Kitesoul Magazine #5 English Edition

ITWColleen CarrollRoberto RicciEVENTSRed Bull King of the air2015TRIPSFx Cabrinha in Oz

L I V I N G F O RT H E L I G H T E R D A Y SL I G H T W I N D / F R E E R I D ETHE NEW JUICESIZES1 5 › 1 8RELATED FREERIDE/LIGHTWIND BOARDSX-RIDESPIKE TEXTREMENUGGETT R U E K I T E B O A R D I N G

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EditorRoberta Palaroberta.pala@kitesoul.comWave Thecnique EditorMitu MonteiroFreestyle Thecnique EditorAlberto RondinaThecnical ExpertRenato CasatiPhoto & VideoMaurizio CintiDesignGiuseppe EspositoAPRIL 2015 - MAY 2015TWO-MONTHLYTexstsJames Boulding, Renato Casati, Niccolòde Simone, Nicole Gaudimier, TuvaJansen, Alberto Rondina, Reo Stevens,Federico SugoniPhotosVincent Bergeron, James Boulding,TobyBromwich, Sara Buzzelli, TommasoCaldani, John Carter, Quincy Dein, GregHinsdale, Manuela Jungo, Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool, Tracy KraftLeboe, Nick Muzik/Red Bull ContentPool, Gabriele Rumbolo, Sam Schofield,Dan Sweeney, Hugo Valente, Ydwer vander Heide / Red Bull Content Pool, DaveWhite, Jason WolcottCover:Rider: Aaron Hadlow - King of The Air2015Photo: Craig Kolesky /Red Bull ContentPoolPublisher and advertisingVISU MediaVia Cavour, 2024030 Ambivere (BG)Amministratore UnicoFederico Sugonifs@kitesoul.comRegistration Tribunaledi Bergamo n°10/2014del 15/04/2014.Periodicità bimestraleCopyright Kitesoul MagazineAll content is copyright of KitesoulMagazine / Visu Media Srl.FEDERICO SUGONIPublisherHe’s a manager and a businessman.He fell in love with kiteboardingalmost 10 years ago inthe wild and amazing NorthShore of Oahu (Hawaii). Asidefrom kiteboarding there isonly one other importantthing in his life: his babydaughter.He’s responsible for the 2014launching of KiteSoul Magazine.ROBERTA PALAEditorSports photographer since1997, kiteboarder since 2001,she has worked for the mostexponential kite magazinesfor the last 15 years.A free and wild soul, shehas left the luxuries of townliving for a life in contact withnature: a sea and wave lover.Nowadays you can find heron the shores of Capo Mannu,Sardinia, one of the mostbeautiful spots of the MediterraneanSea.MAURIZIO CINTIFilm-makerMovie buff and keen photographer.He’s a skater, snowboarderand wakeboarder,but he actually burns withpassion for kiteboarding. Hestarted off with freestyle afew years ago, but nowadayshe’s more into chasing bigand powerful waves. This iswhat he loves the most.GIUSEPPE ESPOSITOArt directorKiter since he was in the babypram, he is a rider for RRDItalia and he have a Bachelorin Comunciation Design atPolitecnico di Milano.With this assignment, hefinally has been able to puttogether his two passions:kite and design.

KITESOUL MAGAZINEFeel The FlowMITU MONTEIROTechnical Editor-Wave RidingHe comes from Sal. OfficialF-one and Manera rider.2008 KPWT World Championand three-time Vice WorldChampion. He started to surfand windsurf as a kid and buthe definitively fell in love withkitesurf as soon as he discoveredit.ALBERTO RONDINATechnical Editor-FreestyleHe’s the best Italian rider ofthe competitive kiting world.Cabrinha, Neil Pryde andGoPro official team riderand four-time Italian Champion.Alberto has won the2001 edition of the EuropeanChampionship and thirdplace in the 2012 PKRA WorldChampionship.RENATO “DR. KITE” CASATITechnical ExpertRRD Wave team rider. Kiteboardersince 2000, he hasbeen PKRA athlete and judge.He’s a professional sportswriterfor several technicalmagazines. He lives betweenComo Lake and Sardinia, buthe spends every winter in thewaves of Cabo-Verde.ELENA FOICOProfessional translatorProfessional translator andKiteboarder since 2001.In 2004 she decided toleave her career in the UKto teach kitesurfing fulltime. Throughout the yearsshe has translated severalkitesurfing manuals, teachingaids and articles. Born in themountains but passionateabout the sea, she has foundthe perfect tool to have funpretty much everywhere!

Rider e Photo: Nuno ‘stru’ Figueiredo

EDITORIALHere we are again with Kitesoul Magazine’s fifthissue. After our first winter spent together, wehave finally reached spring, which for most of ourwater lovers coincides with their reawakening,whilst others are making the most of the lastsnow... This is the case of our friends from Roccarasowho have hosted the first World SnowkiteContest GPS Formula and have proven to all ofus that kiteboarding can be practiced 365 days ayear even in the northern hemisphere.However it was in the midst of winter that wedecided to migrate towards the southern hemisphere,specifically to Cape Town, to catch somewind and strong emotions at the most awaitedevent of the year: The Red Bull King of the Air. Ourcover, in fact, is dedicated to Aaron Hadlow, thenew king for this year.Aaron, the most awarded freestyle rider, hasmade his comeback big “air” style this year, stealingthe crown from Kevin Langeree, last year’schampion.During this amazing trip we have been able togather exceptional video footage of the competition;make our first video-test of the 2015 NorthNeo as well as several exclusive interviews to theBig of the kitesurfing world, available for you towatch on our YouTube channel under the section“The Kite Souls”.South Africa is also the winter home of RRD’sboss Roberto Ricci. In his extensive interview, Roberto,talks to us about his debut and how muchhis passion and total commitment towards hisgoals, has turned a small home project into oneof the most successful international water sportbrands.And again in our Girl Power dedicated section,you will find a long interview to free spirit and kite-parkqueen Colleen Carrol, a girl who has decidedto spend her life doing what she likes themost: riding!Last but not least you will find spectacular imagesof Tuva Jansen and Bertrand Fleury in Indonesiaand the first Australian trip of the recentlyreleased FX kite from Cabrinha. Alby as usual willimpress you with his technical lessons, whilst ReoStevens will talk to you about strapless freestyle.You will also find our brand new kite reviewsand a special interview to Christophe Martin, paraplegicrider, who has used his passion for watersports to design and develop specific equipmentand aids for other paraplegic riders. Once againwe can say that when your soul and passion arepresent, nothing is impossible.Roberta PalaFederico Sugoni

SUMMARYPortfolioTrip:Fx Cabrinha trip in OzEventi:Red Bull King of the Air2015Itw:Collen CarrollCamp:Indo kite campStrapless moves:180 Pop Shove it180 Shove it con oleSnowkite:World snowkiting contestAltosangro 2015GPS FormulaItw:Roberto Ricci

SUMMARYFreestyle moves:Shifity 3Tecnica:Genesis and lifecycle of a waveHandikite:Cristopher MartinCamp:Mitu Monteiro wave clincin Cabo VerdeTest:Cabrinha, FxNorth, NeoRRD, Obsession Pro

14PORTFOLIONiccolò PorcellaRIDER: Niccolò PorcellaPHOTO: Tracy Kraft Leboe

16PORTFOLIOGuilly BrandaoRIDER: Guilly BrandaoPHOTO: Hugo Valente

18PORTFOLIOGiangi ChiesuraRIDER: Giangi ChiesuraPHOTO: Courtesy Photodream.it/Advance Kites/Underwave

20PORTFOLIODamien GirardinRIDER: Damien GirardinPHOTO: Quincy Dein

22EVENTIAaron Hadlow Red Bull King of the Air 2015photosCraig Kolesky/Red Bull Content PoolNick Muzik/Red Bull Content Pool

24EVENTIAaron Hadlow Red Bull King of the Air 2015

26EVENTIAaron Hadlow Red Bull King of the Air 2015wind, undiscussed protagonistin South Africa during thefirst few months of the year,has disappeared off a few daysbefore the start of the competitionwaiting period. Thesurprising thing has been thesudden change in weather forecast.During the first few daysin Cape Town, athletes wereable to train with decent (althoughvery different from previousyears) wind conditions.Aaron Hadlow produced an 18metre-jump during training, soeverybody was really lookingforward to what was supposedto be a very spectacular event;the wind forecasts for the weekof the event were also verypromising. Unfortunately theseconditions never materialisedand the riders had just aboutenough wind to navigate.On Wednesday of the finalweek, Sergio Cantagalli finallydecided to begin the eventthanks to promising weatherforecast of 28knots of our belovedwind. The Red Bull organizationteam was very swift atsetting up the live video streamof an event followed by 27.000enthusiastic people around theglobe. Unfortunately it wasn’tuntil 17:00 that the 1st roundof the competition was disputeddue to several wind directionchanges. After the riders’meeting and a test of the competitionzone the event finallytook off with very gusty windsand difficult water conditions,which made it difficult for ridersto perform megaloops andaudacious manoeuvres. Greatconfusion also reigned overthe choice of equipment: ridersof same weight with 8sqm vs.11sqm in the same heat; for exampleTom Hebert disputed hisheat with a 14sqm vs. the 7sqmof his competitor Van de Kop.Nevertheless the qualifiers forthe quarter finals were selected.The forecasts did not improveand on Saturday, last supposedday of the event, both ridersand organizers started to fearthe idea of an unfinished event.Heat competition time was alsoshortened in the hope of savingvaluable time, but the wind didnot come to the rescue.

28EVENTIAaron Hadlow Red Bull King of the Air 2015took a turn for the better onSunday. This time, unfortunately,without the Red Bull livestream, due to the extensivedelay in the event. Round 2 wasfinally disputed at 18:00 hours,quickly followed by the quarterfinals. The wind was around24-25 knots, so the jumps werenot as spectacular as one wouldhave expected; however itwould have been too dangerousfor riders to pull off huge megaloopsand HP at such a lowheight. A bit more audaciouswere the few lucky light riderssuch as Jesse Richman. RubenLenten and Kevin Langeree alsopulled off their show; perhaps,for the latter, not his best everperformance. Van den Kop insteadsurprised the communitywith powerful megaloops, cleanlandings, and a discreet height.The semi-finals favoured thelight Jesse Richman who pulledoff some spectacular manoeuvresbut the heat was cancelledas the second semi-final couldnot be disputed due to low windconditions and night approaching.The Red Bull organizationtherefore decided to extend thecompetition and dispute the finalsthe following day. Someriders and part of the organizationhad to change their returnflight to bring the event to anend, amongst not such greatdisappointment…The last day started off prettyearly. Unfortunately the greatand certainly in top shape, RubenLenten dislocated his hand,leaving the ground to JesseRichman (USA), Kevin Langeree(NED), Jerrie van de Kop (NED)and Aaron Hadlow (GBR). TheBritish rider was very relent-

less, motivated and determinedthroughout the whole event,stealing the crown to RubenLenten (who fought hard despite8 stitches on his hand) withtwo impressive Megaloop KGB.Jerrie van de Kop, conquered awell-deserved third place. JesseRichman conquered fourthplace, surprising everyone withhis huge board off tricks.During the three days of competitionmore than 17.000 peoplegathered on the beach towitness the event. Wake-styleriders showed off their bestMegaloops whilst other riderspulled off some spectacular oldschool tricks including somemassive board off manoeuvres.Ruben Lenten, responsible forthe new competition format(let’s remember that the eventwas conceived by Robbie Naishin 2000 and disputed in Hawaii),impressed everyone with hisMegaloops. No other rider canloop his kite so low!! Richman,despite getting injured lastyear, took several risks amusingthe public with breath-takingmanoeuvres. Kevin Langaree,winner of last year’s edition,showed impressive control remainingvery solid and flexibleat the same time. There wasactually a visible difference,in terms of timing and jumppreparation, between riderswho train at Big Bay and thosewho were not used to the spot.Amongst locals, the native starLuke McGillewie, encouragedand supported by a cheeringstadium throughout the wholeevent.


