Boards 2004 Trip to Isla de Coche New world speed record

Boards 2004
Trip to Isla de Coche
New world speed record
Interview with Eric Hertsens
www.surfineurope.net
Editor and translation:
Jonas Hörnstein
[email protected]
+46 702 63 22 79
Contributors:
Christian Dittrich
Kristina Karlsson
Anna Sparre
Mathieu Turries
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About the magazine:
KitesurfinEurope has 4 issues per
year.
Cover photo:
Håkan Rebane tries out the new
toy of Apelviken, Sweden
Photo: Mat, Aloha Photo
The first number of KitesurfinEurope was an immediate
success! Already during the first weekend hundreds of
issues were downloaded and since the introduction of the
English version thousands of issues have been
downloaded
from
both
the
official
homepage
www.surfineurope.net and from www.surfzone.se where the
Swedish issue can be found. Apparently it wasn’t just me
that felt the need for an accessible and free kitesurfing
magazine. I would like to thank all those that have sent
encouraging mails and suggestions on future articles and
improvements. As a concrete result of those suggestions
we have, among other things, increased the resolutions of
the images for this number.
The kite season is now well under way which can be told
both from the fact that the calendar is full of interesting
competitions and events and that the beaches are getting
full of activity. KitesurfinEurope will do the best to follow all
these events and at the same time spend as much time as
possible on the water to try out all the new boards and new
manoeuvres that turned up during the winter. In this
number we describe the latest news on the board market
and how to get the most out of your jumps in order to pull
off all the new tricks. Apart from that we have loads of
interesting articles for you to read if the wind isn’t strong
enough to get out on the water so print your magazine and
get down to the beach.
Innehåll:
Isla de Coche, Venezuela…………………………… 4
Follow Christian Dittrich and Anna Sparre to the warm
water and steady winds outside Venezuelas coast.
Boards 2004……………………………………………. 8
Are you thinking of getting a new board? Here you get a
guide to the different types offered for the 2004 season.
Kite school: jumps..…………………………………. 16
A good jumping technique is the key to the more advanced
manoeuvres. We show you how to master the different
styles.
More kites…………………………………………….. 18
We complete the list of news on the kite market found in the
last issue, with some additional brands.
Interview with Eric Hertsens…………………….... 20
Mainly known as an excellent board designer Eric Hertsens
is successfully taking on kite design.
PKRA Austria…………………..…………………….. 22
Christian and Anna tell about their experiences from the
first world cup event of the season.
New world record in speed.....…………………….. 26
During Mondial du vent a new world record in speed was
marked. KitesurfinEurope had a man on place.
KPWT, Les Sables d’Olonne………..………………30
The first event of the Kiteboard Pro World Tour was held in
France with good wind and nice waves.
The hard life at Isla de Coche
Text and Photo: Anna Sparre & Christian Dittrich
The wake up procedure at Coche starts at dawn. The cock starts to crow at half past six, followed
by the barking of the dogs, and at seven, when the children turn on the TV, you are definitely
awake. Dogs and children are without a doubt the main population in San Pedro, the largest
village on Coche. So, irrespective of the hour you went to bed, you are too wide-awake to stay in
bed after half past seven. When you look through the window you notice, as usually, that the
wind is already there. This is Venezuela, one of the windiest places on earth.
The choice of breakfast is easy.
Either you are really hungry and
go to Hotel Paradise to eat a
giant buffet for about 1,5 Euros
or you buy six small pizzas at
the pizzeria across the market
place, and you are ready to go.
The next task is to find a taxi. In
the morning this can take a
while since the taxi drivers like
to drink Polar beer until late in
the nights. All the taxi cars on
the island are huge, old, and
thirsty Americans. We wondered
how they could afford to fill them
up with petrol until we noticed
that a full tank was less than a
Euro. Petrol is actually cheaper
than water in Venezuela!
San Pedro has three small
stores, a church, and an
”Internet café” with three
computers sharing a single 28kmodem, and not a single
washing machine. People are
poor, but very kind. We heard
that we were the first foreign
tourists that had ever lived in
San Pedro. People at the street
whispered and looked curiously
at us during the first weeks.
On the way to the beach you
shouldn’t be surprised if you see
a horse feeding on the pavement. Or a pig…
Kiting
The beach is three kilometres
long and extends from San
Pedro to la Punta, which is the
most popular kite spot on the
island. The sand is as white as
a chalk and the water is crystal
clear. The wind comes from
east, which is straight offshore,
and normally increases from 12
knots in the morning to more
than 25 knots in the afternoon.
In the beginning it feels a little
unaccustomed
to
ride
in
offshore wind, but as soon as
you get to know the local
fishermen that make up the
rescue
team
(which
is
unavoidable) you feel much
safer.
island. He is also the owner of
one of the five houses on the
island. The house is beautifully
placed in the bay where you
kite, and while you’re having a
great session he prepares a big
lunch with fresh, grilled fish,
chicken, and lots of other
delicacies. You leave Coche or
El Yache at around 10 in the
morning and get back at around
9 in the evening. It is definitely
worth to go there as it costs
45000Bs (13 Euros) including all
food.
Even though the beach is long,
it can get pretty crowded.
Everyone wants to ride closest
to the beach where the water is
as flat as a parquet floor and
where the rescue is near. Coche
is perfect for learning new tricks.
There is nothing that disturbs
you except a few fishermen and
the birds that follows their boats.
When you get tired of riding flat
water, you take a taxi to the
other side of the island, which
takes about 15 minutes, and
you’ll have a nice wave spot all
for yourself. The waves aren’t
very big, but can be clean when
the swell is big.
Ven a Kite is the name of the
national kitesurfing cup of
Venezuela. From the 21st to the
24th of February a competition
was held at Coche. The event
was sponsored by the local beer
producer, Polar, so it was a
huge party. The competition
was
divided
into
three
categories, long distance, hang
time and freestyle. The Swedish
visitants did a good job as could
be seen in the results.
From Coche it is only a one
hour boat trip to the beautiful
island Cubagua. It really looks
like a postcard. You kite in a
small sheltered bay with flat,
crystal clear water and crossoffshore wind.
Usually the
owner of Hotel Coche organizes
one-day excursions to the
4
1st Freestyle men: Mike the Knife
1st Freestyle women: Anna Sparre
1st Hang time men: Christian
Dittrich (5.8 s)
1st Hang time women: Anna Sparre
(she also 5.8 s)
1st Long distance: Leo the local
The end of the day doesn’t
mean that the wind stops, but as
the sun goes down you’re
probably too tired to keep kiting
anyway.
