TheKiteMag

We all know as kiters that – as with everything in life – it’s easy to get stuck into your ways. We all have our ‘kiting radar’ where we know exactly which conditions we’re looking for to get out on the water. For most of us conditions are dictated by the time of year, and we know exactly what we are looking for on the pressure charts and on Windguru, and what that will mean for our next session… We know where we’ll head, whether it will be 9m or 7m weather, and which wetsuit/pair of boardshorts we will need. As the years go by, you get ever more tuned in to your local options and you become adept at making a very informed decision around when to take a…

ER: Riding a wall is like flipping gravity sideways. Whether it’s a race car on a banked turn or a surfer laying back on a vertical section, throwing your mass into it with enough speed creates horizontal G-forces that for a moment allow you to stand on a wall like it’s the ground. The earth is quite a different place when the ground is to the right and the sky to the left… WATCH HERE JS: Sessions like these come along a handful of times a season. This was one of those days that the wind was already blowing 30 knots in the morning and only got stronger throughout the day. This short line shot is from my third session of the day. The wind got very gusty towards the evening and…

Hailing from Bavaria, Germany, Florian Gruber can be found honing his foil skills on the lakes there. He is very competitive and has been part of the racing scene since the beginning, placing on the podium numerous times both on the water and at snowkite events. He is hoping to qualify for next year’s Olympics and thus end his racing career on a high! DANIELA MOROZ Flo, you’ve been one of very few kite racers that has truly been able to make racing into a career and have been in the sport for probably the longest. What has been the most interesting part of seeing the sport develop over time? In the beginning kitesurfing was just a hobby for me. By the time I got better and helped my sponsors to develop some…

After three months of refitting our beautiful boat Eve and chasing perfect waves recklessly by bike through the chaos of Bali, it was time to set sail again. We spent a week preparing the boat for the long 21-day voyage across the Indian Ocean from Bali to the Seychelles. Repacking our floating home with the colossal amounts of toys we have accumulated over the last few years was a challenge, but the excitement of discovering tropical islands 3700 nautical miles away gave us that extra bit of motivation to get it done. Surfboards, kite gear, wing gear, skateboards and paddle boards were all crammed tightly back into the forepeak. After filling the water tanks, fueling up and stocking up on food provisions (including ridiculous amounts of chocolate and pot noodles) we…

Cohan van Dijk recently joined North Kiteboarding, and with barely any time to practice on his new gear, went and smashed out first place at the Big Air Kite League event in Cape Town. Winning a Big Air Kite League event with my new gear feels amazing – off to a good start I thought to myself! With all the hard work I have put into kiting this feels like a big reward and a lot of motivation to achieve more. Competing in King of the Air just before that was one of my biggest dreams – though I think that counts for all the young guns – I had my flow and landed what I needed to land. The semifinal against the winner was tough, but next year I will try…

Can you remember your first kite sessions? I remember the first time touching a kite was so cool for me. I just loved the feeling of flying a kite and went to the beach very often to powerkite on the sand. My first kite lessons in the water were around the age of 13. After my first lesson where I picked it up really quickly, I would head to the beach every day it was windy enough to fly the kite. Who else did you ride there with? At first I always kited with some friends of my dad who really pushed me to jump higher and learn new tricks. Now I mostly try to kite with other riders who are at the same level as me so we can push each other. Can…