighton then left there at midnight and drove six hours through the night to Cornwall to ride the sunrise there. It was too much; your body needs sleep! It’s important to keep the energy levels and morale up, especially if you want to land your best tricks. Normally we did a few big days and then needed a day off to check the footage and charge the batteries and plan the next mission. So we did four or five pretty big missions over the two weeks including riding at home in between.

We can see that you’re flying the new Turbine a lot – how is that?

I was helping test it while in Hood River and I’ve been using it for big air ever since. It’s an amazing kite that has so much grunt and power, while still being incredibly efficient. It’s so different to anything else I have ever tried; it actually took me a few sessions to really get my head around it as the technique to flying it is completely different to the Fuel. It boosts bigger than anything I have been on before, I have definitely done some of my biggest jumps

ever on it, plus it also goes upwind like crazy which makes it great for foiling.

Did you kite some spots that you hadn’t been to before?

I mostly kited at places I knew would be good but I did try out a few new places. There were a few spots I kited in the local harbors near where I live which I hadn’t done before as kiting is not allowed and it’s super sketchy, but we just went for it and got lucky! With the NE wind I checked out a few spots in Norfolk that I hadn’t been to before such as Sea Palling which was an awesome spot with great waves!

I’d imagine you have a pretty good network in the UK – did you put in a few calls when you’d seen the forecast and work out the best plan that way?

I mainly made my own decisions because I knew what we needed but I did call Rob from CBK Hunstanton as I don’t know Norfolk that well. You have to be careful calling people during a photo shoot because everyone thinks their spot is the best and wants you to film there! But they only remember the epic sessions. We have been on shoots before and when people sell their spot to you and tell you what you want to hear and most of the time it’s very different to what they described.

2567 miles in two weeks… You must have got through a good amount of motorway service station food? How was the diet?

Indeed! We ate a lot of service station food but it’s actually not too bad in England, it’s a lot better than other countries we go to – American service station food is so bad! M&S service stations are awesome. I had just moved into my own apartment before Patrick arrived.

It’s right in the center of Portsmouth so there’s loads of nice places to eat just on my doorstep.

Did you run out of conversation with Patrick?!

We actually got on really well as it was just the two of us – media people aren’t always the easiest going but he was great company during this trip. When there’s a huge team on a trip with lots of different personalities, everyone thinks they know best but we were very much on the same page during this shoot and he was actually really excited about seeing as much as he could while in the UK. Plus not many Americans understand drum and bass but luckily Patrick loves it so we had the D‘n’B cranked during the long drives. Plus it made it much easier battling the elements in the Volvo with heated seats, heating steering wheel and a nice sound system!

What are your plans for 2017? Are you hitting up all of the KPL events?

I will compete on the KPL tour while doing a few photo and video shoots. This shoot in the UK has inspired me to do more while I’m at home. There is so much to offer, you just have to be ready to go at the drop of a hat. Plus I’ll be attending dealer meetings and getting more involved with the R&D process at Slingshot.

So it looks like it was nice to be home for a couple of weeks but I’m guessing you’re pretty stoked to head to Cape Town?

Funnily enough I actually wasn’t going to go to Cape Town this year. I decided to have a break from the King of the Air for a year, partly because it’s very close to the first KPL event in the Philippines. So I decided to focus on the KPL as that is my best discipline and it’s really tricky trying to compete in multiple disciplines so close together. However I knew Ruben’s wedding would be a belter and I found a cheap flight and somewhere to stay so I just went for a week which was really fun. It was nice to see everyone and get a few jumps and loops out of my system, and it was really nice to be in Cape Town and not be worrying about the event…

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READER’S CHOICE

AWARDS 2016

It was a whirlwind year for female kiting with the freestyle bar being raised thanks to the World Kiteboarding League and more importantly the progression of the level of female riding. That, coupled with the creation of the Kite Park League, successful Junior World Championships and the continued growth in reach of KiteSista means that the presence and profile of female riders in our sport is at heights not yet seen and continuing to move upwards.

It is time to say thank you and give credit to those making a difference and putting their hard work and effort into the cause. This leads to inevitable awards which 114 | TheKiteMag

often come down to an internet vote of popularity but you cannot remove the need for you the pubic to have your voice. The nominations however are up to us so this year rather than just throw the same winners and big names into the nominations we decided to look a little deeper and find riders and those involved in the industry who deserve credit for their hard work.

