Small interview with Lou Wainman about his collaboration with Flysurfer and some riding of him on the Flysurfer Psycho3 in Lanes, Hawaii. Video shot by Chris Tronolone.

[Source: Vimeo]

Kevin doing some sick freestyle in Brazil and riding some sick waves in Chile!

[Source:Langaree]

Czesc Karolina,
Welcome to Kitemovement!

How old are you and where are you from?
I am 17 years old and I come from Poland.

How did your adventure with kitesurf start?
It was in 2004 in Hel (North of Poland). I just switched from windsurfing. I started doing something different when wind was really light.

Currently your competing in the PKRA, why are you competing int he PKRA and not in the KPWT?
I think in PKRA level is much higher. KPWT is a „French“ championship around the world.

When did you start to treat this sport professionally?
I guess never. It’s not my job. I still go to school. Kitesurfing is my passion, the thing that I do basically for a pleasure.

Where do you live right now?
In Warsaw and I am not going to move from there.

How often and where do you usually practice?
I train around 4-5 months a year. During the winter I am in SA or Brazil, spring in Egypt and summer is PKRA tour.

Which is your favorite trick?
The trick that I can land

On which trick are you working right now?
I just go to the water and try everything that comes to my mind.

What is your favourite book? Movie? Music?
Frida, Blow up and good music.

What do you do when you are not kitesurfing?
Probably I am at school or I do other sports like wakeboarding, dancing or I just watch old movies

We are in the middle of the PKRA season. Is the competition going the way you were expecting? Are you happy with your performance?
Not really. But I don’t care about my results so much any more because for me it’s just to have fun. And I have a great fun doing all the tricks.

Who is your favorite rider? Who according to you rides the best?
I have no idea because there are a lot of riders that I like but they are not kiting very well

From what you know you belong to La Ola Team, right? What is that team about?
I think technically I don’t belong to this team I am just the sister of my brother who is La Ola Team. It is about having fun, making videos and spend nice time.

We saw a couple of pictures of you ridding balance boards. We tested the board and we were impressed with her performance.
What is it your personal opinion about it?
It is a very nice board!

Which is your favorite spot? What are the perfect condition for you to kite?
I think that the nicest spot I have ever been is in Muizenberg- South Africa because in there we we have great conditions and a nice atmosphere.

Do you have any idol in kitesurf?
Nope.

What are your plans for the future?
First of all I want to finish school, I want to make drivers licence and then I will see. For sure I want do somenthing cool

Good luck for the PKRA event in Germany!!

[Interview: Kitemovement.com; Photos: Karolina Winkowska]

Sophie Mathews, 22 years old, was in Portugal for the Portuguese Stage of the KPWT championship that took place in Santa Cruz.
We didn’t want to lose the chance to speak with on of the nicest girls on the tour.
So we had a little chat with her on the beach during one of the lazy afternoons and here we publish a little bit of our conversation.
Enjoy!

Aloha Sophie, first time in Portugal?
No it’s my second time actually.
I was here for a New Years Eve 3 years ago. I came with some friends and first we went party and then the next day we went surfing, so I was entering in the New Year surfing.

So besides kite you also a surf girl?
Yes but I don’t surf very well, but originally I was a windsurfer

Oh really? And right now how is your relation to windsurf?
I live in Tarifa and sometimes it gets very very windy, so when its really windy we go windsurf, because kiting with a 5mterer kite and short lines it’s not always so much fun. I try to windsurf as much as I can, because its something different, if you kitesurf all the time you can end up losing your motivation, and doing something else can bring you back that motivation that you may have lost.

You live in Tarifa, right?
Yeah.

How is your KPWT going right now? Are you proud of yourself?
Someone else made me that question the other day, how is it all going.
This is fantastic. It’s my 1st year on the tour. I’m only 1 year and 3 months learning kitesurf. A lot had happened in the last year. KPWT is the world tour, but I’m frankly in the middle at the moment. I’m not the last, I think the aim for me was to finish in the top 5, but I’m around 6th and 7th at the moment and I’m very happy with it. It has been such a great experience to see a lot of other professionals.

Was it what you were expecting?
No, no. It’s not really what I was expecting. I think when you have something you know nothing about, or no one have ever told you about, you make up what you think might be in your head and actually when you get there its nothing like that.

