Intro – Kiteboarding news, video and content highlights from the last seven days or so, by Kiteworld editor, Jim Gaunt
WEEKLY: 15TH OCTOBER 2020
Happy autumn everyone… at least from here in the northern hemisphere! A quick word of caution though, as is always good to do as the sessions get colder and our body recovery and response times shorten after big wipeouts or during potentially dangerous moments: Here in the UK the weather turned quickly from a blissfully warm mid September to far more bitingly cool in October…
While the summer saw record numbers hitting the waters again, there have been several incidents in our local area that saw lifeguards called out when people got into difficulty, so as we move into the harsher conditions it’s worth regularly and carefully checking over your equipment and also ensuring that you have a kite knife attached to your harness, for example. This is an invigorating sport and never has its feeling of freedom been more appreciated by all. Kiteboarding is mostly also a very safe sport, but it’s worth remembering that things can occasionally go wrong and the best way of avoiding that is to regularly check our gear, be aware of the dangers at a spot and to ride conditions that are within our limits.
Now let’s get into the good stuff!
WEEKLY CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS
DK INTERVIEW COMING IN OUR WINTER ISSUE – RELEASED NOVEMBER
Dave Kay was riding his own hand made kiteboard within a month of first getting up on a board back in 2001. He’s gone on to be one of the most successful twin-tip designers in the sport, moving on from his own custom brand in New Zealand to a five year stint at Cabrinha in Hong Kong and if we jump ahead, this month his first shapes for Airush have been released. His career in kiteboarding (and before that) is a fascinating story of dedication, innovation and an incredible level of regimented record keeping and detail. He recently celebrated 20 years of kiteboarding with a session in which every item of gear he used he’d designed himself… because he could!
Our DK profile will feature in our Winter edition – order it here – and you can watch a short video interview with him below, by Kyle Cabano.
CREWS GOING BIG IN BRAZIL!
The Big Air Kite League are doing great work in keeping the competitive stoke of big air kiteboarding going and managed to pull off a successful event in Tatauba in Brazil recently. Most of the BAKL crew are Cape Town shredders, and with that season about to be on (and less tourist obstacles in the water at the moment), we’re expecting plenty more boosted visuals coming from them soon. Results and more here, and the mini documentary video tells the story of the event.
GKA DISTANCE BATTLE WRAPS UP WITH FREESTYLE
If you’ve been missing World Tour Freestyle competition, no doubt you were glued to the GKA Distance Battle – a virtual kiteboarding competition over a series of nights. Last week it was the turn of the freestylers. Video below has highlights of how the men’s and women’s finals played out.
CAN’T STOP TALKING?
Our Gift and Accessories Guide is close to release in November via our new, free magazine platform. Here’s a highlight product gadget from Milo. Many people go kiting to escape connection, so this perhaps isn’t for them, but some will find it useful on downwinders, or when kiting with younger family members. Of course there are also those who also just love to share their experiences as they’re doing them. Sounds like you or someone you know? Check out the Milo Kickstarter page here.
Kiteworld Magazine is available through six free digital issues a year and two special print issues – Winter and Summer editions – filled with deep and engaging stories and opinion from the best writers and photographers in the sport. Order your Winter edition, released in November, here.