We created the categories, proposed the nominations and spent the time to justify each nomination on www.kitesista.com and after a popular voting process we are very pleased to introduce you to the winners of the KiteSista Reader’s Choice Awards 2016.

THE BEST

FEMALE BRAND

AMBASSADOR

LILOO GRINGA For Crazyfly

The role of a female brand ambassador in kitesurfing can be a difficult path to tread with critics ready to punch from all sides regardless of the hard work and dedication you put in. No longer is being a competition winner, product tester, lifestyle blogger, social media superstar, magazine contributor, media generator, sales person, coach and inspirational speaker enough, now you must excel at everything to really be a great ambassador. The ambassador voted for by our readers was Liloo Gringa of CrazyFly so we sat down to talk to her.

DO YOU OFTEN FEEL PRESSURE WHEN YOU RIDE AS A FIRST LADY OF CRAZYFLY?

Actually I don’t feel pressure because I’m the only professional rider in the team and competing for the tour. However, I feel some pressure when I’m competing or doing photoshoots, because I want them to be proud of me and I want to give them my best.

HOW MUCH IMPACT BASED ON YOUR FEEDBACK GOES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH THE FEMALE AND FREESTYLE

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

PRODUCTS FROM CRAZYFLY?

I’ve been at my home spot in Venezuela for the last month. After

Giving my feedback to enhance the products is part of my job and

the event in Germany, I spent three months doing shoulder rehabilitation because I spent all of last year with an injury and I couldn’t handle the pain anymore - crazy, but I did’t want to take a break until I finished the 2016 season. So I decided to stop kiting for a few months to focus on my recovery. I feel much better now and am starting to train again, combining my kite training with

they pay very close attention to it. Also a lot of distributors and clients ask for my opinion before buying the products.

CrazyFly is the first and only kiteboarding brand producing all of their equipment in their own factory based in Europe.

Having their production and R&D department right next

rehabilitation and cross-fit to be more than ready for 2017!

to their offices allows them to be really reactive in product

HOW DID YOU END UP IN YOUR POSITIONS AT CRAZYFLY?

very quickly.

In 2014 I did a few stops of the kite tour paying for myself, but I could’t afford to do it again in 2015, even if I wanted to so bad.

So I was in France, asking myself what I was going to do with my life and CrazyFly showed up like a miracle! They told me that they had selected me from the list of riders in the PKRA and were looking for a professional rider to become the main face of CrazyFly and to compete in all PKRA freestyle events. When I read that, I could not believe my eyes so I said YES and a lovely adventure with CrazyFly began. I have a great relationship with them, I feel part of the family and I’m rea ly grateful for what they have done for me.

development and applying innovation in serial production

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

2016 has been an amazing year apart from the injury and I hope 2017 will be even better! I’m starting to train again here in my home spot to be ready for the World Kiteboarding Tour. I want to take advantage of being in Venezuela to get some good media for my sponsors and travel to others spots like Adicora and Los Roques. I’m also organizing kiteboarding camps and will be doing the CrazyFly photoshoot for the 2018 products plus some other projects that I can’t talk about, but stay tuned for more!

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THE BEST

FEMALE RUN BRAND

BIANCA BIKINIS We wanted to reward the girl putting in the hard graft off the water to create a brand and products for you the kiting masses. Taking a dream and working hard at it, mastering commerce, marketing, accounting, logistics and a lot more to make it a reality. The winner was Bianca Bikinis and so we sat down with founder and owner Bianca Forzano.

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

Right now I’m in Cabarete. After a full autumn working hard in the city I’m finally in my Caribbean house enjoying the water, warm weather and my friends. I spent last month in Italy working on the 2017 production of Bianca Bikinis. We are an Italian brand and all production is hand made in Italy in a little factory with 12 women cutting and sewing all pieces with their hands. I wanted to offer a high quality product and “Made in Italy” has always been synonymous with good quality, and I also wanted to support the historical “sartoria italiana” of my country instead of escaping to other countries for cheaper production. Now the Surf Capsule collection is ready and soon will be available online for all the water-girls.

FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, TELL US HOW BIANCA BIKINIS CAME TO BE?

I love to tell this story because it is a story of a radical change and still now sometimes I wonder how it all happened. All my “first life” I was career oriented. From primary school to MBA to business consulting work, I worked hard to be the first to reach my goals until eight years ago something made me doubt that life was just that. I was feeling that I was missing something important: I was missing time! For me, for my hobbies, for my family and friends, for discovering the world, or just for chilling.

