he tour of kitesurfing's meccas continues for the Kiteworld editorial team as they hit the northeast coast of Brazil. First stop is the small village of Cumbuco 45 minutes northwest of Fortaleza that struck gold in terms of kiting tourism when it became apparent that there aren't many places in the world with such a staggeringly consistent seven to eight month wind season. Thousands visit here for the long golden beaches, choice of lagoons and endless downwinders. The kids here grew up surrounded by kiteboarding, and it shows.
In issue #65 we feature a ride guide for Cumbuco, and in issue #66 we'll be taking a look at some more of the riding delights further north. The wind is already taking on its clockwork tendencies and set to blow every day until at least the end of January!
Another area that's just about to come into season is South Africa. We also offer advice on traveling to Langebaan, a stunning flat water playground 90 minutes north of Cape Town and throw a further lure out in the form of a Cape Town freestyle gallery from Jens Hogenkamp.
Adam Super is an incredibly technical and analytical rider that we met in the States. Living in Hatteras and working for Kitty Hawk Kites, Adam gets to kite nearly every day, but also gets to watch streams of kiters of all levels come through the school as students and freeriders, with both good habits and bad. He starts a column this issue focused on helping you understand how to go about learning how to learn.
We also hear from Brianna Hirsch-Pollitt, a 19-year-old woman for whom kiteboarding gave such strength in rebuilding her life after being diagnosed with non-hodgkin lymphoma when she was 17, culminating in her attending the Kiteboarding 4 Cancer mega event in Hood River in July this year.
You will also find out about Poul Rasmussen in Jason Gallate's regular To Love, To Kite column. Poul was literally a 'Great Dane' - a man who literally lived to kitesurf until he was 88. Our doctor in the house looks into finding the lessons we can learn from Poul to help us all push beyond the norm.
All that, plus: flow better in waves with the downloop, Reo at Teahupoo, Shinn and Hadlow columns, Readers' Gallery, the sport's best images from the last couple of months and more!
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