TRIPLE S - What they know best!

Take a sneak peek at this clip made with some left overs from this year’s Triple-S event, featuring Eric Rienstra, Ewan Jaspan, Andre Phillip, Sam Light, Sam Medysky, Billy Parker, Brandon Scheid, Alex Fox, Rick Jensen, doing what they know best!

Try fi get by Brendan Kerr

Video of Brendan Kerr and Drew Christianson shredding on a windy day in Hood River Oregon.

Sivan Oz 2013

Wanna see some cool strapless kitesurfing? Watch Sivan Oz riding crazy in Israel and Panama. Check his style right here!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Vincent Bergeron follows the Slingshot crew to Panama and catches an all-star cast (Alex Fox, Eric Rienstra, Matthew Sexton, Greg Norman Jr., Mauricio Abreu, Dominique Granger and Joby Cook) riding Nitro City.

Father and son in: Epic Adventure

Dimitri Maramenides, owner of Epic Kites, and his 11 year old son, Cameron Maramenides, went on an Epic adventure to share their passion of kiting together. That sure looks like a lot of fun and a great moment between father and son!

Slingshot 2014 Celeritas

While still maintaining it’s short “trunk” style and aggressive concave, the 2014 Celeritas features a curvy outline and simple thumb tail that provides more surface area allowing the board extra lift and control in between turns.

RIDER PROFILE

INTERMEDIATE TO EXPERT SURF STYLE: Riders looking for a high performance boards that it is super fast and user knowledgeable. Ideal for the small to over-head surf and it can be ridden with or without straps.

DIMENSIONS

5’6" X 18 1/2" X 2 1/4" VOLUME 23.75L
5’8" X 18 1/2" X 2 1/4" VOLUME 26L
5’11" X 20 1/2" X 2 1/2" VOLUME 32L

PACKAGE

Each board includes our New Symmetrical Surf Straps with super cushy ergonomic EVA wrapped in a Neoprene cover. These straps feature a quick and easy buckle system. No more Velcro! This system fits a wider variety of foot sizes and will definitely add some style to your riding. The package also includes our pre-installed EVA Surf Pads and high quality Fiberglass Fins.

FINS

THRUSTER SET UP : Two 4.625" single foil side fins and one 4.5" double foil center fin. FCS Compatable Fin Boxes.

Freestyle KiteMasters – Pkra Turkey

Ariel Corniel from Dominican Republic and Gisil Ozen from Turkey won at Burc Beach. Watch here the wrap up video of the Freestyle competition at the Kite Masters in Turkey.

Reno Romeu in: A Megaloop!

A must-watch: Reno Romeu in a super megaloop in Cape Hatteras, during the photoshoot session for the new Vegas 2014.

Girls in Kiteboarding: The 10%

Fun in Lobitos by Stephan Figueiredo

Stephan "fun" Figueiredo kitesurfing in Lobitos/Peru April 2013

New North Vegas 2014

If you´ve ever ridden North Vegas you know this is a great kite. It is a pure competitive C-kite, combined with smooth depower abilities and absolutely predictable behavior for everyday riding. If you have never experienced the Vegas feeling before watch this video and find out all about it before you head to the beach to try it.

Slingshot 2014 T-Rex

The 2014 T-REX was developed for a new breed of riders focusing on aerial tricks and fun, poppy changes in direction. This unique, progressive shape is trending in the surf industry with the top pro riders. Patrick Rebstock prefers this next generation surf shape because it makes it easier to spin and flip tricks with less swing weight and has a tight precise feel to blast upwind.

Find out more at Slingshotsports.com

2014 Airush Lithium Review

[by Oceanextremesports]

Now in it’s 5th generation the Airush Lithium is still gaining momentum as one of the best all around kites on the market. The Lithium features massive range and great boosting capabilities along with incredible low end power. The 2014 Airush Lithium keeps the spirit of the Lithium family alive by maintaining all the great characteristics of a legendary kite.

For 2014 Airush hasn’t changed a whole lot, there’s really no need to. The kite still maintains it’s status as the jack of all trades. The Lithium is a kite suited for any rider at any level. The swept delta shape offers incredible range, super easy relaunch, rock solid stability and now with its new canopy construction the kite feels tighter and more responsive than ever.