Kitesurfing definitely helped me to jump into the new adventure of my “second life” and as I started traveling around I discovered Cabarete. I loved it so much that I decided to make it my base! After some years doing many different things I started sewing bikinis with the style of the Mediterranean islands where I grew up for myself but all my friends were loving my designs so I started to make more 116 | TheKiteMag

and sell them at the beach markets. Then some fashion shows, shoots with friends and improvements to be durable and stay in place and Bianca Bikinis became a real business.It’s easy to think that it is just fun and sun but it is definitely hard work and I’m happy that I was well trained for that from my previous life. So now I’m still success and goals oriented but my goals and ways to define success are just different.

HAVE YOU SEEN A NOTICEABLE CHANGE IN STYLE OF FEMALE KITERS AND THE NUMBER OF BIKINI BRANDS SPECIFICALLY AIMED AT THIS MARKET?

When I started to kite I could not even imagine doing it in a bikini.

Most of the time I was wearing the oversized board shorts of my instructor or when water was cold a terrible wetsuit I was ashamed to be in. I was a beginner and I needed to concentrate on the kite and not on the little tiny piece of fabric covering my butt or not.

After starting Bianca Bikinis and as a kite girl I am more aware of the market and I can say that definitely now there is more demand in the market.The girls are more extreme than the average sun bather but don’t want to lose their cheeky style when they are in the water so each year new brands and new styles appear which is great.

WERE YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS AFFECTED BY THE RECENT STORMS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC?

I was lucky not to be in Cabarete during the storm as my business is almost fully based in Italy. Cabarete is the magical place where the business was born which gave me the inspiration, the idea, the beautiful kite girl friends that now are ambassadors of the brand, the playground where we ride and test the new samples in action, and definitely the wonderful backdrop for all the pictures and videos.

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

A teaser for the new Surf Capsule collection is already online for a few months and we have been testing the products surfing and kiting in Cabarete. Now the production is ready and soon will be online and available to buy on the Bianca Bikinis website which should keep me busy.

THE BEST FEMALE VIDEO RITA ARNAUS

Ready to bloom

There has been a huge increase in the number of videos coming from the girls this year which combine both quality of edit and content. So many in fact that we had trouble narrowing the nominations down. However the winner we will not disagree with as we know she also put the hard work in and edited the video

This is how Ready to Bloom came to be! I was very motivated and I was also enjoying my kite career to the maximum so I wanted to capture it and show it to the world!

WE SAW HEARTBREAKING PHOTOS OF YOU AS YOU

herself, so we sat down for a chat with Rita Arnaus.

NARROWLY MISS GETTING INTO THE FINAL AT THE LAST WKL

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

MUCH EMOTION WHEN ALMOST EVERYONE AROUND YOU

I am in Cape Town and have been having a lot of fun as I just joined the Brunotti team and we are all together shooting for the next season and it has been a really amazing experience with a cool team.

IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME IN CAPE TOWN?

Yes! Since last year I really wanted to go to Cape Town but somehow it didn’t happen so I’m super excited to be here and really looking forward to getting to know this place better

EVENT IN NEW CALEDONIA. HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH SO WAS FULL OF JOY CELEBRATING?

I was also full of joy and celebrating!! 2016 was a really good one for me, I learned a lot and I got loads of experience. I’m actually very grateful of how things went, everything happens the way it has to be for a reason and from everything you have to take a lesson.

I was really happy that I was able to do such a great performance in the water in the New Caledonia competition but also disappointed that it wasn’t enough to make it to the final. I have

as it is all very beautiful and breathtaking!!

been through a lot in the past years, sometimes actually thinking

WE KNOW THAT YOU DIDN’T JUST STAR IN THIS VIDEO BUT YOU

I worked really hard to make it where I am today.

ALSO DID ALL THE EDITING YOURSELF. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO GET TO A LEVEL YOU FELT COMFORTABLE PUTTING OUT ONE OF YOUR OWN VIDEOS?

I really like to edit videos although it takes a lot of time to do.

I think it’s a nice way to really show how you experience the moments and how you see them. The first kite video that I edited was from the Caribbean three years ago. It wasn’t very good but you have to start somewhere. I knew I had a lot to learn and big scope for improvement. The kite video that made a big difference was my first video from Brazil two years ago as I got great feedback from people so I knew I had to improve it and make an even better one the next time!

that I was too late for this as I only started kiting five years ago but

My passion and love for this sport is endless and I know that I have so much more to give so I am really sure one day the results from all my efforts are going to show.

