Table of contents for Issue #94 August 18 - September 2018 in Kiteworld Magazine

What is it about influence? We’re all under it to some degree, whether we like to admit it or not. For many the trigger is the ‘sun passing the yard arm’, while others ‘just wanna be like Mike.’ Booze and basketball analogies aside, I’m serious. Why did it take me standing on the beach at the GKA Kiteboarding World Tour Air Games to suddenly be inspired to go out and mess about with a mate trying one footers and double spins for the first time in ages? The conditions in Tarifa hadn’t been the most epic for the first heats on this new world tour that aims to put the ‘show’ back into professional competition, but they were the sort of conditions that most of us are regularly faced with.…

Rolling regularly now, the KSWT rounds come thick and fast through the summer and since last issue two events have rattled by with another certain event happening in late July at the annual World Cup round, staged annually at the Rene Egli centre at Sotavento in Fuerteventura. In round three at Viana do Castelo in Portugal, 2016 Champion Matchu Lopes finally found his riding flow again, landing an inspired strapless triple-front roll in the final (the first time one has been landed in competition) against tour leader and friendly rival, Airton Cozzolino. Having won the first two events of the season, and looking unstoppable ahead of Portugal, Airton struck back at round four in Tarifa, where he now remains undefeated in four years – his two unhooked handle-passes making the…

This year’s Kitesurfing Armada, which ran from the 22-24th June, was the biggest ever with 7,000 people visiting the event across the weekend and over 300 kiters along for the festivities, helping to raise £10,000 for charities, that include the Hayling Island First Responders and the Armada Trust, which among other efforts, helps support the grassroots development of the sport. The Armada’s environmental efforts, which ranged from SAS beach cleans to an event-wide ban on plastic from all of the bars and food vendors, meant we kiters left Hayling even tidier than when we arrived! On top of that a number of UK heroes and international pros were in attendance, including Lewis Crathern (of course as he has a signature involvement on the Armada Trust charity board), Nick Jacobsen, Aaron…

Heraclitus was a Greek philosopher born around 400 BC. History suggests he was a rather depressing and dreary chap, however amongst a lot of other profound nuggets of wisdom that he unleashed on the world, he is widely credited with being the first to observe and state that “Nothing endures but change.”. Oh and “You can’t step in the same river twice.”. Anyway, let’s stick to the first one. It’s certainly a deep statement and yet when taking the wider, longer term view there’s little in life that hasn’t evolved and changed. Kiteboarding in particular seems to be doing so at an alarming rate. If you ask what attracted me to kiteboarding all those years ago, then I’m sure you’d get the same answer from many other riders that came…

“I shared my story with Manu when I got home. He’d just read an article about a guy who had decided to try a new experiment for the protection of the environment, so was feeling more invigorated.” It’s a warm afternoon at home on Maui as I walk to a well-known coffee shop chain to get an iced coffee. I’m happy to have been keeping the routine of bringing my own recycled cup and metal straw. We are surely on the way to win this battle to ban styrofoam in the Hawaiian islands. “Hi, could you re-use my cup please?” I ask the barista. “No, I’m sorry. We can’t do that here.” Her response was surprising as I had already done it many times in other coffee shops. “We can…

Situated 700 kilometres from São Paulo and 1,000 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro (just an hour’s flight from each), I was attracted to this spot as a sport’s photographer and for the lifestyle mix. Florianópolis in the state of Santa Catarina is a young city full of activity for its 400,000 residents and is widely considered to be the best of Brazil’s state capital cities when it comes to quality of life. Also close to the Uruguayan border, in recent years is has attracted many people from other states to come live in this paradise. A low level of violence and poverty add to the easy going appeal, while the Florianópolis nightlife has claimed fame for its parties that are orchestrated by some of the world’s best DJs, who play…

