The Final Frontier . . High Wind Kiting - Kitesurfarea.com
The Final Frontier . . High Wind Kiting - Kitesurfarea.com
The Final Frontier . . High Wind Kiting - Kitesurfarea.com
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L<br />
DEPARTMENT<br />
<br />
TURKIEWICZ<br />
. . . <strong>The</strong> <strong>Final</strong> <strong>Frontier</strong> . . <strong>High</strong> <strong>Wind</strong> <strong>Kiting</strong> . . .<br />
My van was getting blown side-to-side<br />
as I headed east down to the Gorge. <strong>The</strong><br />
Columbia River was frothing, with 30 mph<br />
west winds ripping down the corridor and<br />
white caps turning to dust as the wind<br />
continued to build with the dry eastern<br />
Oregon heat. Shock waves of 40-45 mph<br />
gusts were cruising through, making it<br />
scary to stand on shore.<br />
I had never seen Joe Turkiewicz kite, but<br />
I had heard the stories and was intrigued to<br />
see him and his passion for high wind<br />
kiting. We finally got our schedules to<br />
match, and the Gorge was firing, with wind<br />
reports in the red. I called Joe to make sure<br />
we were on, and within minutes, he<br />
rounded the corner of the Secret Spot,<br />
where the Gorge corridor straightens out.<br />
On big days, the wind fires through like a<br />
wind tunnel on full throttle. He didn’t seem<br />
the least bit worried – and why should he?<br />
This was the type of wind he searches for<br />
“with full-on floodgates open - current for<br />
truck-size roller central - and all my friends<br />
tearing it up.” On days when most<br />
kiteboarders run back to their poleboarding<br />
roots, Turkiewicz is checking the<br />
river to see if that new 4 meter kite is going<br />
to get its first test run in nuclear conditions.<br />
Its unnerving to think that in two years,<br />
Turkiewicz has graduated from his first 12<br />
meter kite and directional board to a high -<br />
wind, strapless style that attracts attention<br />
from the moment you look out on the river.<br />
He still rides an ancient Wipika, but the<br />
style is all new school. <strong>High</strong> wind kiting as<br />
he puts it, may be the last frontier to be<br />
conquered. His story is part inventor, part<br />
innovator and part passion.<br />
Joe’s Story (uncut)<br />
At the <strong>com</strong>pany where I worked<br />
everyone kited or was learning to kite. We<br />
had new demo kites that everyone was<br />
fighting over. It seemed that as the new<br />
guy, I never could get on the right kite for<br />
the day. I immediately got sick of always<br />
flying different kites that were never tuned<br />
right. I ended up buying a beater, an 8.4<br />
meter Airblast and a bar, so I had a<br />
consistent setup day-to-day. I quickly<br />
learned I could take that thing into pretty<br />
high winds and loved the way it flew, so I<br />
filled out the quiver with the 6.3 and 4.9<br />
and am currently riding the smallest kite<br />
from two summers ago.<br />
Mad Scientist<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were so many different boards on<br />
the beach and in the shops; I liked the<br />
shape of one board or the rail on another,<br />
but I saw a lot of breakage going on too. I<br />
am really into <strong>com</strong>posites, so I started<br />
reading all I could find about lay-ups in<br />
aircraft, racing hulls, etc. After asking<br />
everyone that I knew that had knowledge in<br />
that field a barrage of questions, I decided<br />
I could make my own. <strong>The</strong> first one was<br />
blue insulation foam/plywood sandwich<br />
with a Kevlar top. It lasted a couple of<br />
months, but was only about $35 to build.<br />
During that time I was going through tons<br />
of material statistics on resin types, weave<br />
flex characteristics, and foam densities. I<br />
had manufacturers sending me samples,<br />
Finding room to carve in the swell - all strapless - is what draws<br />
Joe to high wind kiting. Location: Gorge Lens: Jim Semlor<br />
Joe Turkiwiecz rips a seam through the crippled swell at the ‘Secret Spot’.<br />
Location: Gorge Lens: Jim Semlor<br />
Story by Joe Turkiewicz<br />
Photographs by Jim Semlor<br />
14 15
[<br />
I have started looking at some smaller kites than 7’s for<br />
surfboards. I love high wind because bigger wind makes for bigger<br />
swell. <strong>The</strong> hindering thing I feel in the “high wind” category of kites<br />
is that most of them are made for training or smaller people. I want<br />
