The World Junior Kitesurf Championships is curreuntly happening in Spain.
WOW! The future looks bright yesterday Anthar Racca – U17 boy from
Mexico – just landed the first ever Double Half Cab Mobe in competition!
The Airush Kiteboarding grom is really
pushing things to a new level, the top pros on the senior tour have been
in a race to land this trick but have been pipped to the post by a
youngster on the youth tour.
Anthar Racca celebrating the first ever Double Half Cab Mobe in competition!
Airforce focus has been mainly on the under 15 boys section not to
say across the board all categories haven’t been putting on a show and
dazzling the crowds with there talent. However this particular category
showcases three riders we have the pleasure of watching grow at our
favorite spots around the globe. Obviously we must with national pride
be looking out for the reigning champion GBR rider Tom Bridge, however this division also sees Boracay local Christian Tio
last years vice champion squaring up again. Both riders have advanced
and fingures crossed could be heading for a repeat of last years final.
We watched Christian here in Boracy progress at an inredible rate last
season and seen him push top level pro senior riders from the world tour
in both the Boracay funboard cup and the PKA Boracay leg. We also had our eye on Van Der Spuy grom from our South Africa friends at Best in Cape Town
who unfortunately got knocked out however we are sure he grew massively
as a kiteboarder and will be back again stronger and wiser. For now we
are waiting and watching to see who will be this years champion in this
division good luck to those still left in.
Next on our radar is the talented 10 year old female Brazil rider Mikaili Rocha. Mikaili passed the trials in Barra Grande (Brazil) last year against seniors and impressed spectators, showing to everyone that things are in safe hands for Brazil. She is progressing well to so lets see how she goes.
World Junior Kitesurf Championships video round up : Kitesurf Championships – #day 1
I’m sure we can all agree that #kiteboarding is one bof the most
dynamic and exhilarating sports on the planet. In fact, even people who
have never had the pleasure of #kiteboarding themselves, are drawn to
the sport and fascinated by the speed, insanely high jumps, dizzying
combinations of tricks, or the purity of riding the waves like surfers.
But have you ever wondered where #kiteboarding came from, who invented
the inflatable kite, or how we got to where we are today as
kiteboarders?
Who Invented #Kiteboarding ?
The story of #kiteboarding will vary slightly depending on who you
speak to. The Chinese for example are credited with using kites as a
means of propulsion as far back as the 13th century. In the 1800’s
George Pocock used kites to propel carts on land and ships on the water,
making use of a 4-line control system similar to what we use today. And
in 1903, aviation pioneer Samuel Cody developed “man-lifting kites” and
succeeded in crossing the English Channel in a small collapsible canvas
boat powered by a kite. You can read more about the early history of kites here.
But the pioneers of #kiteboarding as we know it today are the
Legaignoux brothers, Dominique and Bruno Legaignoux from Breton, France,
who are credited with inventing the first inflatable kite. They first
started experimenting with kites in 1984, and in 1985 demonstrated a
prototype at the Brest International Speed Week and filed their first
patent.
However, they weren’t alone… parallel to this, and all the way across
the ocean in Oregon, USA, Cory Roeseler was developing his Kiteski
together with his dad, Bill Roeseler, a Boeing aerodynamicist. Cory’s
KiteSki became commercially available in 1994, could go upwind and had a
rudimentary water re-launch system. In the late 1990s, the Kiteski
evolved into a single board similar to a surfboard. The video (around
minute 6:40) shows just how instrumental Cory was in the development of
#kiteboarding.
Development of #Kiteboarding as a Sport
In 1997 the Legaignoux brothers partnered with Neil Pryde to produce
small numbers of kites, which they then sold under the brand name
Wipika. These kites had preformed inflatable tubes and a simple bridle
system, both of which greatly assisted their water re-launch ability.
Bruno Legaignoux has continued to improve his kite designs, and went on
to invent the bow kite design a few years ago which has been licensed to
many kite manufacturers, and has become quite popular in modern day
kitesurfing. Learn more about the various kite designs here.
In 1998 Don Montague and Robby Naish requested a licence from Bruno,
and as part of their agreement, Don Montague developed software which
enabled them to design great kites in a fraction of the time. This was one of the defining moments of the sport.
The birth of #kiteboarding as a mainstream sport really began in 1998
when Joe Keuhl organised the first #kiteboarding event, which took
place on Maui in Hawaii. The competition was jokingly dubbed the
kitesurfing world championships and all the big names in #kiteboarding
were there (25 of them). Flash Austin won the competition.
Of course, learning to kitesurf
in those days was treacherous. There were no instructors to learn from,
no trainer kites, and nobody had figured out that they should launch
the kite at the edge of the window yet. It really was the wild, Wild
West back then…
One of the unique aspects of #kiteboarding is that it developed in a
number of different directions all roughly around the same time… on the
one hand you had the likes of Robby Naish and Flash Austin boosting
massive jumps, while guys like Lou Wainman and Elliot Leboe were
pioneering the wakestyle side of #kiteboarding. And now, largely thanks
to the KSP World Pro Kite Tour, we’re getting back to our surfing roots with strapless wave kitesurfing.
Originally the terms #kiteboarding and kitesurfing really meant the
same thing, however, in recent years there’s been a push to distinguish
the two as different disciplines. #Kiteboarding refers to anything that
isn’t wave riding, so this would include freestyle, wakestyle, speed and
racing, while riding waves with a kite would be kitesurfing. This trend really gained momentum when the KSP tour launched in 2011 with the One Eye Pro in Mauritius.
Video: Upwind Launch of a Sport
If you want to hear how it all began from the pioneers and influencers themselves, we highly recommend watching this video…
But before you order first check out what they have to say the specs and the promo video:
The Shinn you didn’t know you’ve been waiting for:
We wouldn’t say the Bronq is the ultimate kiteboard, just that we never rode a better one. The design remit was simple – to make the lightest, fastest and yet plushest twin tip possible through a combination of experience and advanced technology.
After 2 years testing we’ve utilized the impressive strength of carbon to allow us to significantly reduce both the laminate and core weight. Why go to all that trouble? The answer is in the feel, we wanted to make a lighter, faster board and yet main- tain all the comfort and ease that you love in your Shinn. Two years in the making this has taken a complete package re-design not just a superficial application of the black wonder material.
Designed for high performance multi-discipline riding - extreme grip, outstanding POP and effortless carving no matter the conditions. Forget the teeth chattering, knee battering ride you’ve come to expect from other carbon boards, the Bronq rides just as you’ve come to expect from a Shinn – only like a Shinn on steroids.
Features: - High Modulus Carbon for extreme lightweight Amazing control, grip and speed - Shinn Sneaker 5 connection kit - BITE Composite fins and Handle - Constant Curve Rocker line - Shinn Squoval mould technology - The most awesome Shinn yet - Sizes 135 x 41 - 136 x 42 - 137 x 44
What we have to say !!!!
We were lucky enough to get a test run on this little beauty last week and for those of you looking for a kick ass no nonsense kiteboard look no further this is the board for you. Exceptional value for a high quality carbon kiteboard, that cuts through the chop like a knife through butter. Those of you who are lucky enough to be riding a Shinn kiteboard you know what it is all about, well guess what it could be time to raid the coffers if you are in the market for a new board as the Bronk really takes things to the next level.
Anthar Racca celebrating the first ever Double Half Cab Mobe in competition!
