Table of contents for #78 in Kiteworld Magazine

I had read all about the wave, received thousands of picture submissions, heard friends gloat about riding it and watched many videos, but it was still one of the most surprising sensations as my board rapidly picked up speed once it locked in to One Eye. Like a freight train I was rapidly conducted along its peeling carriageway and the corners of my vision blurred as I processed the situation. The wall continued to build in front of me, my kite dropped further and further behind the wave in the cross-offshore wind, pulling me further up the face. Instinctively I crouched to resist the pressure building in the lines and there was a momentary pause as my memory was scarred by the sensation. I hadn’t really done anything other than…

Congratulations Florian! How does it feel to have beaten such a huge number or riders? Thank you! It´s an amazing feeling to win a race with the most competitors in the world. Lining up with almost 500 people on the start line and then fighting for the win was so much fun. The sky was full of kites, it was unbelievable. Everyone seemed happy to be part of such a big event, rode with a big smile and I just tried to enjoy it as much as I could. Who were your closest rivals? Jannis Maus and Rolf van der Vlugt. The wind picked up just before the start so I changed down to the same size kite as Jannis. After that I just had to keep clear and maintain…

“ELATION IN A GROUP OF FRIENDS CREATES A GLOW THAT ONLY FADES SLOWLY. COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED BUT BOUND BY THEIR COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE, NO ONE CLIMBED ABOARD AROONA AND FELL ASLEEP. THE HIGH ENERGY OUTPUT OF THE DAY NEEDED TO BE TAPERED OFF, NOT SIMPLY EXTINGUISHED.” “You are here.” The words on a piece of paper that was sitting on the big table onboard the 70 foot motor vessel, Aroona. It had three scribbles on it showing the outline of far North Queensland - Australia, a circle with an ‘X’ in it and a little patch of reef, called Davie. It was a brilliant reduction of the current situation. It simplified everything for today. The city of Cairns was 470 kilometres in Aroona’s wake and Davie Reef lay far in the distance,…

Our greatest fear was getting all our gear on the little puddle jumper from Rarotonga to Aitutaki. Small planes, lots of gear and remote islands don’t usually mix very well. Checking in though there were nothing but smiles and no hassle regarding sporting equipment – and we had plenty. This was a great start to a trip in any traveler’s book. I’ve been to some really nice tropical places like Tahiti and Western Samoa, but when you step off the daily boat and arrive at the kiting destinations on these other islands, you’re just absolutely blown away. The water is four shades of blue when broken up in different angles and honestly, if you were to paint a picture perfect location, this would be it. Shooting line mount stuff with…

In comparison to other action sports, the act of kiteboarding has a much lower carbon footprint, but it’s important to know how our kit comes into being and to be aware of the materials used in the production processes. Our understanding of these factors can influence our buying decisions and, if a greater trend towards buying greener gear emerges, manufacturers can then justify greater expenditure into greener research and technologies. In turn, greener equipment can then become more affordable for the end user. So, you could argue, that the green production revolution needs to start with us. We like to think that kiteboarding is a pretty green sport compared to some other activities. The wind is very renewable (albeit frustratingly absent at times) and once at the beach we can…

TESTERS: Bully and Matt TEST TEAM NOTES: We got to spend a lot of time on the seven, eight and nine metre FX kites in Cape Town last year – we’ll make references to that in this review – but after those experiences, we were very much looking forward to this year’s model. Build quality on the FX is very clean and it’s reinforced in the stressed areas without being overly heavy throughout. Good looking and tight, there’s no excess fat and the canopy looks very well tuned. It’s also very quick and easy to pump up with Cabrinha’s wide inflation system that fits any hose The Cabrinha bar is obviously highly developed and polished. There’s no faff, everything is well engineered, the chicken-loop is a great size, clean, efficient…

TESTERS: Bully and Matt TEST TEAM NOTES: The Mako Duke appears, at 5’4’’, to be a very scaled down mini-mal sort of surfboard shape. Very full in both the nose and the tail, where it differs from a mini-mal - apart from its obvious shorter length - is the large concave underneath that comes from its Mako heritage. A deck pad covers the entire deck and the Futures fin boxes always stand up well to any accidental jams or knocks. First thing to note is how comfortable and quick to plane the Duke is. We’re confident that even first time surfboard riders could get on with this pretty quickly. The deep concave also makes charging out over chop or white water smooth, quick and controllable. Proper wave boards can begin…