5
Once again it can take awhile to
find a taxi since the drivers
seems to hide away just before
sunset. When you finally find a
taxi the driver can equally well
say that you are too sandy to
enter the car (which is a good
excuse for him to go and take a
beer instead of working) or he
can decide to bring his beer
drinking friends to at least make
the work a little more fun.
The Coche pace
When you live at Coche you
slowly start to adapt yourself to
the pace of the island. You walk
slower, get dressed slower,
prepare the kite slower, and so
on. We called it “the Coche
pace”. People here don’t work
too much, not because there
aren’t anything to do, but simply
because they don’t feel like it.
The ones that work are either
taxi drivers or fishers, while the
rest of the population take it
easy in their chairs on the
pavement and check out what
happens on the street.
A day off
When it doesn’t blow (which
almost never happens) or when
you’re too tired to kite, an
excursion to Porlamar can be a
nice change. Porlamar is the
biggest city at Isla Margarita and
is about 20 minutes by taxi from
El Yaque. Most people start with
a visit at Conejero, the market
that has all the clothes you can
imagine, loads of stuff you don’t
need, and some really nice fruit
drinks. The centre of Porlamar
has some nice shops and good
access to the Internet. You can
also find some really good
burgers and lots of sweets in the
different market stands. A place
you don’t want to miss after just
eating rise and fish for a while is
6
Sambil. This is the biggest
shopping mal in Porlamar and
there you can find all sorts of
junk food and the best ice
cream in the world.
Be prepared
The only reason to think twice
before you decide to go here is
that your stomach may regret it.
Venezuela is probably the
country that has the most and
the worst stomach illnesses in
the world. The first evening
here, Christian drank something
called filtered water at the hotel.
He still wishes he hadn’t. Some
weeks after seven of us ate
shellfish at a local restaurant
and the same night everyone of
us got sick. Now, several
weeks, and a couple of hospital
visits, later some still suffers
from stomach problems.
Good winds, friendly people, an
exciting culture and absolutely
no stress are some of the things
you could expect from Coche.
Now when we have to go home
after nearly three months in this
kitesurfing paradise we know
that we will miss many things
at our favourite island. Isla de
Coche is a very special place
and we highly recommend you
to take a trip there!
Isla de Coche, short facts:
Currency: Bolivar. One USD is worth 1950-3000 Bolivars (9 March 2004) depending on where you do the
exchange. The official exchange rate at the bank is 1950. In shops, restaurants, and at the street you’ll get 3000.
Bring USD, credit cards means official rates.
Language: Spanish. Few people speak English.
Religion: Catholicism
Cost of living: Food: 10,000 Bolivars/meal Housing: 75,000 Bolivars/week Transportation to beach: 2000 Bolivars
per trip
Windy season: Best winds from January to May.
Kite size: 14 in the morning, 8-10 in the afternoon.
Climate: Warm water, no wetsuit needed. Strong sun, bring a rash guard and strong sun protection.
Kite spots:
La Punta. The main beach at Coche. Offshore wind and totally flat water. Rescue boat available.
Isla Cubagua. Access by boat (1h). Cross-offshore and flat water. Tropical and beautiful scenery.
El Yaque, Isla Margarita. Gusty winds, crowds, and choppy water. Great nightlife.
Living:
El Palangre. Simple but cosy living at a Venezuelan family
Hotel Oasis de Coche. Pretty cheap hotel. Good prices if you stay a longer time.
Hotel Coche Paradise. All inclusive.
To eat:
Safiros restaurant at El Palangre. Cheap and good Venezuelan food.
Pizzeria, San Pedro. Really good pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches, and cookies.
El Boyo. Cheap fish restaurant.
Hotel Coche Paradise. Great buffet.
7
Boards 2004
Text: Jonas Hörnstein
The kite may be the most important part of your equipment, but the significance of the board
should not be underrated. Indeed it’s the kite that gives you the power and to a great deal
determines how fast you can get upwind and how high you’ll be able to jump, but most of the
time you won’t even think about its presence. The board on the other hand has a more direct
presence and more directly contributes to the overall feeling of the ride. Here we try to guide you
through the enormous variety of boards on the market so you can find the board that gives you
exactly the feeling you’re after.
Classification of the boards
To describe every board on the
market in detail is more or less
impossible. Instead we have to
generalise and try to group the
boards into various categories.
Traditionally the boards have
been divided into three different
classes: directional, twin tip, and
mutants.
Directionals
are
designed to be ridden in one
direction and hence have a front
and a back. The twin tips are
totally symmetrical and works
equally well in both directions,
which means that you don’t
need to turn the board when you
want to go in the opposite
direction. A mutant can be seen
as a mixture of the two previous
types as they work in both
directions
but
have
one
preferred direction. While the
classification of the boards into
directionals, twin tips, and
mutants,
give
interesting
information about their design it
isn’t enough for a potential
buyer. Ninety percent of the
boards on the market could be
classified as a twin tip even
though
there
are
huge
differences between them. An
alternative way to classify the
boards would be to classify
them according to their range of
uses. Is the board designed to
be used on flat water, in choppy
conditions, or in breaking
waves? Should it be used in
strong or light wind conditions?
Is it designed with beginners or
pro-riders in mind? However, to
cover all combinations of these
variables one would need lots of
different classes that would also
be overlapping. It would simplify
for the buyers if industry would
agree on a few different classes
in which the boards could be
arranged. Today there are no
such classes. Instead the
boards
are
described
by
parameters such as length,
width, weight, stiffness, outline,
and rocker. For those who are
familiar with the terminology and
the mysteries of board design
these parameters give very
accurate information on how the
board will feel in the water. For
the rest of us it gets more or
less a pure guessing game. In
order to improve the odds of
finding the right board we give a
short introduction to how the
different parameters affect the
board’s behaviour on the water.
Finally we exemplify how these
parameters can be combined in
order to create boards for
specific types of usage.
Length and width
We start with the most obvious
parameters, length and width.
The more wet surface under the
board, the earlier the board
starts to plane. Beginners and
heavier riders need a little bit
more area than light weight,
experienced riders in order to
get going and be able to go
upwind. To get a larger surface
under the board we can
obviously choose to increase
either the length or the width.
What we choose has a big
influence on the characteristics
of the board.
8
A long and narrow board gives a
smoother and more controlled
ride. It is easier to get a lot of
rail in the water to get upwind
and the board doesn’t bounce
out of the water as easy when
the water is choppy. On the
other hand that bounciness may
be desire as it gives you a good
lift when you kick the board out
of the water. Such a board is
often said to have a good “pop”.
