Indice dei contenuti per #84 December 2016 - January 2017 in Kiteworld Magazine

AQUAPAC Looking for a colourful way to carry your stuff around without everything getting soaked at the beach? The Aquapac TrailProof™ tote bag is a brilliant gift for anyone who likes the outdoor life and is available in large and small sizes and two colours – Acid Green or Cool Blue. www.aquapac.net BRUNOTTI Brunotti’s new Smartshell multi-use harness features the new 360 Smartshell technology which distributes force equally throughout the harness’ shell for maximized comfort and control. The H20 Weightlock ensures the harness doesn’t absorb water when you’re out kiting so the weight stays the same and it can also be used for either windsurfing or kiting. There’s also an optional sliding rope spreader bar for committed wave riders! Also ready for winter is the new Bravery 5/3 wetsuit, available…

“THE RESULT MEANT SO MUCH TO BOTH RIDERS IN TERMS OF CLAIMING THIS FIRST TITLE. AIRTON WAS CERTAINLY QUIETER THAN USUAL, LESS CENTRALLY INVOLVED IN GENERAL BANTER AND HE SEEMED MORE INTROSPECTIVE. RARELY WAS HE SEEN WITHOUT HIS HEADPHONES ON AND WEARING A DISTANT LOOK.” There was an heir of inevitability about the climax of the GKA Wave & Strapless Freestyle Grand Slam tour that was staged in Dakhla, Morocco in October. After winning the first two finals against Matchu in the four stop series, Airton Cozzolino had let his guard down against Mauritius local Jeremy Chan in the third round at One Eye. Full of confidence and always pushing to achieve the unexpected, Airton’s title charge came undone in one heat in round three when he attempted one too…

“I didn’t know exactly how it was going to work out, but I knew I just had to focus on the event and the final if it came to it.” Alex Pastor was crowned Men’s GKA Rider of the Year after the Germany WKL event and an incredibly close run contest with Aaron Hadlow. Heading into the last event in Germany, Alex Pastor led the rankings, but if all five events were completed, riders could discard their worst result from the season. In that instance, it looked most likely that Aaron Hadlow would become Rider of the Year. All Aaron had to do was make sure that he didn’t finish more than five positions behind Alex... The Germany event therefore took on a great significance. It has the longest waiting…

It’s midday and we’re having freshly grilled fish, rice and salad for lunch on the shady terrace of our lodge overlooking the spot. Jalou, Kevin and I have spent the morning surfing the left point in the early offshore breeze. Two nice bowls were ripe for manoeuvres with a barreling inside section. Although the wave was very surfable, as usual there hadn’t been another single surfer in sight. The local fishermen sailing offshore to the outer banks on their wooden handmade praos boats were our only witnesses. Jalou and Kevin looked for the return of the fishermen’s canoes crammed with a multi-coloured catch in the afternoon trade winds. It was their signal to go kiting. On their five minute walk from the bungalow to the point they’d met a swarm…

Môle Saint-Nicolas, with its picturesque turqoise waterfront sits on the northwestern windward coast of Haiti. Iguanas, blue lizards and crabs wander about the pristine white sands around Boukan Guinguette, Haiti’s first and only kitesurfing school. The project was founded in April 2015 by Julien Schwartz, Fritz Eliezer Étienne and six others who all had a lingering love affair with Haiti, but it was rocked recently by Hurricane Matthew; the worst hurricane in the region in recent memory. Thousands of sheet metal roofs were ripped off by the wind and many walls collapsed in the rain. Hundreds of houses were entirely washed away by the sea flood and over 70% of the local infrastructure was destroyed in the local region. Much of the livestock died from an onset of extreme elements…

MOVE: BACK ROLL HAND PLANT KITE LOOP RIDER: STEVEN AKKERSDIJK PHOTOS: STEVEN ZESSIN I have always loved the feeling of the anti-gravity style moves that you can pull off in kiteboarding. The back roll hand plant definitely has that weightless feeling to it. Slowly steering your kite into a kite loop will support your weight giving you that extended moment of hovering over the water. This trick always puts a smile on my face and it doesn’t matter whether you’re riding straps, boots or strapless on a surfboard; there is always a way to pull this trick off! The basis of this trick is being able to pull a nice, slow kite loop and one thing you should avoid in the beginning is going straight into pulling hard kite loops.…