How is KPWT socially? I think you guys are really friends.
Yeah, it’s amazing. Here we are the luckiest. People think that KPWT is a French tour and that it only has French riders on it. But now it’s getting more and more international. We have people from Australia, Maui, Poland, Dominican Republic… So we have people from everywhere. It is competitive but you don’t get bad vibes. Everybody is competitive on the water, during the heat but off the water there is such a good vibe between everybody, everybody goes and dinner, everybody goes party together, There is no little groups, it’s really good fun.

Dou you still enjoy kitesurf since your start doing it professionally? Is it still fun?
Yeah, for me it is still fun! I love it!

You are a professional. You just do kitesurf for living?
For the moment yes. What I’m doing takes lot of time. When you want to improve, you go to a competition, you see what other riders are doing and then between the competitions you need to work out. It is a full time job. And besides that I am starting. The sponsorships I’ve been given, Nobile, Greenish Dworf8, I really feel that these people took a great chance, risk on me, because I didn’t have any results, I didn’t have any past, I didn’t have anything to offer to them. So I work hard not to let them down.

How much do you train?
When I’m in Tarifa I train most days.

You live in Tarifa and you just out for the tour?
I’m originally from England, my parents are here at the moment, by the way which is nice. Tarifa is a great place to train. We have so many different conditions and there are a lot of pro-riders in there, Gisela, Angela Peral, Alex Pastor… it’s a good vibe, it’s a nice place to live and train.

When, how and where did you start to kitesurf?
I was in Venezuela, not this winter, but the winter before, teaching windsurfing. I received a kitesurfing course for Christmas present. So when I had time, in February I did the course with my best friend and I hated it
First time we had a water start lesson they picked us up and tried to teach us from a boat. I drop my kit and all I could think was it could be eaten by a shark.
I really hated it first! Being a windsurfer I thought it was very geeky to be a kitesurfer. I never wanted to be a kitesurfer. The only reason I wanted to learn it was to have something to do when it wasn’t very windy and there was no waves. And then I think that once I started it I stuck with it. I wasn’t planning to do that but the more I did it the more I liked it. But it took time to really like it. There are people that first time they do it they love it, it wasn’t me 

What is your biggest achievement until now, in kitesurf?
The first time I made a kiteloop and the fact it was on camera. Also the first time in a magazine was pretty good. But the icing on the cake was getting a sponsorship. This is really something, because I did all the work myself. It’s obvious that I had people that helped me , that had good word for me but actually I think that when I got a sponsorship it meant that I have been taken professionally. It was something I worked hard for.

What is the trick that you’re working on at the moment?
I would love to have a blind judge in competition. That for me would be great. At the moment the main thing in KPWT is that there is a lot of variety, they try to incorporate the different aspects of kitesurfing, its not only pure wake manoeuvres, it’s no foot high jump, wake manoeuvres You have to get everything you can do in kitesurf and put it in a 7 minutes heat. Obviously it’s good to be consistent and blinded. Everything to blind. If you have these for sure you are in top 5.

What is your favorite discipline? Race, waves, freestyle…
Freestyle is what I am concentrating on the most. Racing I love, because I find it hilarious. I have so much fun.

Do you shout with other riders when the race starts?
No… Well we did at first, we were making the heat with boys and girls together and that was a lot of shouting. And then the boys started 2 minutes ahead of the girls and we did more gossiping in the start line  “Hey…I love your bikini. I love your boardshorts”. But the moment the blue flag goes up then it’s the serious race going on.

You are pretty competitive…
I don’t like losing… if I wasn’t competitive I would not compete. I think that the same goes for other people.

You don’t like loosing but you don’t mind loosing…
It’s something that I had to come to terms with. I have to be honest about that. Before I used to play tennis, I played tennis since I was 14 to 18 in an academy, and I was good. I won. And I was trying to win …. I think when you come new to a sport and you think that you will gonna win, and you lose and it’s not nice but you have to be professional about it. As much as I would love to throw my board up the beach and down my kite into the judging tower, stick my finger up in the air and tell that I hate them, you can’t do that because you’re representing other people.
Yes I am competitive I think that’s the answer

But you know how to lose…
I am learning! I am learning!
You have to learn as well. There are lot of people sticking cameras into your face. Saying “Hey how was your heat…” And you can’t turn around and shout 
You have to be polite and say “Yeah it was a good heat and I learned this…” Competing is a massive learning curve; people have been doing it for 4 years, 6 years, 8 years…

