Two weeks has past since I got to coche and the conditions has been almost a little too good. Here has been cloudless skyes and 15-20kts steady every day. As last year I stay at the Kite Cabanas which is actually even more expensive than last year, this year we pay 2150$ for two months and three people (!). However we’ve got our own ”kitchen” and unlimited supply of taco ingredients, so as you understand, our food is about a hundred times better than the crap they make at the hotel.

My plan was to start getting to know my new equipment and try to get back to the way of freestyle riding by doing only simple unhooked tricks. Since I havent been doing much freestyle riding lately I early found out, due to a lot of crashing that my new Havocs would be my best friends the following months. More about the equipment later. The riding here is great, you wake up in the morning and the wind is already up at steady       10-15kts, perfect for warming up and just play around in the butter flat water. By noon the wind has picked up to about 15-20kts and most of the people from El Yaque has arrived and the water is pretty busy. At this time of the day I usually take my Ipod with me to make a beach walk, looking at some of the hundreds of the not entirely natural boobs spreading the beach. This is also a good time of the day to get som inspiration from other riders, unluckely here hasnt been too many really good riders. However, the locals here is just a pleasure to watch, too bad most of them have no sponsor so they cant afford new equipment. One of the guys that are still sponsored showed up one day, nailing a sick down loop KGB as his first trick of the day, that pretty much says it all. From about an hour before the last boat to El Yaque leaves you have the water pretty much by yourself, and there is nothing better than a really good evening session.

At the moment I’ve started getting my blind landings back, nailing some raileys, backs, s-bends and tantrums to blind. I’ve also been working on the low and really powered mobes with some success from day to day. Just a few days before I left Sweden I found out that the kicker we built last year had been destroyed in a storm, luckely, I saw the 60ft slider standing tall as we came around the peninsula of Coche. The tide has been really low now for a while and I havent had the guts to make the 1ft pop onto the rails of the monster yet. The moon is getting bigger and more complete every day now so hopefully I will have some nice slider pics for you soon.

A usual day:

·         Two hour session

·         Beach walk n chill out

·         Two hour session

·         Tacos

·         Poker n unhealthy amount of beers

·         Movie n sleep

·         Boat to El Yaque

·         Sambil (huge shopping mal) eating

·         Casino n unhealthy amount of Cuba Libre’s

·         Kamy Beach, party and even more Cubas n Capirinhas

·         Sleeping at some random roof in El yaque

I havent been forced to take off my board a single time when relaunching which is really good since I ride only with bindings. You simply reconnect the kite, let the depower slip back to its supposed position, put the board in front of you and pull one side of the bar and the kite is in the air in no time(!). The only problem I’ve had so far is that my 14sqm inverted once in very light wind, but I just pulled one of the middle lines and the kite went back as normal. The bar is the simplest and cleanest one on the market, well built and the only thing I could ask for is another grip than the slippery one everyone is using.

My board setup is a dream for any wake style kiter, the board offers a very direct feel and turn but due to the stiffness and rocker it has a tendency to be a little too ”skimy” sometimes. I were a little worried before trying it that the channels and the rocker would make it really slow, and it is pretty slow but absolutely not as slow as I first thought. The stiffness combined with the bindings gives you a complete power boost in every pop. Again, the stiffness, makes the landings quite tough on your knees but also very solid and steady.

The bindings keeps your feet in a locked position offering the desired support and comfort. The light weight construction makes you feel light in the air.

Matthias