Table of contents for #77 in Kiteworld Magazine

Kiteboarding has developed so quickly in its many styles and applications, yet there’s an irony at play here. Like a blossoming plant in your garden, the faster the offshoots grow, the harder it is to keep the whole package pruned and healthy. And with the current difficulties in both racing and freestyle disciplines, the problem has never been so evident. Let me explain. Firstly, racing. Some don’t care if kitesurfing gets into the Olympics. Personally, I think it would be an amazing boost, helping us reach out to the masses currently unaware that a sport called kitesurfing has been invented. Talk about exposure potential. And currently, it’s most likely that kitesurf racing will be the discipline that’ll successfully claim one of the International Sailing Federation’s Olympic slots – in the…

Once the infamous Triple-S wrapped up in June, Rich Sabo, Brandon Scheid, Craig Cunningham and I made our annual east to west cross-country trek to Hood River in Oregon. There’s now an ever-growing crew of park riding talent there and insane progression goes down daily at the Hood River Slider Project Park. International transplants together with born and bred locals are more motivated than ever to kite in the park and it was obvious that we were all itching for more! We knew it was time to follow through with plans we’d talked over in the last three years after the last Ro Sham Throwdown in 2012. We met at my house and over a few beers came with a game plan. There were only a few weeks before we…

What led to you attempting this? My first oceanic adventure was along the Portuguese coastline in 2013 which was the first world record I set for a single kitesurf journey: 564 kilometers in 29 hours. There were three hours without wind in the middle, which was a pain! I got more sponsors and in 2014 decided to do a crossing between two Portuguese Islands; the Savage Islands to Madeira, which took about 12 hours on an upwind tack. That was my first offshore training ahead of this year’s 1,000 kilometre challenge. I managed to do 874 kilometres non-stop with a support boat that gave me food and water every hour. They passed me the food and I ate it but we never stopped. In the end I did 48 hours…

There was a time that we thought this would be my 50th piece for Kiteworld. Unfortunately, it seems that the numerical skills of both your illustrious editor and my own have failed (perhaps unsurprisingly as it involved a number far higher than either of us have fingers) and it turns out this is number 54. We blew past 50 in a blur with no respect or regard for it whatsoever! My quota is around a thousand words an issue, so that means I’ve done something like 54,000 words till now - I can assure you my high school English teacher would be impressed. In fact, more than impressed as she struggled to even get a few hundred words a week out of me. There’s probably a lesson to be learned…

The first time I saw video of Ian Alldredge doing strapless front rolls a few years ago it just didn’t look real at the time. I repeatedly watched the video trying to work out how he did it and if there was some trick that I wasn’t seeing, but sure enough it was real. At the time I was mostly into wave riding and doing some simple strapless tricks, but realised there could be much more to it. I started focusing a lot more time to learning new tricks and as I started to figure them out I was hooked. Although the whole strapless freestyle scene is relatively new, it’s definitely gaining a lot more traction, especially in Europe. I used to do a lot of twin-tip freestyle but I’ve…

STEPS • Start with good speed and comfortable power. • Position your kite angle at 45 degrees. • Move your hands to the very centre of the bar. • While maintaining speed, ease your edge briefly, standing tall and bearing slightly downwind as you unhook. • With strong arms and elbows in towards your ribs, load your edge with shoulders back and hips forward. Then release from the water as you carve the board upwind and pop hard off your back leg. • Keep your arms strong and steady, making sure to keep the kite at the 45-degree position. • As you take-off from the water, turn your head aggressively, initiating the rotation with your head and shoulders. • Once airborne and facing backwards, release your backhand from the bar…

THE ELEMENT From barrel hunting in Hawaii, free riding your local lake or exploring the snow covered backcountry in the Alps, the Element4 is the perfect choice for your adventures. This mid-aspect ratio three-strut open-C design is solidly supported by a pulley-free compact bridle and offers the rider a tight, pivotal turn, smooth power delivery and incredible wind range. www.switchkites.com READING YOUR FRIEND’S COPY OF KITEWORLD? GET YOUR OWN AND DON’T MISS A THING! Subscriptions to our digital edition on the slick Zinio platform start from just £9 / US$14 / €13. Zinio’s sleek app is available in the App Store and Google Play and we have just launched our Kiteworld branded app that can be found in the iTunes Newstand which offers you the option of reading all our…

THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE ARMADA IS RAISING MONEY FOR FOUR CHARITIES. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THESE CHARITIES? We love the idea of bringing together kiting communities from across the UK and further afield, kiting together, breaking a World Record and having a kitesurfing festival that everyone can enjoy. But yes, a key part of the Virgin Kitesurfing Armada is always to raise funds for charity. In fact, the level of fundraising that the kitesurfing community has delivered through these events has led to the formation of the Armada Trust, a new charity dedicated to maximising funds raised from Armada events and distributing them to a range of fantastic causes. All funds raised at this years event will be supporting four fantastic charities: The RNLI (20%), Serve…

DO KITERS HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN LEVEL TO BE INVOLVED? Each participant must sign to say they are competent riding up and downwind, can manage winds up to 25 knots, have undertaken downwinders before, are able to confidently relaunch their kite in open water, can confidently bodydrag back to their board and are able to manage an open water safety pack down and self-rescue – if this is you then you can attempt the challenge! HOW DO YOU KNOW IF WE HAVE COMPLETED THE MILE RECORD DISTANCE? TracTrac are the company that provide all riders with a device that tracks their movements and sends a signal back to the control centre. This not only ensures that we are actually breaking the record with riders completing at least a mile,…

We have to be the ones to take responsibility for the future of our sport, for park riding in particular, and pull together to make it happen. The whole event relied on everyone taking part, getting a wetsuit on and wading out into the freezing cold water to adjust rails. Everyone did everything for free, even Steven Borja the videographer who filmed every trick so we could do video judging. We also had Toby Bromwich and Andre Magarao, two of the best photographers in the industry who just wanted to help out. I think that’s what created a cool atmosphere as things always get complicated when you add money. People always ask how you can throw yourself at a sketchy rail, but it’s all about stepping stones; building up your…

[1] WINNER – Russell Farrington and nine-year-old Lauren who clearly loved her ride between the piers in Bournemouth this summer. These two will ride anything with a kite – SUPs, dinghys, surfboards... anything they can go tandem on. This time, Russell’s back was good enough for Lauren PHOTO > Matt Dellar [2] Fabio Ruzzi, One Eye, Mauritius PHOTO > GoPro [3] Tim Nuttall on swell lookout in Cabarete earlier this year PHOTO > GoPro [4] Glyn Britton, Abu Dhabi. Glyn has only been kiting a few months but is loving it. Not surprising with conditions like this! PHOTO > Unknown [5] Zoe Loefstok, 16 years-old at Boca Grande in Aruba. ‘A perfect summer afternoon’ Zoe says, who is another new recruit having only been kiting for three months, and already…

It’s a mighty big ocean; eventually it’s gonna get you. I’ve made a career out of taking waves on the head and have some experience on the subject. There are three things to be really concerned with, whether you are kiting, shooting or surfing in big waves: 1) you don’t want to get smashed into the bottom (too hard); 2) get held under (too long); or 3) get swept out to sea (too far.) Okay, there’s also encounters with big pointy fish and getting run over, but the former is mostly chance and the latter is basically pilot error, which I can’t help you with. If you find yourself on the receiving end of an imminent beating, the trick to not getting smashed into the bottom is mostly about having…

In the general scheme of action sports, kiteboarding is the new kid on the block. Growing impressively from an outlandish looking sport that garnered little more attention than the occasional mention in some windsurfing magazines in the late nineties, it became the fastest growing watersport in the world in a relatively short amount of time. Although predictions were common about how quickly this fledgling sport could grow, foresight into the direction it would develop were much harder to nail down from one year to the next. When the first windsurfers wanted to learn a new trick they couldn’t refer to a bank of online ‘how-to’ videos, just as the first snowboarders couldn’t go on Facebook and watch videos of their favourite pro-riders tearing it up for inspiration. We’re extremely fortunate…