32EVENTIAaron Hadlow Re alla Red Bull King of the Air 2015

invested a discreet budget inthe event this year, but unfortunatelythe weather conditionsdid not meet expectations.Amongst the novelties of thisedition, we can mention thetechnological support of WOO: atechnology able to measure theheight of boosts and hang-timeof riders, born by the passionof two engineers for this wonderfulsport. WOO tracked the18-metre-jump of Aaron Hadlowduring training, which madeeveryone hope for a new record.Unfortunately the weather onlyconsented athletes to performjumps around 10 metres, witha peak of 13.5 metres for KevinLangaree in the final stages ofthe comp.A special thanks goes to thesportive director Sergio Cantagalliwho literally performed amiracle, bringing to a close anevent which seemed doomed.Thanks to the riders whoshowed off despite the weather,giving their best despite incurringsome injury.This year’s king, Aaron Hadlowis delighted to go home with theso desired trophy: a Kwa-ZuluNatal mask, worn by kings orfuture kings only!!


36EVENTIAaron Hadlow Re alla Red Bull King of the Air 2015

38CAMPIndo Kite Campindo kite cComing back to Europe after 5 months at our remote island in Indonesiais always a bit of a chock. The cold weather, stress, spending time inside,always things to do, having to go to the store to get food, people to see, somany option of things to do, and always being online again... But a change isalways good and I guess it is the same for all the people who come to visit uson the camp, just the other way around.text Tuva Jansenphoto Jason Wolcott

amp

40CAMPIndo Kite CampSometimes it takes a couple of days forpeople to get into the “chill out” moodthat you have to have here in Indonesia.It is not much stuff that is happening exceptright in front of the house- the ocean. So wewake up early in the morning, lift our heads tocheck out the waves, if it is good we go surf andSUP, if not we sleep in or go spear fishing tocatch some fresh food for lunch. Then we chillout, eat, hang out and wait fro the wind to pickup. Then we kite, hang at the beach for sunsetand drink beers, and then we eat, watch thefootage from the day and then go early to bed.And that is what we do everyday. All the same.For us it is heaven because we love the oceanand to spend time with people, but for others Iguess it sounds pretty dam boring!We get people from all around the world withcomplete different kite experience, age and lifestories. I find it so interesting to meet all this peopleand to hear about all the different things youcan do in life! In the recent years it has been moreor less only guys, but this year we got a bunch ofgirls too and they were charing! So for me it wasnice to see that more and more girls are gettingin to wave riding as well and pushing it further.This year was for sure the most consistent year

42CAMPIndo Kite Camp

“Being able to share that with onlya few people in the water and to sitdown at the end of the day with acold Bintang while the sky is turingred and look at the video from thatday, is just perfect.”

44CAMPIndo Kite Campwe have ever had for waves, it was swell afterswell, not always big, but always some waves toplay around with. The wind kicked in a bit later inthe season this year, but then it was on and wehad so many unreal sessions. Being able to sharethat with only a few people in the water and to sitdown at the end of the day with a cold Bintangwhile the sky is turing red and look at the videofrom that day, is just perfect.We teamed up with F-one this year, and we havebeen so happy with our gear in the waves here.The kites are super stable and you can just parkit and ride the wave with out having to worry thatit will fall down. We also had some extra kites,boardsand SUP for our costumers try out and wegot great feedbacks on the gear.

“Since everything is just right infront of the house,we don’t needto waist time or energy to wonderif it might be good now or not andto go and check, and that is what Ilove the most.”Since everything is just right in front of the house,wedon’t need to waist time or energy to wonderif it might be good now or not and to go andcheck, and that is what I love the most.The waves here are so perfect with side shorewind that is makes it so easy to ride the waves.There are customers who have never ridden awave before, and after just a session here theyhave taken plenty and actually ridden them. Tosee how fast people improve their riding here, isso much fun, because they get so stoked, andwhen people are stoked everyone around getsstoked too!If you want to come and ride and hang out withus check out www.infokitecamp.com for moreinfo or fins us on FB!

124 46 EVENTI EVENTSAaron World snowkiting Hadlow conquista contest il Altosangro titolo di Re 2015 alla Red - GPS Bull Formula King of - the Something Air 2015differentfotoCraig Kolesky/Red Bull Content PoolNick Muzik/Red Bull Content Pool

World snowkiting contestAltosangro 2015GPS FormulaSomething differentThe World Snowkite Contest was disputedin Abruzzo, on the beautiful plateau of AltoSangro, in the near of Roccaraso. The localsNiccolò de Simone and Tommaso Caldani,have organised a unique event: six days ofcompetition, four days of snowkite riding inextreme conditions over five different spots.text Niccolò de Simonephotos Sara Buzzelli e Tommaso Caldani

48EVENTSWorld snowkiting contest Altosangro 2015 - GPS Formula - Something differentThe main novelty of this eventhas been the use of GPS technology,a novelty very well receivedby riders who were freeto choose their own path, alsothanks to a detailed map of thearea. This format is certainlya great starting point for futuresnowkiting competitions,everybody will probably learnfrom this new experience. Anothernovelty was the ability fornon-pro-riders to try the excitementof a real world cup, withthe same rules and strategiesof a GPS formula race.The first day riders competedon the Aremogna plateau;they then faced each other, onthe second day, over a path of5 miles, close to the ski resortof Monte Pratello. The third dayof competition riders were surprisedby an actual storm (over30 knots on the Toppe del TesoroMountains) which put to thetest riders as well as their equipment.The veteran Dominik Zimmerman,Ozone rider, won theski category whilst ReinholdGehrer, Flysurfer rider, won thesnowboard category.The GPS technology, providedby Kitetracker, and the new actioncamera Virb from Garminhave given the possibility to theorganisers to visualise the liveGPS data.We have asked one of the organisersof the event, Niccolòde Simone, to explain this newGPS format to us.

50EVENTSWorld snowkiting contest Altosangro 2015 - GPS Formula - Something different

Niccolò de SimoneSomething differentThe third dimension (heightand configuration of the land)makes snowkiting quite similarto kitesurfing. With thisconviction, snowkiteroccarasoproposed an absolutely newscoring system... Regardless ofhow it went, we know that animportant demonstration of innovationand creativity from theschool snowkiteroccaraso.comhas been achieved.World snowkitingcontest Altosangro2015 GPS FormulaThe peculiarity of the contestconsisted in the possibility forthe riders, to choose their ownpath, interpreting themselvesthe conditions of the externalenvironment. We are used toreceiving information on how tostructure a competition: narrowit, provide obligatory passagepoints to measure the athletes.None of these were taken intoconsideration for the format ofRoccaraso! The contest usedsophisticated tools to detectthe objective data of the path.Why impose a point of arrivaland intermediate points in amountain where conditions varyconstantly? Why not find a raceformat in which the protagonistis the rider’s ability to find thebest path, in order to achievethe best performance? It waswith this in mind, and from ourdaily practice of snowkitingthat we realized that a traditionalformat could not expressand enhance the environmentalvariability that dominatesthis sport and much of our belovedkitesurfing. Kitesurfinghas many elements similar tosnowkiting but is essentiallydifferent because of the soil inwhich it is practiced. The windflowing over the sea meetingthe coast is more predictableand allows you to schedule arace with the same externalconditions, in the mountainsunfortunately, or fortunately,this possibility does not exist.We have tried to turn this limitinto a possibility and enhancethe capacity of athletes: there isno established route, the ridershave to make their own.


“I come from Switzerland, where we have some very goodmountains but I have to say that Roccaraso has beena nice discovery, wherever you look there’s a perfect snowkiting spot.”Romain Luppi

54EVENTSWorld snowkiting contest Altosangro 2015 - GPS Formula - Something differentThe path of an ideaHow could we judge objectivelyand instantly the difference betweenan athlete who travelledthe same route many times andone who was going to discovera new territory? How could wedistinguish a track from anotherwithout the intervention ofa human subjective judgment?After much deliberation wechose a parameter which initiallyseemed rather complex anddifficult to calculate. Despite thedifficulties we remain convincedof the correctness of our choice:

the outer perimeter of the track.We needed an algorithm todistinguish an athlete who runover the same tracks and onethat preferred to run his skis onnew snow every-time. It’s beena bet we believed in, despite thedifficulties and perplexities.OutcomeIn the end the strongest athleteswon against those betterequipped. Surely the companiesFlysurfer and Ozone havedemonstrated a clear supremacy,however, any rider had plentyof opportunities to do better.


“Great contest location and even when we couldn’t ride on theplateau on top we were able to ride down in the flat Val de Fredoand had an amazing session there. The event was very wellorganized with free accommodation for all the riders and lifttickets. The GPS Formula contest is very new and this was thefirst contest of this kind, so a lot to learn for the organizers andriders. The spot is really amazing and perfect location for snowkiting and that kind of event format. Italy is always a nice placeto go to, with great people and good food”Dominik Zimmermann

58EVENTSWorld snowkiting contest Altosangro 2015 - GPS Formula - Something differentRules of the race:1) Scoring System:Parameters for the scoring systemof the Snowkite World contest:- Distance x 1- Changes in altitude x 10- Perimeter of the track x 5For Example Didier Botta 2014:Red line is the perimeter, blueline is the distance.We have decided not to assigna score for the surface area covered,because on the basis oftests carried out, it would haveobliged riders, due to the characteristicsof the spot, to alwaysnavigate at the edge of the spotand this created a safety problem.This ratio of multipliers allowedus to assign more or lessthe same score value to speed(distance covered over a timeunit), to climb (altitude changes)and to interpret the surroundingterritory (perimeter).We uploaded maps delimitingthe spot, excluding any dangerousarea.The riders could seethese areas through Kitetrackerto avoid incurring penalties.2) System analysis of GPS dataKitetracker.com is the referenceplatform for the analysis of GPSdata during snowkiting sessionsas well as for other sports.The platform automatically calculatesyour parameter settingswhen the data is uploaded. Forthis reason we have decided tostrengthen a collaboration withthem, which started last year.Kitetracker also allows us toload restricted areas, visible inreal time in the areas coveredby Internet.3) The competition4) Athlete’s selectionIn order to have the strongestrider we have chosen the followingselection criteria:The main companies (Ozone,Flysurfer, Ripace, Elf Kite, Kitech,Aeros) selected their best riderswhilst Ozone Snowkite Masters,snowkitemaster and kitetrackerhad the opportunity to sendtheir own athletes.5) SecurityThe competition did not have apredetermined route and eachrider decided, according to hispossibilities, which way to go.For this reason, the organizationdid not limit the spot butindicated some major dangers,although it was not possibleto mark every single dangeraround spot. Each rider mustbe aware that there could besome risks involved with therace. For this reason it is advisableto study the spot and testthe field a few days before therace whenever possible. It’s absolutelynecessary for participantsto bring active and passivesafety devices, telephoneand radio to keep in touch withthe organization staff.Despite the difficulties and perplexitieswe believe that everyidea should be brought to completion:the dispute over thescoring system was helpful tothe overall improvement of theformat. We have to learn fromour mistakes and all the tips wehave received to create a newrace... finally for athletes.Next year 40 riders will train fora similar race but we will put inplace a few more rules to ensuretransparency... see you inAltosangro (Italy) 24th January,2016... no discount!info@snowkiteroccaraso.com


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62TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZ

text James Bouldingphotos James Boulding, Manuela Jungo, Sam Schofield, Dan Sweeney

64TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZRelatively speaking thewest coast of Oz, offers seriousbang for your buck when itcomes to wind stats during theozzie summer, so this tends tobe the place where you’ll find alot of the serious european windhunters. This year saw a migrationof some of the best riderson the planet trading their usualwinter training grounds in CapeTown and opting for the slightlytamer conditions Perth offers.For most kiters, the pure distanceof at least a 4 hour flightto the next major city meansthey never get to really exploreother parts of the country. Evenseeing all the good spots thewest coast has to offer will takea good few months of road tripping.The size of Australia reallyis monsterously big and theamount of kite spots must be

near on endless. On my tripsthere had always been so muchto keep busy in Perth and withthe wind cranking it was hard tomove elsewhere but this yearwas going to be different.In hindsight I defiantely wouldhave liked to spend more timeover East but with an opportunityto head on a whirlwind triparound some of the major citieswould definitely gave me thetaste I was looking for.


68TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZHooking up with fellow Cabrinha team mateLiam Whaley we embarked on a trip to travel thatwould take in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane andmeet up with the local cabrinha talent and turn itinto a road trip with the focus on promoting thenew Cabrinha FX kite. I say road trip in the loosestsense of the way, most of our miles were actuallyair miles between the major cities to save timebut we definitely racked up some mileage in therental van.I suppose the capital was as good a place as anywhereto start off. Sydney doesn’t always get thebest reputation for wind stats but upon arrival

we were met with a warm weekend breeze anda great local kite community that were eager toshow us their spot and enjoy a beer to keep coolin the heat. With such a curvy coastline Sydneyreally has some special beaches. Not all catch thewind but it’s a place that if you want to be in thewater riding a board, be it surf, SUP or kite it’s anamazing place to enjoy the beachlife whilst beingby a major city. With Australia day approachingand time to move on we headed to the airport,which funnily enough is upwind of the kite spot.An hours flight and we landed in Melbourne earlyin the morning on the day all Australians look forwardto. St Kilda is the place to be in Melbourne,with kite schools/shops and a long coastline thatoffers up conditions ideal for beginners throughto advanced it has a good local kite community.Here we hooked up with Dan Sweeney, UK britishchampion who now calls St Kilda his home andruns Go Kite school. With the wind up we got thelow down on spots and hit up the harbor to welcomein Australia Day with a session. As city backdropsgo this one has to be up there amongst thebest. With Triple J playing it’s famous AustraliaDay top 100 we rigged up kites and hit the water.The temperature in Melbourne is a little colderbut armed with a shorty and the sun shining it’sdefinitely a place you want to have high on yourkiting to-do list. The vibe in Australia is differentto a lot of places I’ve travelled to kite. Life isn’tjust about the hustle and bustle of work. Healthyliving and the beach culture comes high up onpeoples agenda. Experiencing this first hand wasthrilling and with the buzz of Australia day in fullforce we rode into the evening.


72TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZAs the sun set we refreshedwith a cold beer and went tosleep with the promise of agood forecast. With a few moredays in Melbourne we opted tocheck out a few more kite spotsaround the Melbourne area.One aim for this trip was tobring together a group of ridersof mixed abilities, styles, specialitiesand ages and come togetherto learn and share. LiamWhaley, freestyle vice worldchampion is at the forefrontof competitive kiteboardingand it’s plain to see when he’son the water. The ferocity andpower he unleashes during akite session is quite astonishingand definitely has a positive influenceon any rider looking atprogressing their level. Teamingup with fellow Australian ridersLuke Smith and Alec Sheather itwas clear to see their level andthirst for learning new tricksrise. As much as being a pronowadays consists of being atthe top level there are also otherfactors that play a big part ina riders success story. Keepinga constant supply of picturesand video for social media is increasinglyadding to an athletesworth and being able to get ‘theshot’ during photo and videoshoots helps a great deal whenit comes to brands promotingtheir team riders. Sometimesthis comes naturally and othersit has to be worked on butit’s something that goes a longway when it comes to makingwaves in an industry saturatedwith thirsty young talent on thelookout for a sponsorship deal.

74TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZWith this at the forefront of our minds wechecked out a great kite spot called Altona. Within45 minutes of Melbourne there is a good selectionof spots worth experiencing and this oneI would highly recommend. There is a huge longarea of beach which is perfect for kiteboarding,miles of space and on a high tide offers up somevery nice flat water riding. Keen to test our newFX kites freestyle capabilities we pumped up andheaded out onto the water. As we pumped up, theclouds started to dissipate and light rays startedbeaming through, this was the perfect chance tobank some video material and grab some shots.Taking off for the next adventure up north wewelcomed in the thought of some slightly warmerriding and looked forward to the next part ofour journey in and around Brisbane. Starting ofin Clontarf, straight off the plane we were metwith a sea breeze and a fun day hanging out withthe local crew. One thing Australia does so wellis beach BBQ’s, the council cleans and maintainsBBQ’s on the beach all along the coastline and tofinish a session and fire up the electric BBQ knowingyou don’t even have to clean it is a mouth wateringprospect. Toasting our first day of riding inBrisbane at the beach with some new friends wasas warm a welcome as we could have hoped for.

76TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZHitting the road north we headed for Coloundraon the sunshine coast. This coastline mustbe some of the most beautiful I’ve travelled toand is definately one I will return to when I havea bit more time. Met with lighter winds we firedup our big kites and headed to a beautiful spoton the river. With a grassy rigging area this spotcan work in hardly any wind due to the current.

Perfect for light wind days when the current canadd up to 5 knots due to its movement it’s a crazylittle kite spot set in the heart of one of the coolestsurfy towns on the sunshine coast. I’d urgeanyone keen to rock out on a surf or kite board tojourney along this coastline, with endless spotsand places of beauty it’s another roadtrip youneed on your tick list.Last but by no means least we headed south forour last stopping point at the gold coast. Famousfor it’s high rises and worldclass surf breaks itwas like we had arrived in Las Vegas, but with abeachy twist! A seemingly endless golden sandbeach it’s almost impossible to feel like you areanywhere other than Australia. Paddling out foran early morning surf with the guys and teamfrom Surf FX the view back towards the beachis a memorable one. A very different feel fromsome of the other spots it felt like we would befinishing our trip at a very iconic location. Quicklygrabbing some food and hydration we headed tothe Surfers Paradise kite spot and rigged up kitesfor a busy Saturday at the beach. Being our laststopping point before our flight back west it wastime to let our hair down and make the most ofthings. Met with perfect 9m wind, flat water andanother breathtaking city skyline in the backgroundwe rode until our bellies were rumblingand our limbs ached. With wind at each spot wetravelled to I was incredibly grateful to have beenable to experience kiteboarding in so many beautifullocations. Kiteboarding is well and truly alivein Australia and I must say if I lived in any of theselocations I would be on the water every day thewind blew. Even when it doesn’t the waves andgeneral beach living is too good to not be apartof daily life.

78TRIPFX Cabrinha in OZBoarding the plane back to Perth I was gratefulfor this opportunity to meet so many new kiteboarders,friends and experience Australian livingin a variety of cities. Arriving back in Perth it feltlike I was coming home, a whirlwind trip takingin some of Australia’s classic locations then a 5hour return flight, and we were still in the samecountry! In typical Perth style it was windy, easterlywind which means kiteboarding on the SwanRiver, one of the prettiest spots you’ll ever experience,this river winds its way from the coastthrough Perth city centre offering a few inlandkite spots. Given the right direction, the wind isclean and an hour after landing we were riggingup again to crown our return with a session. Perthreally is a great place to kite, the wind is some ofthe best you’ll experience and if you’re goal is tojust kite then it really is the place to be. If you’relooking to experience that something extra thenit’s defiantely taking the time and making the effortto go and explore some of the amazing citiesAustralia has to offer, you won’t be disappointed.

80ITWColleen CarrollCOLLEENCARROLLName:Colleen CarrollD.O.B.:06/09/87Home spot:Hood River, OregonSponsors:North Kiteboarding, ION, Sensi Graves BikinisYears kiting:7Favourite spot:Hatteras, North CarolinaOther sports:Wakeboarding, Snowboarding, MountainBiking, Yoga, SUP, Surfing, pretty muchanything I can get my hands on.ITW Roberta Pala | Photo Vincent Bergeron, Toby Bromwich, Greg Hinsdale, Jason Wolcott

82ITWColleen Carroll“There’s no right or wrong in kdifferent ways to kiteboard andsee from a whoPhoto Vincent Bergeron

iteboarding. There’s so manyamazing places in the world tole new angle”

84ITWColleen Carroll

KS_Tell us about you…CC_I love to keep moving. Whether that’s withinmy communities at home or worldwide, I love tosee new places and get to know the land, culture,food, history, the people and everything else Ican absorb while I’m visiting a new place. It maysound contradictory but I’m also a total homebody.I have an amazing family and community thatsupports me back home and I love spending timein the Northwest (USA). It’s the most beautifulplace on earth.KS_Why kiteboarding?CC_Because it’s the most fun and freeing thingI know how to do. There’s no right or wrong inkiteboarding. There’s so many different ways tokiteboard and amazing places in the world to seefrom a whole new angle. Not to mention I lovebeing in the water and have had a board on myfeet as long as I can remember so for me, it’s theperfect combo.KS_This year is the tenth anniversary of TripleS.How are you going to approach it? And who doyou think will be your fiercest opponent for thisedition of TripleS that promises to be explosive?CC_My approach is usually to get there a bit beforethe event starts and ride as much as possibleand then have as much fun as possible duringthe event. Friends from around the world cometogether to ride together, relax together, and party!I’m guessing that we’ll see some new facesin the line up this year for the Triple-S so reallyit’s hard to say who will be the biggest opponent,guess we’ll just have to wait and see…KS_What’s your dream trip… and why?CC_An all girls trip to somewhere insanely beautifulwith consistent winds and delicious food.Because what could sound better than that?KS_How is your relationship with North, how doyou feel with the products and your team mates?What’s your favourite gear?CC_I truly couldn’t have asked for a better andmore supportive sponsor. The gear, the peoplebehind the products, the team, the open-mindednessand creative collaboration, I couldn’t bemore stoked than to be working with the bestcompany in the industry.KS_What is your favourite spot and why?CC_I have two.The first is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (USA)and even more particularly The Real Slick with theentire Real Slider Park setup. The water is mirrorflat and usually with SW wind the 9m is perfectfor me. There’s always tons of awesome peopleon the water and it’s easy to feed off the energy.The second is Hood River, Oregon (USA). Whilethe kiting isn’t quite as perfect as Cape Hatteras,the lifestyle is hands down unbeatable. A day inHood River would likely include at least one kitesession followed by a mountain bike ride, berrypicking adventure, wine tasting tour, and/or waterfallhike topped off with live music over locallyharvested food.