So here I am heading to Brazil a dream destination of mine for as long as I can remember. I thought, ‘Why go to one place when I could travel up the coast a bit and explore a few along the way?’ Not knowing exactly where the spot of Tatajuba was, other than that guests fly into Fortaleza and it is then a long drive north, I did some Googling and made a plan: Cumbuco, Flecheiras, Prea/Jeri and then onto Tatajuba. From the moment I booked I got very mixed response from everyone I told. From, ‘The food is great’… to ‘the food is awful’; ‘the people are friendly’… to ‘don’t talk to anyone’. Other questions were, ‘Do you know how dangerous it is? 50 people are murdered each day…

Strapless freestyle is usually easier in stronger winds, but having a light board really helps you land tricks in lighter winds. This session was just 15 knots, so I’ll talk you through the technique. When you’re coming into this trick try to look for a good bit of chop to use a ramp that is a metre or so upwind of your current riding line. Once you approach the ramp, start to send your kite up as you edge into wind at the same time. Just as you reach the chop you should be timing it so that you can feel the pressure building in your edge and in your kite lines as much as possible. At this point, continue to bend your legs, lean out in your harness and…

The beauty of foil racing is that it doesn’t take a lot of wind to get an event off the ground. Last year events ran in winds as little as eight knots, but in June, when the Hydrofoil Pro tour hit San Francisco, conditions were gnarly from the off! Defending HFPT champion Nico Parlier struck hard on day one, taking five bullets (race wins) - a stellar start to his event after a challenging season so far in which the Bridge brothers have won both the previous events (Olly claiming La Ventana and Guy following up with victory in Montpellier). The wind got stronger and gustier on day two and Parlier took a heavy slam as he rounded the first mark, losing ten places in the process but somehow clawed…

“THERE IS SOMETHING SIMPLY ARCANE ABOUT PICKING UP THE ENERGY OF THE OCEAN VIA AN UNBROKEN SWELL AND RIDING IT, IN ALMOST FRICTIONLESS FASHION. IT IS SIMPLE, PERHAPS FUNDAMENTAL, AND FEELS, IN A PARADOXICALLY TANGIBLE SENSE, LIKE PERFECTION.” Dear Reader, We live in strange times. Thankfully, we have kiting to keep us sane. There is nothing like blowing out the cobwebs - of frustrated aspirations, fraught personal relationships, the existential threats of mentally unwell world leaders, niggling anxieties and nagging work pressures - by hitching your kite to a blast from an anti-cyclonic low pressure system. … I watch the synoptic charts as the Black Beast slowly rises out of the Southern Ocean, and as it roars, I’m ready, waiting at the beach: as the spray fizzes off the edge…

Tucked away in a sheltered part of the coastline just three hours south of Thailand’s bustling capital, Pak Nam Pran is a quiet, rural town that’s unremarkable in many ways. The rhythm of life beats to the daily markets, where fishermen flog their freshest catch and grandmas swap the latest stories. The roads are quiet most days, filling in ever so slightly during the weekend when visitors from Bangkok come down to seek a few days of respite from the swelter of the city. It’s the King’s law in Thailand that no one is allowed to construct any buildings on the mountains - apart from temples - the effect of which is that you’re never far from untouched nature. Pak Nam Pran is flanked by the towering peaks of Sam…

TEST TEAM NOTES: In an obvious departure of testing purely kitesurfing gear in this magazine, there is a less clear connection to this electric skateboard review than the apparent cross-over in riding skills. Most of the initial core Inboard team were all kiteboarders... and the rest is an exciting history that also involved the company soaring past their six figure crowd funding target within hours of going live, such is the appeal of this mode of transport. And frankly, that’s what the M1 is; a vehicle. I was super excited when I ordered mine, but at the same time when it actually turned up, I was a little apprehensive. I’d had a quick go on one at the Surf Expo trade show a year earlier; the smooth acceleration and incremental…

