Indholdsfortegnelse for #63 i TheKiteMag

True heroes For those of a certain age, it is crazy to reflect that we now live in a world where the capacity to capture a moment in time and preserve it forever is within the grasp of all of us, at any time, via those all-consuming devices in our pocket and their ever more advanced camera tech. We can then tweak it, enhance it and – especially as AI starts wrapping its tentacles ever more tightly around us – easily create our ‘perfect’ image. With this in mind it is worth reflecting on the number of action shots in this magazine (and the other magazines we publish here at Water Born Media) which are shot using this pocket-friendly tech that we rely on every day. The answer: zero. Nope,…

One rainy day in Norway, I got an email from a man I know from the RRD family, telling me about his kite school and his project to get more women into the ocean. He asked if I wanted to visit him on the island of Limnos. It sounded fun and I am also working on getting more women together in the ocean, but I had to admit – I had no idea where Limnos was. Have you heard of it? Doing a quick internet search, I found photos of stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters, and beautiful landscapes that looked perfect for water sports. But what really caught my attention was the surprise of a direct charter flight from Oslo to Limnos. How had I never heard of this island before?…

A dream forecast in Hermanus is something that can’t be missed. Hermanus is one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever kited and I can’t help but be in awe of Mother Nature’s beauty while kiting here. There’s a magical feel to the lagoon where the majestic mountains meet the ocean. The flat water and the most stunning backdrop create an almost surreal experience. However, for this session (after a two-hour drive from Blouberg, Cape Town) we arrived at Hermanus to find absolutely zero wind, despite every wind forecast looking perfect. We weren’t the only ones; half of Blouberg had seen the epic forecast and made the trip. We hung around for hours, looking rather lost and out of place. As the hours passed, more and more people decided to…

It actually started super simple – we were just a group of friends who loved to jump against each other during sessions. That playful competition – seeing who could go the highest, throw the craziest tricks, or just land the cleanest move – was always the best part of riding. So we figured: why not organize a little competition just for fun? That first event became Race 2 Space, a simple format where people use their Surfr app to measure jump heights. As a group of friends (Olivier, Marijn, Michiel, Jord, Skip, Max, Youri, Jurre, Sven and myself) we thought about hosting a classic SpaceX downwinder and we created a website to register and join us. It turned out way more people were into it than we expected – we…

If you subscribed to us this time last year you might remember that I attended the annual C Kite Festival in Mauritius. When I got the invite to go back this year, I have to admit I was slightly apprehensive about attending a second time – would it be as fun or would it feel slightly déjà vu? Well I needn’t have worried – C Mauritius Palmar stepped it up a notch and brought the vibes! And the weather gods were on point as well – if anything, an already tropical island was even warmer and windier than last year – I was on my 9m most days. As I said last year, the east coast of Mauritius is a fantastic place to kite with its spacious lagoons and flat-water…

RIDER CAPUCINE DELANNOY PHOTO MIGUEL CORTEZ LOCATION PERU CD: This was my favorite session of the whole trip. We’d just landed in Peru and came straight from the plane to Pacasmayo – a paradise for left handers that feels like a wave pool – endless waves, a couple of friends out riding, and the sunset right in front of us. The wind was light but just enough to go upwind on my 11m Carve. The waves were so long it would burn your legs to ride them all the way to the end. It felt like the perfect welcome to Peru – I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the trip… RIDER ADRIAAN LOUW PHOTO CARL FERREIRA LOCATION CAPE TOWN CF: Since starting Airborne Productions, I’ve been loving…

Let’s stare at the sky for a second and really take it in – that deep marble blue stretching endlessly, quiet, infinite in every direction. Now imagine an ocean that somehow burns brighter than the sky itself, a turquoise so electric it sears into memory, visible from space and impossible to forget. That’s where we were headed: the Bahamas. Scattered like a dream across the Atlantic, the Bahamas are a constellation of hundreds of islands, each with its own rhythm, its own shape, its own breath. Every sandbar sketches a fresh canvas. Every cove whispers an invitation. It’s a place that doesn’t just call, it shouts. “Come find me!” And with hearts halfway there, we answered. Blake Olsen, the barefoot beach boy from the Florida Keys, has been dancing with…

