nice clear WARM waters

It’s tuesday so time for a kite loop … NICE

 

When is summer coming

If only West Scotland was as warm as this ….

Youri Zoon Kitesurf Champ

A very sweet video with old style VO man as an extra touch ….

This is the story of new world champion in kitesurfing; Youri Zoon.
EyEFORcE productions has followed Brunotti rider Youri Zoon over the last couple of years, filming him on locations across the globe.
This video documents his career.

-PKRA footage courtesy of Extreme Elements
-OLD footage courtesey of Kaaps.nl

from his website

Year of Birth : 14/12/1989

Size: 175

Weight: 72

Years of Xperience : 7

Lives in : Dirksland, NL

Favorite spot: Brouwersdam

Has been riding : Netherlands, France, Brazil, , Italy, Belgium, Spain, Cabarete, Portugal,japan, mexico, venezuela, canada, USA, , vietnam, Germany, austria ,thailand,egypte,mexico, south africa,  probely more that i forget heheh

Why kiteboarding: I was a windsurfer before but I wanted to do more than that and then I discovered kitesurfing. Afther the first lesson i was hooked!

Dislikes: Sand in my bed. If i get sand in my bed i am gonne freak out…

Listens to: hardstyele and just chilling music. I like a lot of music but it has to have a good rithem.

Occupation: Pro kiteboarder

My Kiteboarding gear:

What brands of kites are u flying?

Slingshot kites

Why are you flying Slingshot kites kites?

The first time i felt the kite i was like woow this definetly my kite. And i am still very happy with it.

Whats you’r favorite kitesize?

This year i am riding with the RPM, i helped develope this kite and testing it.Til i was statisfied with it.

What brand of boards are u riding?

Brunotti boards(youri zoon pro)

Why are u riding Brunotti boards(youri zoon pro) boards?

The boards are just everything i want, if i want to have something in it, i will get it from Jinne Sietsma the shaper of brunotti boards.

What’s your favorite boardsize/style?

My favorite board is 133*40

Great video of kitesurfing clips – best of

i want my leg to get healed quick – inspired to hit the water again …

Sh*t kiteboarders say

not quite as good as the mtb one but still funny

missed out on classics like:

‘wow saw your wipeout ..’

‘did you see my 520 railed landing wrapped…?’

‘I landed so hard my strap broke’

In Scotland ‘Its gusty out there like 18knots gusting 40′

‘you should get a c kite’

‘you shouldn’t be on a c kite’

Video: Hannah Whiteley’s Sweet Escape on Vimeo

Hannah Whiteley’s Sweet Escape on Vimeo

an epic day kitesurfing

well apart from looping over the kite and slamming into the water at 30mph+ have a bruised cheek today – the only bit of exposed flesh peeking out of my wetsuit hood. Thought i might have broken a rib but just badly winded ….

screen grab from go pro footage - jumping over and across my pal LEO

kitesurfing today – i hope I survive

taking the GoPro HD camera so will put up some footage later ….

Windy today

perfect for kiting although i am off to the school fete …. wooo hoo (ironic that be)

Bryton Cardio 30 review (the first few days)

The watch HRM is still new to me but initial thoughts are this. (Update used at Ruthin in MTB race with mixed result see bottom of this page HERE part  …..Was using the Bryton Cardio 30 on the bike as well as the Garmin Edge 305 (which is great and now around £175) and there was quite a large difference in readings. There was a small section in woodland but not enough for this difference…..)

Now done a Full Review where I advise against spending money on this watch.

Good Points

• The watch is small – much smaller than you think – quite a bit smaller than the Garmin 405 which I guess is a direct competitor, and more importantly comfortable on the wrist which the Garmin wasn’t.
• Bryton Bridge seems reliable and the ability to export .gpx files is great for those using other online diaries like endomondo (although giving the protocol to Endomondo would be useful too in case people wanted to import direct)
• Waterproof rated to 30m so I wont hesitate to use this kite surfing.
• Ability to pair with any ANT+ protocol device like HRM straps and power meters / cadence sensor etc

Middle Points

• So far I would say i am still not convinced – initial operation is a bit fiddly – the user interface is more complicated than most GPS units I have used.
• Initial satellite lock is longer than the Garmin 405 and the Suunto GPS pod.
• The displays on the watch are also not as clear or as user friendly useful as some I have seen.
• The USB connector lead is short – for me connecting to the back on an iMac I would say an inch or two too short but others may find it fine. Unusual connection – don’t lose the lead as it isn’t a regular USB. This uniqueness may have something to do with the waterproof features.

Not so good Points

• The display always has distance at the top of screen then main display is set as either km/h, rpm (stride), min/km, HR or calories. I would have liked to see an average pace as GPS reading are so flaky that it isn’t a reliable indicator.
• Display is small and doesn’t have the versatility you would need as runner or biker in monitoring your stats/status.
• A moan would be the lack of auto-lap summary – I have set unit to put in lap marker every 1km but it needs to flash you the last km time to be really useful as a running HRM. The Suunto T6C would flash up a lap time for a few seconds e.g. 4:11 along with ave HR for that lap so then you would know whether to kick in a bit or stay at pace.

Summary:

Still positive but yet to take it for a proper run – will do that one morning this week before work or Saturday morning and hopefully I can report back with an extended update.

Helmet cam Comparison – GoPro HD and Contour

GoProHD vs CONTOUR HD

Trying to decide between the 2 cameras for kitesurfing and mtb filming …..

 

X-Dance Kitesurfing Short Film (5 Min)

Nice little film – well shot although narrative a touch twee (sorry guys I do like it though)

Los Angeles Afternoon, nominated for best Short Film at 2007 X-Dance Film Festival. Kitesurfing Film shot in Los Angeles on HD. Los Angeles Afternoon – Kite Surf
Directed by Mark Hannah – Produced by Mark Hannah, David Auerbach, Mathias Klozenbuecher

My it is windy today

Too windy even for kitesurfing using my smallest kite …..

Haha found this old video of me in Rhosneigr from 4 years ago

PKRA Lanzarote intro to kitesurfing wave event

at first the wind didn’t blow but then the wind came in – sweet makes you want to get on the water

Shade of Green Kitesurfing Wave

Ben Wilson’s new movie – “Shades of Green”

The movie features Ben Wilson, Reo Stevens, Ian Alldredge and Bear Karry in Indonesia doing what they do – surfing and kiting.

The four of them jumped on a serious swell and some early season wind, resulting in some great kitesurfing barrels. The trip was well documented and the three day swell that the boys lucked into has been accumulated into a 35 minute long movie.

1 perfect day, 4 different types of surfing

Robby Naish, Dave Kalama, Mick Fanning, Beau Young, Ben Wilson, Stephanie Gilmore & Reo Stevens share a day at one of the best rights in the world.

kitesurf Dunbar – sometimes everything is wrong

Forecast the night before not great but still worth trying it.

However the only thing accurate on this was the temp – stepped out the car and puddles were all frozen.

frozen in the car park

Beach is so great – well for beginners – most pure surfers head south of Dunbar for the rock reefs – but more closed in than here and less suited to kiting. But today was crap – was forecast to be 19-23mph but was barely 7 …. so had a long drive for a 5km walk.

looking east

World Sailing Speed Record

Longer Video