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

As I mentioned I have joined the Brunotti team for 2017. I will keep riding Best kites so I have the perfect combination for a great year.

I have some video projects in mind and new travel destinations and of course I’m looking forward very much to start the 2017 competitions. I have a good feeling that this year is going to be a good one.

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THE BEST

FREESTYLE COMPETITOR THERESE TAABBEL

Winning does not make you the best competitor. A great competitor

a good balance between having fun on the water and pushing

is just as good at taking a loss and being a worthy adversary. We have

myself. I think back to the reason I started kiteboarding and why

stood on the sidelines and watched as the year’s competition unfolded

it makes me so happy that I am willing to sacrifice different things

showing the true spirit of competition of the top female freestyle riders

to work on my goals. That is also one of the things that keeps me

as they battle it out. This is why we were in complete agreement with

motivated, thinking about why I love this sport and that really makes

the public vote having watched this young rider show exemplary

me happy being on the water feeling the adrenalin.

sportsmanship in competition and are pleased that we get to sit down with the winner, Therese Taabbel.

WE SEE YOU HAVE BEEN GETTING INTO THE SLIDERS QUITE

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

EVENTS THIS YEAR?

I am just back from Brazil which is always a perfect place for training

We will see where 2017 is gonna take me. I love mixing up my training

for the upcoming season. Good wind, flat water and always people to

on the water; wakeboarding, kitesurfing, freestyle, foiling or sliders. It

kite with followed by celebrating Christmas at home with my family.

keeps my motivation going, and also there are hundreds of different

WE HOPE YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT IN GERMANY WHEN YOU WENT MID-HEAT TO HELP RITA ARNAUS WHO WAS IN TROUBLE WITH HER KITE. DID YOU WEIGH UP YOUR OPTIONS OR WAS IT A PRETTY NATURAL REACTION FOR YOU?

She was struggling with her kite as it had inverted and she had gone

A BIT RECENTLY. WILL YOU BE COMPETITNG AT ANY OF THE KPL

things that I want to learn within the different aspects of our sport.

Freestyle will still be my main focus for 2017 but I can’t count out competing in the KPL if it fits in. I have been practicing a bit. Will see where the wind will take me.

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

very far downwind. I went straight to her because the kite just needed

2017 has just begun and I am sure there is plenty in store. The World

that little push to get into the right position. To be honest I did not

Kiteboarding League is kicking off in April and there will be some

even think about it, I went there straight away as I had a few minutes

pretty amazing tour stops around the world. I am so excited for the

until it was my turn to perform my trick. If I had been in a situation

tour to begin as the girls are really pushing the level. It’s so cool to

like that I would have been so grateful and happy if my friend helped

be a part of a new kitesurfing generation of rockin’ powerful women.

me. Even though we are tough competitors - you have to be able to see a line between competing and still being there for each other. It did not

WHICH NEW TRICKS ARE YOU WORKING ON?

influence my own result and I know Rita was very happy for my help.

I have been trying to focus on a different direction by doing some tricks

DO YOU FIND YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE CERTAIN ASPECTS OF FREERIDING TO TRAIN FOR COMPETITION AND IS IT A CONSCIOUS CHOICE FOR YOU?

most other girls could not do. This winter I started to work on some toe-side tricks and so far I landed the Pete Rose (toe-side back-to-blind), but there are many more tricks to learn so I better keep practicing.

Sometimes of course I need to focus more on training as I need to do

Thank you to everyone that voted for me, I am full of gratitude and

that to push myself and try to reach my next level but I try to keep

very thankful. Also thank you to my sponsors for your full support:

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Cabrinha & Lindberg DK.

THE BEST

JUNIOR FEMALE RIDER

AND ROLE MODEL

MIKAILI SOL These days just being a good rider is not enough, you have a responsibility through the exposure it allows you to also be a role model. We often look to the older riders to fill this role, but as the media coverage of the junior riders grows there is a new generation of young riders looking to the best of their peers to inspire them. We are lucky to have an inspirational group of young female talent emerging.

Topping this group is the young Mikaili Sol, dominating her age group and those above in the Junior competition and off the water she is a real pleasure to spend time in the company of.

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

At the moment, I am packing my suitcases and getting ready to return to Brazil. I have spent this past month experiencing snow, sleet and rain for the first time while visiting my family in the United States.