In short you can say that for a
certain surface area, the shorter
the board is the more pop it will
give you, but it will also be more
unsteady in the water. It can
therefore be an idea to first
consider the kind of conditions
you will use the board in and if
you first of all want a
comfortable board that gives
you a good grip in the water or a
board with more pop. From that
you can get an idea of what
could be a good length of your
board. If you primarily use the
board in flat-water conditions
and like to pull off the latest
wakeboard tricks, a short board
like 120 cm or even less could
be good for you. If you, on the
other hand, usually ride in
choppy conditions and like to be
able to dig down the rail and
push hard in the turns without
worrying of the board loosing its
grip, a board of at least 130 cm
could be better for you. The
width is then determined by how
much you weight and in how
strong winds you will use the
board. The heavier person and
the lighter wind, the wider a
board will be needed.
Rocker and outline
Ok, this far it has been quite
straight forward and not that
difficult. Next we will look at the
influence of the outline and the
rocker of the board. With outline
we mean the bending of the
rails of the board and with
rocker we mean the bending of
the bottom line. We start with
the rocker.
On a directional board the
bending of the bottom line is
often divided into rocker and
scoop, where the rocker line is
the bending in the back of the
board and the scoop is the
bending in the front. For a twintip board those two will be
identical since the board is
symmetric, and here we will not
distinguish between them. In
short it can be said that the
more rocker the smoother the
board will behave. The rocker
stops the board from digging
down into the waves, especially
when the board is ridden flat, as
after landings or in the
transitions between one rail and
the other. What you loose with a
lot of rocker is mainly light-wind
capabilities and pop. It isn’t only
the amount of rocker that
matters but also its distribution.
It is common to have a relatively
plane surface in the middle of
the board that helps the board
to start plane, while the last
centimetres of the board have
relatively lot of rocker so that it
will turn smooth and so that the
front of the board doesn’t dig
down in the water. Sometimes
the rocker even has a step in
the far ends of the board that
further prevent the nose to dig
down after landings etcetera. As
usual there is a downside also
with putting most of the rocker in
the ends of the board. In this
case the problem is ones again
that we loose pop.
For the outline we have the
same ground principles as for
the rocker, that is, the more
curve the smoother ride but
once again to the prise of less
pop and ability to plane. It is
often in the interplay between
the rocker and the outline that
the secrets of a well working
board lies. How well this work is
of course very hard to tell by
less that trying the board. The
common recommendation is lots
of curve in the board if you want
to have good control in the
turns, especially if you want to
ride waves, and less curve if
you like to jump and do tricks.
Flex
If we add length, width, outline
and rocker we get a rather
complicated
formula.
To
complicate things further we add
the flex of the board. A board
with lots of flex “eats up” the
bumps in the water. Instead of
bouncing when the board hits a
bump, the board bends which
make it easier to maintain the
edge in the water. The result is
a smoother ride when the water
is choppy. The flex also make it
possible to use less rocker since
the rocker increases when
pressure is applied. This can be
practical since this way you can
have a board that starts to plane
early and in the same time turns
well and maintains the grip in
the water when you push it
hard. The downside is that the
board can loose speed when
you land hard after a jump, as it
then tends to bend a lot. A
board with too much flex can
also give a spongy feeling.
Other things
Apart from the parameters
above, there are lots of other
parameters that we have
chosen to not treat in detail as
weight, volume, fin placement,
and bindings. The common
recommendation is that the
lighter the board the better, but
a certain weight can be needed
to stop the board from flying
9
away during board-off tricks.
The volume is more or less
insignificant once you are
powered up and riding, but it
helps to get the board to plane
and to maintain the speed when
the power in the kite disappears.
This is mainly of interest when
you are riding waves and want
to ride without having a lot of
power in the kite. If we look at
the fin placement a classic
design with four small fins, one
in each corner of the board
seems to work well in most
cases. If you want extra grip in
the water you can have one or
two additional fins on the heal
side of the board. As for the
bindings, normal foot straps are
recommended, as they are easy
to get into and provide sufficient
support.
Different models
Finally I’ll try to classify the
boards according to a number of
different usages. I’ve chosen to
divide the boards into four
different
classes:
beginner
boards, freestyle, wakestyle,
and wave boards. However
instead of trying to classify all of
the different boards on the
market
into
these
four
categories I’ve confined myself
with exemplifying how the
different parameters above are
combined in order to get a
board of a given class.
We start with the beginner
boards. A slightly bigger board
make it easier to get up and get
going. First of all a beginner
board is longer than the average
board, usually starting from 140
cm and up. A wider board also
make it easier to get going, but
a too wide board can make it
difficult to get the edge down.
The board should preferable be
of a twin-tip model so that the
beginner doesn’t have to worry
about turning the board. To get
a good grip in the water it can
be good to have quite a lot of
curvature in the rocker and in
the outline and maybe an extra
fin or two on the heal side of the
board.
The freestyle category is a
rather broad one. In this
category I include all boards that
are designed for high speed and
good control, even when the
conditions are difficult. This type
of boards suites both the
average freerider and the
competitor that want to pull off
the highest jumps. A board in
this category is often between
130 and 140 cm with a width
between 34 and 38 cm
depending on whether the board
is designed for light or strong
winds. Also in this category you
will mainly find twin-tip boards.
The wake category consists of
short and relatively wide twin-tip
boards with lots of pop. The
length can be 120 cm or even
shorter with a relatively flat
rocker line and not too much of
curve in the outline. Even if the
boards are mainly designed to
provide lots of pop for the latest
wake-style manoeuvres, they
can also be very fast if the water
is flat so you can remain control.
If we look at the wave boards
this is a relatively undeveloped
category. Here we are mainly
looking for a board with a good
grip in the turns. To be able to
pull off a good bottom turn we
need to have a fair amount of
rail to dig into the wave. A too
short board doesn’t give the
desired stability that we want in
the turns. We also need lots of
curvature in both the rocker and
the outline, even more than on a
freestyle board. To further
increase the grip it the board
can be equipped with longer fins
10
in the back of the board. On the
other hand we don’t want the
fins in the front of the board to
grip during the turn. It is
therefore usual to have smaller
fins in the front or no fins at all.
A symmetrical twin-tip board is
therefore less suited for wave
riding. It is therefore common to
use directionals or mutants, or
at least to make it possible to
adjust the placement of the
footstraps towards the back of
the board and provide the board
with different sized fins. Another
thing with the waveboards is
that you might want some extra
floatation in order to prevent the
board from loosing speed when
you do a cut back and don’t
have any power from the kite.
Lots of people even recommend
the use of traditional surfboards
instead of the kiteboards that
can be found on the market
today.