How long are you planning to be in kitesurf, to compete?
I took this year as 100%, all out, this is what I am doing. I’ll see how the results are and will see where it takes me in terms with sponsorship… it’s not the most affordable thing to do, it’s expensive and has a lot of costs going in to. I will definitely stick with it. I definitely am working as hard as I can to make it happen next year, and I would like to do it for the next 3 years. But I also try to keep myself involved in other things, so I don’t close all the doors around me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now? Have you ever think about it?
Well, something I realized is that I like the idea of competitions and athletes and things like that.
I studied personal sports massage and Nutrition and so I would eventually like to work with athletes or A-team. It’s such a shame that kitesurf has not refunding to have trainers and on hand masseuses and people to help you with your diet. It’s so not a hugely recognize sport.
At the end of the day we are athletes and not blond hair kids having a nice time.
I would like to be involved in kids development in sport as well, taking young riders or surfers and bring them up, in a way that they do have their school but also to show them what competition is. Kids that have talent and you have to put them on the right path, you don’t tell them what they have to do, but you can show them some guidance.

Who is your favorite rider? Professionally and socially…
I have to say that I was seriously impressed with the big boss Mark Shinn. It might sound ridiculous and I feel awful saying it but as I got sponsored so early on I didn’t know the names, I didn’t know the peoples track records. And I was sitting there when suddenly someone comes and says” Oh my god” Your boss is Mark Shinn” and I was like; “But who is Mark, who is he?”
He must be pretty important if everybody is speaking about this guy.
I have a lot of respect for him. Not only for his riding.
The way, that generally he manages himself, he has a lot of time for riders.
He was world champion on pkra and kpwt in 2002. For sure he could be still be there competing if he wanted. He is an all round professional rider.

And socially?
You have people like Ania that is always ready for party, having fun, playing on the beach and go out. Antoine Auriol, he is a good friend we spend hours giggling. There are a lot of people…Back home as well; Angela Peral is one of my closest friends. I spend a lot of time riding with her.

Do you live alone in Tarifa?
I live in a flat with 2 boys.
That’s pretty good fun. I come and go, I shut my room and leave and when I come back I hope the house isn’t been burned down

When you travel on tour, you travel alone or you go with other riders?
When I went to France I drove up with Sofianne and Ania from Tarifa. We did it in one go. 22 hours in the car… that was good. Then Italy and turkey I traveled with Marine… and then Turkey to here I traveled with Antoine, we had a massive journey from Istanbul to Budapest to Madrid to Sevilla and then, pick up a car in Sevilla and we drove up here.
It’s better to travel with someone, not with too many people, but with one or two because we can share taxes and stuff like that and it’s better to have company

Who do you train with? With the guys?
Back home I train a lot with Angela, Ainhoa Garcia, she is also a good friend she lives in Tarifa. There is a lot of people around, there is a huge level. Alex Pastor and many other guys… people like this that have a lot of experience in the competition.
It’s very nice being surrounded by such a huge network of experienced riders. Its no what people think that you are going to get in to the water and people will slam cards into your face because you’re the new kid on the block and nobody wants to tell you things.
Girls are actually being encouraged into the sport, because the more they come into the sport the more competition. And the more chances we get equal prices on it. It’s such a male dominated sport.
Even for me, I would like more girls to come to competition, even if they didn’t make the all tour. In Italy there were a couple of girls that turned up and they wiped the floor clean. They came second and fifth. And this is competition. I think sometimes you hear people saying:
”I’m glad she screwed. That way I’m gonna pass easily”
But that’s not what competition is about. There’s nothing better then have a good level.

I don’t have one particular training partner, that’s for sure, and I think it’s good not to have only one training partner. When you train with only one person you only see one style, if you train with more people you can make your own path, looking at and get inspiration from all of them.

Favorite place and weather to kite?
Sunny and hot. Tarifa!
Tarifa is amazing. You have everything there. Cross on-shore, howling, gail. You can get all kind of conditions there, you have your friends. So it’s very nice to have what you call my home spot, my local spot. It is just great to go out of your front door, Go to your local café and then go kite on your local beach. That’s perfection.The place where I’m living will always be my favorite spot.
Beside that you got, Coche, Brazil. In Marrocos I had the best session I ever had on waves, but I wouldn’t want to live there

Why are you so much into sports?
I have older brother and sister and younger brother. We have always been very sporty. When I was 13 I went to tennis academy. All of us were swimmers on the national level when we were kids. Sports is something that is in my nature, I have to be active all the time otherwise you will see me climbing walls and 5 o´clock in the afternoon. It also has something to do with the way I have been brought up.

What other sports do you do besides windsurfing and kitesurfing?
I ski for a long time but right now I am really concentrated on my training. This year I am planning to go to South Africa and Maui to train on waves.