The main feature of the 2014 Airush Lithium is the revolutionary Aramid Load Frame Technology. Aramid fibers are strong synthetic fibers used in aerospace and military applications such as bulletproof vests. These are used in combination with a strategically placed frame to create Bullet Proof Construction and a super solid canopy resulting in a crisper, more responsive feel and much less stretching of the canopy. This does nothing but enhance performance of the kite.

-Initial Setup: The stock setting right out of the bag is stellar! The 2014 Lithium features a proven one pump system to get you out on the water fast.

-Speed: Fast but not too fast. This kite is incredibly predictable and user friendly.

-Bar pressure: Light to Medium. The 2014 Lithium has progressive bar pressure. As you sheet in you feel the kite through the bar more and more.

-Lift: The lift is just silly in these kites. It makes jumping easy and if you’re an experienced rider you will be pleasantly surprised.

-Bar/lines: Airush offers the ever popular adjustable Smart Bar and the fixed version called theAnalog Bar. Either bar will suffice and fly the kite without any adjustments.

-Depower: Way more than enough but most of all it’s a smooth and gradual transition. No quick on/off with this kite. Super user-friendly.

-Water relaunch: So easy, one of the easiest on the market. Just pull an outside line and go.

-Pros: It’s not often we praise a kite this much but we love pretty much everything about the 2014 Lithium. Whether you’re starting out fresh in the sport or you’ve been riding for years the Lithium never disappoints. From construction to performance the Lithium covers it all.

-Cons: Not really any cons to the Lithium. If you’re an edgier rider you may prefer the Varial X, which offers more power through the turn and better stability for unhooking.

-Conclusion: The 2014 Airush Lithium lives up to all expectations of being a great kite. Whether it’s freeride, freestyle, wave riding or it being your very first kite the Lithium excels in all departments. Get your hands on one and let us know what you think!

[Show as slideshow]

Bruno Sroka – Crossing France – Ireland

On the July 19 2013 Bruno left from France, Aber Wrac’h and kitesurfed through English channel and Celtic sea. He arrived to Crosshaven bay, Ireland.
The long crossing took him 16h40mins and in total he sailed 250 nautical miles.

This was the first crossing of three year crossing series with a grand New-York/Brest kitesurf crossing in 2015!

2013 AWSI — JESSE RICHMAN

Stairway to 2014 AWSI for the Naish rider Jesse Richman in boots and in too short  strapless sequences, filmed by Olivier Sautet and Ryan Toaspern.
Vote here for the AWSI Kiteboarder of the year. Simply click on like to vote for the riders you think deserve to be the AWSI Kiteboarder of the year. The top 3 kiteboarders will have their video shown at the AWSI Awards Party at Surf Expo, Saturday Sept 7th 2013 in Orlando. Florida.  The overall winner will be chosen from the top three by a panel made up of the editors of The Kiteboarder, SBC Kiteboard, and Kiteworld Magazines. Check out the videos of the nominated riders and vote here for your favorites.

LF 2014 action in Hood River

Oliver Umpierre, Noe Molk and Finn Berhens and other LF team rider shredding in Hood River for the promo shoot 2014.

One minute with Alex Pastor

A very short video of Alex Pastor training his freestyle moves. 

Roots: Evolution of the Inflatable Kite

Many people are credited with contributing toward the development of kiteboarding as we know it today, starting with George Pocock in the 1800s who used kites to propel carts on land and ships on the water using a four-line control system to Corey and Bill Roeseler, inventors of the Kite Ski. Yet it wasn’t until two young French brothers with a crazy idea, passion, and a vision for what the sport could become did kiteboarding begin to commercially develop into the sport we enjoy today on land, water, and snow.

Bruno and Dominique Legaignoux became immersed in watersports and competitive sailing at the early age of ten in Brittany, France. They won the French National Junior Dingy Sailing Championship in 1979 and spent their free time sailing, surfing, and windsurfing. Bruno was so focused on sailing that he dropped out of college at 18 to become a sailing instructor.