86ITWColleen Carroll

KS_Your projects for 2015?CC_I’m really excited about a snowkite trip I’ll bejoining this April to Norway. I grew up living andbreathing snowboarding so this is a bit of a dreamcome true for me. We also have a few tripsin the works with the NKB crew that are going tobe epic…you’ll just have to wait and see there…and then for sure you’ll see me in Cape Hatterasriding with friends and competing in the Triple-S.I also plan to spend some time in Hood River,South America, and possibly hop across the pondto Europe around the time of the Rail Mastersevent. I’d also love to make my dream girls tripcome true!KS_Sports and love… given you are traveling somuch…CC_To me, they go hand in hand. I feel so lucky toshare my passion for our sport with my boyfriendand teammate, Craig Cunningham. We’ve beenable to travel the world together, grow togetherand push each other in the sport. Wouldn’t haveit any other way!KS_Colleen and Makulo Project.CC_Good question! Makulo is a new companythat is connecting brands with real athletes worldwideand creates crowd sourced content forsocial media and other ad campaigns. It maylook just like a facebook app that tracks sessionsbut in fact this is simply one of the tools used tobuild an athlete’s profile that will be shared withbrands when pitching campaigns. I was lucky tobe put in contact with Makulo from the beginningand have already had the opportunity to work onsome cool projects. We did a house in St. PeterOrding last summer and also a house in Brazilthis fall where we worked with brands like Mercedes,Nivea, Tesa and Kind.

88ITWColleen CarrollKS_You and Sensi Graves: a friend, a kiter, bikinisdesigner and one of your sponsors. Tell me aboutyour affinity with her…CC_Sensi is one of my absolute favourite peopleand of course makes my favourite bikinis of alltime. She’s one of the hardest working people inthe industry and I’m in constant admiration of herdesire to better herself and her brand. The girlnever stops! Whether it’s kiting, mountain biking,public speaking, designing, teaching, cooking, etcthe girl has an unquenched thirst for learning andfor life. I think this is one of the main reasons wehave such a blast together and I always love totravel and kite with her.KS_A day in the life of Colleen rider. What do youlove doing when you’re not riding?CC_The day usually starts with a yoga sessionand a cup of coffee, I am from Seattle after all…coffee capital, then it’s either straight to the wateror to the computer for a bit of writing, emailing,etc. From there it’s usually eat, kite and repeat.If there’s no wind, I like to go for a run or dosomething else to get some exercise and checkout the sites of wherever we are. I also loveto spend time with friends and if I’m in a placewhere there’s lots of people around I love to hostgatherings with a big BBQ or group dinner. If I’min a quieter place I can spend an entire eveningreading if I have the time.KS_How do you see yourself in 20 years?CC_In 20 years, I hope to have a family and a nicehome in Hood River, Oregon. I would expect thatI’ll still be very active kiting, biking, exploring, SU-Ping, etc as much as possible and that I’ve carvedout a position for myself in the industry where Ican contribute to the future of our sport.

90ITWColleen CarrollKS_Our magazine is called Kitesoul, because weare sure that our soul has been somewhat filledup by this sport. What’s your feeling while youare in the ocean, during a competition or during asunset session?CC_Well I don’t do too many competitions, sothat one a bit of a strange feeling for me. If it’sduring the Triple-S my feelings are usually totalexcitement, adrenaline and enjoyment becauseI’m surrounded by friends in my favourite place,riding the best slider park in the world. If it’s afreestyle competition I’d say I get a bit nervousbecause I never practice for this but I usually staypretty laid back about it, do my best and enjoythe event.As for sunset sessions, these are my favourite. Ilove a beautiful sunset session with a few friendsin a good flat water spot. Often this is the timewhen I feel I ride my best because it’s so easy tojust be in the moment and feed off the other riders’energy around you.

SPECTRET-STICKSHarness support adjustable tothe personal preference witha brand new batten systemAIRFRAMEWeight optimized constructionthat ensures nearlyno water absorptionPRO_PADLightweight and comfortableprotection for your bellySLINGBELTKeeps the harnessin its placeSURFING ELEMENTSion-products.com

180 POP S92STRAPLESS MOVES180 Pop Shove-itThe 180 Pop Shove-it is a great baselinetrick to learn as you can expand it intoa variety of moves. By landing with yourfins first, it gives you the option to spinout of it riding toe side by “ole-ing” thebar, or simply letting the fins catch andletting the nose correct itself and pointforward again.. At this point you can bothcontinue to ride toe side, switch your feet,or because you feet are already switched,jibe and turn around to head in the otherdirection.Text and Photo Courtesy Reo Stevens

HOVE-IT

94STRAPLESS MOVES180 Pop Shove-it180 POP SHOVE-IT1.Like any jump, whether it’s strapped orstrapless, to leave the water you must loadup the kite and board by setting a rail and edgingagainst the kite. This creates added tension in thelines that you will use to lift you off the water.2.You will start with slow to medium speed,just enough to finish the move with someforward momentum to ride away. If possible, timeyour take off with a ‘kicker’ such as a small waveor chop to help you initiate your jump.3.As you leave the water, keep you kite at a45-degree angle and use your toe pressureto angle the bottom of the board into the wind.The board will push back against the bottom ofyour feet and you can use this resistance to initiatethe spin of the board.4.Keep your eyes down, watching the board.You must spin the board only 180 degreesand the amount “kick” that you use to spin theboard depends on how fast and how high you are.

BY REO STEVENS5.Before you land make sure your feet arepositioned further towards the nose of theboard (the new “back” of the board) and you haveyour knees bent for landing.6.Keep your eyes down and spot your landing,hopefully your feet are still in the correctspot as you land the trick.TIPS1.2.You don’t need to be going fast to do thistrickDon’t wear a surf leash because the possibilityof your board “bouncing back” cancreate a very dangerous situation.3.Watch for the possibility of your board landingfins up. To avoid injuries from sharpfins, watch the rotation of the board and if you’relanding fins up, then tuck you feet up and continueto send the kite in the opposite direction toget away from your board.

96STRAPLESS MOVES180 pop shove - it with OLE180 POPSHOVText and photo Courtesy Reo Stevens

E-ITWITH OLEAt this point in time you have just landed a“180 Pop Shove-it” and you are riding yourboard fins first. So now what? A simplefinish to this move is to “Ole” the bar asyou spin out of the maneuver.

98STRAPLESS MOVES180 pop shove - it with OLEThe entire spin is led by your head, so to As you spin, keep your knees bent and1. initiate the spin, look back in the direction 2. continue to look where you want to go. Beyou want to go.prepared for a possible sudden catch of the finsas the board comes around.

Don’t forget to keep the bar in front of you3. throughout the spin 4.Ride away

100 ITWRoberto RicciITW Federico Sugoni | Photo Dave White, John Carter and Courtesy RRD

ITW+ROBERTORICCI

102 ITWRoberto Ricci+ks_why did you choose southafrica?RR_I discovered South Africa back in 1988 withCesare Cantagalli. He was a really famous windsurferhere in South Africa as he was the first guywho actually did the first front loop, side rotationcalled a “Cheese-Roll” at Big Bay, right nextto the house over here. Since that time I had astrong feeling for South Africa: I felt it was likethe African Hawaii, as there were many similarities.For me Hawaii has always represented thereal hub of all water sports as this is really whereall the water sports have originated. Today Hawaiistill represents the icon of the so-called watermanand it is very true. Because of its historicalbackground, geographical position and the heritageof the people living there. Hawaii has alwaysbeen used as a symbol and a comparison: peoplealways compare the size of a wave to that of aHawaiian wave, or the skills of someone to that ofa Hawaiian rider, the shape of a board etc. Hawaiihas always had this charismatic profile. And to meSouth Africa was very interesting because of thistravelling I was always doing between Italy andHawaii, so for me it was a kind of mix between thetwo in a way. It was reminding me of my Europeanroots, despite I was moving to another continent,but at the same time there were the wildroots of the African culture which somehow werereminding me of the Hawaiian culture representedby the Polynesians in general. There were alot of similarities but most of all when I was goingto South Africa I was always finding myself at peace.I didn’t need to travel all the way to Hawaiibut at the same time I wasn’t feeling as stressedas I was in Italy. So, little by little, as soon as thecompany grew I was able to travel there more;then as you know I ended up having a family andkids, and I thought South Africa could be a greatplace to move to with my family as well. HereI have found a lot of peace and stimulation formy business as well. A place which could go wellwith the growth of my business and family life.Today South Africa is really my second home, wespend quite a lot of time here in the winter, fromDecember to March every season. The kids go toschool over here and when we go back they finishthe last semester in Italy. In the end I am able towork much more efficiently: I can keep going outin the water to test the equipment with the ridersand spend some good valuable time with them,also my designers always come to visit me to feelwhat’s going on, so we have a good moment duringthe year when we get altogether, stop, freezethe time and talk about what’s going on, what weare going to be doing and what is currently beingdeveloped. I am able to spend valuable time withthem in the water, so all in all it’s something Icannot really do without, it completes the wholepackage of the company structure today.+ks_how important is the worldof kiteboarding for rrd?RR_Kiteboarding has been a real turning pointin the company. As you know the company wasborn with windsurfing and I was brought by natureto consider windsurfing as the only sport Iwould have loved to do in the water. I wasn’t

104 ITWRoberto Ricci+to me southbecause ofdoing betweit was a kiway.even aware of the existence of kiteboarding. It allstarted in 1995 thanks to Manu Bertin that calledup one night saying to me: “Hey we have a newsport, can you make me a board to actually pushthis sport forward?”. So one day he came overwith a small snowboard bag which he took out ofhis car and I asked: “So where is the rest?” and hereplied that there was no other equipment: thatwas it, everything was in his bag. And I thoughtwow! However at that time I was so involved withwindsurfing: I just started off my own company, Ihad no money and a huge loan to pay back to thebank every month, so my main worry was just tomake it to the next month. Then Manu came tome with lots of ideas, and I could see phenomenalpossibilities in there but it was just too early.

africa was very interestingthis travelling i was alwaysen italy and hawaii, so for mend of mix between the two in aIn 1995 nobody really understood what this sportwas all about; nevertheless I deeply got involvedin developing some boards for him and I helpedhim out, in the very beginning, to move aroundthe world, from Brasil to Maui, with the meansthat I had: a little buyer could help him out if hewas shipping for him, and he very successfullymade it through his trip in Maui where he reallyshowed to the other riders what kitesurfing couldbe. I remember then, that in 1996, he left me oneof his kites which I flew a bit; but it wasn’t until1998 that I actually started kitesurfing myself,which is also the very year when we made ourfirst production board. 1998 was the year of ourfirst collection of the original “flying-boards” asManu was actually calling the sport “fly-surfing”

106 ITWRoberto Ricci+that’s because alis go into the oc

l i care and all i doean.and not kiteboarding back then. In the very beginningManu named the sport “fly-surfing” becausehe was giving him the idea of flying with asurfboard. From that time onwards my idea wasto evolve the world of windsurfing and introducethis new possibility of gliding over the water withreally light winds. I could see that in places likethe Mediterranean Sea, for example, where thewinds are very light, you could get going a lot fasteron a kite rather than on a windsurf, alreadyback then, not to mention what you can do now!So my idea was to jump into the world of kitesurfingbecause I thought there was a great possibilityfor all these people that were stressed outon the beach, and could not fulfil their windsurfingdream because the winds were too light (asyou need at least 15 knots to get planing). At thattime, and still today, most of the windsurfers justwant to go fast, get going and planing at a topspeed of 20 knots. This is mainly why I decided tojump into kiteboarding and develop the first lineof boards so early. I remember at the time therewas just F-One and us on the market. Our firstproduction of kites, instead, was released oneand a half year later. RRD has been the third companyto come on the market with a productionline of kites; I remember Wipika was the first, followedby Naish. So we have been there since thevery beginning before a lot of other brands whichyou see today. Since then I have decided thatthis company is all about water sports. A lot ofpeople have asked me: “Why don’t you get intosnowboarding, mountain clothing, and outdoorsports?” That’s because all I care and all I do isgo into the ocean. I mean I love mountains and Ilike spending time there with my family but I amnot a mountain person, I couldn’t think of myselfdoing something different than what I am doingnow. I love anything which you can successfullydo on the water, with the approach of saying: “Iwanna glide, I wanna discover what’s on the waterout there”, this is what rewards me. And thecompany, thanks to the arrival of kiteboarding,has managed to stretch even further with StandUp Paddle Boarding, surfing and all the new anddifferent water sports which are being developedtoday. So the approach of the company today isno longer just windsurfing or kiteboarding butwater sports in general, and this is the goal whichI have today: I want to invite people to the waterwith the easiest possible tool, the easiest possibletoy (inflatable SUP boards or kiteboards or justeasy-to-go windsurfing boards). Very often weforget that there are still a lot of people out therewho don’t know how to swim. So thinking that allthese sports can only be directed to people whocan surf already, for me is somewhat limiting. Ithink that water has a lot of possibilities to offer:it is the most present element on planet earth, sothere is a lot of water to be used and there are alot of places to be discovered around the world. Ithink that water sports in general could help ourcivilisation to be more aware about what’s goingon in our ecosystem today, because it’s a differentenvironment where there are a lot of thingsto discover. I think that thanks to these sports wecan transmit a lot of important messages to thepublic these days.