Airush
The designers at Airush have been working hard and produced not less than 20 different boards for the
season 2004, which give a very complete line. Here you can find everything from pure beginner boards
like Square one and square two, classical directionals, mutants as fusion, several different twin-tip
models as switch and compact, and a number of specialised boards. Of course this gives a very wide
range to choose from but personally I find it a little messy. Anyhow it is nice to see that Airush isn’t afraid
to push the limits in their designs. Misfit is one interesting example of this where they have designed an
extremely short board that is finless. Another interesting concept is the wakeskate that doesn’t have any
foot straps.
Square one
179
49
4,7
Square two
155
45
4,2
Directional
172
41
4,0
Fusion
142/150/158
38/38/40
3,1/3,3/3,5
Switch
Misfit
135/142/150/155 90/115/120
39/41/43/45
34/35/41
3,1/3,3/3,5
1,9/2,3/2,7
T-type
145/158/171
34/37,5/40,9
2,6/2,9/3,3
Wake
136/146
38/40
2,6/2,8
Wakeskate
125
38
Pro Toy
119
38
Luengo
125
38
Best
Best is a new brand for the season that has
quickly become known for selling cheap kites
and boards directly to customers without using a
retailer network. The board line may not be very
impressing with only one design to choose from,
but the design looks nice and should work for
just about anyone. The board is constructed in
two different materials with different weight and
price.
AHD
AHD has three different lines to choose from.
Etik is a mutant designed for early planning and
good upwind ability rather then wave riding. Ttype is a relatively big and easy-to-use board,
designed for learning and freeriding. Nostro is a
shorter and more advanced board will lots of
pop.
Etik
157/162
38/40
3,4/3,6
Compact
133/138/140
36/37/38
2,9/3,1/3,3
Best board balsa
118/124/130/138/144
38/39/40/40/41
2,1
Nostro
133/137/141
37/39/41
2,6/2,8/3,0
11
Best pro board
118/124/130/138/144
38/39/40/40/41
2,4
Cabrinha
New for this year is a beginner board called
Prodidgy. Apart from this Cabrinha keeps their
Vari Pro, Icon, and Lab rat. While these lines are
overlapping each other when it comes to size
they all have their own specific characteristics.
Despite the name, Vari pro is a rather easy-touse board. Icon is a slightly smaller board that
offers lots of pop and works well in waves. Lab
rat is a narrow board with lots of flex, ideal for
difficult and choppy conditions.
Bic
Bic’s designers Marco Copello and Richard
Boudia have developed a number of assymetric
twin-tip boards called Airflow. The idea to use
more curvature on the toe-side isn’t bad at all
since most of the people only use this side when
they turn. The boards are quite big and mainly
designed for freeriding. Cosmic has a more
traditional twin-tip design and is developed for
wave-riding with the possibility to move the
straps towards the back of the board.
Airflow
142/162/175
34/37/39
3,0/3,0/3,3
Vari Pro
138/148/158
38/39/40
-
Cosmic
130
37
2,4
Joy Rider
118/128/144
38/40/40
1,9/2,2/2,5
Lab Rat
130/140/150
34/34,5/35
-
Prodidgy
158
41
3,5
F-one
F-one has two beginner boards in their line,
Explorer and Fiftyone, as well as two more
advanced boards, SK8 and Style. The advanced
boards are provided in three different series with
different combinations of length and width, which
gives a huge variety to choose from. SK8 has
lots of rocker for hard wind and waves while
Style provides early planning.
Fanatic
Fanatic has three twin-tip boards in this year’s
line: Easy Rider, Joy Rider, and Sky Rider. Easy
Rider is designed to be easy to use and has
been provided with a generous length. Joy Rider
is a wide allround-board that works especially
well in light winds. Sky Rider is relatively small
and narrow in order to make it easy to maintain
the control when used in strong wind or by
lighter riders.
Easy Rider
159/168
41/42
2,9/3,1
Icon
130/140/150
35/35,5/36
-
Sky Rider
124/130/138
34/36/38
1,9/2,1/2,3
12
SK8
128/129/136/
137/138/139
35//37/31/
33/35/37
-
Style
128/129/130/138/
139/140/148/149
35//37/39/35/
37/39/36/37
-
Explorer
156/160
38/43
-
Fiftyone
160
50
-
Gaastra
Gaastra’s line is one of the most complete on the market. With the exception of Sky Pro 133 Gaastra has
only twin-tip boards in their line. Sky Pro 133 is one of two boards especially design for Gaastra’s team
rider Sky Solbach. The board is one of the new generation of mutants that works almost as good in both
directions. The other board designed for Sky Solbach, Sky Pro 136, is a traditional twin-tip that is a little
wider in the front and the back than Gaastra’s more allround oriented twin-tip Contact, and therefore
gives a little more pop. Apart from those boards Gaastra has several other twin-tips models in more odd
sizes. Drive II is a slightly bigger board designed to work well even for beginners. Micro is, as the name
suggests, the opposite – a small board designed for hard wind and/or lightweight kitesurfers. Satellite is
an extremely wide board designed to be used in light winds and with big kites. Finally, Ride is another
big board intended for beginners.
Sky Pro 136
136
38
-
Sky Pro 133
133
-
Contact
136/141/148
36,5/38/41
-
Drive II
156
40
-
Micro
124
36,5
-
Satellite
117/135
41/46
-
Ride
170
44,5
-
Naish
Naish revolutionized board design when they introduced their Stubbie last year. The Stubbie was
extremely short which simplified tricks and gave a good grip in the water. The Stubbie is still there this
year but it hasn’t replaced the more traditional models. Naish has everything in their line: several
mutants as MTX and Mutant, even more twin tips as Thorn, TT pro, and Haze TT, and also an extremely
big beginner board called Softdeck TT.
MTX
132
37
-
Thorn
123/129/135/141
34,5/37,4/38,4/41,4
-
TT Pro
122/128/134
36/41/47
-
Mutant
4’7”/4’10”/5’0”/5’4”
40/42/40/41,2
-
13
Haze TT
135/145/157/170
37,8/38,3/37,3/40,4
-
Stubbie
115/127
37,0/43,5
-
Softdeck TT
188
45
-
North
North’s boards are designed by
John Amundson. The boards can
be divided into four lines: Sumo
that is their beginner board,
Defender Line that can be used
both as a beginner board and a
light wind board for the more
advanced riders, Dragon Line
that is designed for advanced
riders and hard wind, and a
number of Pro Models that are
designed especially for North’s
top-riders and those who have
really high ambitions with their
kitesurfing.