Thank you very much and we will see you soon!

[Photos: Sophie Mathews portfolio]

After Kari’s interview we asked her to send us some news from Kpwt events. Here it is her frist report
Thanks Kari and take care of that finger

Turkey KPWT 2008

I am now in Turkey for the 4th stop in the KPWT. It’s my first time here in Istanbul and I can only tell you that I am really surprised how nice it is here. They told me that it will be really hot and no wind before I came, but it’s been strong wind, light wind, no wind, rain, sun, hot, cold, flat water and waves.

You can find everything in Istanbul. It’s a mix between the old mosques and the new fashion building. You can drink your morning coffee in Starbucks or in an old Turkey restaurant. If you want to go shopping, there are a lot of places to go. There are markets where you can find the turkish cloths and souvenirs, or you can go to one of the big super markets where you can find all the top brand like Dior, Gucci, Brunotti, ozone

We are staying at Burc beach, 45 min from Istanbul by car. It’s a big sandy beach with many restaurants and a kite school. We finished the single and the double elimination in freestyle. It was 12 girls who signed up and it’s been many good heats. I was really happy with my single and got 3rd. But again like I did in Greece my finger broke again, and got really big.

In the double elimination I was against Kristin Boese. I made a bad heat and lost. I was mad about my heat, for some minutes , but I know I have too do my best if I want to win against here. I got 4th here and I am really happy about this position too. I was not lucky with my finger again (the one I broke in Greece) I will now rest my finger and don’t do freestyle before its 100%

Women Freestyle:
1. Anja Grzelinska,
2. Ainhoa Garcia.
3. Krisitn Boese
4. Kari Schibevaag

Hello Youri, Where do you come from and how old are you?
I am 18 and i come from Holland

How did you start to kitesurf?
i was always doing extreme stuff , like skateboarding , bmx and windsurfing and than i saw kiteboarding and started it and got hooked from the first moment!

Its amazing, but besides you there are many great dutch kitesurfers on tour. Is kitesurf very popular in Holland?
Yes it realy popular I think because we have diffrent condititons every day.

Which is and how do you describe your home spot?
My spot is Brouwesrdam and can be any condititons, waves, choppy flat, all!

We know that you had a serious knee injury, what and how it happened to you? Was it a bad wipeout?
I broke my ligament 2 time,s it,s just because i like to ride hard and you need to give shoemthing for i .

Its always hard when an athlete has to stop competing and training due to an injury, where did you get strength to overtake that?
It’s super hard to stop,f or me kiesurf is my life and i just love to kite. Even if my sponsers told me goodbye, I would still do everything to kite, because i just love it.
When the doctor told me, in the the second time that couldn’t kite for 6 months I felt soo bad! But I got up and just started doing my stuff and reabilitation to get back to kitesurf stronger than before.

Since you can’t compete what have you been doing lately? Travelling?
I juts put my kite gear in 1 corner and start doing events and promotion stuff

I saw some pictures of angela you took, and I have to tell you that beside a talent for kitesurf you also have a talent for photography. Since when do you photograph?
Thanks, i just started this year , i like to take picture,s cause it,s never perfect like kiteboarding it,s never perfect

In 2009 You will have a promodel board… Brunotti by youri zoon, What can you tell us about the new board?
It,s going to be sicK!! the pads, finns everything is new desgined and will be realy nice ( septemebe you will see more)

Where are you based right now and Where do you usually practice?
Mostly i am in holland or tarifa I practice al over the world just afther competitions and stuff

Best kite trip you ever been on?
All trips are good fore me

Which is your favourite trick and favourite quiver?
Fuel kites and 20m lines, brunotti pro-x 128 (will be youri zoon pro model).
My favorite trick will be mobe 7

Besides slingshot and brunotti, who are your sponsors?
Mystic , Koraal.org and daarom.com.
I want to say thank to my sponzers for suporting me in these times!!

This season you didn’t compete in the first PKRA events. Do you miss competition?
I was competing in mexico with the bad knee and i was 4th and 3th in singels. I do miss the competitons a lot!

When will you go back to the tour?
Next year i will me full on!

How is the environment in PKRA events? Is there a lot of rivalry between riders?
On the water it’s hell! But that’s what competitons it’s all about and on the beach everything is mellow and we are all friends.

Until now which was your best moment on PKRA?
That i won 2 pkra comeptions afther each other.

Favourite kitesurf destination?
Hmmm, a lot. But tarifa is cool!