108 ITWRoberto Ricci+ks_how italian is rrd as acompany?RR_Well perhaps I am not the right person to beable to analyse that, as it would be difficult to bemy own judge. What I can tell you is that peoplesee a lot of Italian touch in what we do. I think thereal backbone of the company is to be a performancebrand with results: we can win races andwe have been winning races and we will win moreraces in the future (across different disciplines).Saying this, on the other side, there is a lot of romanticismin the company, a lot of style, and attentionto details: not to make things necessarilybetter, but to make them more interesting, different,with a little bit of spice. I mean it wouldhave not been necessary to add that extra colourinto a board, or the extra patch or reinforcementon that kite, or add that extra detail to the bar,paddle or piece of garment. But I love to do it becauseI know that it fits there; if I like it, I do it. I donot care if the customer does not like it, I just doit because it feels right. And by approaching theproduct this way, very often you also match people’sdesires because what we do is genuine; theproduct has a genuine soul which shows itself inthe end. So in a way I think you can perceive a lotof Italian soul in the product we make becausethe company of course is Italian and most stuff ismade mainly by Italians; even though a lot of ourdesigners are actually from other countries. Butgenerally I always try to supervise their work anddirect them towards a specific style, graphic, material,fabric or components in general. Everythingthat is developed and produced is always overlookedand guided by me. The real spirit of thecompany can be summed up by two words:PERF-ROMANCE, not performance but “perfromance”.I think these two words which apparentlyare very diverse, have been successfully mergedinto the RRD spirit: these two qualities go hand inhand in my products and you cannot really breakthem apart: like it or hate it. I was brought bynature to believe that it doesn’t matter the wayyou do it, because what really matters is how youdo it! I think that in the end the only recipe thatworks is to do things with motivation, passion,desire and the right approach which is to neverbe happy with what you have done but immediatelymove on to the next step, right after you’vefinished the last product. I think this way you canpretty much do anything, anywhere in the world.If you really have the motivation and the desireto do things. And I don’t really think it matterswhere you are from: Italy, France, South Africa orHawaii; I think that any brand, any entrepreneuror single person has an equal chance around theworld. What matters is that you use the tools youhave inside you, or around you to make your ownrecipe, and there is no fixed recipe. I personallydecided to keep my base in Italy mainly becausemy heart, soul, heritage and bonds belong to Italywhich is my land. What I have learned from myparents and friends and schoolmates is deeplyrooted within myself and I see myself growing upfrom this culture, even though with a very internationalapproach. I have been travelling aroundthe world pretty much all my life, since I was 25,and what really matters is not so much consideringthe pros and cons of a country but seeing theworld as an opportunity for everyone; and I dobelieve that, if you have

110ITWRoberto Ricciyour roots somewhere, it will be easier for you to mission is to make a successful brand which isbelong to the world. You cannot really be a totalglobetrotter and run a company at the samesomething completely different.time, you can do it, but it is something I would not+feel comfortable doing. It is like having a familyyou can go back to every time; going back to Italyfor me is like going back home and feel all thehappy moments, but at the same time I feel thefrustration and narrow-mindedness of the peoplewho cannot see the opening and possibilitieswhich are out there and everywhere. I mean Italyis just one random country in the world; whatmakes a good entrepreneur is to be able to usewhat’s good in a country. Italy is my country and RR_I decided to start the production board businessin 1994 because my goal was to make theI am proud of it: I am not here to fight for Italy orrepresent Italian entrepreneurs. Honestly I do not best windsurfing board in the world. When youeven care about that, I mean I do not really want have such a clear goal and you have passion, andto prove to the world that Italians do it better. My the determination not only to win races, but do itks_you have been interviewedby repubblica on this subject,but what does it mean to representsuch a successfulitalian brand in a moment ofeconomic crisis for our country?

with the best tools made with heart, passion andall you know about how to make something better,you have won already. And I was lucky enoughto be able to share this vision with a lot of peoplein the company, also those helping me outwith the commercial organisation of the business.Then there is the classic Italian story: we actuallystarted out from a family garage producing only afew boards and selling them within Italy, then littleby little we started mass producing boards firstin Slovakia and then in Thailand. All of a suddenwe ended up finding ourselves running a companyas novel entrepreneurs trying to organizea business. Nevertheless the passion factor thatwas bringing us together never left us and it isactually what drives the company forward today:the passion for the sport and showing peoplethat when you do something with your heart andsoul you can still keep the fire burning and this issomething which can be felt when you look at ourproducts. When a customer buys one of our products,we want them to feel like they have boughtsomething special, and this is very rewarding forus. This has been a great way to achieve resultswith a natural progression. Even today I do notplan anything in advance, like what I want to bedoing in the next two or five years. I look at themarket and I see possibilities out there, what isreally required or desired by potential clients, andthis is how we move forward along the path. Wedo not like to make plans to break into new countriesor markets; we prefer the product to speakfor itself, this is our main focus: we just care thatthe product is done as good as we can possiblymake it. And customers seem to really appreciatethat. It was mostly like a real natural develop

ITWRoberto Ricci112+i think that ttransmit a lotthe public the

hanks to these sports we canof important messages tose days.ment of the company, it was not something wedreamt about one night. All the pieces fell intoplace little by little; it was like choosing the rightpeople working with me and for me.+ks_how did it all started?can you tell us about yourstory as an entrepreneur?RR_I started windsurfing in 1981 by chance basically.I tried windsurfing once with a friend but Iwould say that the very first time I tried it I didn’tactually like it, because the sail was very heavyand the equipment overall was too bulky. My firstexperience hadn’t been very nice, so I have to saythat I didn’t really feel attracted by the sport itself.This happened during the spring of 1981 and thenthe summer came and I found myself a summerjob: I was about 16-17 years old at the time and inItaly it was very common for teenagers to workin the summer. I wanted to save some moneyto go on holiday to Madagascar with a friend ofmine as at the time I was very passionate aboutfree-diving. In the end my friend broke his arm,so the holiday was cancelled. At that point I hadall this money saved up and didn’t know what todo with it. My friends all started windsurfing, asit was the hot thing to do in Italy at the time, so Idecided to also buy myself a windsurf, even if atthe time I wasn’t really into it, I was just curiousabout it. So from that day onwards, I kept doingfreediving when the water was calm and windsurfwhen it was windy and I could not free-dive.Slowly I started liking the sport and did it everytime it was windy, also during winter, so prettysoon I’d gotten hooked on! As I was getting moreinto windsurfing, I also started walking into windsurfingshops: there I learned to fix boards andsell them. I started understanding more aboutboard design and development and I was literallyspending my free time checking out new brandscoming on the market, how they were performingetc. It wasn’t until 3-4 years later that I startedto race in a local funboarding competition whichwas a slalom race; overall I was doing ok in theItalian circuit. I remember one day I was trainingfor a race and I met this guy, who ended up beinga custom board manufacturer in Italy. That day heactually invited me to test and develop boards forhim and I can say that was basically the start ofmy career. I started really getting into testing boardsuntil one day they just offered me a job as ashaper. Count that at the time I didn’t even knowwhat a shaper was! They told me they needed ashaper who knew a bit about windsurfing technique,who could write a few articles for windsurfingmagazines and could shape a board. I knew Iwas the right guy for the job because I knew howto work with my hands as my father taught mehow to. He was an artisan, he was always repairingcars on his own and painting them; he was aself-made man from the post-war period and hetaught me how to repair my motorcycle, my bikeand building my own furniture. As a consequencehandiwork for me has always been kind of natural.I so learned how to properly shape boardsin Lake Garda, Italy, and from that time onwardseverything started falling into place, thanks tomy passion and determination. I decided that thiswas going to be my life: I was so immersed with

114ITWRoberto Riccishaping boards, showing them around the world,testing them, improving my skills as a shaper anda windsurfer. This had been my life from 1984 to1986, just shape boards for the best athletes inItaly, until in 1986 I was able to make my first tripto Hawaii; once there I decided I wanted to spendmore and more time in Hawaii and learn how toshape better boards from the Hawaiian gurus. Ithen ended up renting a small shipping room inthe Canary Islands, which is the mecca of windsurfershapers in the world. From then onwardsI had more time to test equipment and improvemy skills as a windsurfer; I went from being justa shaper to having a few sponsors that were helpingme travelling around the world and competein the world tour. Thanks to the sponsors I wasable to take part into the main windsurfing eventsand shipping boards at the same time and Ican say the two things went very well together. In1989 I decided to do everything by myself; I quitmy job as a shaper and went solo with my ownRRD brand. My first logo actually was RobertoRicci Design Italy-Hawaii because my laboratorywas in Italy, in my parents’ garage in Maremma(Grosseto, Tuscany), and my shipping room wasin the Canary; and from these two small hubs Iwas able to make boards for Europeans as wellas for international riders going to Hawaii. In 1993I met Anders Bringdal, one of the best slalomracers, and one of the fastest guys of the WorldTour. He wanted to have some boards shaped byme; so thanks to his support and his approach Iwas able to make big developments in terms ofboard design. So in 1994 I ended up sponsoringhim and starting my career as an entrepreneur; Iput money down to form my first team of windsurferswho were actively taking part to the WorldTour. I decided to do that because the year before,in December 1993, there had been a huge fire inmy factory: the whole factory burned down andI was left with 1000 euros and no insurance topay back the damage. My factory was still underneathmy parents’ garage, so that day I decidedthat if I wanted this to be my life I either had to dothings seriously or give it up altogether. Until thattime I was kind of playing the beach bum aroundthe world, picking up money from sponsors, andselling a few boards here and there; but if I hadto destroy something my parents took so long tobuild, I had to do things seriously. The fire was agood lesson and a good motivation at that time; Iwas able to turn a really negative experience intoa positive one and I always say that since then,the fire of that night still burns inside of me: thefire and the desire to do better and improve allthe time in a safe way, for my future and that ofpeople working with me.+ when a custproducts, wehave boughtis very rewa

omer buys one of ourwant them to feel like theysomething special, and thisrding for us.

