Table of contents for #70 in Kiteworld Magazine

Don’t we all? And we have just the issue to create ripples of pleasure and waves of inspiration for your off the water time. The Spice of Life starts on page 54 and offers an all-thrills look at what kiteboarders are riding in 2014. Hell, kitesurfing is so wickedly varied in its approach to the boards (and other items) that we are capable of riding that we’ve probably missed a few things, but you’ll be sure to find some inspiration to try something new in there. We hope you enjoy picking your way through it as much as we enjoyed pulling it together and reinforcing what an amazing sport we have the opportunity to do this issue. One board that kitesurfers have been riding for 13 years is the Ocean…

I love to take water shots, but I hate kites. Okay that’s not true. I hate shooting kites. Okay that’s not really true, either. What I hate, is having to shoot kites. I live to shoot kitesurfing - wave riding with kites - but that damn kite is usually nowhere close to the action that I’m interested in. (Unless you’ve put your kite down on the wave and then that gets interesting.) But kite companies have this agenda: they want photos of their products. Go figure! So I’m often asked to shoot ‘full-rig’ shots. What they’re effectively asking is, “Please go out in the surf and use a lens so brain-bendingly wide that a decent wave will look crappy and a crappy wave will almost disappear… Just get the kite…

Ten years ago we headed to Hawaii where we witnessed Martin Vari, Will James and Jaime Herraiz experiment with surfboards off the North Shore of Oahu out the back of Jaime’s house. They’d take it in turns, come off the water, hand the kite to the next guy and cheer as he steered himself along waves on a good day near Backyards. It was the first time we’d seen anyone riding a true surfboard. It wasn’t always pretty, but it looked like fun. Kitesurfing is starting to mature in the waves a decade later, and wakestyle is certainly becoming more radical in terms of clean style and risk at the top end of competition, while in racing and slalom there is still so much experimentation going on in equipment designs…

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, To say that for destruction ice, Is also great, And would suffice. Robert Frost, 1920…

At the beginning of the 20th century Till Eberle had just finished his engineering studies and was working for Fanatic as a product manager. He was one of the first guys to play around with kites in the Bavarian lakes in 1998 and to become a professional snowboarder, but he also always loved the beach, so has had a long addiction to many boardsports. Till started at North Kiteboarding in 2001 and by the end of that first season, with the help of test and team rider Jaime Herraiz, North predicted kite sales of 1,500 units. They managed to double that with the very popular Rhino and Torro kites. In 2013 North produced and sold 27,000 kites. I quizzed Till on the secrets of his success. On September 11 2001…

Tarifa, situated at the very southern tip of Spain, just 14 kilometres opposite Morocco, is located in a natural park, so although other areas along this coastline have seen typical holiday high-rise developments pop up over the last 20 years, this traditional town with its tight cobbled streets, expansive golden beaches and rolling green hills has managed to keep its authentic, welcoming Spanish atmosphere in tact. And it doesn’t look like changing. Tarifa is a very complete destination. No matter the time of year, the chance of wind, waves and fun are high. Plus, if you’re the kind of person that enjoys sports with a similar atmosphere to kiteboarding, it’s all out here on your doorstep and there’s just so much to do. You can still visit Tarifa and experience…

SESSION #02: Wave Specific Workout Freestyle kitesurfing may, on the face of it, appear to be slightly more dynamic than wave riding. Freestyle can be extremely taxing on the body, but it is by no means more physically demanding than riding in the waves. The rigours of kiting in the surf are different and there’s huge amounts of effort put in behind-the-scenes by top surfers, wave-focused windsurfers and kiters to condition themselves in order to prevent injuries and to perform at their absolute best. A properly tailored training regimen can help any wave rider (even if you aren’t planning on charging Teahupoo just yet). Like all kiteboarding disciplines wave riding is a ‘total body’ workout and with some focused training you’ll be amazed at how much stronger you will begin…

