Innehållsförteckning för #52 från TheKiteMag

Historically, when a free sport elects to become ‘Olym-picized’ for some die-hard roots participants, we’re entering dodgy ground. Take snowboarding as an example… Off the bat, the pathway to get be-stringed aquatic sailing propulsion or ‘kitesurfing’ as we’ve known it to the Olympics has been a tumultuous one politically, only narrowly avoiding some hideous one-design classes. Various landmines have nearly been stepped on. For the common or garden kiter, it’s a long way from what you’ll experience on the beach with its hyper-expensive and technical foil kites, but there’s no denial that hydrofoil racing has helped finance and turbocharge foil development. This has already trickled down to what we use for freeriding on a day-to-day basis, and dare we even mention wingfoiling. Colin is trying to convince us to take…

Not many of our kite friends had been to Boa Vista before. We had heard a lot about the neighboring island, Sal, which is better known amongst kiters for its waves, and for Mitu Monteiro and co. We read online that Boa Vista is the less crowded and touristy, more easy-going island, with more deep-water spots and wind every day. Our main kite discipline is hydrofoil freestyle. We are sponsored by Armstrong Foils International and by Andy’s Kiteshop here in Switzerland, so when we go on kite holidays it is more like a training camp than a holiday. Boa Vista sounded perfect for us – a direct flight away from Zürich, instant warm weather in our cold European winter, plus kite bags travel free of charge! Our first thoughts when…

THE PROCESS IS YOUR TOP-SELLING FREERIDE BOARD. WHAT MAKES IT SO POPULAR YEAR AFTER YEAR? We developed the Process as Eleveight’s very first twintip when we launched as a brand seven years ago. We aimed to develop a performance freeride board with outstanding riding characteristics to fit well with progressing riders. Franz Schitzhofer, our legendary shaper remembers “I wanted to create a board that concentrates on what really counts in kiting – FUN!” Many entry-level freeride boards are not so thought out regarding the fast progression of riders, and most mainly focus on just a low price point construction. The Process has a sophisticated construction with many features more often associated with a higher price category. The result is a board that is very comfortable and forgiving when riding that…

Historically we’ve witnessed a constant feed of media from Keahi and Moona which nearly always features them riding beautifully backlit clean rights on Oahu, with the power source consistently the Cabrinha Drifter. This kite’s been at the Cabrinha stable for a considerable period now as the wave-specific model, and Drifter couldn’t have been a more apt name for it. You’d park it, and it would sit there like an obedient pet, which would allow you a generous degree of freedom on the wave face. This year heralds the most significant refresh of the Drifter for a while, with Pat Goodman back on the kite design. He looked at the concept with a fresh set of eyes and a design intention on increasing the kite’s mobility without losing that classic parked…

In a saturated market of do-it-all kites, Eleveight has consistently delivered an industry contender in their RS. The seventh generation of the Eleveight RS is at the forefront of this year’s lineup thanks to its versatility and extensive performance, resulting in a freeride multidiscipline kite that can compete with the biggest names in the industry. We threw the RS V7 into multiple scenarios on this test, to truly challenge their design philosophy around the one-kite-fits-all approach, and we were not disappointed. The standout appeal for us was the exceptionally huge wind range packed into a single kite; the V7 has superior efficiency thanks to an updated profile allowing you to minimize your quiver to just two kites. Gone are the days of lugging around numerous kites on your holiday –…

A pro-model surfboard designed specifically with women and lighter riders in mind was well overdue, and Appletree have delivered beautifully with this well thought-out board developed in conjunction with GKA competitor Johanna-Catharina. She tells us how the Apelviken came about. I have been kitesurfing for more than a decade, competing on the world tour for the past five years, and have worked on several video and photo projects, but that’s not all. Besides competition and media projects, I’ve been involved with product development of ION’s wetsuits, harness and leashes, plus the recent wave kite STOKE3 from Flysurfer. Over the years I’ve been riding a wide range of directional boards from many brands, but even when I rode their smallest board in the range, I found myself disappointed and frustrated that…

