Heralding (kind of) new discoveries, waves that roll (almost) forever, and airtime that's (definitely) not for the faint-hearted, TheKiteMag 24 slides into view with all sorts of stories and high adventure from the great global community of professional kiteboarding.
Here's a taste of exactly what you're gonna get when you drop inside our many, many pages…
“It’s one thing doing freestyle in the dark where take offs and landings are a given, but for some states of the tides our handrail needed to be ollied on to (a way of jumping onto a slider without the use of the kite to lift) which – if missed due to not being able to see – would result in catching a front edge onto said metal rail and toothless smiles similar to some of the local fishermen…”
A little over the tried and tested, James Boulding had lost the love for his usual Brazilian jaunt. So over some beers in a chilly Rhosneigr, Cabrinha teammates Alex Maes and Annelous Lammerts convinced him to try something new… and Manuela Jungo joined the fun.
“At Lieuwe they’re not only capable of building the best performing boards but also the best looking boards. They got the all wood look and there’s endless stuff we can do to keep stepping up the beauty of these boards. And we will.”
Ruben Lenten's recent collaboration with Dutch board brand Lieuwe has produced one of the best looking boards we've seen to date. It's also got plenty of performance under the hood, which you'd probably expect when the man himself has had so much input…
“We woke up to triple overhead, two kilometer waves peeling down the point. And by noon it was blowing twenty knots. We were frantically setting up our kites to try to catch the longest waves in the world and that day we all scored some insane rides. I had my GoPro attached to a mouth mount, and I caught one wave that lasted two and a half minutes. I must’ve done 25 turns from the top of the point to the pier in town. It was amazing.”
Set a stopwatch to zero, and then let it run for two and a half minutes… That's the length of just one ride that Patri McLaughlin scored in Pacasmayo, Peru while on a quest to ride some fo the longest waves in the world. Joining him on this mission were Airton Cozzolino, Matchu Lopes, and Sebastian Ribeiro. Serious rides, serious riders…
“When I first arrived, I was amazed by the water. It looked like it was boiling with so many whales there – both Humpbacks and Orcas. I’ve never seen so many whales at one time and it put a big smile on my face. My dog Truls was also so happy to see his friends again.”
Kari Schibevaag's trek north to the small island of Skjervøy in the Norwegian wilderness is as much an annual pilgrimage for her (and for her dog) as it is for the whales they're there to see. Not your everyday whale-watching trip, by any means…
“After a long wait, the riders wasted no time getting down to business. Lasse Walker opened Heat 1 in spectacular fashion with a one footed kiteloop straight out of the gate, meaning he pulled last year’s best trick within the first 60 seconds of the start of the event! A high bar indeed for the rest of the contest.”
TheKiteMag's Ben Gillespie has the full report from the freshly-relocated King of the Air 2018, with all the thrills, the spills, and the mega, megaloops…
“I really enjoy chasing heavier waves and there are a few on my bucket list I’d like to have a crack at. I’d love to try giving Shipsterns a go at some point or see if I can get over to Skeleton Bay to try it out. I think there is some crazy potential in those waves!”
Keahi gets the full grilling in Tangled Lines from the likes of James Boulding, Pete Cabrinha, Liam Whaley, Eric Rienstra and many more…
And kicking off a new slot in TheKiteMag, Laci Kobulsky lays down some of the sneakiest tips and tricks for getting the very most out of your gear. First up, checking your line lengths and trimming your bar…
That's right… sign up for six action-packed issues of the magazine, and bag yourself a TKM tee and beanie in the process! And you can now get the German language edition of the print magazine, with all of the main content and plenty of extra too… ?
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