Table of contents for #79 in Kiteworld Magazine

The intensity of the kiteboarding experience at this time of year can be epic; heightened by the cold, by the challenging conditions and by the close camaraderie of the deranged few who join you. In our ‘Winter Warriors’ feature on page 76, Matt Pearce writes, “You almost feel as if you shouldn’t be on the water; as if every session you get in the darker months has been surreptitiously stolen from the maws of winter itself.” Of course it may not be winter if you’re residing in the southern hemisphere, but stolen sessions are always the best at any time of year: scoring big when you’ve no right to, or when you really should be somewhere else. Our Winter Warriors feature profiles four kitesurfers for whom the cold is no…

“IT’S ALSO WORTH REMEMBERING THAT MEXICO IS THE TENTH MOST POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION IN THE WORLD, WITH AN INDUSTRY THAT BROUGHT IN $16 BILLION AND 15% OF THE USA’S TOURIST SPEND IN 2014.” Ever since Californian surfers had a taste for unridden waves, adventure and the gumption to go looking for them south of the border, Mexico has long been a popular destination for wave riders. Kitesurfers have followed suit and Mexico now has a dedicated and developing kite scene alongside a well deserved reputation for world class surfing, thanks to two coastlines in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It’s no surprise then that the recent tragic deaths of Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, two surfers from Western Australia, who were murdered while driving through Sinaloa State on their…

“WHILE THE CAMARADERIE YOU FIND AMONG KITERS THE WORLD OVER IS ALWAYS SPECIAL, THE BOND THAT FORMS AMONG A GROUP OF PEOPLE BATTLING BALTIC SEAS AND WITHERING WIND CHILL IN THEIR SEARCH FOR STOKE IS SOMETHING ELSE ALTOGETHER.” Gearing yourself up to head out into the brine when temperatures suggest you shouldn’t be doing so is no trifling matter. It requires focus and presence of mind, appreciation and care of equipment, your limitations and the conditions. When preparing to go kiting in the colder portion of the year I’m always reminded of when I was going through recruit training with the Royal Marines. As we organised ourselves, waiting to be sent out alone into the darkness on yet another grueling route march, the importance of checking we had the right…

“WE WILL GO KITING AS LONG AS THE TEMPERATURES ARE ABOVE FREEZING.” Although we have a multitude of fantastic kite spots and very ample wind, the kitesurfing scene in Iceland is small. The most kiters I have seen on the water at one time is a whopping seven! People have difficulty imagining that the water doesn’t feel cold. As we are so few, we have a close knit community and always post where and when we’re going out on Facebook. There are so many viable spots around the capital that we very seldom venture more than 15 minutes away. I started kiting in the summer of 2008. As a former windsurfer I had been thinking about taking it up for several years and eventually went ahead and bought a kite…

“AXIS are currently in the process of producing waveboards with no resin or paint... using a process that ensures all the waste materials are totally recyclable.” “I’ve been involved in board-sports since forever.” were Adrian Roper’s own words; an accurate self-summary from a guy who has been at the forefront of kiteboarding since its inception yet, typically of Adrian, it’s actually a little understated. Having started windsurfing at the age of 15 - on a board and rig he’d made himself when his parents refused to buy him one – the New Zealander has now been making boards across a variety of sports his entire working life. Now 51, the chief designer at Axis has logged many thousands of hours experience in the shaping bay. That first windsurfer that Adrian…

“I was foolish enough to sheet the bar in hard while fully powered to see what happened. Sent cannonballing downwind, my board became a distant memory and I must have looked like a small child trying to restrain a rabid, leash-bound, rottweiler.” I’m hooked in, I’ve checked my leash is attached and, with trepidation, I raise my thumb, signalling to my girlfriend that I’m ready for her to launch my kite. She gives me her ‘On your own head be it’ look that I’ve come to recognise when I’m doing something she thinks is guaranteed folly. The kite is released with an unimpressed shake of the head, the wing-tip lifts off the ground as the canopy begins to move up through the window and that familiar feeling in the gut…