At Slingshot, we’ve always believed foiling should be fun – not frustrating. When we launched our first modular foil system, it made the magic of flight above water accessible to more riders than ever. It was simple, affordable, and inviting. In 2015, foiling finally clicked for wind and kite athletes, and that moment sparked a movement. Ten years later, we’ve seen and felt it all. We’ve logged countless hours on the water. We’ve chased perfect sessions – and also limped back to the car after ones that never happened. We’ve celebrated breakthroughs. And we’ve been humbled by setbacks. Especially the small, annoying ones. Like leaving your tool bag at home. Or dropping a screw in the sand. Or realizing your mast is frozen into your fuse because of saltwater corrosion.…

COLLEEN CARROLL YOUR KITING CAREER HAS DRASTICALLY CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS. WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION TO TRANSITION TO AN ENTIRELY NEW DISCIPLINE AND ANY MAJOR TAKEAWAYS FROM THE SWITCH? My main motivation was the dream I once had as a young girl to compete at the Olympics. When I grew up and started kiting this dream simply wasn’t a possibility anymore, and faded away. When it was announced kiting would be at the Olympics for the first time, even though it was a completely different discipline it did light that fire again. Since Covid cancelled all my travel plans for nearly a year I had the time to give it a try. It was a serious challenge to learn this completely new discipline, but I knew that the knowledge and…

Bali has always had a spot on the map for surfers chasing perfect waves and smoothie bowls – but I went there with a slightly different plan: to kite. And not just to kite the usual spots. I wanted to see if some of the more remote, surf-heavy corners of the island could work for a kite mission. Well, some of them did. Some of them nearly didn’t. Most of them were borderline ridiculous… Take Nyang Nyang – it’s a beautiful spot, postcard-worthy, but getting there with kite gear? Absolute nightmare… It’s basically a cliff with the beach a long way down at the bottom. Add in 15kg of kite equipment, 30°C heat, and a few confused monkeys watching you sweat your way down, and you’ve got yourself a fullbody…

THANKS FOR CHATTING TO US ANDRÉ! YOU PRODUCE SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING PHOTOS IN THE INDUSTRY. TELL US HOW YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNEY BEGAN. First of all, thank you very much! My interest in photography started thanks to my dad – he had a nice camera back in the film days, and that really sparked something in me. I was already into mountain biking at the time, so I’d take the camera on rides and shoot some scenic landscapes. From there, it felt natural to start photographing my friends doing sports. I started with mountain biking – slow shutter shots were my jam, no lights, just film and slow shutter in the dense rainforest in Rio. Then I had a few friends who surfed, and later on, I got into…

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a humpback whale surfaced right beside me as the Indian Ocean heaved and danced in sync with its movements. For a moment, a jolt of shock ran through my body, but it quickly turned into the widest grin across my sunburnt face. “WOW, this is insane!” I could hardly believe it. I felt privileged, grateful and ecstatic all at once. Instinctively, I steered my kite toward the ocean giant to get even closer to this breathtaking encounter. It was better than any National Geographic documentary – Mother Earth gifting me an unforgettable, real-life moment in the waves of the Outback, right at the UNESCO-listed Ningaloo Reef. When the massive marine mammal – at least 15 meters long and surely weighing close to 30 tons – resurfaced,…

WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR ADDING THE EVOLVE WETSUIT TO YOUR RANGE? Petroleum-based wetsuits, also known as neoprene, have been the industry standard since the 1950s. And to be fair, they changed everything. They’ve let us surf, kite, windsurf and foil year-round in cold-water regions. They’ve taken us to sub-zero zones. They’ve kept us out all day, pushing limits without worrying about hypothermia (though ice-cream headaches do still happen on occasion!). As our Design Director, Edwin Schaap, says, “A wetsuit is what makes our sports possible. It lets us go out in any season, in any conditions. Without a good wetsuit, you can’t ride the way you want to.” As materials and tech improved, so did our expectations for warmth, stretch and comfort. But alongside performance, the pressure to reduce…