FEATURING: 2010 Beginners' Guide, Lou Wainman, Adam Koch, Mozambique, BVIs, PKRA assessments and much more.
Lou Wainman has been the first name on the lips of top pros when it comes to inspiration for many years. Hadlow to Vari have expressed their praise for him. Images of Lou have been rare though, only adding to his mystique, but when they did come and when he popped up in the videos of Chris Tronolone, it was always with stunning class and unimaginable style. He was already doing powered handle-passes in 2001. Imagine that!
At the same time, many people that have been linked with helping the sport's progression were still getting dragged up and down their local spots, trying to figure things out. We have an exclusive interview with Lou in issue #45 in which he talks frankly about progression, why he went off the radar, how he nearly threw it all away and how he's enjoying his kiteboarding now more than ever.
Adam Koch clinched the IKA world kite course racing championships in Corpus Christi, Texas this week. Ever popular and enthusiastic, he recently won the North American course racing championships after only entering two regattas before that. Could a history in skiff sailing be what made the difference for him? We talked to him just before he headed to Texas to race the world's quickest and to find out what he's been up to since competing on the PKRA world tour, back in the days of Shinn, Vari, Meyer, Solbach and co.
The PKRA season is off and running and with Aaron Hadlow having pulled out of the competition this year, it looks set to be one of the most open seasons ever. We asked some people in the know to assess the form and chances of some of the tour's top riders. Complete with assessments and predictions, will our panel get it right come the final reckoning?
Mozambique and the British Virgin Islands are the focus of our travel story quota. John Bilderback stays on a Moorings yacht during Richard Brandson's Kite Jam in the Caribbean while Jeremie Eloy headed to Mozambique, the country he calls Africa's brightest hope for a positive, stable future. Phenomenal images accompany intriguing and alluring stories from each location.
In the rest of the mag we feature three more transitions in the Motor Drive Project, the latest in Hawaiian wave technique is blown up, Marc Ramseier takes you into surgery with him during his ACL reconstructive surgery and you'll also find the first of our 2010 Beginners' Guide series, which breaks down the basics of kitesurfing, the jargon and the hype into manageable chunks, helping first timers find their way into the sport.
On test are the Airush Vapor X, RRD Religion and Best Kahoona kites, and Crazy Fly Raptor, Best Spark, Maelstorm Kamikaze and Nobile NHP twin-tips.
All that, crammed into another 172 page monster issue, matching our biggest ever.