RRD
RRD have worked hard for the
2004 season with lots of
interesting news on both their
board and their kite ranges. Their
XX-boards are among the
absolute lightest on the market
with a weight of less than 2 kg.
They are extremely thin and
flexy. With not less that 8 fins
they give maximum grip in the
water. BS/Classic are pretty
allround-oriented boards that
suits just about anyone. Bidi is a
more pure beginner board. Apart
from those main models they
have Blob that is an extremely
small board for tricks on flat
water, and PeekaBoo that is a
mutant intended for wave riding.
Jaime Pro
128/130
37,5/40
2,0/2,0
Cindy Pro
122
34
1,8
Dragon
133/135/138
35/37,5/40,5
2,0/2,2/2,3
XX
120/125/125/130/
130/135/135
34/34/35/35/
36/38/40
1,7/1,8/1,9/2,0/
2,0/2,0/2,2
BS/Classic
140/150/160
38/37/39
2,1/2,2/2,4
Takoon
Takoon has several interesting
models. Vegas is Takoon’s
freestyle board. The smallest
board in the line is an exact copy
of the board used by Takoon’s
team rider Herve Boure and
needs a lot of wind to perform at
its best. Interstate is a longer and
more narrow board, perfect for
cruising around. It has an
asymmetric flex with a softer
toeside, which simplifies turns.
Mong is a pure wave riding board
designed for Franz Olry. Kool
163 is Takoon’s beginner board.
Vegas
128/128/138/138
35/38/36/39
1,85/1,95/2,1/2,4
14
M2/M1
125/148
36/39
2,0/2,5
Bi-Di
170/180
40/45
3,7/4,2
Interstate
139/151
33,8/37,4
2,5/2,9
Defender
143/148
39/40
2,4/2,6
Blob
100
41
2,0
Mong
128
36
2,4
Sumo
155/162
41,5/43
3,1/3,5
Peekaboo
138/148
38/40
2,5/2,7
Kool 163
163
40
3,5
Kite school: jumps
Text and images: Jonas Hörnstein
High jumps are without a doubt the thing that most distinguish kitesurfing from other water
sports, and probably the reason that most of you got into the sport. At least it was for me and to
my delight I noticed that it wasn’t hard at all to get the first taste of some air. Unfortunately I also
noticed pretty soon that it was a long way from the first small jumps to the really huge jumps and
the modern wake style jumps that I saw the pros pulling off. Here we take a look at the different
techniques and how to do to get your jumping to the next level.
Wake style or classic style?
As already mentioned there are
two different styles with which a
jump can be performed. We
start by looking at the main
differences of the styles before
getting into how to best execute
the jumps. In the classical style
we mainly use the power of the
kite to get lifted out of the water.
This is done by redirecting the
kite in the opposite direction to
the one we are riding and then
back again as shown in the
sequence below. The alternative
is to use the speed of the board
and pop the board out of the
water while the kite remains low
in the power zone instead of
redirecting it up over the head.
The latter technique is called
wake style since it imitate the
way you jump with a wakeboard after a boat since the boat
for natural reasons cannot be
redirected up over the head.
Until recently the classical style
by far has been the most
popular one. It is also the
classical style that gives the
highest jumps with most hang
time, but as more and more
tricks are being adopted from
the wake-board scene, wake
style jumps are also getting
increasingly popular.
16
Despite the wake style jumps
not being as high they can be at
least as spectacular since they
are performed with full power in
the kite and at high speed.
Equipment
Those who have paid attention
to the previous articles about
kites and boards may have
noticed
that
there
exists
different equipment for the
different styles of jumps.
Fortunately you don’t really
need to go out and by two
different sets of equipment, but
can use any combination of kite
and board for both of the
techniques, but there are some
differences that are worth to
mention. For the classical jumps
where you use the kite to get
lifted out of the water a kite with
a high AR combined with a
narrow board with lots of grip is
the optimal. To make a wake
style jump the opposite is
preferred, a wide board and a
kite with lower AR. The reason
to use a lower AR is that they
stay deeper down in the power
zone, whereas kites with high
AR tends to stay very high up in
the window when ridden. A kite
with high AR can therefore
easily fly out of the power zone
when you pop a jump. However
there are some tricks to avoid
that this happens, but before
discussing that we will take a
look at the classical jumps.
Classical jumps
A classical jump is illustrated in
the sequence below. The trick is
as mentioned to redirect the kite
in the opposite direction to the
one you’re travelling and then
turn it back over your head once
the board leaves the water. The
height of the jump depends on
many things, but the main
ingredients are high speed and
good power in the kite. To boost
up the height further the
redirection has to be quick and
powerful. The main difficulty is
to maintain the edge of the
board throughout the whole redirection. This can be simplified
by starting the redirection with
the kite in a higher position, like
60 degrees from the water.
17
Once in the air there is not too
much to think about except
making sure that you get the
kite back in front of you before
landing. Try to land with the
board flat and with the body
weight straight over the centre
of the board. Then it is just to
start edging again and pick up
speed for the next jump.
Wake style jumps
Finally we look at how to pull off
some powerful wake style
jumps. Once again, speed and
power are the main ingredients,
but instead of the redirection of
the kite it is a powerful pop that
turns those into a high jump.
One of the concerns is, as
mentioned, to avoid that the kite
looses the power when the jump
is initiated. The trick to avoid
this is to get the kite further
down in the power zone. This
can be achieved by slowly
turning the kite up and then
back down in the same time as
you fall off a little with the board
to avoid getting lifted. The jump
is then initiated with a short and
powerful pop while the kite is
maintained low. In order to not
move the kite during the jump it
can be good to keep the hands
close to the centre of the bar,
and don’t forget that a real wake
board move is performed
unhooked from the chicken
loop!
More kites…
Text: Jonas Hörnstein
In the last number we gave an overview of the biggest news on the kite market for 2004 and
presented the kites from most of the biggest brands. However some brands hadn’t come out
with their new kites in time for the first number so in this issue we complete the presentation
with seven more brands and take a look at their ranges for the season. Among the seven we
found both pioneers such as Wipika and F-one as well as several new and interesting brands as
Advance kites, Best, and EH.
Advance kites
Previously known for their foils, Advance has made a complete
turn for the season and now presents a tube kite. The reason
for the turn is that they consider that they have managed to
combine the advantages of the foils and the tube kites thanks
to their Repower-system. According to Advance the Repower
system gives a more constant pull and better control over
where the kite is situated in the air. The new tube-kite goes
under the name Kobra and has a relatively high AR. It is
intended for experienced users and has a wide wind range and
lots of lift. Apart from the Kobra, Advance continuous to
develop foils, but those are mainly intended for land use.