I have always been interested in the small details that can add an extra metre to your jump. It’s common practice for me to walk the competition zone at big air events to find out exactly what setups the other competitors are using. People often ask me about what kite size is the optimum for the biggest boosts and also what sort of board set-up is best. Line length also makes a difference, and I’d like to start there this issue. TIP #05: LINE LENGTH The longer the lines the more power you will feel, but you will sacrifice turning speed. Shorter lines, around 20 metres in length for example, provide less power but greater turning speed. Steering the kite aggressively is an important part of jumping high, so a…

ANDRE MAGARAO: You’re so used to being active. How hard was the process of recovery? BRUNA KAJIYA: When you look at your leg and think ‘move now’, it’s shocking when it doesn’t. The exercises and physiotherapy were all really painful but the mental part was hardest. I learned a lot though and found so much joy coming back to the sport, it was a really humbling experience and I found strength in the vulnerable moments. AM: Alex Pastor talked about the impact of losing all the training up to the point when he got injured a few years ago. Did you feel that? BK: I never looked at the injury as ‘oh my god I’ve just lost all the training I’ve done.’ I was more like ‘oh my god, my…

ONE - The best way to get wax off your board is to use a hairdryer. The heat makes it drip off so easily, which is very handy if you don’t live in a tropical climate. TWO - Traveling has provided great learning experiences for me, especially when I started going without my big brother. Kevin always made traveling easy because he felt responsible and took care of everything. When I started traveling alone there seemed to be so much to think about; I double-checked everything, was scared of getting robbed and felt like I needed an extra set of eyes to look after all my bags. Speaking another language was scary and I was very shy back then. To get things done I’ve learned you have to…

PRECISION: Liam Whaley has come of age as the most assured and consistently high-performing competitive freestyle machine this year. He has probably already ‘won’ the ‘World Championship’, though we may not see him crowned at an actual event as the VKWC have been a little less precise in their event delivery. Liam’s moment of defining glory may have passed, but he won’t lose this sort of touch any time soon. Tail grab back mobe 5, Brazil Photo: Andre Magarao FLAIR: Paul Serin provides the stage as Jesse Richman places his first appearance in this issue’s gallery Photo: Franck Berthuot ATTITUDE: Airton Cozzolino, One Eye, Mauritius. The man’s got an eery amount of comfort there Photo: Toby Bromwich / North VISION: Brandon Scheid, Montreal, Canada Photo: Vincent Bergeron GUTS: Hold tight…

Thanks to the efforts of 442 registered participants the 2015 Virgin Kitesurfing Armada raised an incredible £30,690, bringing the total raised to over £150,000 for Virgin Unite, the RNLI, youth charity Snow-Camp, and rescue charity Serve On since the annual event was first held in 2013. While the Guinness World Record title attempt wasn’t possible due to unfavourable winds, plenty of kiters got out on the water with big kit, including some of the professional riders who attended the festival. Five-time World Champion, Steph Bridge, explained why her whole family loves attending this event, “The event gives a huge sense of community spirit where kitesurfers from all over the UK can come together, congregate for the entire weekend and kitesurf.” Built as a kitesurfing festival, riders enjoyed listening to a…

It’s a pretty well known fact that nothing is more popular than failure. Epic fail clips always have the highest viewing figures on YouTube and crash sections are always the most talked about segments from action movies. Apparently, the phenomena also transfers to the written word as my last piece has had a simply unprecedented level of response - I thank both of you who mailed me. Never one to be deterred by a little humiliation, I didn’t let my early foiling disasters stop my efforts and I have become somewhat of an addict to foiling. It’s a curious thing, it’s not exactly a new phenomena as kite foiling has been around for a while now, but I was never really motivated to take it on seriously. I’m not sure…

When I tell people I’m from Spain they usually just assume I mean Tarifa. I spend a lot of time there, but I’m actually from the Costa Brava, just north of Barcelona. In the summer there are lots of restrictions and as the government charge the local club lots of money, you also have to pay to kite there, so you may not have heard much about the kiting there, but it was also home to riders like Gisela Pulido, David Tonijuan and Cesar Portas. The kiteboarding scene is growing fast there too, so we all hope that the government starts to act more favourably towards kiteboarders. The spring is my favourite time as the landscapes are beautiful and the summer vibe starts to take effect early. The conditions are…

