TIPS FOR VIEWING - The Kiteboarder Magazine

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Reo Stevens finds enough room to wave to the paparazzi. Who’s ready for their close up? back streets of Bali making him one of the quickest chauffeurs available. “Wake up boys! Get your boards on the van, traffic’s about to start. If we wait any longer even I won’t be able to get you guys there on time!” The threat of missing our flight was enough motivation to get us up, scrambling to finish packing and loading our gear in the van. At the airport, we grabbed as many porters as we could find to carry the immense pile of gear we had with us. The next few hours were filled with negotiations, bargaining, an airplane with parts held on by duct tape, and a bumpy van ride through a maze of badly deteriorated roads while nursing hangovers from the previous night’s fiasco. We arrived to our final destination in the late afternoon to find the expected swell in full effect. The wind was light but we could see a strong wind line around the point, so we started to unpack our bags and put boards together. Indonesia has no shortage of locals looking for employment and the traveling surfers and kitesurfers are a main source of money for the local economy. As our kite caddies began to pump up our kites, they couldn’t figure out what they could possibly be doing wrong as Ben’s kite pumped up fine while Bear’s, Ian’s and my kite were deflating quicker than they could pump. To my dismay, each and every bladder on my kite was leaking. Confused and frustrated by the situation, I ran back to my room to grab another kite, but the second kite leaked even worse than the first! About the time I was pulling out my first bladder, Ian and Bear were going through the same terrifying realization that all of their kites leaked as well. With the first few bladders out, it became apparent that this would not be an easy fix. Each and every strut had dozens of small holes, all in tiny uniform lines. The source of the tiny holes left us baffled for hours. We went through every possible scenario; badly packed bags, fin tears, and even the possibility that Ben had secretly sabotaged us since his kites were left without a scratch. Ben found our problems entertaining enough to video us hurriedly repairing bladders while asking us, “What happened? Why are you doing that?” It wasn’t until someone remembered seeing the local neighborhood cat curled up and sleeping in our kites the previous night that we realized what happened. Suddenly it all made sense. Each set of perforated lines came in rows of four with the spacing and size that would perfectly match up with the claws of a starved Balinese cat. Luckily, the wind line never completely filled in that day, leaving us to spend hours by the pool with the local Indo crew using anything that could possibly be used to cure the “cat scratch fever” that our gear was suffering from. We had one roll each of duct tape and kite repair tape, leaving the three of us fighting over our limited repair supplies and the one pair of scissors that we happened to have with us. By the end of the day, each of us had at least one kite in usable condition and there were three well deserved, ice cold Bintangs (the local beer) waiting for us at the restaurant courtesy of Mr. Wilson. The next morning we awoke to three fully inflated kites and an Indian Ocean swell in full effect thumping on a lowering tide. The conditions provided us with a much-needed surf session to wash away the bad memories from the day before. After a long morning of clean, glassy waves, we were finally chased out of the water, not by the usual suspects of thirst, hunger, or sunburn, but by the inevitable tease of a wind line coming in. We paddled in to get breakfast and talk about the plan for the day. Both Ben and I have some experience with a filming technique known as tracking, when one rider films while riding alongside the other, trying to maintain a steady and smooth shot providing a unique view of the kiter riding the wave. Tracking isn’t something for everyone as it requires a fair amount of kite and board control as well as a reckless disregard for safety. To get the shot, you have to be right where you don’t want to be: As close to the other rider as you can get, in the direct path that they are traveling, all while avoiding their lines that are right over your head. If all of that isn’t enough to make you feel a little uneasy, add the fact that you’re trying to juggle all of this while sharing a very fast hollow wave breaking on the sharp shallow reef below. To be honest, Ben and I were getting quite a thrill and did our best to ignore the possible consequences. We did have a few mishaps with kites crashing into each other, and Ian and I had a close call when we misjudged our speed and distance resulting in Ian cart wheeling down the face of the wave, taking me out at the ankles. In the end, despite us risking ourselves to get the shot, no one got hurt, and we managed a few good clips from the experience. We stayed at this spot for a week and had four days of wind for at least a few hours a day. We had amazing surf the entire time. Boards were broken, lines were tangled, and a few feet were left with reef wounds, but there wasn’t one complaint from any of us. We all climbed aboard the same duct tape-covered aircraft that we arrived on completely content with the time that we had shared over the past week. All that was left to do was to sit back, relax, and try and distract ourselves from the wave withdrawals that we were going to go through by having fun with Ian’s fear of flying for the entire trip home. You can watch Shades of Green, the movie that this trip produced at www.naishkites.com/en/videos/index.html I hope you enjoy the movie nearly as much as we did making it! 34 thekiteboarder.com thekiteboarder.com 35