Best
Best has caused lots of headlines with their aggressive pricing
with up to 50% lower price than their competitors. The low price
is a result of cutting off the retailer network and selling directly
to the clients on Internet. Best have three different kites in their
range. Nemesis is their high performance kite, made for high
jumps and freestyle competitions. Yarga has a lower AR which
makes it easier to use and well suited for different tricks like
kiteloops and wave riding. Finally they have the Grunt that is a
more pure beginner kite with a low AR that makes it very
stable.
EH
Eric Hertsens that together with his collegue Peter Stiewe
designes kite for Best kiteboarding and others, now releases
kites under their own brand, EH Kiteboarding. Under their own
brand they try out more innovative design solutions. EH has
two lines that are updated continuously during the year instead
of releasing new models yearly as most of the other brands.
The two models they offer are EH Freestyle and Wave. As the
names suggest, Freestyle is a kite with high AR intended for
freestyle while Wave is a kite with a little bit lower AR intended
for wave riding and the latest wake-style manoeuvres.
18
F-one
F-one has been in the game for a long time and has
created a huge range of kites for the 2004 season. Most of
the kites are updates from the previous season though.
Mach3 replaces Mach2 as their top-of-the-line model and
requires an experienced user to perform at its best. HW2 is
a special kite designed for strong winds and hence only
exists in small sizes. Dream is F-one’s most versatile kite. It
still has enough of power to jump high, but in the same time
works well for both wave riding and speed sailing. Finally Fone has two beginner kites: 4U and L2K.
RRD
RRD made most of the people raise their eyebrows when
then managed to sign up last year’s world cup winner
Martin Vari to their team. Another noteworthy news for the
season is their new high performance kite Type-Z. The
letter Z comes from their patented Zipping Power Control.
Through one or more zippers it is possible to adjust the
angle of the struts and thereby make the kite more or less
powerful. This is supposed to increase the wind range of
the kite. Another news for the year is their Type-6 that is
designed for freestyle and wave riding. Type-5 remains as
a more easy to use kite.
Windtech
Like many other, Windtech has chosen to go for three
different models, one with high AR, one with a medium AR
and one with a low AR. Windtech’s high AR kite is called
Zenith and is designed for the more advanced riders and
offers lots of power for high jumps and good upwind ability.
Rebel Pro has a slightly lower AR and isn’t at all aimed
solely for pros as the name might suggest. On the contrary
it is easy to use and is even equipped with a fifth line that
make it easy to start the kite. Quantum is a pure beginner
kite that can be used either as a two-line kite or a four-line
kite.
Wipika
Wipika is one of the real kite pioneers and is still one of the
biggest brands even if they have had a relatively low profile
in Europe the latest years. Their range is one of the biggest
on the market with five different models to choose from.
WIP is designed together with Flash Austin and offers
maximum lift and good upwind abilities. AMP+ is another
high performance kite, but is a little easier to use than the
WIP. Matrix has a slightly lower AR and can be placed in
the gap between pure high performance kites and medium
AR-kites. Hydro 3 has a medium AR that makes it stable
and easy to manoeuvre. Finally they have Core that has a
low AR and offers the possibility to be ridden with either two
or four lines. Core is a pure beginner kite.
19
Interview with Eric Hertsens
Text and photo: Kristina Karlsson
Eric Hertsens has long been known for his amazing boardshaping, based in Cabarete in the
Dominican Republic. His boards are famous all around the globe, ridden by the likes of Flash
Austin and other high profile riders. Now, having gone into the business of creating kites he is
well on the way to global success and kiteworld domination. I met up with Eric on a windy day at
Kite Beach, Cabarete, to ask him a few questions.
What made you want to create
kites?
The reason is simple. I am a big
guy and there just wasn´t
anything on the market that
suited me. My business partner
Peter Stiewe has a lighter build
and had the same problems of
finding a kite that he liked. So,
we decided to build our own
kites.
What goal are you trying to
reach?
Our goal from the beginning
was to create custom kites, but
for the moment there is no
market for it. So now our main
goal is to push the boundaries
and continue our research and
develop high performance kites
(EH) in limited numbers. During
2003 only, we produced more
than ten new versions of our
high performance size 12 kite.
The best thing is that we can
build a kite and then test it
immediately in our own back
yard. (Eric´s shop is five
minutes away from Kite Beach).
Another part of our business is
to create kites for other
companies such as Liquid Force
and Best Kiteboarding. With
these kites we cover more
general and broader performance kites.
I never went to school to learn
how to create boards or kites. I
have learned through trying. It
helps being a perfectionist who
never gives up. I started with a
hammer and a saw and today
I´m designing and creating high
tech equipment for kiteboarding.
When is a kite perfect?
The perfect, imaginary kite,
would be ONE kite that could be
used in all winds. But being very
unrealistic I would have to say
that a kite with good pull, perfect
manoeuvrability and control,
long
hangtime
and
good
depower would be the perfect
kite. Achieving the perfect
balance between these factors
is very hard and that´s why we
spend so much time on R&D in
our company.
How do you think kiteboarding will develop in the
next five to ten years?
It will become more mainstream.
The safety systems keep
developing and that´s what´s
making
kiteboarding
more
accessible to the mainstream.
Don´t get me wrong. It will still
be
an
extreme
sport,
considering the nature of it.
Where
skills?
did
you
get
For more information about Eric
Hertsens and his kites and
kiteboards visit:
your
www.erichertsens.com
1
Above: A content Eric Hertsens, Below: Eric’s workshop in Cabarete
2
PKRA Austria
Text: Anna Sparre & Christian Dittrich, Photo: Kitequest.com, Anna Sparre & Christian Dittrich
The first event in the PKRA World Cup was held in Austria at Neusiedler See, not far from Vienna.
If the sun shines the wind usually picks up to about 16 knots in the afternoon, but the weather
shifts a lot and the wind can equally well pick up from 4 knots up to 30 knots in a few minutes
because of some other weather phenomena. Since the lake is far from the see and surrounded by
mountains the wind is pretty gusty and it is not an easy task to choose the right kite. The
competition is held far out from the beach which make it difficult to see what size the others are
using and whether they are well powered up or not. If you choose a too small kite you risk not
being able to keep the height and stay in the competition area so it better to go for a bigger kite
and risk being overpowered.
The week before Austria, the
first of four events in the
European Championship was
held in Knokke, Belgium. We
were there, but unfortunately the
wind wasn’t strong enough to
complete the whole ladder and
no winner could be picked.