Their interest in sailing fast led them to work on prototype devices for speed sailing including thick sails with a deep wing-like camber to create more lift. The Legaignoux brothers also experimented with a wide variety of speed hulls and boards without much success. In 1984 at the Brest International Speed Week in Brittany, France, they saw Jacobs Ladder, a custom-designed catamaran from the UK pulled by a stack of two-line Flexifoil foil kites. Immediately they thought they had just seen the future of speed sailing and began to think about ways of using kites. Back then it took three people to launch the stack of kites. They didn’t relaunch from the water and they didn’t go upwind very well, so they sat down and began to work out how to overcome these problems.

Bruno and Dominque left on an around-the-world sailboat trip and cruised around while beginning to experiment with kite propulsion. The brothers started by pulling their sailing dingy with a stack of a dozen of their own home-built 0.5m carbon fiber-framed kites and then moved on to trying to pull themselves on skis and boards. They quickly found out water skis were more efficient and easier to get up on than a single board with these kites. Although they thought there might be a market for kite propulsion in boating, they chose to start with trying to develop kites to pull water skis, a board, or whatever they could find that was short, light, and fast. “The first time I used kites with skis was in 1984 in Brittany, France,” said Bruno. “I wasn’t able to go upwind but at least I could go back and forth at good speeds without much trouble. We were happy but knew we had a long way to go.”

They tried putting foam in different places on their early kites to make them able to relaunch from the water but that didn’t help. To keep themselves focused, the brothers created a list of performance goals for their kites. They wanted their kites to be water relaunchable, stable, and speedy to improve handling. They wanted a simple, aerodynamic, and durable kite to optimize performance and reduce downtime for repairs.

They put their sailing trip on hold and focused their energies on testing and developing kites through trial and error. After being unable to relaunch their stacked kites from the water after months of trying, they decided to use one large kite. They realized the single large kite would need a heavy frame to hold its shape, so they came up with the idea to try an inflated frame to keep the kite rigid. Bruno and Dominique learned that a C-shaped kite could be strong, stable, and light, but the breakthrough was when they discovered it could relaunch from the water relatively easily when combined with a rigid inflatable framework. The very first prototype leading edge inflatable kite was a 5m kite built in October of 1984. “A two-line C-kite without bridles required so much steering travel with a long bar that it wasn’t practical,” said Bruno. “We tried using a pulley attached to a harness with one line going from wingtip to wingtip through the pulley, but this was really awkward as we had to pull the line pretty far to get the kite to turn.”

Immediately realizing they were on to something big, they filed their first USA patent in 1985 for aPropulsive Wing with Inflatable Armature. This obscure-sounding patent title was basically the starting point for what we fly today. It was a two-line kite with an inflated leading edge and inflated battens, similar in shape to the original Wipika Classic kite that would be released more than ten years later. Bruno and Dominque showed off their invention during the 1985 Brest International Speed Week and won the Ingenuity Prize. They only managed to clock a 17 knot speed at the event but they returned the next year and beat most of the windsurfers while hitting 15 knots of speed in only 10 knots of wind.

In 1985 the brothers were convinced that this new sport had the potential to become larger than windsurfing due to the small size, light weight, and low cost of the equipment. They knew they could jump very high and far and also believed that a kite would one day become the fastest sailing craft on earth. It’s important to remember that common use of the internet was still a long ways away at this time. The immediate exchange of ideas we enjoy today were not possible back then. To communicate with someone in the US they had to wait two to three weeks each way for a letter to cross the Atlantic and back.

“During the first five years, a few people showed interest in the concept but no one really appreciated the importance of the shape of the kite itself,” said Bruno. “At the time windsurfing was a very strong, dominant watersport with 400,000 sails being sold each year. The windsurfing brands were making a lot of money and were not interested in developing a new sport. To most people, we were just a couple of crazy guys. We didn’t even know what to call it and were just using the French names planche à cerf-volant (windsurf kiting) or ski à cerf-volant (ski kiting). It wasn’t until 1995 that Manu Bertin suggested we call it flysurfing, so the names kitesurfing and kiteboarding were a long way off.”