Remember my mom is American and my dad is Brazilian. So even though I was born and raised in Brazil, I am half American. While in the States, I hooked up with Sadie Morway, an amazing athletic trainer, and spent three days a week for the month learning about the physical aspects of my body and how it relates to kitesurfing. She helped me with so many exercises in order to improve my flexibility, strength and endurance. I also had the opportunity to do gymnastics! Wow, you think kitesurfing is hard? Well, in my opinion, gymnastics takes it to another level! I learned to do the kip on the bars. This trick uses so much of your lower abdominals that it is kind of like doing a Slim Chance where you have to get your board above your head… If you didn’t know, the Slim, well, it is ALL lower abs and timing.

I really don’t feel the pressure to compete on the “big stage” as you call it! Yes, I am excited to do a few stops on the Pro Tour this year if possible because I think it will be a great experience not because I have to win and be on the podium! Don’t get me wrong, I love to win, too. But, I am young and I have time on my side! Just having the opportunity to travel around the world, meet new people and kitesurf with the best is what is the most important for me right now. It is all part of my life and my adventure. And one day when I am a little older, being number one on that podium will surely be one of my goals!

AWAY FROM THE WORLD OF KITESURFING, WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN LIFFE?

There are a lot of people that inspire me in my life but my mom is a different kind of person! I think she is the most inspirational of all because she is a really good example of what she preaches! She always tells me I am capable of doing anything as long as I am dedicated, honest, hard working and have a good education. She always tells me that nothing comes for free! My mom has had an amazing life.

She tells me that life is all about your experiences and adventures, not only being number one on the podium! When my mom was around 30 years old she traveled alone around South America for two years on her motorcycle with a tent! I don’t know about you guys, but to do that, it takes a lot of courage! She was also a very high level competitive gymnast and at my grandparents house, she has a lot of trophies, medals and plaques. She was also a school teacher, so she stresses the importance of a good education and how invaluable it is.

She too is always reading and studying and working! So those are just

THIS MIGHT BE THE LONGEST YOU HAVE SPENT AWAY FROM THE

a few reasons why my mom inspires me the most. She inspires me

WATER (WELL, IN LIQUID FORM AT LEAST!)... HOW HARD IS IT FOR

to be brave, strong and dedicated to whatever choices I make. She

YOU TO BE AWAY FROM THE SUN, SEA AND KITING?

supports and encourages me to follow my dreams, believe in myself

Actually, being away from the sun, sea and kiting was a nice change of pace! I live on the beach in Ceará, Brazil where the wind blows everyday. Kitesurfing is my true passion but it is nice to experience new things and take a break every now and then. Remember, I am only 12 years old. But now, after freezing for a month, I am really anxious for some Brazilian sunshine, warm water, and an epic kite session!

and do what I love most… Kitesurfing!!!

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

I have lots in store for 2017! But, let’s take it one day at a time. Once I am back in Brazil, I will train and prepare myself for the Jr. Kitesurfing Championship in France. Then, I will see how things evolve. One things for sure, I can only thank my parents for believing in me and

DO YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO COMPETE ON THE BIG STAGE NOW

sacrificing so much in order to give me the support and opportunities

YOU HAVE WORLD TITLES UNDER YOUR BELT, WITH A LOT OF

I need to become the best that I can be!

EXPECTATIONS ON YOU?

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THE HARDEST WORKING

FEMALE CONTRIBUTOR

TO THE INDUSTRY

CRYSTAL VENESS This is an award we want to give out to the unsung heroines of our

That’s a bit of a mixed bag. In kiteboarding media, I think women

industry who are responsible for the furthering of female kitesurfing

are very well represented thanks to sources like KiteSista and fans

through continued hard work and support of the industry even when

of kiteboarding who are connecting with us on social platforms.

it doesn’t always come with praise and accolades. Our winner may

There’s definitely still an imbalance in competition and prize money

not be a household name or hold a lucrative sponsorship deal, but

for the pro ladies, though there’s typically less kite chicas competing

she knows how to contribute to projects, be professional in all that

and registering for events in general. What I really love seeing is how

she does and in the times we have collaborated together has always

many girls are showing up at the beach - often solo - and ready to throw

impressed us with her professionalism and work ethic. So we are very

down as hard as they can on the water. I see the number of ladies riding

pleased to introduce you to Crystal Veness.

on the up and up, and that is seriously awesome!