Performing front handed grabs in kiting is very different to back handed grabs because you have to steer the kite with your back hand, so it’s much harder to maintain control. Pulling too much on your back hand (which is the natural tendency) will send the kite too far up. Therefore these grabs go well with kite loops and air transitions, during which you don’t need to steer the kite forward again. They can also naturally be added to any frontside wakestyle trick, like the Back Mobe or Slim Chance, without having to switch hands before spinning. To counter the tendency for the kite to steer up while performing front hand grabs I usually centre my back hand on the bar with the centre line between my middle and ring…

Given the nature of our sport, making the correct decision in the time it takes for a gust to hit is sometimes of critical importance. So, why do some people make good decisions and some people freeze? What happens inside our skulls is a very complicated picture, but a lot of it has to do with a brain area called the central nucleus of the amygdala. When a threat to life or limb confronts us, the amygdala lights up like Rudolph’s nose. It seems that this centre puts the ‘force’ or ‘impetus’ into our emotional decisions. The amygdala receives all sorts of inputs from our senses, but it also outputs to all sorts of different brain areas. One of these brain areas is the orbitofrontal cortex. It talks to the…

CHAPTER ONE - THE KITEBOARD LEGACY BEGINS Filmed entirely in ultra high-definition 4K, the collaboration between Wetransfer and Eyeforce to produce ‘Chapter One’, will introduce the world to kitesurfing and celebrate what makes it great. This first kiteboarding feature film sees the unique combination of kitesurfing legends, current champions and future stars chase the toughest storms, ride perfect waves and pull off insane stunts; and all in the best and most beautiful kiteboarding spots on the planet, from Hawaii to Brazil and Fiji to Indonesia. Those involved believe that this production will be the start of a new era for the sport and, as its name suggests, the first step into its exciting future. Look out for more details next issue when we hear from stars of the film. The…

“HER MISSIONS PROVED THAT WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A COMPASS, THE GREAT POLYNESIAN NAVIGATORS SUCCESSFULLY REACHED EVERY PIECE OF HABITABLE LAND IN THE LARGEST OCEAN ON EARTH, COVERING OVER TEN MILLION SQUARE MILES.” In my last column, I recounted the efforts of a group of kitesurfers who wanted to raise money for a noble cause. They rode over 1,000 kilometers and ended up in the record books. This time I want to tell the story of another feat, perhaps the greatest downwinder of all time. The story starts in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu. If you’re a surfer, or even if you’re not, you’ve probably heard that ‘Eddie Would Go’. Many people incorrectly assume this refers to Eddie ‘going’ on really big waves. And he did; Eddie was…

“I HAVE A FIVE DEGREE RULE: IF IT’S MORE THAN FIVE DEGREES THEN I’LL USE MY WETSUIT; IF IT’S LESS THAN THAT THEN I’LL ALWAYS OPT FOR THE WARMTH OF THE DRYSUIT.” I’m from the east coast of Devon, but I’ve lived up in Newcastle on the doorstep of the awesome, unspoiled beaches of Northumberland for 12 years, after moving for work. We have a hardy crew of kiters up here who take to the water whatever the weather and some of the best sessions of the year come in the winter months. The north facing beaches of Bamburgh and Redcar capture some huge swells from the North Sea and the endless procession of double overhead mountains of water out the back can be spectacular and terrifying at times. The…

KEAHI DE ABOITIZ: If you’re kiting in waves you should be aware of the consequences. Although a kite can actually help you out in a lot of situations, it can also be a big hinderance if it goes down. One thing I’ve noticed is that a kite can give people a false sense of security and a lot of over confidence to go out in bigger waves than they can handle, should anything go wrong. Always try to consider that if you were to lose the kite, would you still be capable of getting yourself back to the beach without it? When dealing with a wipeout, there are a few things I always try to do: The first, and the biggest thing, is to try to keep the kite flying.…