“KNOW YOUR LIMITS AND BE AWARE OF HOW MUCH SUPPORT YOU CAN REASONABLY EXPECT FROM THE GROUP THAT YOU’RE WITH. DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN A SITUATION THAT YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE IN EITHER AS THE RISKS YOU TAKE WILL EFFECT THE ENTIRE GROUP IF THEY DON’T PAY OFF.” Most of us hear about downwinders at some point in our kiteboarding progression. For me it was during my first season at my home spot of Field, in San Francisco. Some of my new kiter friends were talking about doing long downwinders in Brazil and, for me, as a new rider still getting my head around holding an upwind line, it sounded like fun. In fact, it sounded easy! I signed up for a downwinder myself shortly after and before I knew it…

SCHOOLS THE AMERICAS 1 ADVENTURE KITEBOARDING Muskego, Wisconsin sales@adventurekiteboarding.com +1 414-367-9283 www.adventurekiteboarding.com 2 KITEFORCE Montreal, Quebec info@kite-force.com + 1 514 691 3314 www.kite-force.com 3 HATTERAS ISLAND SURF & SAILING Waves, NC barton@hatterasislandsurfshop.com +1 252 987 2292 www.hatterasislandsurfshop.com 4 KITTY HAWK KITES Nag’s Head, Hatteras mail@kittyhawk.com +1 252 441 0265 www.kittyhawk.com www.khkiteboarding.com 5 GOOD BREEZE KITEBOARDING Cocoa Beach, Florida info@kiteboardingcloseouts.com +1 321-252-5483 www.goodbreezekiteboarding.com www.kiteboardingcloseouts.com 6 MIAMI KITEBOARDING Miami, Florida info@miamikiteboarding.com +1 305 345 9974 www.miamikiteboarding.com 7 TKS MIAMI Miami Florida sales@tksmiami.com +1 (305) 646.1681 +1 (305) 397.8282 www.tksmiami.com 8 361 KITE Corpus Christi, TX info@361kite.com +1 361 742 7966 www.361kite.com 9 PROKITE SOUTH PADRE South Padre Island TX +1 541-490-6872 +1 855-774-5483 info@prokitesouthpadre.com www.prokitesouthpadre.com 10 TRON X Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico info@tronx.mx +52 (322) 108 9292 www.tronx.mx 11 EXOTIKITE KITEBOARDING SCHOOL Baja,…

01 - If you’re open minded, live with passion and a friendly smile your life will be like a colourful bunch of flowers. It wouldn’t be possible to run two World Tours with destinations all over the planet without accepting foreign cultures and listening to different ways of thinking. 02 - Try hard not to compare yourself with others as that will make you unhappy. I meet young riders who’d like to attend the GKA World Tours but are afraid to embarrass themselves by competing against professional riders like Jesse Richman, Matchu Lopes or Moona White. Try your best, don’t give up and be proud of that what you have achieved, even if you are not always able to win. 03 - Don’t fight on the water with other watermen…

“COACH FABIO INGROSSO SAID, “I TOLD MIKAILI, ‘YOU’RE ONLY 13, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE, BUT IF WE GET A TOP FOUR FINISH THEN THAT’S ALREADY FANTASTIC.’ WE PRACTICE THIS SORT OF GAME OF KITE DURING TRAINING WHEN I TELL THEM TO GO OUT AND DO BIG SPINS, SO SHE REALLY ENJOYED THIS EVENT.” JEEP TARIFA PRO: 26TH JUNE – 1ST JULY The GKA Kiteboarding World Tour ‘Air Games’ hasn’t had the easiest start since inception this year. The first event at the Mondial du Vent in Leucate had no wind; the first time that event at that spot in France hasn’t had wind in 20 years! At the end of June Tarifa kept us waiting until the sixth and final day of the Jeep Tarifa Pro to truly deliver…

1. In case you’ve been living under a rock North Kiteboarding have officially changed their name to Duotone! Read an interview with boss Till Eberle now on page 060. 2. Laird Hamilton is credited with being one of the pioneers of surf foiling, but Darian Smith, a legend of the early days on Maui, was the first person to kite on one. Those early foilers attached themselves to their boards with snowboard bindings! Imagine trying to get out of that if you stacked it at high speed! 3. In November, the International Olympic Commission will confirm 100% whether or not kiting is going to the Olympics. Nobody’s totally clear yet on what the format might be, but given that the IOC requires all sailing events to be able to take…

The Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational is the premiere event on the park riding calendar. While other park events have a more intimate, sometimes even DIY feel to them, the Triple-S is sponsored by a super yacht charter company (Wind Voyager) and draws huge crowds every night to the after parties, which regularly feature acts like Ky-Mani Marley and even Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys fame. This year the wind proved challenging, with sometimes up to four different wind directions blowing through the slick in the same day, but a result was however still achieved in a revised format in which the riders threw down on a limited number of obstacles. In the men’s division, Sam Light, who has practically dominated the Triple-S in recent years, finished fourth with Noé…

Jim Gaunt spoke to Boards & More CEO Till Eberle to get a deeper understanding of the true business aspects associated with the decision to break free. In the second half of this feature we also run some of the advertorial information that Duotone had prepared as part of a huge re-branding exercise to reflect the message they want to project themselves. Firstly, tell us about your company, Boards & More. Boards & More started in 1999 and at that stage had a lot of brands: F2, Mistral, Santa Cruz snowboards, Fanatic, North Sails Windsurfing, ART and Arrows windsurf sails. It was a big portfolio, but unfortunately, from 2000 to 2008, the company was losing quite a lot of money. There were just too many brands in the same category…

Start line nerves, critical equipment choices, nail-biting tussles for position, riders careering full-tilt into the corners as well as on (and off) course challenges. It could have been a scene from the world of performance foil racing, but it wasn’t and in many ways the stakes were far higher. For the young riders who’ve been competing in this year’s TT:R (Twin-tip Racing) qualifiers for a place at the YOG, national pride and the chance to represent your country at the highest level in sport were on offer. For them, that’s something you can’t put a price on. This year’s final qualifying event saw 140 competitors compete in Hainan, China. After a long series of qualifiers in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, the Worlds in China offered the last remaining spots…

TEST TEAM NOTES: That’s right, a double hit from ION this issue, but in fact I’ve been riding this harness throughout our Cape Town test season and kept telling them that we needed to test it ‘just a little bit more’, because quite frankly it’s been my favourite harness this year. Why? Well, it could be to do with the fact that we’re often sent a medium size in everything to test and this was a small, which is ideal for my 31 inch waist. But not only that, it blends the benefits of a hardshell support with the comfort of a softer harness. Wetsuits and harnesses are really all about your personal preference and how they fit your back. I have an average curve in my lower back and…

“ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAD ALSO SUGGESTED THAT KITERS TRAVEL AT AN AVERAGE SPEED OF 100 KPH (ABOUT 60 MPH) AND THAT KITE LINES CAN BE UP TO 300 METRES LONG, POSING A THREAT TO BIRDS AS THEY NEST AWAY FROM SHORE. SO IT WAS JÖRGEN’S JOB TO PROVIDE A DOSE OF REALITY TO THE DISCUSSION.” One of the wonders of the digital age is that people have been given a way to voice their concerns about the issues they care about, and many have jumped on that. So much so that sometimes I wonder if signing the next e-petition that pops up on my screen will amount to anything. It’s all worthy stuff, but does it ever get anywhere? So, it was with some resignation that I wrote to my local representative…

I spluttered and spat as my head popped out of the water. Dizzy and disoriented, I quickly evaluated things. “All fingers still on? Yes. Do I know where I am? Yes. Am I okay? Check. Thank God!” I had made it out of my worst crash in almost ten years of kiteboarding completely unscathed. I saw my friends on the beach pushing a jet-ski into the water as they prepared to come rescue me. I signalled to them with a ‘thumbs up’ that I was fine and took a couple of deep breaths. A strong gust had come out of nowhere as I tacked back into the beach, shooting me forward like a stone from a catapult. In the choppy water I’d caught my toeside rail which threw me into…