Instead the time was spent on
other activities such as paddling
kayak,
surfing,
mountain
boarding, and of course beer
drinking. A few heats were
completed though, and Anna
even managed to get her share
of the price money. Our Dutch
friends from Team Coolskin
were also present and we
decided to go together from
Belgium to Austria. They have
two big vans that make the
journey
more
comfortable.
Team Coolskin consists of three
Dutch and three Spanish proriders. New for this year is
Ceasar Portas from Spain and
he really impresses on the
water.
Monday at lunch we had been
driving the whole night and were
getting close to Vienna. The
summer had definitely arrived
here as we passed flourishing
valleys, green mountains and
road-workers stripped to the
waist. In the car we were
chewing on chocolate and
thinking about the competition. It
22
felt a little nervous since we
hadn’t had much wind and
possibilities to train during the
spring in Sweden. Anna had just
got her new Takoon kites and
hadn’t had time to get used to
them, but hopefully there would
be time to kitesurf a little in the
evening.
When the registration was
finished on the Tuesday we
went directly to the other side of
the lake since the wind was
offshore at the competition area.
The competition started first on
Wednesday so we had a day to
get used to the conditions and
prepare ourselves for the
competition.
Luckily the wind increased from
around 10 knots in the morning
to around 25 knots in the
afternoon and we got a perfect
day of kitesurf in the shallow
Neusidler See. There were a
number of flat sand islands out
in the lake and behind those the
water was as flat as it gets,
perfect for training different
wake style manoeuvres. The
lake is so shallow that you can
actually stand on the bottom
everywhere in the lake. Quite
surprisingly when you are 1000
meters from the shore and put
down your feet in the bottom
clay.
The weather forecast for the
competition
wasn’t
looking
good, straight offshore wind and
rain showers. The first shipper
meeting was held at nine on
Wednesday and the first start
was scheduled to half past
eleven. Anna found out that she
would go man on man with
Cindy Mosey in her first heat.
Cindy won the world cup title
last year and is one of only two
girls in the world that can do air
handle passes, so it would
definitely be a hard one. Chrille
had Alex Tritten, Ben Meyer and
Oliver in his first heat, and was
quick to pump up his kite and
lay out the lines. He chose a 10meter kite as the wind was
increasing the whole time. The
competition area was placed
500 meter off-shore since the
wind was blowing offshore, so
one had to rely on the wind
reports from the competition
boat. Close to the shore there
were almost no wind at all and
you had to work the kite hard
and sometimes even loop it to
get out. Once in the competition
area the wind was so strong that
two of the buoys had drifted
away. The first heat was
postponed for half an hour and
during that time the wind
increased further. During the
heat the wind reached 36 knots
and it was more a question of
who could stay within the
competition area than what
tricks they could make. The
competition was quickly nicknamed ”the survival”. Chrille
managed to finish his the heat in
second place and moved on to
the next heat.
When it was time for the women
competition the wind was
changing up and down pretty
much and there were constantly
new wind reports from the
23
competition boat. Most of the
girls decided to go on either a
nine or a 10-meter kite. The first
heat started and Anna that was
in the forth heat decided to
make her way out to the
competition area already then in
order to be sure to make it out in
time for her heat. She was
happy to be able to use a small
kite since we had been training
on small kites the whole winter
and it felt like the only possibility
to be able to beat Cindy Mosey.
As the second heat finished a
big black cloud piled up, but the
competition went on. Most of the
girls were out waiting for their
heats or trying to get back to
land. When the third heat
started, lightning was seen at
the horizon and suddenly the
wind drastically increased. The
competition boat measured
gusts up to 56 knots during the
following 10 minutes. Anna tried
to dig down the board in the
water and hold on while most of
the girls were flown away and
had to pull the quick release.
Those that managed to hold on
didn’t dare to go near land, as
they feared to run into any
object.
Jet skies and rescue-boats
worked hard to collect kites and
boards until things calmed down
again. However the wind never
turned normal again and the
competition had to be cancelled
for the day.
The following day started
completely windless, but around
three it suddenly got windy.
Since the girls competition had
been cancelled the day before
they were first to start. The wind
was much weaker than the day
before and the girls went out
with 14-meter kite or larger. It
was hard to perform at the best
as the wind was shifting
between 8 and 18 knots and we
were surprised many times as
many of the top-names were
knocked out by the newcomers.
Two fifteen years old Dutch
defeated among others Mark
Doyle, Will James, José Luengo
and Chrille. Leo from Venezuela
won over Andre Phillip and
Gianni Aragno won over Martin
Vari. All in all it was a difficult
competition
with
lots
of
unexpected results.
Apart from the freestyle competition a slider competition was
to be held, which meant that
different obstacles like sliders
were put in the water and could
be used to perform different
tricks. Apart from the presence
of the sliders it works exactly as
a freestyle competition, i.e. it’s
about doing as hard tricks as
possible, with as much speed,
power, and height as possible.
The best with the event in
Austria was all the other things
that were organised around the
competition. As a competitor
you also had lots of benefits.
For example we got free food
and drinks in the food-tents
where we could choose from
anything from Thai-food, Italian
food, or of course several
Austrian dishes. There was also
a VIP-lounge where we could
relax, check Internet, or have a
beer. Every night there was a
big party and people from all
over Austria joined in. Big tents
where put up that could take up
to 100.000 people and where
the competitors could buy drinks
for one Euro.
Even if competitions in Europe
often are more about waiting for
wind than actually kiting, it is
great fun and as said there are
lots of things happening around
the competition so you never
get bored. It is also fun to get to
know all the riders on the tour
and also to check out all the
prototype boards and kites they
bring along.
Results:
Unfortunately the competition
couldn’t be completed so no
single winner could be declared.
Instead the four girls and boys
that had made it through to the
semi final were declared as
winners. Those were:
Women, shared first place:
Cindy Mosey
Ingrid Köllbichler
Petra Goeschl
Kristin Boese
Men, shared first place:
Aron Hadlow
Lousiano Gonzales
Jaime Herraiz
Gianni Aragno
About PKRA
PKRA (Professional Kite Riders Association) was founded more than three years ago by a group of
professional kiteboarders. Among those were Flash Austin, Chris Gilbert, Julie Prochaska and Mauricio
Toscano. The reason for starting PKRA was that the main sponsor of the existing tour left both the tour
and the riders to their fate. The riders then took the things in their own hand and created a new tour.
Mauricio Toscano from Italy is currently the leader of the organisation.
There are around 50 to 60 entries for the men and between 25 and 30 entries for the women to each
event. The selection is based on competition results and experience. Once at place a qualification
competition is held and 16 women and 32 men respectively are allowed to enter the main event. Some
places are reserved for pre-qualified riders.