WORLDWIDE SCHOOLS & SHOPS EVEN MORE LISTINGS AT WWW.KITEWORLDMAG.COM SCHOOLS THE AMERICAS 1 Aerosport Canada Magdalen Islands & Oka Quebec, Canada info@aerosport.ca +1 866 986 6677 www.aerosport.ca 2 Aqua Sports Maui Wailukui, Hawaii kiteboardingmaui@mac.com + 1 808 242 8015 www.mauikiteboardinglessons.com 3 Captain Kirks Kiteboarding Long Beach, LA & La Ventana 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.hatterasislandsurfshop.com 7 Kiteboarding School of Maui Kahului, Maui, Hawaii mschale@ksmaui.com +1 808 873 0015 www.ksmaui.com 8 Kitty Hawk Kites Nag's Head, Hatteras mail@kittyhawk.com +1 252 441 0265 www.kittyhawk.com www.khkiteboarding.com 9 KGB Kiteboarding Baja Mexico & California info@kgbswag.com…

MOVE > HOOKED-IN TAIL GRAB FRONT ROLL RIDER > LASSE GIROLSTEIN PHOTOS > AXEL REESE / REEMEDIA Before learning a hooked-in front roll you should have a comfortable, stable riding style and be confident in edging for, and landing from, normal jumps. To get your confidence with rotations, it’s also good to learn the back roll first as it’s easier for everything, including take-offs and landings. For your first sessions learning to front roll, it’s a good idea to start on a kite around the 12 metre size because it won’t move too quickly when you pull on the bar by accident. Smaller kites react much quicker to bar input, so your front roll can quickly turn into a kite loop, usually resulting in a big wipeout while you’re upside…

DISTINGUISHING This event is about displaying the skills that we develop on our home beaches on a world stage. It’s harder to distinguish yourself from the other riders in the form of visual height and extremity in 25 to 30 knot winds. Competition experience and tactics rather than extreme big air ability start to play a bigger part in lesser wind conditions. Yes, there are some extraordinary riders who are capable of putting on an incredible show in 25 knots, but the addictive, intense, terrifying, rewarding, life-changing experience of practicing Megaloops has infected many kitesurfers worldwide. It stemmed from two individuals: Ruben Lenten and Aaron Hadlow. The event criteria focuses a lot on ‘extreme big air’, which is related to ‘risk’. The Megaloop takes courage, piloting skill, strength and commitment…

How did KiteWorldWide come about? It started as an idea between my best friend York and I after a couple of Gluhweins at a local Christmas market in December 2008, having both worked in the travel industry since we left school. We had no budget, but the idea was to offer trips and tours to the kitesurfing community that weren’t available at the time. I used to do downwinders along the coast from Cumbuco in 2004 and searched for new spots with Google Earth printouts in Vietnam... so we decided to design kite trips as if they were for us or our friends. We are 50/50 partners in the business and now have 17 destinations. How do you think the kitesurf travel market compares to main stream travel? Kitesurfers are…

I have become a foil-bore. It’s taken a while for me to be able to say it out loud, but I can recognise the symptoms in myself. I guess this is some kind of a sign of maturity (though some might suggest that becoming obsessed with a sport is not especially mature) as I can at least recognise in myself that all conversations lead back to foiling (something I quite certainly didn’t recognise in myself 15 years ago when I was a freestyle-bore). With that in mind I have committed to writing this month’s piece on a subject other than foiling; I think more to set me on my own road to recovery, rather than your benefit, but anyway... I’ve always found these articles reasonably easy to write as I’ve…

We had been up since 4am, having driven 70 kilometres by car and another six by boat when we made the call to cut our losses and navigate the zodiac back to shore. Heaving it back onto the trailer we then headed a further 30 kilometres up the coast to another boat ramp. ‘Checking the surf’ took on a new meaning for me on this trip, but after another five-and-a-half nautical miles we found glassy and near perfect conditions awaiting us at the reef pass. All the best things in life have their price... If, like me, you’re addicted to waves, you better also like boats if you want to visit New Caledonia as this little country is composed of a myriad islands in the South Pacific, 1,500 kilometres east…