TO RECAP, THE 2016 BKC CHAMPIONS ARE: MEN’S PRO: George Dufty WOMEN’S PRO: Rosanna Jury MASTERS MEN: Matt Bunn MEN’S AMATEUR: Nathan Cullingford WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Anna Seager JUNIORS: Cameron Auld The UK Kitesurfing Industry Awards took place at the BKSA end of year party at The Grand Hotel in Brighton on Saturday 22nd October. The crème of the UK’s riding crop turned out with international stars like Sam Light and Tom Court donning their slacks, brands such as North, Ozone, RRD, Flysurfer, Axis and more were in support, plus 150 kitesurfers from across the UK flocked in, lured by the promise of a glitzy do, entertainment, a three course dinner, music and dancing! Oli Lawrence from the BKSA welcomed everyone to dinner before Kiteworld editor Jim Gaunt and his collaborator…

Park style riding is now well established in the kiteboarding scene. The Triple-S Invitational has been pulling the sport’s best park style riders together for over a decade and is still gaining strength. Sam Light from the UK took his fourth overall event win on the trot, making him the most successful competitor in the event’s history. He cleaned up at each stage of the KPL tour this season, although he didn’t go to Russia as riders were allowed one discard, so to say he’s dominant would be an understatement and he deserves huge credit for the technicality and precision he brings to this discipline. Karolina Winkowska from Poland has competed on the PKRA / Freestyle World Tour for over ten years and has won the World Championship twice. Transitioning…

“IS IT AT ALL POSSIBLE THAT THE REALITY BEHIND HOW OUR BOARDS ARE MADE, AND THE BYPRODUCTS OF THE PROCESS, DON’T GO HAND IN HAND WITH THE BEAUTIFUL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMLESS ACTIVITY OF RIDING A WAVE?” Riding a wave, be it behind a kite or otherwise, is a moment when even those of us without the slightest lean towards veganism, mindfulness or correct chakra alignment are communing with the natural world in a very real way. You’re balancing on a small wedge of glassed-up foam and riding what is essentially a wave of energy that’s travelled thousand of miles to throw itself boldly onto our shores. For a fleeting moment you get to ride that wave before its eventual implosion onto dry land. The things that make us able to…

TEST TEAM NOTES: Bully has had the 13 and nine metre Passions in his possession personally, used by himself, his wife (who is only around 50+ kilos in weight) and also by the instructors in his school most of this season. He’s tested several models of the Passion over previous years, this test is largely based on his findings. Firstly, it must be said that the 13 metre is an absolute beast in terms of power. Both kites behave the same in terms of their rooted position in the sky, and in not needing to be moved very much to deliver easy power. The Passion is also available in 15 and 17 metre sizes, but considering the efficiency and power in the 13, we’re not sure you’d often need those…

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…

“Worrying is counterproductive. Be smart and react if necessary but, until then, enjoy the ride.” Watching good surfers ride waves is a truly captivating and invigorating sight. Their dance with Mother Nature seems so graceful, yet powerful, and most of all so pure. Instinctively in flow with the elements, a surfer essentially rides energy that has often been travelling for several thousands of kilometres before it explodes at beaches and reefs in the form of waves. Playing in the surf is certainly a fantastic pastime and heaps of fun, however, it is much more than just a sport. It is a perspective, a philosophy. It is a way of life. Our whole existence on this planet comes in waves, so drawing some teachings from the surf seems only logical, right?…

I exist in a somewhat special place in kiteboarding – special as in unique not special as in ‘the chosen one’. I no longer compete and I no longer even make claims to be a professional rider. I’m involved in the industry but I don’t have financial interests in any one brand of kites. For the record, I am sponsored by Blade kites and have been for many years. I wish to mention this from the start in the interest of transparency and to dispel any speculation that my following comments are financially based. In the last issue of Kiteworld I was asked whether the development of twin-tips had stagnated or not? I replied that I felt that development was a complicated multi-dimensional process influenced by technology and construction techniques…