While Bruno and Dominique were confident in their kite, it took more than a decade to develop a commercial product that was ready to be sold. “Over the first ten years we were focused on developing the kite and making it more stable,” said Bruno. “We also looked at other possible markets for the kite such as dune jumping, rescue at sea, small craft propulsion, etc. We knew it would be hard to grow kitesurfing with windsurfing still such a strong sport. We talked about abandoning the kite at times but the progress we made each year kept us going.”

From 1991 to 1994 the Legaignouxs created and developed WIPICAT, an inflatable craft aimed at the general market that could be pulled with their kite. The WIPICAT kite was an 8.5m kite flown on 6.5m lines and packaged with an inflatable craft the rider laid on. It was not a successful product. At the same time windsurfing’s popularity was beginning to decline and some windsurfers starting to take a closer look at what the Legaignouxs were doing. Manu Bertin contacted them towards the end of 1994 and they sent a few kites to him in Hawaii. Laird Hamilton got his hands on one of the kites and over the next few years things accelerated quickly as other legendary Hawaiian waterman became interested in kiting.

Frustrated that they hadn’t been able to find an existing brand to license their kite patent to, the brothers formed the Wipika (Wind Powered Inflatable Kite Aircraft) brand in 1995. In 1998 Naish approached them about licensing their kite patent. “That’s when things really happened quick,” said Bruno. “We had 13 years of kite development behind us while the windsurfing or paragliding designers were just getting started. The year after Naish became a licensee, I designed 60 kites for 8 different brands anxious to enter the kitesurfing market ASAP. That winter the office was more of a plan factory than a kite R&D department.”

Soon after, Bruno began to experiment with four-line bridleless kites. “After a few tests the advantages of a four-line kite were obvious, but we were concerned about introducing four-line kites to the market too soon. It seems silly now, but we were worried that four lines would be too overwhelming to people not used to dealing with kites and lines. We felt the larger wind range offered by a four-line kite meant more safety, and that was the main reason for bringing it to the market.” Two years later they were concerned about accidents they were hearing about so they focused on creating kites with even more depowering ability.

In 2000 the brothers moved to the Dominican Republic to continue their kite development and worked on developing kites with extremely high depower. “We began working on the BOW concept in 2000-2001,” said Bruno. “We were concerned we might not be able to get a patent for the BOW and we would lose royalties from the C-kite if the BOW kite was successful, but we moved forward because we really thought the BOW kite would save lives.” They created the first BOW kite in 2002 by modifying a Wipika Freeair by adding bridle lines and changing its shape. The brothers were ultimately were successful in receiving a number of patents for their BOW kite concepts, with the main BOW kite patent having been applied in 2004 under the title Wing Having a Negative Dihedron for Towing a Load.

The brothers first demonstrated the BOW kite design to Takoon, a company they were involved with. Bruno pushed to get the BOW kite on the market as soon as possible but met resistance. In mid-2004 he decided to present the concept to other companies and Cabrinha’s team was enthusiastic about the BOW kite idea. Takoon and Cabrinha released their first BOW kites to the kiteboarding market in August 2005 and soon after similar kites from other brands started to show up in the marketplace.

When asked about what he would have done differently, Bruno said, “It would have been difficult to dream up a better direction for the sport. Kites have driven the fastest sailing craft on earth, provided an easy way to surf waves, and were briefly selected for the Olympics. I’ve always thought kitesurfing would have a wider appeal than what windsurfing had in its best years, we just haven’t found effective ways to make the sport more accessible to the general public.”

As I was talking to Bruno for this story he was getting ready to continue the circumnavigation he put on hold when the Legaignouxs began making kites. “In 1984 we put our sailing circumnavigation on hold to develop kites. Our original goal was to make a little money and get back to sailing after a few years. Those few years stretched into more than two decades. Time will tell if I finish the trip this time.”

                                                                                                         [The Kiteboarder]

Mystic KRS Hook

Mystic introduces a new development in the field of safety with the launch of the KRS Safety Spreader Bar.This product comes from the idea that the kite release system should be standardized for the safety of kitesurfing. Currently, all release systems are different and this makes it confusing in the market.

The new release system can be found on the left side of your harness, a location that is always within easy reach. A pull on the release handle and the hook comes loose from your spreader bar. With a simple move (3 clicks), the hook can be installed again and you can continue with your kite session.