The number of PKRA-events differs from year to year, and in 2004 seven events are held. The two first
are hold in Austria and Belgium, and thereafter in Cabarete, Venezuela, Fuerteventura, Germany, and
finally in Brazil. In every event a freestyle competition is held, but in addition there can be a hang time
competition, a long race, a speed competition, or a slider competition.
Usually the competition is organised as a double elimination. This means that after the completion of the
first ladder, everyone get a second chance. In the second ladder those that went far in the first one has
an advantage as they don’t have to start from the bottom. The winner of the first ladder only enters in the
final of the second ladder and so on.
24
Below: The authors Anna and Christian. ”Finally Chrille just wants to make clear that certain parts (about
stripped road-workers) have been written entirely by Anna.”
25
Mondial du vent 2004 and a
new world speed record
Text and photo: Mathieu Turries / www.alohaphoto.nu
There were lots of people and
very much wind on the eighth
”Mondial du vent” in Leucate,
France. With 35-40 knots wind
the first days where dedicated to
kitespeed.
28
gladiators,
including Sebastien Cattelan,
Malik Bouchenafa, and Mark
Shinn…, were ready to give
everything to beat Robby Naish’
record of 38.47 knots! After two
days of competition, Sebastien
Cattelan (Wipika) holds the first
place with several runs around
35 knots, but Sylvain Maurin
(Takoon) has the highest single
speed with 36.84 knots!
With equally lots of wind on the
third day, the eagerly awaited
freestyle competition took its
start. Bertrand Fleury entertains
with unbelievable kiteloops.
Unfortunately he has to retire
from the competition after a sick
kiteloop where he ends up
breaking to ribs...! Instead we
get to see two amazing semi
finals with Mark Doyle up
against Etienne Lhote and
Franz Orly against Charles
Deleau. There is an interesting
competition between Charles
and Franz, who have two
completely different styles with
short lines for Franz and long
lines for Charles. In the end it is
Etienne Lhote (F-one) and
Charles Deleau (North) that
make it to the final. Despite
Etienne riding really good with
lots of style, it is Charles Deleau
that wins the final with very high
jumps!
La Tramontane, the local wind
continuous to blow on the forth
day. The organisers decide to
26
go for both Kitespeed and
freestyle. In the Kitespeed event
the fastest runs are around 35,8
- 36 knots, made by among
others Mark Gondar (Takoon)
and Raphaël Salles (F-one).
In the freestyle competition we
get to see impressive rides by
Luciano Gonzales and Malik,
but the big surprises come from
the young generation with
Leeshai Miller, Aaron Hadlow,
Remi Branco (F-one), Thomas
Coquelet (Cabrinha), and also
Kevin Sudrat (Julien’s brother)
that pull off several really nice
Raileys and several other wake
style tricks.
The weather forecast announces even more wind for
tomorrow…
Sebastien Cattelan held first place in
the speed competition after two days…
27
…but fastest and happiest of
them all was Manu Taub that
made a new world record with
his 39.79 knots.
…and the forecast was right…
Today the wind reached 50
knots and at one o’clock the
huge Manu Taub (Takoon)
becomes the fastest man in the
world with a kite: 37.79 knots! A
few
minutes
later,
Mark
Gondard (Takoon) also beats
Robby’s old record with his
39.46 knots! On the girls side
Charlotte
Consorti
(F-one)
manages to beat Tuva Jensens
record from last year with her
33.24 knots. (Note that Tuva’s
record from last year was 33,23
knots…).
On the sixth day the conditions
get calmer again, and make
possible the start of the women
freestyle competition. It is
Sandrine Meunier (Naish) that
shows most variation and takes
the first place. Also making a
good competition is Fabienne D’
Ortoli (Cabrinha). Daphnée
Laliberté from Cabarete didn’t
perform on her best in her
second European competition
(the first one was last week in
Les sables d’ olonne), but be
sure that we will see more of her
in the future…
The wind drops during the
afternoon and doesn’t come
back again. The competition
finishes with the following
results:
Kite Speed
Women: 1/Charlotte Consorti (F.One), 2/Muriel Cipoulon
Men: 1/Marc Gondard (Takoon), 2/Manu Taub (Takoon), 3/Sébastien Cattelan (Wipika), 4/Raphaël
Salles (F.One), 5/Sylvain Maurin (Takoon), 6/Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha)…
Freestyle
Women: 1/Sandrine Maunier (Naish), 2/Fabienne d’Ortoli (Cabrinha), 3/Petra Goeshl (Flexifoil), 4/Tuva
Jansen (Takoon), 5/Ida Ferrière (Wipika)
Men: 1/Charles Deleau (North), 2/Etienne Lhote (F.One), 3/Mark Doyle (Slingshot), 4/Franz Olry
(Takoon), 5/ Thomas Coquelet (Cabrinha), Rémi Branco (F.One), Bertrand Fleury (Slingshot), Aaron
Hadlow (Flexifoil)
28
KPWT, Les Sables d’Olonne
Text: Jonas Hörnstein, Photo: Christophe Michot and Paul Eric / KPWT
The first event in KPWT,
Kiteboard Pro World Tour, was
held between the 3rd and 10th of
April in Les Sables d’Olonne,
Vendée, France. Around thirty
competitors from eight different
countries were fighting for the
30 000 dollar price money. The
competition was held as a wave
competition, but unlike last
year’s wave masters, jumps
were also counted. However the
competitors were recommended
to focus mainly on the wave
riding as this was given the
highest weight, but still try to do
at least a couple of good jumps.
The first days of competition
offered pretty weak wind.
Instead of starting the main
competition a trick competition
was held were only the best
trick counted. Hervé Bouré from
France, the total winner of last
year’s wave masters, showed
that he also mastered the latest
tricks and won the trick
competition with a handle pass
in the wave.
On the forth day the wind finally
arrived
and
the
main
competition could start. The
waves were initially small but
with the rising tide the waves
picked up in size and during the
day the conditions became
really good! The early heats
offered some surprises as
several of the top-names from
last year were eliminated early.
The competition was held as a
double elimination, which meant
that everyone got a second
1
chance to get back into the
finals.
The eventual final was held
between Felix Pivec, Australia,
and Julien Sudrat, France.
Those two ended up as number
two
and
number
three
respectively in last year’s wave
masters,
and
both
are
specialists on riding waves. This
time it was Julien that was the
stronger of the two and took the
win in the final.
In the girls competition it was
Tuva Jansen from Norway that
took the first place after a tight
final against Fabienne D’Ortoli,
France. On third place we found
the big surprise of the
competition – the 10-year-old
Gisela Pulido from Spain.
2
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