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

WE SEE YOU HAVE BEEN GETTING REALLY INTO THE CABLE PARK

It seems like I’m constantly on the move these days... depending on the

RECENTLY, WAS IT A PRETTY NATURAL PROGRESSION FROM KITING?

week, I’m in San Francisco, Seattle, La Ventana (Mexico), or looking for

Cable park and snowboarding have both been massive sources of stoke

some fresh powder in Banff (Canada)! Lately,I’ve had my head down

for me. The board skills that I learned from kiting make learning and

launching the next phase of my small business consulting company

progression easy, and nothing feels better than nailing a new trick or

and developing a 24 hour ‘Concept-to-Completion’ web design

technique, whatever the sport. So yes, one board sport inevitably leads

business. That, and searching for every adrenaline rush I can find

to others, and all the good times and confidence I pick up in other

wherever I happen to be!

sports add a lot of joy to my kiteboarding. More excuses to strap on

HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN SUCH AN AMBITIOUS PERSON AND WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO BRING THIS AMBITION TO THE KITEBOARDING INDUSTRY?

a board and go for it? Hell yeah.

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

2017 is the year of balance. I’ve been very focused on my priorities and

Yes! I grew up working an obscene amount. Nothing really existed in

conscioiusly trying to align every action I take or decision I make with

my life outside of work, and while it was certainly worth it, it wasn’t

them. When trying to juggle my businesses, full time travel, kitesurfing

always fun. After selling my business shares, I finally got to choose

progression, and personal relationships, finding my footing feels like

my own direction, and I was excited to learn that it is, in fact, possible

a constant challenge. But the best things in life are rarely handed to

to love what you do. I put passion and energy into everything I do,

us, so it’s always worth the battle. I plan to be traveling to either a kite

because I only do things I love. It’s only natural to bring the ambition

spot, cable spot, or snow spot every month,and really taking time to

and energy to this industry, because that’s how I approach everything

appreciate my friends and family. 2017 is already delivering in spades,

that’s important to me! Kiteboarding is in my soul.

and I’ll be out there crushing it every single day!

DO YOU FEEL THERE IS STILL AN IMBALANCE OF THE SEXES IN THE INDUSTRY OR HAVE THE SCALES BEEN REDRESSED?

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THE MOST

“ STEEZIEST ”

PARK RIDER

JULIA CASTRO

2016 has certainly been the year of park riding. With the formation of the KPL and a host of events around the world we have had a chance to see a number of girls stepping up to the challenge of kickers and sliders. Park riding is however all about ‘steez’ (‘style with ease’ in case you were wondering) and this girl has got it. It gives us great pleasure to talk to Julia Castro.

WHERE ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?

I am in Denmark right now. For the past six months I’ve been at university... No, I didn’t go to Brazil or Australia... I stayed at uni studying and having a boring life. It is quite difficult to be able to attend lessons, pass exams and so on at the same time as traveling the world, training and competing... So I thought I would be happy in the future if now I passed my whole first semester... So yeah, it’s been pretty tough and boring but... I hope I won’t regret it in the future.

HOW HARD IS IT TO STAY AT HOME BURIED IN BOOKS WHEN YOU KNOW SO MANY OF YOUR OTHER FELLOW RIDERS SKIP SCHOOL (OR HAVE FINISHED) AND ARE OUT HAVING FUN?

Well, you just said it all. It’s been really hard on my mind... Social media makes spotting where everyone is and how much fun they are having really easy. I hope in the long term this will have been a good decision.

I do know that while everyone else is getting more and more new tricks I am home working on my brain... but let’s not rush 2017 and let’s see how my late winter training goes.

HOW MUCH OF A CHALLENGE WAS IT FOR A ‘KITER’ TO ENTER INTO THE EUROPEAN WAKE CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME?

The thing is that in 2016 I discovered that wakeboarding was way less painful than kitesurfing for my shoulder, so I focused a bit more on wakeboarding and on doing sliders with my kite. When I appeared at the Spanish Champs I had a pretty good level and winning gave

me direct access to the Wakeboarding European Championships in Tel Aviv.

I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it to the finals as the level was very high as all the other people live for wakeboarding and do it every day. So there was I, Julia the kitesurfer. In the end I managed to pull out a pretty decent heat and managed to get 6th place. I was crazy stoked but also had a bitter sweet feeling knowing I could have done better with more training.