a tiny performance kite that turns stupidly fast and can take<br />
punishment. If you want to get the same power from a small kite<br />
in high wind that you get from an average kite in normal wind, the<br />
<strong>com</strong>pensation for the load difference needs to be taken into<br />
consideration. <strong>The</strong> load relative to the size is substantially<br />
different. I think that as people find higher wind more appealing,<br />
there will be a stronger demand on manufacturers to make gear<br />
that performs.<br />
]<br />
Turkiewicz fully <strong>com</strong>mitted at the Spit.<br />
Location: Hood River Lens: Pierce Louis<br />
and I got some books on<br />
vacuum bagging. I got a bunch<br />
of medical vacuum pumps<br />
cheap and got after it.<br />
I ended up with a 3-layer<br />
sandwich, 110 cm finless board,<br />
with small flip tips.<br />
It was a mix of all the<br />
elements of construction and<br />
desired ride characteristics I<br />
wanted. It rode so nice, and I am<br />
working hard to copy it for this<br />
winter. <strong>The</strong> board is super fast,<br />
loose, and light.<br />
Line Madness<br />
My lines were next. I started<br />
hacking them down, so I could<br />
turn faster and get more cuts on<br />
swell.<br />
I felt the board could change<br />
directions faster than the kite on<br />
traditional length lines, so I<br />
shortened the window to match<br />
it.<br />
I also started sewing up my<br />
own bar systems, with bomber<br />
hardware that was matched to<br />
my throw and reach. I again<br />
spent the winter in Costa Rica; it<br />
is so windy there, and I have<br />
never in three years in the Gorge<br />
seen wind like it.<br />
Last winter, I kept going out in<br />
higher winds and cutting down<br />
the lines to turn faster and to<br />
carry more kite.<br />
I came back to the Gorge that<br />
spring flying on 10 meter lines,<br />
but it is never windy enough to<br />
fly on those here, so I am flying<br />
16 to 20 meters on most days.<br />
Evolution of a<br />
Gorge Surfboard<br />
I had never flown anything<br />
bigger than a 9 meter in Costa<br />
Rica; big kites feel very slow, so<br />
I started riding around on my<br />
friend’s mini-tanker surfboard in<br />
lighter winds on my smaller<br />
kites.<br />
I picked up a couple swap<br />
meet surfboards when I got<br />
back. I started riding those<br />
exclusively — no matter the<br />
wind. Gary Swanson of Cascade<br />
Performance Fiberglass offered<br />
to shape me boards after I<br />
stopped in to bounce a few<br />
ideas off him on a high wind<br />
surfboard.<br />
We ended up with a concept<br />
of a traditional looking<br />
performance short board that<br />
has a shape and fin <strong>com</strong>bo<br />
tweaked to milk longer rides off<br />
Gorge swell, and a beefed up<br />
construction to take abuse.<br />
<strong>The</strong> whole process was<br />
amazing, especially watching<br />
my new board being shaped.<br />
After building boards myself,<br />
seeing him fly through a blank<br />
and end up with a perfect shape<br />
so quickly was astonishing.<br />
I think it makes you a better<br />
rider to think about how you ride,<br />
or want to ride, and to tweak or<br />
build your equipment to help you<br />
get there. Understanding all the<br />
elements and dynamics at work<br />
is a huge part of it.<br />
Surfing the Gorge<br />
My most memorable moment<br />
was this spring during a huge<br />
swell at the “Wall,” a great little<br />
wave spot in the Gorge.<br />
I can remember turning in the<br />
trough and hitting the face of a<br />
swell while my back lines were<br />
poking through the back of the<br />
wave in front of mine.<br />
This has pushed me to want<br />
to ride some bigger waves on<br />
higher wind days. I think that<br />
waves of any kind are where it’s<br />
at, no question. I have recently<br />
seen some amazing powered<br />
freestyle riding.<br />
<strong>The</strong> whole sport is<br />
progressing. <strong>The</strong> kids that I had<br />
never heard of last year are<br />
absolutely killing it, with some of<br />
the best riding I have seen in<br />
person, pictures or film.<br />
I want to add some of that<br />
element to slash and burn on the<br />
swell — linking those kinds of<br />
moves on a swell would be the<br />
ultimate style for me.<br />
Sponsors include Wipika Kiteboarding, Hotel<br />
Tilawa.<strong>com</strong>, Anarchy Eyewear,<br />
Gary Swanson and Cascade Performance<br />
Fiberglass.<br />
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