This is the ultimate product for kiters who are concerned about safety, but also suitable for beginners in the kite sport. With this safety measure Mystic tries to make the kite sport accessible for a larger group of people.

Summer Sessions with Alden Simmer

Kiting on the island of beautiful island of Maui.

Jinamar 2013 by Aaron Navares

Aaron Navares at Jinamar beach, Canarias, one of the spots chosen by the KSP for the 2013 tour...canceled...What a shame ! Aaron demonstrates that it was a good choice with some nice slashes.

Chris Bobryk - American Sledgehammer (Full Release)

Chris Bobryk aka Ricky Bobby did it again! Chris spent time in Cape Hatteras, NC training, eating, and sleeping for his PKRA debut this summer. As the only American on the tour for freestyle, he had the weight of the country on his shoulders. Luckily, he's got a back built like an ox on a strict diet of egg and cheese. Chris Bobryk is the American Sledgehammer.

Go Big Or Go Home

This “Go Big or Go home” clip you can see 15 year old rider Nathan Glevarec going really big in Greek paradise called Paros. Watch and enjoy!

The New Kiteloose RAW

Here in KiteLoose we strongly believe  that evolution is only when it brings a real benefit that everyone can use easily, without technical difficulties. That's why our R&D spend all the energy every day to study innovations consistent, which serve to increase your fun and your action performance. RAW is the result of continuous innovation that we have brought into the kitesurfing world over 10 years. The result is expressed in only three words: RAW FLIES BETTER.

Auto Stable Reflex Profile

KiteLoose RAW has an output profile slightly concave. In this way, the kite tends to return to a stable position in a perfectly natural way, even after a strong gust or when you lose control during a maneuver, just when all other kites tend to advance too risking to overcome the flight window and become uncontrollable.

Kevlar Reinforced

Kevlar is a textile fiber invented by DuPont and is known for its strength and lightness that make it 5 times more resistant than steel.
For its characteristics of resistance, Kevlar, is used to build body armor, components for aircraft and more recently for the sails of the competition sailboat.

Unlike many other kites, we used the Kevlar to protect all those parts subject to abrasion:
- To protect the canopy, above the Struts
- The terminals of the Leading Edge and the terminals of the Struts
- On all parts subject to friction when the kite is on the ground

Dacron Structural Frame

We observed the airflow and the forces and tensions in place during a session of kiteboarding. Then we have analyzed with the software and we created the better Dacron structure to keep the right shape of the airfoil, but no more the necessary, to keep the kite lighter.

Neutral Bridles Geometry

The bridles are designed to have the best compromise between stability and simplicity. This means the kite have a neutral behavior and full control in every situation, even under gust.
All bridles attachment point on Leading Edge and Kite are reinforced and engineered to last.

The result: a full energy kite easy to use as you never tried

More info and 2014 products on www.Loose.it

HB STORM BRAIN TOUR

Here's the HB storm brain tour in France filmed by JP Ryckaert featuring Herve Boure and all the guys who have tried Bonaparte and Lafayette boards. Shock troops are growing after 2 month on the road chasing the swell.

HB-Surfkite is the leading brand dedicated to Strapless Surfkite, you'll find more here : http://hb-surfkite.com/

Jesse Richman: World Record Kiteboard Flying from 790ft

Watch 2013's Red Bull King of the Air perform a 790-foot tow-up over the Colombia River Gorge in Oregon. This stunt has never been accomplished by a kiteboarder before.

NKTV - Welcome to 2014

In this episode of Naish Kiteboardgin TV you can see their newest line of kiteboarding gear for 2014.

Sword wave riding

Bruna Kajiya in Rio

Ian Alldredge in "Dreams of the Driven"

A super nice portrait filmed by Darren McGagh on the other side of Ian Alldredge, BenWilsonSurf rider.                                  
"Ian Alldredge is at the forefront of riding waves with a kite and surfboard. He's fast, powerful, technical, innovative and does it all with amazing style. But there's a lot more to Ian than what he does in the water. He was raised quite differently to the 'normal' person and his story is not only compelling, but inspiring on many levels. A true testament to who he is and what he's about. Ian really has created the life he wants. "

Ben wilson