116ITWRoberto Ricci+ nevertheless the passionfactor that was bringingus together never leftus and it is actuallywhat drives the companyforward today

118FREESTYLE MOVESShifty 3FREESTYLE MOVESSHIFTY 3Text Alberto Rondina | Photo Roberta Pala

ALBERTO RONDINAThe Shifty 3 is a variation of a 313 that came up inthe sport only a few years ago.Basically the main difference between the two isat the start. in the 313, you have to do a properraley at the beginning, which means both legs arestreched up high being your back.Instead the Shifty is properly done when the backleg is stretched and up in the sky, while the frontleg is mostly bended and low.Start the trick with different steps. First you haveto learn the Shifty, then Shifty to toeside, andwhen you can do those, Shifty 3.

120FREESTYLE MOVESShifty 3SHIFTY 3The pop for a Shifty is slightlydifferent from normal: you haveto pull up the front leg to getheight and keep the nose outof the water, but as soon as youleave the water the front leg hasto stay down, while the back legneed to stretch out all the way.Make sure to start the trick holdingthe bar right in the middlekeeping the kite a 45’ and havea good speed.Arrived at the middle of thejump, when your back leg is fullystretched out and you feel likeyou are starting to come down,that is the right time to start the360 frontside.Leave the front hand from thebar, push hard your board backunder your feet towards the kiteand strongly turn your headabove your front shoulder.Keep the bar really close to yourhip, keep pushing with yourhead and go look for the barbehind your back.Grab the bar behind your backand get ready to bend your kneesto cushion the landin!

MOST COMMON MISTAKES ARE:Not stretching your back legenough. It might be hard atthe beginning, but once youget used to it, you will find thatthe more you send high andstretched out the back leg theeasier is gonna be to land thistrick.Since you leave the front handfrom the bar, the back hand isgonna call the kite back up inthe sky. So be sure to start thetrick with the kite low, as forsure at the beginning the kiteis gonna go high during the trick.If you start the trick with thekite too high, its gonna be reallyhard to go grab the bar behindyour back.The lower the kite is, the easieris to pass the bar behind yourback.CIAO!ALBY

122HANDIKITEChristophe MartinITW Roberta Pala | Foto Courtesy Christophe Martin

ChristopheMartinName: Christophe MARTIND. O. B.: 4 Aprile 1974Home spot: “Les Trois Pierres” on Oleron,French islandSponsor: Takoon, Julbo, Fondation MalletYears of kititing: 19Favourite spot: One Eye and Manawa inMauritiusOthers sports: Surfing, wakeboarding, snowskiing, snowkiting, paragliding, sailing, scubadiving, Catakite, paddle boarding, and more…

124HANDIKITEChristophe MartinKS_Tell us about you…CM_I’m 40 years old, married with 2 children and our family hasalways been fascinated by water sports. I’ve been on water witha surfboard since I was 7 years old. I ‘ve practiced some extremesports in my life, like windsurfing in storms and waves, kiting, towinsurfing in French big waves, climbing, bungee jumping and paraglidingwhen I was 12, … and all these experiences have given methe desire to test new ways and to accomplish my dreams.In October 2002 I had a severe crash on my mountain bike and Ibecome paraplegic, but my decision was to fight against what lifethrew at me and continue on my way. My family and friends werevery supportive and, in 2003, I decided to see what was possiblefor me; and after that I decided to change some things in my disabledlife. My objective was to create what did not exist or improvewhat was already there. I am now very involved in making watersports accessible for the disabled.KS_After this forced stop, you returned to kiteboarding with ahydrofoil and a new sponsor. How did your relationship with Takoonstarted?CM_As you know, extreme sports are marvellous and exciting, butsometime there is a price to pay for this; I’ve paid this price twiceand last year I’ve discovered that my body had received so muchstress during 12 years of riding in a seat position. So, I took the decisionto stop, and see what was possible or not and create a newway. Riding on flat water is now my main activity, perhaps catchingjust a wave or two. I have been riding with my Air Chair since 2005,towed by a jet ski. I did not ride my hydrofoil at the time because Iwas too busy catching waves.The Takoon family has been for me a very good opportunity. I’veknown Jacques Freydrich for the last 10 years, he has been my firstsponsor (with another kite brand) and he knows how determinedI am to make kitesurfing a possibility for disabled men and women,and how committed I am in promoting the brand. Pierre Engel has thesame vision as me on the practice of kitesurfing and I appreciate this.

116 126HANDIKITEChristophe MartinKS_Parlaci di te…“I crashed in Moutain bike and iwas paraplegic but my decisionwas to fight against life andcontinue my first way”CM_Ho 40 anni, sono sposato e ho due figli e tutta la famiglia èaffascinata dagli sport acquatici. Sono entrato in acqua con il surfper la prima volta a 7 anni. Ho praticato molti sport estremi nellamia vita, come il windsurf in onde di tempesta, kite, tow-in in grandionde, arrampicata e benji, parapendio per dodici anni, e tuttequeste esperienze mi hanno dato il desiderio continuo di trovareogni modo per realizzare i miei sogni… Nell’Ottobre 2002, ho avutoun incidente in mountain bike e sono rimasto paraplegico, ma lamia decisione era di lottare e continuare la mia vita come prima.La mia famiglia e i miei amici sono sempre stati molto presenti e,nel 2003, ho deciso di vedere cosa esistesse per le persone nellamia condizione e di cambiare qualcosa nella vita del disabile, ilmio obiettivo è di creare qualcosa di nuovo o migliorare quello cheesiste già. Sono davvero molto coinvolto negli sport acquatici perdisabili.KS_Dopo la sosta forzata dell’ultimo anno, stai ritornandoal kiteboarding con il foil e un nuovo sponsor,come è nato il rapporto con Takoon?CM_Come sapete, gli sport estremi sono emozionanti e meravigliosi,ma si paga sempre un prezzo nel praticarli, io l’ho pagatodue volte, e lo scorso anno ho scoperto che il mio corpo ha ricevutotroppi shock in dodici anni di alcuni sport. Per questo motivoho preso la decisione di smettere, e vedere cosa fosse possibilefare nella mia nuova condizione. Adesso navigare in acqua piattaè la mia nuova strada, magari prendendo qualche onda e aprendoun nuovo mondo di riding in foilboard. Ho provato con la sedia nel2005 ma trainato dalla moto d’acqua, non avevo il tempo di farlocon il mio kite all’epoca… ero troppo impegnato a cavalcare le onde!La famiglia Takoon è stata per me una buona opportunità perchéJacques Freydrich lo conosco da dieci anni, ed è stato il mio primosponsor in un’altra azienda di kite, e conosce bene la mia volontà didare accessibilità al kitesurf per i disabili, e il mio lavoro per quantoriguarda il marchio. Pierre Engel ha anche la stessa visione dellapratica del kitesurf, e lo apprezzo, i prodotti sono già molto buoni eora posso testare quali siano più indicati per il nostro scopo. Il nostroobiettivo è lo stesso, poter fare kitesurf in sedia, avere nuovesensazioni in acqua, e creare degli Handi kitesurf camp nel mondo!

They have very good products and I test what is better for our typeof ride. Our objective is the same: making kite chair riding accessibleto all, promote the use of hydrofoils and create Handi kitesurfcamps around the world.KS_The major difficulties you encountered in the developmentof materials for “handi-kite”?CM_For the last 10 years we have worked very hard with the FrenchKite Federation (FFVL) and finally some aids have been approved.It was very time consuming as we had to create groups of kiteteachers to test and give us feedback on every aid. The developmentof a kite-chair was instead my own personal investment (interms of time and money). I worked with some handi-riders andvalid friends; we checked what was good or not, and made thenecessary changes to the MC1 kite-chair, in terms of position andstructural parts. When I ride, I do not have a direct feedback throughmy legs as I have no sensibility, so I cannot actually judge thebehaviour of the frame. Our MC1 kite-chair has turned out to bevery successful, very reactive, solid enough for jumping and flexibleduring landing. It can be easily adapted to all boards availableon the market, it is compact for air travel, and we have respectedall the specifications for Handiriders.KS_You have previously designed your own kiteboard, have youtaken part in hydrofoil design as well?CM_My latest MC1 carbon kite-chair has been realized by FranckProvost, an engineer who worked in the construction of the biggesttrimaran in the world; he’s specialised in structural design and

128HANDIKITEChristophe Martinstrength of materials. Julien Lecoq, instead, built the full carbonframe for wakeboarding and kiting. I ‘m going to ride with a Ketoshydrofoil, as it is the most stable on the market. We have to createa simple and cheaper system to put the hydrofoil in the water,because starting a session from the beach, is a lot harder with afoil-board. We have to test it, in order to make sure it is strongenough and most of all safe.KS_What are the differences, aside from the air chair of course,between a normal hydrofoil and a “handi-foil”?CM_Well, it’s quite different. When you fall during a kiting sessionon the water, usually you come off the straps and the board remainsfloating on the surface. With a kite-chair, you can easily capsizeand end up under the surface with the chair upside down drinkingthe whole sea! It is more difficult with a hydrofoil to repositionthe frame over the surface, so we are trying to develop some sortof safety systems: for example an emergency release system forthe wing. Another problem is that we cannot change the position ofthe foil by simply applying pressure with our left or right foot; insteadwe have to spend some time in the water trying to find the bestposition and that’s different for each one of us. We can change positiononly by using our head and arms and this, at the moment, is

130 HANDIKITEChristophe Martinnot very easy. I am sure foil-riding will soon become very easy forus, we just need to work on it a bit longer.KS_Your projects for 2015?CM_Riding with my Takoon family, continue to develop hydrofoils,create Handikite camps around the world, and encourage new riders.At the moment there are about 13 handi-riders and some ofthese guys ride at a very good level. Another project I have is theKiteboatspeed: a trifoiler with a kite to make kitesurfing accessibleto ALL. Then I want to keep riding with my stand up paddle boardin waves and spend time with my family.KS_How important is the support of your family in everythingyou do? Your wife and your children are interested in kiteboarding?CM_I can take my time doing all these activities because my familyloves it and they practice some of these sports themselves. Theyare very important as they give me the motivation to always fightin life, and go my own way. My children are 6 years old, they havealways seen their dad kiting and we rode a catakite together inwaves in 2013, which was a marvellous experience! I think they willwant to kite in the future, but I prefer they experience nice thingswith us and then make their own mind about which sport to practice.I’ve tried teaching my wife to kitesurf in 1998, but she preferswaking, paddle boarding, catakiting and sailing!KS_How about handikite schools and trips between handi kiters?CM_Together with the French Kite Federation (FFVL) we have trained15 kite teachers who can now teach kitesurfing to disabled riders,and every year we run refreshers courses for them. There isa lot of support in France for disabled riders whether on horses,catakite, buggy, and paddle boarding. I was in Greece near Athens

132HANDIKITEChristophe Martin

in 2012 to train some kite instructors and this year I will be goingback to Greece and organize a big kite camp. This year, we are alsoorganising some kite camps with some good level “handiriders” toexchange feedback about material, safety, riding, accessible spots,etc. We couldn’t do this last year, so it’s time for us to finally meet.KS_The handikite world is still growing, what advice would yougive to those interested?CM_Handikite is a wonderful sport which gives the rider some verygood sensations. There are so many different pathologies in theworld, so it is difficult to find an answer for everyone; however onand underwater swimming is a prerequisite for people who want toapproach this sport. Alternatively there are other accessible activitieslike catakite, BI-paddle etc. If you want to ride with a kite chair,you have to be good at water-skiing, snow-skiing, swimming, anddriving a kite on a catakite… Once you can perfectly control yourkite on a catakite or a boat, you can start taking lessons with a kiteteacher (best if they‘ve had handikite training) who has tested thekite chair, so to understand how to ride with this new support. Youshould always ride on flat water, max 15 knots, with a kite chairequipped with safety systems and a buddy who will be next to youin the water for starting, and a security boat with 3 guys. Take yourtime, stop and try later, and don’t forget that the sea always wins.KS_Our magazine is called Kitesoul, because we are sure thatour soul has been somewhat filled up by this sport. What’s yourfeeling when you are in the ocean, during a session?CM_Kiting offers you the freedom to go everywhere you want,that’s what I love about it. There is no stress, you can decide yourown direction, when to jump, which wave to catch. You are alwaysin contact with nature and you have to respect it: when I was inMauritius and Reunion Island, I’ve seen so many nice things duringmy riding; you can disconnect from the world and daily lifeproblems. In the summer of 2013, I rode 4 hours nonstop in waveswith some friends on the French Island of Oleron, where I live, andduring this nice time I was just like them, we caught same waves,slapped hands and there was no difference between us: I forgotabout my wheelchair and all the problems connected with my pathology.This filled my spirit, it was just like a good drug!