“I COULDN’T LIVE ANYWHERE THAT IT FEELS LIKE SUMMER ALL THE TIME AND I THINK THAT WOULD ALSO KILL MY PASSION FOR THE SPORT.” Idon’t actually have a permanent ‘home’ yet, although I know it’s probably time! I’m from Stavanger in the south of Norway and my family still live there, so that’s where I’d call home. I travel a lot, and for the last few years I’ve actually spent more time in cold places than warm. In recent summers (and when I have time in the winter) I’ve been living in my van in Lofoten, way up in Norway’s north. I love the ocean and mountains being so close to each other; it’s so beautiful. Seeing the snow on the mountains while riding on the water is a special…

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA I really wanted to explore new kiting spots, off the beaten path, that would not only give me the ability to kiteboard, but offer a rich cultural environment, too. I spent last winter in the city of Cartagena, exploring the coast, culture, and kiting on offer. If you haven’t heard of the kiteboarding experience in Colombia yet, you will as I’d bet this destination will undoubtedly become a must-visit for many. With few or no kiteboarding guides or much general information on this area I was blind as to what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Tenacious wind blew like clockwork every day for the three months I was there, from January to March. Colombia has gone from a country known for drug cartels, Pablo Escobar and FARC,…

“INNOVATIONS CHANGE THE WAY WE SEE AND LEARN ABOUT OUR SPORT FOREVER, FOR BOTH THE PRODUCER AND VIEWER.” ‘Out with the old’, ‘in with the new’ - in kitesurfing it seems these are a constant – whether it’s new tricks, new riders on the scene, new products or new technology. It all now plays a significant role in the development in our sport. Back in the day, Maui was ‘The Spot’ as few places could compete with the volume of kitesurfing movies and photos that were shot there. Seven thousand miles away, it was watching those first videos on my TV screen when I knew that I really wanted to be a kiteboarder. Riders such as Lou Wainman, Mauricio Abreu, Andre Phillip and Jason Slezak were the leaders of the…

“I PULLED ON THE LEG-ROPE TO HAVE A HASTY GO AT RELAUNCHING BUT THE NEXT WAVE KNOCKED THE BOARD AWAY BEFORE I GOT MY FEET ON IT. THE RAZOR SHARP ISLAND WAS NOW 15 METRES AWAY AND I WAS DRIFTING, FAST…” I’ll state that first rule here and expand on it throughout the article: The lines of your kite are extremely dangerous. In order to be safe, keep the lines taut and the kite flying at all times… or get as far away from them as you can. The importance of keeping the kite in the air is not unfamiliar to any of us, it makes for a good session in any discipline. But waves add the extra possibility of being wiped-out and rolled in your lines. I am not…

The different surfaces that we boost off require different approaches in order to achieve our maximum boost potential (‘MBP’). Whether you’re dealing with flat, chop or waves, one universal rule applies: never just jump anywhere. This is especially important when riding chop as it can be challenging to lay down a good edge before take-off, which is vital for achieving MBP. This rule is easier to understand in waves as waves cannot be ‘anywhere’. How about off the flat? You might be thinking ‘how can there be differences between where I take off if it’s mirror flat?’ As far as the surface goes, you’d be right, but the wind might blow better in one area, for example. What I’m getting at is that there is always an optimum place to…

01: I had one of my first windsurfing experiences in the early summer of 1981. I could barely stand on the board but I caught a gust, felt it in my sail, fought to hold it and accelerated abruptly. That moment was unforgettable. 02: It’s important to bring new people into the sport, to improve the lifestyles of many who have never touched the water. My biggest focus now is inspiring my designers to develop equipment that is affordable, well designed, easy to rig and then easy to sell on afterwards. 03: My father is 80 and very involved with the company. He’s not a windsurfer or watersports lover, but he loves making products and I’ve recently been working closely with him on prototypes for our new inflatable SUPs and…