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George Dufty finished 3rd in the BKSA Juniors in 2011 and went on to claim the Youth Championship title in 2012. He's on a charge and posts his reports here on Kiteworldmag.com. Read on for an insight into being a young up and coming rider in the UK |
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George Dufty competed in the BKSA Under 15s (juniors) series last year and in this column, recounts some of his highlights and experiences from his first season, finishing third overall. Now sponsored by Liquid Force, he's currently leading the Under 19s (youths) category after two events |
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Since Hugh Miller started Kiteworld in 2001, the moves in kiteboarding have changed, the equipment has improved immeasurably and the average age of kiteboarders in competition has virtually halved. |
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Going into the 2011 World Championships I expected a more even spread of nationalities on the podium come the end of the event. Sure Adam Koch already has a World Championship crown on his mantlepiece at home, but so too does French rider Bruno Sroka. |
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Mark Shinn thought he was onto something pretty special when he came up with the Super Shinn – a high-performance twin-tip packed with an unusual level of user-friendliness. He invited Jim Gaunt to see what he was making such a fuss about ahead of the product launch in August |
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Cape Town is one of kitesurfing's most important hubs in terms of gear development. Airush relocated their operation to Cape Town a year ago and have now developed a fully in-house working system |
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RRD produce a range of six kites focussed on very different disciplines. So who better to kick-off the first in a series looking at the technical aspects of kite design? We begin with a look at the skeleton structure of the RRD range with their maestro, Roberto Ricci. |
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The Florida Keys, a flat water paradise littered with sandbars, waist deep waters, luxury living and more non-wind activities than you could possibly fit into one trip. And we're not talking the boring museum variety. Jim Gaunt samples the action holiday heaven, Islamorada. |
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A guide to the history of surfboards and current trends in shapes made for kiting and waves. Take a big breath, we're going deep into the shaping shed black hole of time and it might take you more than a couple of soggy biscuits and cold cuppas to get through this one. |
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Bilderback hauls his troops to Tahiti, the scenes of dreams and a nightmare for Mauricio Abreu on his last trip. This year, like all good pros, "Morris" faced his fears alongside Jason Slezak, Moe Gould and Josh Mulcoy |
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Our time in El Gouna was filled with daily activities, but Soma Bay gave us a chance to unwind and focus on nothing but kiting. Again, our new friend Nour picked us up from the Movenpick to escort us to the second half of our stay at the Breakers Surfing and Diving Lodge. |
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We asked local kiter, English ex-pat Jenny Cooper, to explain what makes kiting spots in Egypt tick and to introduce us to some of her friends from the beach |
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As the England football team crashed out of the World Cup we tore it up in El Gouna and Soma Bay, Egypt for eight out of ten days on seven metre kites. Now that's a result! |
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With so many ways to turn around and head back the other way, Jo Ciastula is here with a few more takes on reversing direction, starting with the basic toe-to-heel-side carve |
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The transition is one of the first aerial tricks you will learn. Changing direction in the air may sound complicated, but because the kite moves smoothly in only one direction and can be done quite slowly, it's not as demanding as you might think. RRD's Seb Garat provides the demos and notes for this issue's project from New Caledonia. |
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A virtual lap through the mind of ace racer, double PKRA Kiter Course Race World Champion, Steph Bridge |
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Kite design is a full time job and goes slowly and, hopefully, surely. Jim Gaunt went along to the F-One meeting in Mauritius to track the development process of the new 2010 Bandit Three (and scored six out of six days on the water to boot!) |
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Tarifa is still one of the most important venues in world kiteboarding. Many brands continue to base their R&D centres there for all or part of the year and is, without doubt, the nerve-centre of European riding culture, providing a strong beating heart that keeps the travelling throngs pumping in |
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Try telling that to these two heavyweight boxing kiteboarding tough guys, Wladimir Klitschko and Andrew Golota. |
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Jim Gaunt headed to the Airush dealer meeting at Sotavento, Fuerteventura, where he took part in a testing session. To him it was a unique experience, but to the Airush design team it was just another day pushing the boundaires. |
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Best careered into the kitesurfing market in 2004 with their brash, aggressive online tactics that saw them drastically undercut their competitors and rapidly acquire customers. in 2010 they are striving to shed the cheap 'beginner' brand stigma. Jim Gaunt met Best's R&D and marketing teams in Guincho, Portugal during the launch of their brand new Taboo kite to find out what really lies behind the hype and how the brand grew, from being the most unaccepted within the industy, to one of the biggest shifters of kites in the market. |
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With a coastline rich in some of the cleanest, greenest waves on the planet and plenty of wind knocking about, it's a wonder there have never been any wave tour events in Ireland. Big wave slayer Ryan Coote decided to end all that with a chilled one: The Rhino's Wave Charge |