The aerial shots in this article are not taken with a drone, or from a full size helicopter. The former requires a special permit in this area, and the latter would be prohibitively expensive to reach the locations we covered. I’ve been working with a mad scientist named Ken Conrad on a separate project to find a way to get a camera aloft and shoot from a traditional Hawaiian voyaging canoe, called Hokùle’a, as she travels around the world. A drone that can carry a full-sized stills camera is a very bulky piece of equipment that wouldn’t be suitable to carry onboard. Also, because of the costs and other logistical challenges with full size helicopters, I needed to find another solution. Enter Kite Aerial Photography. Not to be confused with…

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SOUTH AFRICA - CAPE TOWN Many pro riders and kiteboarding seasonaires head to Cape Town for the African summer season and the annual return of the strong ‘Cape Doctor’ winds as well as regular pumping swells. A vast array of beaches take any swell direction, there are plenty of spots to choose from and, while Cape Town is well known for its waves, Langebaan lagoon offers a vast area of flat water riding and is 90 minutes north. If you’d like some wave coaching, then schools such as KiteKahunas run courses that specialise in that discipline and will escort you on downwinders. The cost of living is affordable with accommodation and dining options ranging from shared guest house style accommodation to more luxurious apartments and houses and there’s…

TEST TEAM NOTES: Here the sixth version of the Envy. Last year we were highly impressed by the slight change in direction that Liquid Force took with the kite, becoming lighter, more responsive and more athletic. It has always been a fun, dependable freeride kite, but as it had been quite heavily built in the past – so was super strong – that also made it a little bit sluggish in the turns. The increase in agility last year also translated into a wicked boosting ability. For 2016 the trailing edge has an increase in tension with light weight waves of dacron introduced as kites do wear quickly when left to flap on the beach for long periods. In general Liquid Force have continued where they left off in 2015,…

LIQUID FORCE FOIL FISH This was version one of the Foil Fish and, as Liquid Force were the first to the non-custom production-based foil table in 2014, this set-up has had up to a year’s less development than the others here. Dipping their toe into the foil market, LF released this as two boards in one to represent tempting value. The foil is all modular and packs up into a neat, padded case. The Happy Foil and the Rocket Fish have since been released to sit alongside the Foil Fish, but we were too early to get our hands on those. The ‘Skim’ Fish board is bombproof. The actual foil section is made of aluminium rather than slinky carbon like the racier types. However, aside from the financial savings of…

BEST KITESURFING CLUB: CBK-HAYLING ISLAND Chris Bull and family picking up the award on home turf BEST KITESURFING SHOP: EDGE WATERSPORTS Steph and Eric Bridge receive their award from Lewis BEST EVENT: VIRGIN KITESURFING ARMADA FESTIVAL 2014 Organiser Dan Charlish grabs his award from Jim and Rou BEST BRAND REPRESENTATIVE: DOM YULE – F-ONE, MANERA (TKC SALES) Top bloke - receiving his award from soon-to-be-mum, Jo Wilson OVERSEAS AMBASSADOR AWARD: LEWIS CRATHERN A well deserving winner! OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO KITESURFING: JIM GAUNT (KITEWORLD MAG) AND ROU CHATER (IKSURFMAG) – FOR THEIR BRITISH KITESURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS COLLABORATION IN 2015 Awkward? The Saturday evening entertainment line-up at the 2015 Virgin Kitesurfing Armada in October featured the first ever UK Kitesurfing Industry Awards, hosted by Kiteworld’s Jim Gaunt and Iksurfmag’s Rou Chater. Voted on…

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…

VITAL STATISTICS: AGE: 19 LIVES: SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN SPONSORS: STAR KITEBOARDING, AXIS KITEBOARDING, DOUBLE UP WAKE, RIDE ENGINE AUSTRALIA, VOICE CLOTHING BEST RESULTS: 17TH VKWC MOROCCO 2015 How did you get into kitesurfing? Searching for the ultimate adrenaline rush in extreme sports. How did you get sponsored? Sponsorship didn’t come easy, and it didn’t help living in Australia. After entering lots of competitions, emailing regularly and saving hard through working 18 hour shifts to get to world championship event in Dakhla, Morocco, I eventually got my first sponsorship. Have the things that you enjoyed about kiteboarding changed at all in the time you’ve been doing it? No way! I’m still a kiteboarding addict. It feels like just yesterday when I had my first lesson when I was 14!…