If it’s extreme, punchy wind, powerful waves and city living you’re after, then Cape Town really is the place to be. These are among the good reasons that pros flock to Cape Town for the South African summer and why Red Bull host the King of the Air competition in Big Bay each year but, in all honestly, not all kiters would be comfortable with the day-to-day conditions out there. In my best ‘survival mode’, my kiting skills are enough to get me by, but when it comes to progressing as a twin-tip rider, I admit, it’s not the place for me. Having ended most of my sessions being spat out on the beach from the washing machine surf in Blouberg, it wasn’t long before I craved some respite from…

Going with the flow is about following instinct, doing what feels right and then adapting to things as they occur – that's what I love doing. It's not always as easy as it sounds because for most people the mind automatically kicks in, applies itself as a brake and disturbs the flow. It's important to be in tune with your body and your mind, to focus on the things that come naturally. After flying a kite for 17 years I know my style and my favourite moves, which narrows down my goals. On the world tour I was challenged to do the most technical moves. It was fun but not in my nature. I ride because I want to feel free; as if time disappears and there's nothing to lose…

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…

The Virgin Kitesurfing Armada is now in its third year, and it's been a very enjoyable roller-coaster ride seeing the event grow over the last few years. It's thanks to the support of the kitesurfing community, industry and many others that we are still here - and this year's festival of all things kitesurfing looks to be bigger than ever. So, if you are reading this before the event, there is still time to sign up - so why not get involved? If you are reading this at the event - a massive welcome on behalf of all the team! We hope you have a memorable and fantastic weekend - both on the water and at the festival. Thank you again for your support. We have been working hard to…

WHAT CHANGES WERE THERE THE FOLLOWING YEAR? After the first year we decided to try to launch a kitesurfing festival around the Armada idea - there wasn't a specific kitesurfing festival out there, the brands seemed keen and Havant Council were supportive as ever and somehow we managed to get it off the ground. There were a few challenges, especially when we wanted to maintain the three weekend wind window idea - which makes booking huge marquees, stages, bands, portaloos, security, food stalls and everything else we planned pretty tricky, but it all came together. Of course we were very unlucky with wind last year with nothing at all over the first two weekends, meaning it was all or nothing for the last one. The last weekend was also a…

In a normal session you'll change tack, go back to the beach, chat to your friends or change kites, depending on the conditions. Your body gets a break from straining against the kite and you can head back out refreshed and ready to tear it up again. However, regular rest ‘n' chill breaks aren't necessarily a luxury that you'll be afforded on a downwinder. A bit of training on the lead up to an epic undertaking will make a world of difference. Work through these exercises to build quads of steel and also to help you recover more quickly afterwards. THE EXERCISES WALL SLIDES Wall slides are a squat with your back against a wall. They force your quadriceps (the muscles on the front of your thighs) into an isometric…

CABRINHA Cabrinha launched their 2016 full line-up in July and there have been some interesting changes. The Radar and the infamous Switchblade kites have both been reworked to produce even more low end power, while the Drifter - Cab’s dedicated wave kite - has been tweaked to deliver greater slack line drift and increased depower for a pure surf feel in the waves. The FX and Chaos freestyle kites both benefit from faster turning speeds and extra trimming options. The surfboard and twin-tip ranges are improved too, redesigned with stiffer flex patterns in the Caliber and Ace and enhanced edge control, pop and robustness for the CBL wakestyle board thanks to a brand new outline and P-Tex base. Cab’s tight but effective surfboard line also continues to offer something for…

By any measure, a sport that boasts a pair of back-to-back world-class kite events featuring nearly 100 of the planet’s fastest riders doing battle over 96 high-octane races in nine breathless days, would appear to be in rude health. Few would deny the enthralling action at the KiteFoil Gold Cup and subsequent Formula Kite World Championships represented anything other than an exhilarating spectacle at kite racing’s cutting edge. Both events delivered the kind of theatrical intensity expected of athletes at the top of their game. The tightest racing pitted the sheer sizzling pace of raw, youthful talent against the wily tactical nous of some of the world’s most experienced competitors. It threw up intriguing battles on the flat, warm waters, all conducted at mind-boggling speeds. Inevitably, there were game-changing tangles…