The tail grab front roll is one of my favourite tricks and is a great base and stepping stone for a ton of tricks and further progressions. Being able to perform this trick hooked-in or unhooked allows for a great variety of riders to enjoy it. There is no better way to end a session than with a big ol’ tail front! BRANDON’S UNHOOKED FRONT BASICS: Ride with comfortable speed Set your kite at 45 Unhook, load and pop Initiate the front roll by dropping the front shoulder and looking back over your shoulder Get comfortable letting go with your back hand Hold your wrist tight and square, be prepared for a downloop when you land Pull your knees in to accelerate your rotation Spot landing and extend legs to…

01 PEDRA DE LUME Intro Pain and gain were involved for these shots at a crater in Cape Verde with Liquid Force team members Finn Behrens and Jan Schiegnitz Pedra de Lume is a little village on the east coast of Cape Verde. Literally translated as ‘stone made of fire’, it is best known for a unique saline lake. For centuries the salt production exports were the major industry on the island. Salt is still extracted, but only for the needs of the island and the old wooden gondolas are witness to a formerly rich industry. The ‘white gardens of salt’ as they are now known serve mostly as a tourist attraction. Our friends Michael Juhl and Thomas Alsbirk took us there initially just to have a nice float in…

"There are a lot of Mako riders in my little corner of the world in Cornwall.” says Dom Moore, Ocean Rodeo’s man in the UK. “They are a bit like VW campervan owners in that when they see each other there’s always a wave or friendly greeting exchanged, and as our sport develops and becomes more anonymous, I think that’s really special.” Unlike the VW, the Mako hasn’t always been an icon of desirability. Like the VW, it has always stood out in a crowd. Dave Nunn of Windance in the Gorge, Ocean Rodeo’s biggest Mako dealer, reckons, “When we got our hands on one in 2007 we laughed at it! The roundness of the Mako can still throw customers off for sure.” Dave has now long been a convert…

Sao Vicente in the Cape Verde islands is bigger than the more kitesurf-famous Sal and features spectacular nature, mountains and the city of Mindelo. It is however authentically Cape Verdean with very little tourism and the roads are simply constructed of small rocks. We visited when the African Cup of Nations football tournament was on and Cape Verde had made the quarter finals. All 80,000 Sao Vicente residents seemed to have gathered in the centre of Mindelo to party, which was amazing and everyone was very friendly. Most beaches are exposed to waves, with the exception of Baia das Gatas, a natural swimming pool style set up just around the corner from Salamansa. It’s great for freestyle, but remember to stay in control to avoid the rocks downwind. Sao Vicente…

SCHOOLS THE AMERICAS 1 Aerosport Canada Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada info@aerosport.ca +1 866986 6677 www.aerosport.ca 2 Aqua Sports Maui Wailukui, Hawaii kiteboardingmaui@mac.com + 1 808 242 8015 www.mauikiteboardinglessons.com 3 Captain Kirks Kiteboarding San Pedro, CA & LaVentana, Baja info@captainkirks.com +1 310 833 3397 www.captainkirks.com 4 Exotikite Kiteboarding School Baja, Sur Mexico info@exotikite.com +521 624 165 2612 www.exotikite.com 5 Good Breeze Kiteboarding Cocoa Beach, Florida info@kiteboardingcloseouts.com +1 321-252-5483 www.goodbreezekiteboarding.com www.kiteboardingcloseouts.com 6 Hatteras Island Surf & Sailing Waves, NC +1 252 987 2292 www.hiss-waves.com 7 Kite Club Hatteras Outer Banks, NC info@kiteclubhatteras.com 202 549 7693 www.kiteclubhatteras.com 8 Kite Club Punta Cana Punta Cana, Dominican Republic +1 829 576 6399 info@kiteclubpuntacana.com www.kiteclubpuntacana.com 9 Kiteboarding School of Maui Kahului, Maui, Hawaii mschale@ksmaui.com +1 808 873 0015 www.ksmaui.com 10 Kitty Hawk Kites Nag's Head, Hatteras…