What do you do when you are not competing? what hobbies do you have besides kitesurf?
Hmmm… surfing, make pictures and just chill!

Goals for the future…
Be world champ on my own pro model board!

[Photos: Slinghot and Brunotti]

Before the PKRA event in Portimão, Kite Masters - Portimão World Tour, that will take place in Portugal from the 9 July 2008 until the 13 July 2008, we decided to interview the friendly Angela Peral, international rider of North Kiteboarding, to know a little bit more about her.

Who is Angela Peral?
Angela Peral is a windsurf, kitesurf and surf rider, 23 years old, from Spain (Tarifa) who likes to be happy all day!

When and how did you start to kitesurf?
I started to kitesurf when I was 16 years old. I started because I saw lot of young people doing this sport and also because I love water sports and pass the most of my time on the beach.
Since I was 5 years old I was doing windsurf and with 13 years old I started to participate in the world cup windsurf competition.
I started kitesurf only the days that the wind wasn’t strong enough to windsurf, but in the end I was liking it more and more. Then I got some sponsors, like North Kiteboarding , that helped me since the beginning. Without them, I couldn’t be where I am right now.

You live in Tarifa, one of the best spots in the world to kitesurf.
How do you spend your days when you are there?
I love Tarifa! I can do everything there.
For me every day in Tarifa is different. If there is wind I go kitesurf, if there are waves I go and surf and if there are both waves and wind, I go windsurf.
After being on the beach I go hang around with my friends and sometimes at night I go party… it depends of my energy.

Where and with who do you usually practice?
Normally i practice with all of my friends. In tarifa are a lot of good kitesurfers, sometimes I kite with my dad that rides well in waves, but the most of my time I practice with my boyfriend Youri Zoon. He is one of the best kitesurfers in the world and he is training and helping me a lot almost every day.

This year you are competing again in the PKRA circuit.
What are your goals for this season?
I wanna finish this year in the top 3.I started 3rd in Mexico, in France I was 4th and I didn’t go to Venezuela. But for the rest of the season I will try to be up. Now I’m training hard for it!!!

Are you a professional rider or do you have any other occupation for living?
At the moment I’m a professional rider. I’m studying a bit in my free time by internet to became a personal trainer.

You are a North rider, which is your favourite kite and board?
My favourite kite is vegas, especially 7m, and my favourite board is the Paris (the North board designed for girls)

Besides North, which are your sponsors?
Roxy and Dock11.

How would it be the perfect kite session?
Nice clear and blue water, warm water and temperature and flat water.

Do you have any particular memory from kitesurf, some moment that somehow makes you
smile when you think of it?
The first time I was in Los Roques, Venezuela. I was there for a week to participate in a tv show.
They invited me and 4 more riders to spend a week in a boat there. The water and the wind was perfect.
I have also nice memories from all the times when I was up competing, when I was passing heats and the people looked very happy down at the beach.

Favourite trick? Which trick you don’t make yet but your training on?
My favourite trick is the back mobe. I’m training hard the sbend pass, slimchance.

How was the experience of being a an instructor in kitecamp at Embalse del Ebro?
It was very funny! I liked because everybody was very friendly and they were learning new tricks!
I like very much to work with Youri. At the same time he was helping me to teach better, not only because sometimes I don’t know how to explain very well and he helps me but also because with him everything is funnier!

This year tou particpated in RedBull Kite Punk in La Manga, how was that experience?
I loved being in Kite Punks. I really enjoied riding the sliders. It’s not very difficult, you just need not to be scary and go for it. I want more sliders

What hobbies do you have?
I love to surf and to windsurf. I don’t have too much hobbies out of the beach.

What is your Favourite food?
I like everything only depends of the day but i like a lot my mom’s food.

Kitesurf, windsurf or surf? Why?
Surf is first but depends of the conditions. It’s like food, one days you feel like eating something, others some other thing and sometimes you can eat or do everything.

How do you imagine yourself in 2 years?
I think I will be in PKRA but more up. Maybe I have a lot of years doing the PKRA but I’m sure at the moment that I will not be tired. I am just starting. I love the beach, kite and competing so i will try to be there for the most time I can.

I have to tell you that it’s a pleasure to see you kitesurf!
Thank you for the interview and we will see each other next month in Portugal.

[Photos: Youri Zoon]

Meet former world champion and Slingshot Global Team Rider Youri Zoon and watch how he kicks it on the Fuel!

Slingshot Global Team Rider Ben Wilson kicks it up a notch in Cape Town South Africa all done with his kite of choice the NEW 2008 REV!