134CAMPMitu Monteiro - Wave Clinic in Cabo Verdetext Nicole Gaudimierphoto Gabriele Rumbolo

136CAMPMitu Monteiro - Wave Clinic in Cabo Verde

Attending a wave clinic for a kiter is likegoing for a safari for a keen for animals. Andif the wave clinic is with Mitu Monteiro so islike the wilder safari ever.Mitu has more than 10 years of experiencein teaching , that’s the reason why besidesbeing a champion in wave riding and a monsterin strapless freestyle, he is an attentiveand passionate instructor.In 2010 a group of French people organized atrip to Cape Verde with the aim of learn withMitu. That was the first experience of a clinicfor Mitu as well. Since that moment alwaysmore group of riders were asking to be teachedfrom him, and then also agencies specialisedin kite trip wanted to put in their cataloguethe Mitu’s clinic.But what is a clinic and why attending it?A clinic is like a full immersion, an intensivetraining in the discipline.



It is apt to all those riders who are good, butfeel like stoked at the same level. For thosewho want to improve their riding, but needthe imputs. And also for those who are experiencedrider with the bi-directional board, bitwants to try new experience.Four hours per day during five days. Mitu ispicking up the clients in the morning and goto the base point, kite beach. There availableto rent gear and storage lockers. Once thereall together they’ll analyze the conditions ofthe various spots and deciding what to do.Usually on day 1, the destination is always thespot of kite beach. There Mitu will be able tocheck the level of all participants in safety.The group is never biggest than 8 people,but usually the avarage is 5 person per clinic.They can be all friends or people never seenbefore who are going to share a unique experienceand that are gonna have the chance tocompare themselves to rider of similar level.

142CAMPMitu Monteiro - Wave Clinic in Cabo VerdeMitu is teaching in two ways :1- From the shore.In this case he gives everyone an aim, a trickto do, a manouvers to try, etc and he standson the beach watching and calling out the ridersany time he wants to give them a tip orexplaining them a new thing.2- In the water.This second option is better when we are inwave spot. Mitu in thic way will be able to gowith you in the waves, show you the righttiming, motivate you and helping you if anytrouble happers.Mitu is always handle each rider sigularly, givingindividual tips.Each day, at the end of the clinic you willattend a breafing, in which all together youwill analyse errors, improvements, you willask questions, doubts and special request.In this occasion you will also have the chanceto check you .. yes! A sport professionalphotographer will be always go with you andfollow the whole clinic shooting all your progress.Gabriele Rumbolo, will be available toshow you your picture of the day after eachsession, set down at the kite beach bar andrestaurant while sipping a fresh kitepirinha ;-)The fact to have a photographer is very importantto see the error and helps you a lot inimproving position, style, timing, etc.At the end of the clinic you can buy your cdwith all the pictures.Downwind, secret spots, riding in the middleof the turtles, sunset at the beach bar… that’sa clinic in Cabo Verde!

KITE BEACH SCHOOLLOUNGE BAR & RESTAUTANTA paradise for kitesurfers , an oasi in the desertServices available at the center :lessons for all levels | rental & storage | kids area | sunbeds areaprofessional potographer | lounge bar & restaurantMore info at:www.mitudjokiteschoolcaboverde.com - kiteschoolcaboverde@gmail.com

144TESTKitesoul test 2015KITESOULTEST2015

RACEWAVEREACTIVE ACTIVE S STEARINGSTEARING STABILITA’A’STEEARING N OVERPOWEREDO DEPOWERTURNING NG SSPEEDUPWINDALL ROUNDFREESTYLEPOPLOWENDL1.2. 3.4.CABRINHA - FXNORTH - NEORRD - OBSESSION PRO

146 TESTCabrinha, FxCABRINHA, FXRACEWAVESTEEARING OVERPOWEREDDEPOWER1. 2. 3.4.ALL ROUNDPOPLOWENDREACTIVE STEARING STABILITA’TURNING SPEED UPWINDFREESTYLE/CROSSOVERAfter admiring its performanceat the Red Bull King of the Air inthe hands of Nick Jacobsen, wehave finally been able to testthe recently launched CabrinhaFX.The FX foray into the marketspace occupied by freestyle/FREESTYLEwakestyle kites such as theChaos and freeride/corossoverkites like the Switchblade. Thecompany wanted to design akite for the rider who wants afreeride kite with freestyle performance.The three strut constructionmakes the kite very reactive butwith a light bar pressure and adirect feeling. The simple andshort bridle system, withoutpulleys, gives to the kite a verydirect feeling, making it veryfast even in its big sizes.Cabrinha has decided to add

CABRINHA, FXAVAILABLE SIZES6 - 7 - 8 - 9 – 10 – 1214 mqwww.cabrinhakites.com

148 TESTCabrinha, Fxsome, easily removable, trailingedge support to add stabilityto the light three strut construction.To make the kite even lighter,hence more performing in lightwind conditions, the dacron materialwas used only around thewing tip of the kite, becomingthinner throughout the rest ofthe canopy.On the back lines there arethree power positions you canconnect to, and two tip rear lineadjustments on the kite.You can easily inflate and deflateyour kite thanks to a largeone-way airlock valve, used byCabrinha for quite a long timenow. The valve is equipped witha soft neoprene cover that protectsthe valve, preventing wearand tear.The bar, equipped with a simplequick release system, is asusual very precise. The depowersystem is equipped with twocolor-coded handles to poweror depower the kite, red to depowerand black to power upyour kite again.The simple but distinctivegraphic design is available inthree colors: red/black; green/yellow; red/green.The bag, with its compact andsuper light design, reduces to aminimum the problem of excessbaggage during travels.Impressions:We have tested the kite in severalsizes (from 9 to 14 sq.m.) andin relatively flat water.The kite has a huge wind range,a direct feeling and a smoothpower delivery through thebar. A great depower, fast andpowerful looping abilities, makethis kite a great upwinder withexcellent light wind performance.The FX is an excellent freestylekite, also thanks to the forgivingline slack when passing the barunhooked. Nevertheless it providesexplosive pop and greathang-time. Water relaunch isalso very fast.The FX has surprisingly showedgood wave riding as well, thanksto its light constructions andexcellent manoeuvrability.

The opinion of our teamThe FX did certainly come up to our expectations: being more forgiving than the Chaos during ourfreestyle sessions, it is an all-rounder which can happily be used for freestyle as well as freeride andwave riding.A kite specifically designed for riders who want to have fun whilst trying unhooked as well as hooked-inmanoeuvres. A reliable and forgiving kite for freestyle enthusiasts and for riders wanting topull big air or loops in total safety. This is a kite which can deliver great satisfaction during a freeridesession or amongst waves when used with a surfboard thanks to its speed, light construction andexcellent low wind performance.

150TESTNorth, NeoNORTH, NEOWAVESTEEARING OVERPOWEREDDEPOWER1. 2. 3.4.ALL ROUNDFREESTYLEPOPLOWENDRACEREACTIVE STEARING STABILITA’TURNING SPEED UPWINDWAVE/FREERIDEhe North Neo has undergoneseveral changes since its initialmarket launch: from a simpleschool/beginner kite to a purewave-riding kite. Last year, thekite had been completely redesignedthanks to the effortsof Ken Winner, the help ofSky Solbach and that of pro ridersAirton Cozzolino and PatriMcLaughlin. This change wasmade necessary due to the limitsshown by the North Rebelduring wave riding; the famousmodel, in fact, fell behind ofother simpler, smoother kiteswhich can be “parked” whensurfing, re-delivering full poweras soon as recalled.With this new model, North isfinally able to fill its own marketgap, positioning itself in thepure wave-riding category ofspecialised kites such as the

NORTH, NEOAVAILABLE SIZES4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 1011 – 12 mqwww.northkiteboarding.com

152TESTNorth, NeoRRD Religion, Naish Pivot andOzone Reo.The North Neo is a 4 or 5 linesSLE kite, bridled with a threestrut design, a double front linesetting adjustment (Freeride/Waveride) and two tuneable pigtailson the back lines to offertwo different bar pressure settings(more vs. less reactive).Once again North distinguisheditself for the quality of constructionand materials used:Technoforce D2 from Teijin (theleading manufacturer in canopymaterials) and a Dacron trailingedge make this kite very solid,and incredibly light at the sametime.Tests were carried out in SouthAfrica. We tested the 6-8 and 11sq.m. with the Quad Trust bar inflat water as well as in severalwave conditions: large, soft wavesand smaller irregular waves.We have tested the kite usingthe smaller 2015 bar with 22mlines. The bar has not undergonemany changes since lastyear, aside from the color. Thebar is characterised by an extensiveEVA protective coveringand the smart flip-flop functionfor easy width adjustment whichallows you to switch betweena 53cm and 46cm bar width(M/L bar) and 49cm and 42cmbar width (S/M bar) with just oneclick. The depower is entrustedto the tested and reliable VarioCleat system, definitely one ofour favourites, as you can easilyadjust the back lines throughthe plastic winding posts situatedat the side of the bar.You can easily and quickly inflate/deflateyour kite with theexclusive and large Air Portvalve; the safety clips on theconnecting tubes, instead, isolatethe struts from the leadingedge. The backpack is of toughconstruction and it’s expandableto accommodate the kitewhen the struts are still inflated.The backpack has alsobeen reduced in size: the 6m isno larger than a school bag. Thekite is available in two sober colorcombinations: red/blue andred/yellow.The feeling provided by the Neois that of being at home! The bardelivers a direct and pleasantfeeling, constant pull and greatstability. The kite’s vocation is tomake the rider feel comfortablein every situation and this makesit the ideal tool for surfingpretty much in every conditionand have the courage to facebig waves in total safety. TheNeo features a front-line adjustmentwith a high depower andmedium depower setting: thelatter offers the best drift abilitieswhilst the former offersgreat depower and maximumhang-time, making a great freeridekite as well. The pull is constantand easy to handle evenin light wind conditions, thewind range is huge even in verygusty winds and water relauncheasy. The best feature of thiskite is its drifting ability: the kitewill not stall but will follow therider, floating without pulling.