“I really feel like my riding has been improving so much recently and that is feeding me to the point that I don’t really look for anything else.” PKRA World Champion in 2009, Bruna Kajiya is one of the most highly acclaimed female freestyle riders, respected for her uncompromisingly powered and committed wakestyle riding. She’s been dominant in this GKA Rider of the Year series, finishing joint first in Leucate, third at the Triple S and winning the last two WKL events in Cabarete and Fehmarn in Germany. Few women have managed to master such a command over the technical requirements of powered freestyle like Bruna. Clearly as hungry as ever after dealing with an ACL knee injury in Germany that crushed her spirit for a long period two seasons…

“I WANT PEOPLE TO SEE WHO I AM AND WHAT MY RIDING IS ALL ABOUT NOW, SO I WANTED A VIDEO EDITED IN MY KIND OF STYLE, NOT BY SOMEONE SELLING MY IMAGE.” Liam Whaley defeated the best riders over several events to finish on top of the VKWC World Tour in 2015. All the best riders were fit and in attendance; the first time in several seasons that we had seen such an awesome field of competitors. Was he bitter that the VKWC World Tour crumbled towards the end and he didn’t get to stand on a proper podium? Yes. Has it made him stronger and given him a different focus? Yes. This year Liam looked back and realised that he’d been so focused on competition training that he…

“THE US MARINES HAVE A MANTRA WHICH THEY FREQUENTLY RECITE WHEN FACED WITH A POTENTIALLY GRIM EXPERIENCE: ‘EMBRACE THE SUCK’ AND YOU CAN DO THE SAME. SO DON’T BE SOFT, PULL ON YOUR BOOTS, ZIP UP YOUR HOOD AND GET OUT THERE!” I once heard someone say that when you start making excuses for yourself in any field of endeavor, it’s the beginning of the end. In doing so you’re putting in motion a chain of events that will lead to, ultimately, a complete cessation of your involvement in the activity. There is no sport in which this is truer than kiteboarding, particularly when winter draws around. It’s a gradual process that begins with you heading to the beach a little less frequently and skipping sessions that you wouldn’t normally…

TEST TEAM NOTES: It’s rare to see many drastic changes to a product line year on year from North and similarly the Dice has seen subtle tweaks. Designer Ralf Grösel told us at the 2017 North range launch in Tarifa earlier this year that, other than the Mono, the Dice was one of their best sold new products when it was launched back in 2014. Sitting within the freestyle crossover category, the difference in the Dice’s performance-accessibility compliments the Vegas well. Continuing the trend of making steady improvements, the Dice 2017 has been tweaked with a modified tip strut for more rigidity and a stiffer structure. The new model is noticeably more rigid and looks very taut in the sky. The new full block colours look clean and unfussy, adding…

When the Peter Lynn team wanted to get some new shots of their Escape V5 kite, they hoped for inspiring backgrounds and a spot that none of them had visited before. They considered France and Portugal, but in the end it was team rider Phillip Kervel’s repeated invitation to his home island of Aruba that had them lured most heavily. In tow, along with Roy was Willem van der Meij – Red Bull King of the Air ripper - and photographer Rein Rijke who was fresh in from a snowboarding shoot, so Aruba would be a great contrast for him in April. When you usually think of kiteboarding in the Caribbean the focus on conditions lies between December and March for places like Barbados and Antigua, but Aruba in the…

“WHEN READY TO BOOST WITH THE KITE AT AROUND 45 DEGREES, LEARN TO WAIT FOR THE GUSTS WHICH ALLOW YOU TO MOVE THE KITE FURTHER FORWARD IN THE WINDOW. THESE GUSTS ALSO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR BOARD SPEED UP WHILE YOU PUSH AWAY ON THE BAR TO POSITION THE KITE.” Can you really go big in 20 knots? I’ve been in deep thought but now I believe that yes, you can! Let’s break it down. What does going big really mean? Big = ‘of considerable size, extent or intensity’. I competed on the IKA Big Air tour this year and the riders have to translate their interpretation of the moves that they feel best cover ‘big air’. Is a big kite loop handle-pass considered a big move if it’s half…