In an age in which the overuse of plastics is second nature, the vast burning of fossil fuels and the emission of carbon is ever increasing, we are putting a huge burden on our planet and this is taking its toll on the sea. The oceans of our planet cover more than 70% of its surface area and, perhaps due to the modern attitude that what is out of sight is out of mind, the damage being caused is being left largely unchecked. There seems to be a presumption among some people that, because the sea is extremely vast, whatever waste goes into it will simply be absorbed and won’t have a knock-on effect. This way of thinking has existed for decades now. Thanks to an increase in environmental education…

‘Strapless’ - it seems to be the word on the beach and something I am trying myself, not that I can do much just yet. ‘Strapless’ is a shortened term for kiting while riding a surfboard without straps; not anything to do with what I am wearing, which a lot of my unknowing male counterparts seem to think when I talk about it. Feeling the power and freedom of catching waves riding a board without straps is the ultimate goal for many, but adding a circa six foot beast to your already large kite luggage used to be only for the diehard wave enthusiasts. Here in Tarifa, Spain, there’s not usually much in the way of surf in the summer, so I was surprised to see advertisements around town for…

1.POP The first and most important element when performing a powerful trick is the pop you need to deliver to execute the action. I focus on ensuring I transfer an optimal amount of pressure from my lines down through the board to produce a hard, explosive pop. 2.PACE For any trick, generating the right amount of pop, power and precision begins with the speed that you go into the trick with. The faster you go into a trick the higher you will go, the slacker the lines will be and the more extreme the manoeuvre! 3. PRACTICE When performing a trick, whether it be when you’re learning a new trick or perfecting one you already know, it takes practice, practice, practice - no matter what sport or discipline you are…

During the winter we started a collaboration with IKSURFMAG and the British Kitesports Association to reinvigorate the UK competition scene and formed the British Kitesurfing Championships. Combining forces and having a huge amount of fun at the same time, we staged championships for Pro Men and Women, Men’s Masters, Amateur Men and Women and Juniors. We staged two highly competitive rounds in Lancing and Southend for all classes, and in Hunstanton we found enough wind at 7am on Saturday 16th August to run the finale to the Pro Men and Women. The champions and podium positions finished as follows: MEN’S OVERALL 2015 FREESTYLE:Champion Sean Murphy2 Rich Flindall3 Oli Sweeney WOMEN’S OVERALL 2015 FREESTYLE:Champion Rosanna Jury2 Danielle Durrant3 Sukie Robertson SOUTHEND JUNIOR PODIUM:1 Harry Way2 Cameron Auld3 Toby Cooke JUNIORS Jack…

Hello everyone! Well, as some of you may have noticed Virgin have recently been getting even more involved in the wonderful world of kitesurfing. We are excited about the Virgin Kitesurfing World Championships and we hope the new tour will provide a huge boost to the sport. Alongside these developments at the elite level of kitesurfing, our support for the fantastic Virgin Kitesurfing Armada initiative is also increasing – and we are delighted to see the event growing and expanding internationally, inspiring thousands of recreational kiters like me to get involved! Once again, when the UK Kitesurfing Armada returns to Hayling Island this autumn, we will be bringing kitesurfers together from far and wide in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record and raise thousands for charity, and I…

The Guinness World Record mile is very clearly marked out with buoys and it's really important to make sure that you keep south of them. Last year there were a few people who didn't go round the outside of them, so didn't end up completing a mile before they came into the beach check-point. This year we're hoping for more wind so that we have two options for you – the record mile and then the full 30km / 18 mile downwinder to Pagham! For both it's really important to stay south of any markers, buoys or boats. Here's a guide to what you can expect on the full downwinder, what to look out for, areas of particular joy and also why you need to observe the markers. THE BIG…

Camping and campervan passes for the whole festival weekend are just £40 per tent (four people) or campervan – so it's as cheap as chips to stay on Hayling and take in the whole festival. Camping also guarantees the shortest walk possible back to your bed after each of the epic parties. Plus, Lew loves his van, so who knows, you might be lucky enough to wake up to a sight similar to the lovely shot him on this page first thing in the morning… Numbers are limited by Havant Council so book your camping or campervan pass at: www.kitesurfingarmada.com Live updates at: www.facebook.com/kitesurfingarmada www.twitter.com/kitesurfarmada…