In the early morning of 1st January 2015, Johann Civel and I were at Lyon airport awaiting a flight to Amsterdam, connecting to Beijing and finally, after more then 24 hours we landed at Jilin airport in the Manchuria region of northeast China. David, Ozone’s Chinese distributor awaited us. He is very involved in kiteboarding, having organised the Chinese stages of the PKRA world tours and this year’s racing championships. After a welcome shower he took us to a typical restaurant where we ate jellyfish, grasshoppers, chicken feet, bone marrow through a straw and other food which perhaps better remained unidentified. We were served a 65% alcohol drink with snakes and worms floating in it. The seven-hour jet lag and the alcohol sent us soundly to sleep that night. Next…

“Hello, my name is Giuseppe and this my wife, Sabina. She is a true beauty born and raised in Maputo. This is our son, Kiri, he’s three and speaks Italian and Portuguese. Please make yourself comfortable and feel free to grab a beer from the fridge. I’m going to prepare a few pizzas for you guys.” It’s our last night in Mozambique and we’re on our way back to Johannesburg where we rented our cars. Claudio is a fan and a friend of Matchu, so of course he’s an avid kitesurfer and he offered us an invite to stay at his place. He has been responsible for the security of the Italian Embassy in Mozambique for the last two years, he owns a couple of houses, has a nice family…

In board sports, the essence of style is derived from stillness. Grabbing your board and holding it for the entirety of a jump not only looks extremely elegant, but is proof of perfect aerial balance. Imagine for a moment you are standing on a slack line. Unless you have mastered it already, you’ll be shaking and waving your arms as you try to maintain your balance. Now stand perfectly still and see how long it takes before you fall. You will find that without movement to help you balance, you will fall almost immediately. The same is true when you’re performing kitesurfing tricks in the air. Grabbing forces you to lock your body position and sets your inertia on a path that can only be changed by breaking position, so…

Hi guys, as someone who rides through most of the year in Northumberland, northeast UK, where water temperatures drop to around 6.2 degrees centigrade and never reach far above 15, I’ve long been focused on searching out quality winter neoprene - so it was a pleasure to put this collection of winter suits to the test. I put a lot of importance on how a suit performs in the grimmest of conditions. I tested the suits in October when water temperatures in Northumberland average 11 degrees (without windchill) and yes, it wasn’t quite winter, but it was colder than most other places in the UK at that time of year due to how far the coastline is from the Gulf Stream. I tested them kiting, SUPing, and body surfing in…

TESTERS: Bully, Matt and Jim TEST TEAM NOTES: We won’t gush too much over the build quality that we enjoy in North’s products, suffice to say that the Dice is right on par as usual – not overly heavy, but reassuringly well made. The North valve has had some subtle internal tweaks to make it easier to twist, it’s more robust and has generally seen some tweaks to tidy up a few imperfections on the first version last year. There are no external pins to catch on anything, it works with any pump hose, allows efficient pumping with no loss of air and then the twist cap is now even easier with a slight change to the thread. North have introduced some small changes to the canopy with increased dacron…

TEST TEAM NOTES: The kite steed we used to test the foils in those super light conditions was the 11 metre Ozone Chrono 2. All the serious foilers are now using foil kites but, like many of you, we’d written this category of kite off to the pros only in our minds. We ride on water 100% of the time, so why wouldn’t we just want a kite with inflatable tubes? Well, you’re about to find out, but please note, we didn’t back-to-back test this kite with any other foil kites, so there are no comparisons, only the feel we had from the Chrono 2 itself. The first look at the kite can be terrifying – there are so many lines on that bridle! Take the time to study the…

CARRYING THE BOARD There are two ways to carry the board. The first is to carry the board on its side like a twin-tip. The second is to carry the board with the foil resting on your shoulder and the board behind you. I prefer to carry the board the first way because when it gets windy the foil can blow around a bit if it´s on your shoulder. It does however depend how far you’ve got to walk. If you don’t have your kite up, sometimes it’s easier with the foil on your shoulder. BODY DRAGGING When you are body dragging I think the best way is to keep the board on the upwind side of you. Having the board upwind and the foil away from you reduces the…

MOVE: TOP TURN – TAIL RELEASE RIDER: REO STEVENS PHOTOS: JASON WOLCOTT / LEWHS One of the best things about surfing with a kite is the fact that the kite gives you all the speed you could ever want on a wave, allowing the rider to go faster, jump higher and carve harder than traditional surfing. However, sometimes our strongest tools are also our biggest crutch. Most kitesurfers pay too much attention to the kite in their hands rather than the board under their feet. It’s easy to forget that speed can also come from your board and body posture when you have 25 knot winds and a nine metre strapped to your waist. Kitersurfer’s over-emphasized use of their kite leads them to use their board as a brake pedal…