The opinion of our teamThe North Neo foray into the market space as one of the best wave kites around, thanks to its greatreliability, extreme ease of use and unmatched quality which justifies the investment. We recommendthis kite to expert as well as aspiring wave riders looking for an easy but dedicated tool; a kite able tosupport the rider during wave riding but also a great companion during most freeride sessions.

154TESTRRD, Obsession Pro MKIIRRD, OBSESSION PRO MKIIRACESTEEARING OVERPOWEREDDEPOWER1. 2. 3.4.ALL ROUNDPOPLOWENDWAVEREACTIVE STEARING STABILITA’TURNING SPEED UPWINDWAKESTYLEFREESTYLEDuring our first Kitesoul trip toCape Town we have been ableto test the new Obsession ProMKII, the second version of thesuccessful freestyle-wakestyleRRD kite. A dedicated and veryspecific kite for riders who wantto make wakestyle their religion.Jerrie van de Kop, third positionat the Red Bull King of the Air2015, greatly contributed to thedevelopment of this kite. Thenew MKII has been designedby Werther Castelletti in collaborationwith the entire RRDfreestyle team: the new modelhas been entirely redesigned,nevertheless remaining a pureC-shaped 5 lines kite.A thinner leading edge, hasmade the kite lighter and morereactive, perfect for Megaloops.The tips have been completely

RRD, OBSESSION PRO MKIIAVAILABLE SIZES5 - 6 - 7 - 9 - 10,5 – 1213,5 -15 mqwww.robertoriccidesigns.com

156TESTRRD, Obsession Pro MKIIredesigned to maintain the shapeeven during conditions ofextreme strain, avoiding a suddenlack of pull during most advancedtricks. The front line attachmentpoints are situated onthe kite, unlike last year wherethere were two. The two mainimprovements in this versionare certainly a more direct barfeel and sharper pop.Thanks to the varied South Africanconditions, we have beenable to test the kite in varioussituations: we have tested the7-9-10,5 and 12sq.m. in conditionsof light wind as wellas strong gusty winds. By testingdifferent sizes we havebeen able to notice that timingwas pretty much the sameacross various sizes (7sq.m. vs.10,5sq.m.); this allowed us toclose the same tricks in comfortdespite of the size used.The bar feel is very direct alsothanks to the use of 20m lines.This allows the rider to be veryprecise, even when performingthe most complex tricks, as youalways know where the kite is.The new Obsession Pro is verystable, especially in its smallersizes and it has a very aggressivepop which is exactly whatwe were looking for in this newmodel.Another novelty is the dedicatedbar, 7cm shorter comparedto the traditional Global Bar,and equipped with 20m lines;whilst most other features haveremained the same.Reducing bar size is almost amust for a wakestyle dedicatedkite: the kite is more stable andit will decrease the chance ofgrabbing the bar in the wrongway.Certainly you won’t go unnoticedwith this kite on the beach.The camouflage graphics isobtained by sawing each pieceof material together, makingthe structure more rigid and thekite easier to repair.

The opinion of our teamThe Obsession Pro fully satisfies the expectations of wakestylers, so we are happy to recommend itto medium expert riders who want to approach the more advanced freestyle tricks. This kite will allowyou to tackle most advanced manoeuvres in total safety and with great stability, adding somethingspecial to your own personal style. This kite certainly passed the test with flying colors for its highlytechnical performance which allows the rider to attempt pretty much any trick.

GENESIS AN158TECHNICALGenesis and life cycle of a waveCYCLE OF AFor people feeding on waves, fodreaming to ride the Perfect WaWaves... The most ancient source of fun, aspectacle of nature of the roaring sea. But howdo they form?Did you know that waves are ruled by the sameforces of every other “living” being?What do surfers and fishermen have incommon?Text Renato Casati | Photo Gabriele Rumbolo

D LIFEWAVEr anyoneve...

160 TECHNICALGenesis and life cycle of a waveMarine waves are amongst themost complex yet fascinatingnatural phenomena of our planet.The mechanics of wave formationhas been studied for avery long time, and much hasbeen written about its characteristicsand correlation withother elements. However noclear-cut conclusion has beenreached, so we can say that itis still an evolving subject andcertainly not an easy one. Neverthelessin this short treatywe will present you, in a conciseand simple manner, some unequivocalconclusions that havebeen reached on the subject.When you sit on a surfboardwaiting for a wave, you get theimpression that a large wall ofwater is moving towards youbut the truth is that what youare actually experiencing is theenergy generated by the swellwhich gives you the impressionof water moving; but the truthis that water particles remainpretty much where they are!A wave is usually distinguishedby:WAVE CREST OR PEAK, the highestpoint of a wave.WAVE TROUGH, or valleybetween two waves, is thelowest point.WAVE HEIGHT, The vertical distancebetween the crest andthe trough.WAVE LENGTH: Distancebetween two consecutive wavecrests.WAVE PERIOD, The time it takesfor two successive crests(one wavelength) to pass a specifiedpoint.Let’s immediately dispel somemyths… many believe that theheight of a wave is calculatedby measuring the back of thewave! The height, technicallyspeaking, is the vertical distancefrom the trough to the crest,so what is measured is the face’sheight because the troughis not usually visible from theback of the wave. Most Italian

waves have a very similar faceand back height so this couldturn into a long academic debate,but if you consider other waves,such as Teahupoo, the faceheight does not equate at all tothe back height; but it actuallyis much higher. This is anotherreason why measuring face heightis usually preferred.When talking about the size ofwaves, we should always referto the average wave height ofthat day, not the height of a single“rogue” wave. It makes nosense talking about 4m waves,if the average wave height wasaround 2m. Remember thatsome surfers tend to brag upthe size of a wave like exaggeratingfishermen with their catch;even more so if you heard itthrough the grapevines. Howeverthis does not only happenbecause of the insane humanhabit of making everything lookbigger and better than it is inreality; but also because whenyou are in the water, wavesDO actually look much biggeras you stare at them from thebottom looking up. This is alsoa very much used technique infilmmaking, to make things looklarger than they actually arein real life. A similar error happenswhen looking at photos. Iam sure you have often heardsurfers commenting: “well thatwave is at least twice the heightof the surfer, so it is at least 4mhigh”. The reality is that a surferon a board probably measuresaround 150cm, or even less ifthe rider is kneeling a lot; plusdo not forget that once again apicture is always taken from acertain perspective which couldcompletely alter reality.WIND GENERATED WAVESThe most common and visibletype of waves are those generatedby the wind: they result fromair blowing over an area of seasurface. Earthquakes and thegravitational force of the moonare amongst other causes. Technicallyspeaking wind-generatedwaves can be subdivided

162TECHNICALGenesis and life cycle of a waveinto Swell Waves and LocalWind Waves. Swell waves arecaused by the friction of the atmosphereover the ocean, withgravity trying to restore equilibrium(several waves are oftengenerated in deep water andcan travel hundreds or thousandsof miles before reachingthe coast). Typical examples areHawaiian waves or those reachingthe West Coast of CapeVerde. Local wind waves insteadare usually generated veryclose to the coast; Italian wavesare a good example of this.The SIZE of a deep water, windgenerated wave, is affected bythree main factors:1. WIND INTENSITY – The strongerthe wind, the larger thewave.2. WIND DURATION – The timeover which the wind has blownover water surface.3. FETCH – The uninterrupteddistance of deep water overwhich the wind blows.These factors are what mainlyinfluence the formation of deepwater, wind generated waves,determining their final heightwhen reaching the shore.PHASE 1WAVES’S BIRTH IN DEEPWATER CAPILLARY WAVES,GRAVITY WAVES, CHOP,WHITECAPSA very gentle breeze (from 3kntsonwards) will, almost immediately,start to texture the surfaceof the ocean, generating someripples (called capillary waves),that will die just as quick if thewind stops, due to water frictionand gravity which will eventuallyrestore equilibrium.If, on the other hand, the windcontinues to blow over the watersurface for a given periodof time, it will generate theso-called gravity waves, whichare basically caused by frictionbetween air and water surface.These waves will grow biggerbecause it is easier for the windto have an impact on ripples,as they have a smaller surfacetension. Imagine now thewind is kicking up a bit more: aswould be expected, these rippleswill turn a bit choppier asmore and more water moleculesare set into motion (1-4 secondsperiod). When the wavelength goes over 5 seconds’period on a given surface area,we can start noticing whitecapsforming. As the size of the waveincreases, the action of thewind will be even more effectivebecause the surface tensionof a steep and high wave willbe even smaller. However rememberthat there is a limit tothe height of wind waves, evenin the case of strong persistentwinds.Wave steepness is the ratio ofwave height divided by wavelength(H/L) and its theoreticalmaximum limit in deep water is1:7. This means that a 2m longwave cannot have a crest higherthan 30cm, because themaximum angle of a regularcrest wave, before it breaks, isaround 120°. When this angleis exceeded the wave collapsesand breaks. This refers to deepsea waves, because the ratio ofnear-shore waves follows a differentlogic.PHASE 2aDEEP WATER SWELL FROMWHITECAPS TO SWELLOnce a wave is formed, this“confused sea” begins to movein one direction. The organizedwaves that result from thisprocess are then called a swell.Usually a period of 10 secondsis considered to be the dividingline between whitecaps and

swell. Basically the wind generatedwaves cancel each otherout and take on a new life: thisnew wave energy consolidatesto form longer and faster waves.Higher waves are longer, and asthey become longer and longer,they propagate their energy laterallyforming a so-called wavetrain. As the waves travel furtheraway from their origin, they propagatefreely; wave length andperiod keep growing whilst theirheight usually diminishes. Longperiod waves actually move faster,independent of their heightand steepness. It’s not easy andthings get even more complicateddepending on ocean depth!HOW DO WAVES MOVE?Let’s now look at what happenswhen waves are travellingtowards their death, which often(but not always) corresponds totheir arrival on the shore. In favourableconditions, the swellmoves for an indefinite periodof time in the same directionof the wind which has createdthem. Nevertheless if the swellmeets an opposing wind, theshape and direction of the wavescan change. A strong opposingwind could dissolve theswell altogether, whilst a windmoving in the same direction,could increase their strength. Awave can also break very rapidly,even in deep sea, if it meetsan opposing strong enoughcurrent. In fact a favourablecurrent, pushing the wavesfrom behind, will increase wavelength and decrease its height;on the other hand, an opposingcurrent will reduce wave lengthand increase its height and steepness.This is the reason whyships in deep sea can run intorogue waves: these can be triggerednaturally when a stablewave train enters a region of anopposing current flow.Do you remember the movie“The Perfect Storm”…?PHASE 2bNEAR-SHORE SWELLWhen these fast, smooth, longwaves created in deep sea, arrivein shallow water, they undertakea profound transformation.The ratio we discussed just abovewill then change according tomultiple factors…Check our next issueto discover moreon this fascinatingsubject...Renato “DrKite” CasatiTechnical ExpertRRD Wave team rider. Kiteboarder since 2000, he has beenPKRA athlete and judge. He’s a professional sportswriter forseveral technical magazines. He lives between Como Lake andSardinia, but he spends every winter in the waves of Cabo-Verde.

www.facebook.com/KiteSoulMagazineTrip, events, spot guide, tech, lifestyle,freestyle and wave tips...Everything inside our mag and also on ourfacebook page, like it!NEXT IUSSE AUGUST - SEPTEMBEROUT ON 2TH OF AUGUSTW W W . K I T E S O U L . C O M

Kitesoul Magazine #5 English Edition

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