Features

Recent features from the print magazine...

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Behind the clip: Head Up Again

Kiting is everything to GKA competitor Rita Arnaus, but when she suffered a bad knee injury earlier this year, it meant months off the water, and the rest of the year’s competition schedule missed out on. Rita has made a video, Head Up Again, about her recovery process, as part of ION’s “Write Your Own Chapter” Series. We heard more from Rita, and about the series from David Mariot, ION’s Marketing Manager.

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The Creators: Hugh Pinfold

As well as being a bonafide ninja on a snowboard, skateboard and mountain bike, Hugh Pinfold from New Zealand is an accomplished kitesurfer and foiler, having been on the scene for over 20 years, and working in the industry on product design for a number of brands. Now firmly entrenched in the North family, we caught up with him about his latest baby, the Navigator Pro.
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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Time to give back

Liam Whaley, like many pro kiters, has spent a lot of time honing his skills in Cumbuco, Brazil. Not content with going there year after year just to train, this time he headed over with the intention of giving something back to the community by helping out the local children who are not always able to access the sport they grow up seeing every day.

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

The Golden Hour

Hannah Whiteley gives us some insight into what it takes to capture epic photos while hanging out in the consistently windy spots of Ilha do Guajiru and Taiba in Brazil. Spoiler alert: it’s all about the early and late sessions when the sun is low in the sky, which doesn’t leave Hannah much time for partying…

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Trade Winds

Things could have gone very wrong for the North photoshoot to the Philippines, with gear getting stuck in customs, a major oil spill disaster, and precarious journeys in the dark on rickety old boats. But the team had session after session thanks to the consistent Amihan trade winds, worked together to get the shots they needed, and all made it back home safely with some epic memories of a beautiful country.

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Under the Hood – Cabrinha

As Cabrinha heads into its 25th year in the kite industry we thought it would be a good time for a catch up with their Marketing Manager James Boulding about how the brand started and where it’s headed…

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Newsround

One of our favorite photographers, Andre Magarao, spent time in Brazil recently snapping some of the top freestyle pros who go there to train and compete in the butter-flat lagoons. Andre, as well as riders Carlos Mario, Erick Anderson, Gianmaria Coccoluto, Mikaili Sol, Noè Font and Ramiro Gallart, gave us a roundup of their season there.

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Bula Vinaka!

Bula Vinaka roughly translates as ‘the good life’, and is used as a welcome greeting in Fiji. Gabi Steindl found both a warm welcome and a taste of the good life on her trip there, experiencing the generous hospitality of the local people and ripping some of the world-class waves Cloudbreak has to offer, happily sharing the lineup with renowned pro surfers and kite-surfers like Kai Lenny.

Photos: Josh Bystrom, Camara Sailing, Kalani Muller, Creative 7 FIJI and Gabi Steindl

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

The Real Stig

If you’ve seen the series Top Gear on the BBC then you’ll know all about The Stig: a professional racing driver who always wears his helmet so remains anonymous, and gets behind the wheel of test cars to put them through their paces. Sharing his name with the infamous character, Stig Hoefnagel knew it would make a great premise for a video project. So he headed to Ireland to do some shooting and racing to see which Stig would come out victorious…

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Airush: 10 Years of the Team Series

We love to catch up with brands when they reach an anniversary. It’s been 10 years since Airush Kiteboarding started their Team Series, featuring high performance products for their elite kiters like Alex Pastor and Bruna Kajiya, but also suitable for the everyday kiter who strives to be at the top of their game…

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SELF-RESCUE TIPS

What can you do if the wind dies on you and your kite falls out of the air? Check out these tips for self rescuing.

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THEKITEMAG ISSUE #55

Brazil’s Brutal Downwinder

As the largest country in South America, and with more kiteable coastline and more kitesurfers than anywhere else in the southern hemisphere, if there was going to be a kitesurfing event in Brazil it would have to be the biggest. Such was the challenge set for the XP Sertões Kitesurf downwinder: come up with the longest, toughest, most brutal kitesurfing event on the planet… Editor-in-chief Alex was (kind of) stoked to get an invite…

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My Beach: Valencia & Tarifa

Kiko Roig Torres is a talented strapless freestyle rider and recently came third in the Surfboard category of the GKA Big Air Kite World Championships in Tarifa. Although he currently lives in Tarifa, he’s originally from Oliva, a small town near Valencia on the east coast of Spain. We found out how both spots helped shaped his riding style.

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