DO YOU FEEL THERE IS A CONVERGENCE BETWEEN KITE AND WAKE GOING ON, OR WILL WAKEBOARDERS ALWAYS VIEW US KITERS A BIT DIFFERRENTLY?

Well, wakeboarders don’t want to admit it but they all want to try kitesurfing. Actually, I feel there is a lot of respect at cableparks for us.

I hate to speak in the “they” and “us” way but everyone recognizes that I am a kitesurfer with my North Gambler board but if you are respectful in the water, everything is fine. Like everything in life I guess.

WHAT DOES 2017 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?

I sincerely have no idea. 2016 was a year full of ups and downs and 2017 is supposed to be the year where I don’t remember I had a surgery on my shoulder anymore so I won’t have any mental block stopping me. You’ll see me trying to get up there on the KPL events and maybe the new freestyle tour! Let’s see! Stoked for my kite life to begin again.

Can I add something? BIG thanks to everyone who’s there supporting me (sponsors, family, people all over the world), including you, KiteSista! You guys are the fuel of what we do! Thank you! Danke!

Mange Tak! Merci! Obrigada!

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METEOROLOGY

METEOROLOGY WITH TONY BUTT

PHOTO: CARLOS TORO W W W.W H I T E WAV E S.E U

CO L D WAT E R , PA R T 2 When we get cold in the water, we shiver and our hands and feet go numb. These processes evolved as involuntary defense mechanisms against the cold. In the last article I came to the conclusion that those mechanisms are mostly inadequate to guard against the cold.

We have been out of Africa for such a relatively short time that evolution hasn’t had a chance to give us the efficient colddefense systems that we see in other mammals. Polar bears or seals, for example, have spent a lot longer adapting to the cold than we have, and rely on an impressive array of built-in central-heating mechanisms, not just hair and blubber.

The only reason we humans are able to survive in continuously cold and wet climates is because of our large, clever brains, which have harnessed fire and invented shelter and clothing – including wetsuits.

However, we do seem to have an inbuilt capacity for short-term adjustment against the cold. This can be seen quite clearly in various modern cultures around the world. For example, until recently the Ama women divers of Japan and Korea regularly spent many hours a day diving in waters of around 7ºC using only thin cotton outfits. Then, of course, you have a whole sub-culture living right amongst us: the cold-water swimmers.

Lewis Gordon Pugh spent months training in ice-filled pools before swimming around the Cape Peninsula, and then, unbelievably, performed a one-kilometer swim in minus 1.7 ºC degree water at the North Pole wearing just a pair of speedos.

(Seawater freezes at about minus 2ºC).

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C O L D WAT E R K I T E T E S T I N G W I T H THE PEAK3. FACT: THE EXCITEMENT CAUSED BY UNPACKING A BRAND N E W K I T E M E A N S YO U C A N S TAY O U T IN THE COLD FOR AN HOUR LONGER...

So how do we do it? Well, there is evidence that we temporarily adapt ourselves to the cold by simply conditioning our bodies to function at a lower temperature. There are two ways in which we do this: hypothermic habituation and cold-induced vasodilation.

Hypothermic habituation is where we let our core temperature drop a small amount, and then learn to operate our bodies at that lower temperature. Members of some modern huntergatherer societies such as Native Australians and Namibians sleep outside on the ground with little or no clothing in the desert where temperatures fall to around 0ºC. If you or I went straight out and tried to do this, we would probably spend all night shivering. However, these people are able to let their core temperature drop a couple of degrees, which allows the shivering threshold to drop to a lower temperature.

But the important thing to realize is that we all have the potential to develop the technique. Given a few weeks of sleeping outside, most of us could probably ‘teach’ our shivering threshold to creep to a lower temperature. But then once back in a warm environment we would quickly lose that ability. In fact, observations of Ama fisherwomen and desert nomads have shown that their ability to withstand the cold comes and goes with the seasons, and has to be ‘relearned’ every winter.

The second mechanism is cold-induced vasodilation. In the previous article I talked about cold-induced vasoconstriction, which evolved to shunt the blood away from the extremities towards the inner core, in order to preserve the vital organs.

Well, it turns out that the blood vessels don’t actually shut down continuously; they intermittently open and close, or dilate and constrict. If you repeatedly expose your hands and feet to colder temperatures, the vessels tend to stay closed for shorter periods

of time and stay open for longer, meaning that your hands and feet don’t go so numb so quickly. This can be clearly seen in people whose hands are continuously cold, such as those who work in fish factories.