Josh checks out the scene at one of his favorite local breaks. josh mulcoy Age: 36 Height: 6’0” Weight: 170 lbs. Years kiting: 8 Favorite Spots: Anywhere in the Santa Cruz area Favorite Conditions: Side off Favorite Moves: I don’t have a favorite move, anything to do with riding a wave Sponsors: Liquid Force, Dakine, Fox, Kaenon, Vans Centurion and Stretch GEAR SET-UP Boards: 6’0” LF Quad Bindings: None Kites: LF Havocs Harness: DaKine Pyro close-up Although Josh travels to many exotic locations, his favorite place to ride is his hometown of Santa Cruz. By Marina Chang | Photos Chris Burkhard Open up any surf magazine and you’ll probably find a photo of Josh Mulcoy hitting the lip of some dream break you’ve been fantasizing about. Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, Josh has been a sponsored pro since high school and has been living the dream and traveling the world ever since. About 8 years ago, he saw Dave Broome and the Schiebels from Caution riding at Waddell. They made it look like so much fun that he was immediately intrigued with the sport’s potential of turning the ocean into a big water park and being able to go wherever you wanted instead of only being limited to one spot. Today, Josh is sponsored by Liquid Force and doesn’t travel anywhere without at least one kite. When, where and why did you start kiteboarding? I started 8 years ago. I drive up the coast from Santa Cruz a lot to surf and would stop and watch the kiters at Waddell. It just looked too fun. Then I saw a video of Peter Trow and he made wave riding look so good I had to do it. Luckily Dave took me under his wing and helped me out. Did you start out on a twin tip or go straight to a directional? I started on a LF Trip wakeboard. Do you only ride waves or throw in some freestyle every once in awhile? I only ride waves as freestyle isn’t for me. I like to watch the guys that kill it. Pretty damn impressive what people are doing in freestyle now! What boards are you riding and why? I am riding LF 6’0” quads. I feel so lucky to be getting boards from Pat Rawson. He is one of the best shapers ever and to be able to get boards for kiting is so insane. I hope the kite world realizes how lucky we are to have shapers like Pat involved in our sport. Do you ride strapless, strapped or both? Strapless as I I like to kite just like I surf. I don’t use straps surfing so why do I need to in kiting? Do you think kiteboarding can ever run a legit kitesurfing competition and what do you think it will take? Yes, I think all the best guys need to get together and make it happen. If they all get together and set the judging scale and how to judge like a surf contest I think we can pull it off. You really need to have surf judges that understand style and how critical your maneuvers are or are not. 1. I feel it is good to drop in on waves like a surfer which means sometimes slowing down and waiting for the wave or stalling and waiting for it to peak up. 2. Depending on the wind, if it is side onshore this means you need to loop the kite to keep it in front so it doesn’t fall out of the window and drift back towards the beach. 3. Depending on the wave, try to stay in the pocket and not get way out in front of it. The pocket is where the lip is! 4. When traveling, always bring stickers or some good tape to fix your kites or boards. 5. I don’t wear straps but still always bring them as you never know when it is going to be huge and you will want them. What do you think of stand-up paddling? It’s fine but not for me. The only thing that kills me about it is when all of a sudden a guy buys one and paddles 20 yards past everyone and tries to catch every wave. It’s not the board or the paddle that makes it bad, it’s the person that doesn’t understand surf etiquette. That is what drives me crazy but kiting can be this way too. Who have been your major influences in the sport? Peter Trow, Morris, Moe, Ian and Ben Wilson. What do you think makes an ideal surf kite? A kite that sits there so you can surf the wave like a surfer. What kind of directional board would you recommend to a kiter with no surfing background and what are the top three skills you think they should work on first? I would recommend a surfboard with straps around 6 feet for both experienced and novice surfers. I think beginners should work on their style and flow with the wave. Take your time to figure out where to put the kite and feel the power of the wave. I would go by the quote that you can’t run before you can walk. I see people attack waves but their style is horrible. Take your time and work on your fundamentals and the basics of wave riding. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the kiteboarding industry? In wave riding, it is to get it out to the public better. I see it all the time in the surf industry — people don’t have any idea of what is going on in wave riding with a kite. I think guys like Ben Wilson are one of the best things going on in our sport right now.The movies he makes showcase wave riding at its finest. When I am on a surf trip with my friends and I show them one of Ben’s movies, they are blown away. If kitesurfing can get into the surf industry better, it would blow up. What is your worst wipe out/scariest kiteboarding experience? When I was first learning I went to the beach by myself with no one around. I had no idea about kite sizes, hooked my lines up backwards and the kite launched and started going in death spins. I was getting picked up and slammed on the sand. It was a humbling experience and taught me to always double check my lines! Where is your favorite place to kite and why? Anywhere around Santa Cruz ‘cause it’s home. What is your most memorable kiteboarding experience? I was on a island off of Tahiti with Moe, Morris and Scott. We surfed this reef the day before and it was perfect barrels — so fun. I woke up at dark and tried to paddle out but the current was too strong. So I came in, grabbed my kite and got to ride perfect barreling waves with no one around. Then the current died, I landed the kite and went surfing. It was like a dream. What are your must have’s that you can’t live without? My surfboard! Any words s of wisdom you want to share with our readers? Do what you love for the enjoyment of it and good things will come. 36 thekiteboarder.com thekiteboarder.com 37
Page 1 and 2: Rider: Kinsley ThomasWong | Locatio
Page 3 and 4: Rider: Jan Schiegnitz | Location: O
Page 5 and 6: IQUID FORCE BILDERBACK = PHOTO LIQU
Page 8 and 9: 40 thekiteboarder.com It was hard t
Page 10 and 11: Executive Editor RYAN RICCITELLI ry
Page 12 and 13: Sjoukje Bredenkamp 2010 Cult + Sol
Page 14 and 15: INSIDE JOB Photos Courtesy Best Kit
Page 16 and 17: shop talk Calikites offers group to
Page 18 and 19: West coast competitors are looking
Page 20 and 21: It was hard to convince Ian Alldred
Page 24 and 25: Close-up sandy parker Age: 33 Heigh
Page 26 and 27: Some parts of the Camas Valley rema
Page 28 and 29: California: El Niño events are inf
Page 30 and 31: ARUBA BAJA MAUI JERICOACOARA PUNTA
Page 32 and 33: Off the Map On a windy and unusuall
Page 34 and 35: Gnarly Bombs While Mavericks was go
Page 36 and 37: product watch 9 New Products to che
Page 38: analyze this liquidforce havoc TEST
Page 41 and 42: f-one designer’s corner F-One twe
Page 43 and 44: slingshot designer’s corner Desig
Page 45 and 46: Body dragging a rider back to safet
Page 47 and 48: work bench To Fix or Not to Fix? Th
Page 49 and 50: Yard sale When three sports collide

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