It all started with an injury, that we transformed into something inspiring… In May 2022, I blew my knee out while kitesurfing in Italy with the RRD crew. The pain and devastation were unlike anything else. More than 15 years of kiting, hard landings and big crashes had taken their toll on my body. I blew my meniscus into pieces and suffered a ‘bucket handle tear’ – my knee was locked in a 90-degree position and couldn’t move. The decision was made to fly back home to Cape Town where I would undergo surgery and spend the next six months in recovery. To go through an injury like this has its setbacks, but we decided to look at the positives and make something good out of it. I met up…

SO, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT REDEVELOPING A KITE WITH SUCH AN EPIC LINEAGE? That’s indeed a key challenge with every single XR generation. On one hand each of the past XR generations has proven in many WOO records, Big Air podiums and in sales numbers how great this model performs, so you don’t want to mess it up compared to the previous models. On the other hand we always have ideas and take feedback from the team, dealers and customers which aspect of the model riders would like to see improved. For the XR8 we would never dare to change its DNA. But knowing our target groups really well – the big number of performance freeriders worldwide as well as Big Air professionals at the top of the pyramid…

The Master C+’s state-of-the-art carbon construction establishes it as the most premium twintip in the Eleveight lineup. Plus, thanks to this year’s striking new graphics, you are guaranteed to turn heads on and off the water. Eleveight remains at the cutting edge of our sport, producing one of the lightest high-performing crossover boards in the market, featuring a Super Fly 3D Paulownia wood core that has been milled to precision to significantly reduce the weight whilst aerospace-grade carbon delivers the performance synonymous with the Master C+ range. The massive pop generated from the Master C+ is thanks to an impressive lineup of features, starting with their rounded-tipped elliptical outline synonymous with performance freestyle. These medium flex tips have been optimized to create some serious explosive vertical pop by transferring the…

When it comes to North’s Big Air focused products, the Orbit gets the bulk of the limelight as regards competition success, but as we are all aware that’s only half the battle for achieving epic boosting. Often overlooked by the more casual observer, the board is probably equally important. The Atmos is North’s aptly named Big Air focused board used by altitude aficionados such as Marc Jacobs and Nick Jacobson. We’re going to focus on the carbon version, which is the top of the product line. This is built around a Paulownia wood core, which is well trodden ground in its application to twintip manufacturing, offering a solid base in regards to flex and shock dampening and also a natural product. On top of this, it’s a full carbon fiber…

Lieuwe welcomes their latest Big Air twintip, the Falcon, to the family. With all eyes focused on the Netherlands for the return of the long-awaited Red Bull Megaloop, it is good timing for the specialized Dutch board brand to craft a board focused on maximum performance in the Big Air realm. Lieuwe are a 100% board focused brand, crafting their twintips in their own workshop in the Netherlands. The Falcon is the second carbon board to come out of their workshop, and aims to strike the perfect balance between performance and comfort. Lighter and stiffer than the Shotgun, the Falcon is a high-performance Big Air board for intermediate to advanced riders (or those aspiring to be!). The carbon construction is surprisingly comfortable allowing any level of rider to feel confident…

At TheKiteMag, we’ve always been huge admirers of the CORE Section, the last V3 being what we’d describe as a close-to-perfect wave specimen, smooth and extremely versatile – a classically lined three-strut affair with relatively clean angled wingtips, but with a modified profile from the rest of the CORE range with the maximum camber pushed further back to furnish it with improved leeward tendencies for obvious wave-related reasons. Technical changes for the fourth version are visually subtle, but in practice quite comprehensive, including a complete revision of the canopy material to CoreTex 2.0. This is slightly lighter, has improved UV coating and tear resistance, as well as pretty much eliminating flutter in the top end which was quite noticeable whilst testing in Cape Town. The airframe is made from mixed…

RUBEN LENTEN Nice change from competitive kiter to competitive businessman! Congrats on the vision and success so far. Was it always your dream to start your own brand or when did you decide to give it a go? Thanks Ruub! I knew I always wanted to do something after kiting but I wasn’t sure what it would be as I was so focused on competing. But I knew it would all become clear once the time was right. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset so, when Damien and I started talking about starting our own kite brand, we both got so much energy and motivation to do it. And that’s how it all started. COHAN VAN DIJK What is the story behind your one-handed handle passes and how long did…

WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST RECOLLECTIONS OF THE BEACH? As a good Carioca [resident of Rio], my family always took me to the beach. I was pretty much raised in a sailboat, as we spent a lot of time sailing around Rio and it was because of this connection to the wind that we got into kiting. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER OF YOUR FIRST SESSIONS? After many, many days watching all the colorful kites all around Rio, my dad decided to go on a course and invited me to go with him, and as a good child, I said, “Why not? Let’s go!” I remember my dad paid for the cheapest course he could find, and the total course time was only around four or six hours… Needless to say, we…

This whole session shouldn’t have happened. I’d had an emergency appendectomy surgery four weeks prior – I spent two nights in the hospital due to a ruptured appendix, and if I didn’t get the surgery, I could have died within 48 hours. Thank goodness for modern medicine… I hadn’t kited or trained at all since the operation and I wasn’t completely healed, but I couldn’t pass up on the biggest swell in a decade… I had to try. When we first pulled up on the ski, I knew it was super gnarly. I watched a 40-foot-tall wave have a 40-foot-wide barrel. Not only was it huge, but it was also super powerful. I can’t count how many times I’ve made the trek up to Jaws, but this was the most…

Winning his first world championship title at 29, Gianmaria Coccolutto is at an age when the vast majority of top freestyle professionals such as Alberto Rondina, Aaron Hadlow and Kevin Langeree have long since retired from the Freestyle World Cup. Cocco, as he is nicknamed, was a relatively late starter in kiting. Over the last few years he has invested everything and every cent to be able to wear this World Cup crown at some point, and finally last year, after the Freestyle final held at his favorite lagoon in Taiba, Brazil, the Italian made it. While so many kiters are focusing on Big Air nowadays, no one invests as many hours in freestyle as Cocco does. Meanwhile, James Carew drew attention to himself for the first time five years…

YOU’VE IMPLEMENTED A COMPLETELY NEW AND UNIQUE FRAME CONSTRUCTION FOR SUPERMODEL, THE HYBRID TORSION FRAME. WHAT WAS THE THINKING BEHIND THIS NEW ITERATION? The concept came simply from analyzing how kites turn. When you pull on the bar, you shorten one steering line while lengthening the other one. The kite reacts to that input in a few different steps that happen quickly – the wingtip bends, slowing down one side of the kite, while the other side keeps on flying at the same speed – this initiates the turn. Then the whole leading edge and the entire canopy of the kite start twisting, slowing down the flying even more on one side for a continuous turn of the kite. As a designer, the goal is to get the kite to…

The SuperModel HTF feels like one of the most anticipated releases of the season, and there is a really good reason for that. Reedin has been making waves in the kite industry over the last three years, and the SuperModel HTF feels like the culmination of their journey. If you have seen any of the latest Reedin campaigns you will have noticed that ‘kite perfection’ has been at the forefront of this year’s collection! With the SuperModel HTF leading the charge. And how can perfection not be the goal when you have 2x World Champ and 3x King of the Air, Kevin Langeree as the co-founder? This is a guy who knows exactly what he wants from his kites, and this year the SuperModel HTF (Hybrid Torsion Frame) has taken…

ION’s Seek Select range is the high technology, no expense spared, top end of their wetsuit offerings. It features Titanium mesh, which has been around for a long time in terms of wetsuit technology, but this range-topping version of the Seek features the much-hyped futuristic material Graphene in the lining, a Nobel Prize winning substance with excellent thermal storage properties that is ultra-thin and flexible as well as tough. It makes perfect sense to integrate it in a wetsuit. This is utilized in the central body and leg panels, and to be perfectly frank, visually you wouldn’t really know it was there, other than how immediately warm the suit feels, even for a 4/3mm. Build-wise, the level of detail is impressive. The inner elbow joints are embossed and there’s some…

The Hyper has a lengthy legacy in the CrazyFly stable as a focused, no compromises Big Air kite, proudly and meticulously manufactured in Slovakia. Building on a five-strut platform with generous hints of delta and bow in the shape, there’s a lot of span and open canopy enabling all that raw lift and float the Hyper is famous for. With the welcome resurgence in popularity of the Big Air genre we’ve seen in the last couple of years, it was perhaps time to give the Hyper a bit of a work over. CrazyFly have done a great job of this, incorporating some exciting unique build features, but blending in some clever new materials, and boasting second-to-none levels of quality control and the most comprehensive warranty currently on the market. Perhaps…