Cold-induced vasodilation might at first seem contradictory.

Why close the blood vessels to protect the vital organs but then start to open them up again? At first, the body is not used to dealing with the cold, so it overreacts by closing the blood vessels right down so that the vital organs are protected no matter what. But then, once it becomes accustomed to the cold, it can start to risk opening them up a bit more until it finds the right balance between open and closed phases for a particular outside temperature.

In the same way that you can train yourself to shiver less, you also can train your hands and feet to not go so numb, by gradually exposing them to the cold. Experiments have shown that about half an hour a day over about a month can be sufficient.

So, even though evolution hasn’t given us very efficient ways of insulating ourselves from the cold, it seems that all of us have the ability to become accustomed to the cold by training our bodies to function better in cold conditions. In the same way as half an hour of jogging a day will increase your heart and lung capacity, half an hour a day in cold water will bring down your shivering threshold and stop your hands and feet getting too numb.

So, if you are planning a trip to a cold-water destination, obviously remember to take a good wetsuit. But if you are really serious, maybe try a cold bath every day for a few weeks before you go…

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TO M

R E A P I N G

P H OTO :

TO B Y

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T H E

R E WA R D S …

B R O M W I C H

A P PIN G

W

R

U P R I S K

V E R S U S TO M

R E WA R D

CO U R T

So after reading Sam Medysky’s lament a couple of issues back about the inherent risks within our beloved sport (whether you had previously considered them or not) it got me thinking... Dealing with the risks of the elements is always something to consider, and when you are talking about wind, water and the ocean, control is very rarely in your hands. It is an interesting topic and I feel that there is an increasing focus on risk in modern day life. There was a time that if you broke your leg, then the consequences of that action were yours to deal with in terms of the associated pain and recovery time.

However, I feel that modern life has come somewhat disconnected from that and has cocooned itself with an increasing pile of, dare I say, bullsh*t for risk mitigation,

risk assessments, blame passing and every method possible of reducing potential hazards. Well, I am not here to say that this sort of ‘pampering’ is wrong, however I am going to play Devil’s Advocate in this article. I think that taking risks is what makes us tick – if you ask any business man, sports athlete or successful person, then taking risks will be at the core of their mantra. It makes us feel alive and it is those risks that we take each time we go on the water which make kiteboarding such an incredible sport.

When I first started kiting, I was about 11 years old and the first kite that we had was a 5m Wipika Classic two line kite with no safety system. I was shackled to the chicken loop with no quick release. Each time I turned up to the beach I remember the fear and sense of trepidation. I was afraid of the gear, afraid of the water, and afraid of the wind. It was those fears that I needed to overcome in order to learn the sport that I now love. Once I had learned to harness those risks and persisted with the learning process and overcome the fear, it was that same adrenaline that stayed with me throughout my progression in the sport. To this day I think that it was that first respect for the dangers of the sport that led me to revolve my life around it. Ever since those first emotions, I think I have been chasing that same risk factor that I felt then. It kept me pushing the limits and searching for that next progression – whether it was learning kite

loop handle passes on a Wipika Wip at the age of fifteen, or jumping off the Cuban Castle, or pushing the limits of riding rails, bigger setups and taking bigger chances. It has all been in the pursuit of that risk that has always motivated me, whether I knew it or not at the time…

I am currently coming back from a knee injury. Blowing my ACL ligament has always been my worst nightmare as a pro kiter. Although it is never good to injury yourself, it has had its positive sides. It is an incredible learning experience to come back from injury, both mentally and physically. Forcing me to educate myself on the physical implications and also dealing with the psychology of a recovery and, although there are plenty of negative impacts of an injury of this scale, you can take some positives for it if your mindset is right.

So I would say to think about the virtue of taking risks, of pushing your limits and keeping yourself engaged, and of not being afraid to push yourself and to chase the reward of accomplishment. For me this is what makes kiteboarding so great: playing with elements that are out of our control, letting go and immersing yourself in enjoyment. That’s not to say you shouldn’t make every effort to keep safe out there, think about others, wear a crash vest and anything else that makes you feel comfortable. Just don’t let the risk put you off!

I T I S A N I N C R E D I B L E L E A R N I N G E X P E R I E N C E TO CO M E B AC K F R O M I N J U R Y, B O T H M E N TA L L Y A N D P H Y S I C A L L Y.

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