BEERS, BUGGYS AND BROKEN BONES

SBC Kiteboard Magazine just recently dropped their 10'th anniversary issue and they ran an 8 page article on our crews trip last fall! Brazil: BEERS, BUGGYS AND BROKEN BONES! The title in the FEATURES section reads... "They were groms when we lunched SBC Kiteboard, now they're kids in adult bodies. Photographer David G Tran follows the next generation to Taiba, Brazil and does his best to keep them and himself, out of trouble!"

Pretty pumped on how the article turned out and that I scored a page and 1/4 spread in it! First one in SBC! Doing a crail grab over the sandbar at Cobra Lagoon! Check out the mega dunes in the background! Spot was super gusty but the scenery was perfect so we hiked all the way over that dune to get there! Plus it's called "Cobra Lagoon" for a reason, we had a short session, got the shot, then dipped! Here's a sneak peak at the some of the photos in the article! Pick it up at you local magazine rack or the nearest Chapters!








Thanks to Mark and Katie at Revolution Pousada for their hospitality, Liquid Force for providing me the best gear on the market for this trip, Rip Curl for always having me sorted for outerwear and westsuits, David G Tran for being down to shoot all the time and John @ SBC Kiteboard for running the article!

Liquid Force Crew Shreds Ontario, Canada!

Last Wednesday I rolled out to pick up Liquid Force team mate Brandon Scheid at the airport. He was in my hood for the first time and we were ready to cruise and get our shred on! We headed straight up to Sauble Beach to meet up with everybody at the Medysky cottage. Some of our other friends from Hatteras were down... the LTR crew, consisting of Eric Rienstra, BCS, Evan Netsch, Claire Lutz and Chuck the man behind LTR Productions!


We woke up Thursday morning at the Medysky cottage right on the beach! We were all itching to get on the water but the wind looked kinda sketch and the locals boys were saying it wasn't worth the drive to the local flat water spot Oliphant! Brandon had never seen the spot though so we thought we'd take a quick 10 minute drive over to "Oli." They were right. The wind was pretty light but we hung out for a bit watching people try to kite with a few other locals that were chillin on the beach. Luckily the wind came up enough and we pumped up a 12m Envy and a 13m HiFi Comp! Everybody else was on huge kites and foils and they couldn't believe we were able to throw down in boots with such light wind. You wouldn't call it an epic session but we had fun and it was time on the water!



The next day was the first day of the Sauble Beach Kite Jam! This was the first year for the event organized by Sam and Dan Medysky! We woke up and took the 20 minute drive to next town over where LF had sent us a bunch of promo stuff to the local dealer. Now we had a tent to toss up at the event site! LF represent! 2011 Envy's were on demo as well as the new LFX and Contact board, Synergy CT and U2 boots and the new Luxury and Comp harnesses! Everyone thought the stuff was sick! I still cant believe how good the new Envy is! Now that everything was setup... light wind of course, it seems to be a trend for kiteboarding events.


We did have enough to buggy though! Although it looks pretty kooky, riding in a buggy and blasting down the beach with a 12m Envy doing mega powerslides is about as much fun as you could ever ask for in 8-10 knots! So no kiteboarding today but lots of buggying and a few refreshments here and there!



Saturday morning we woke up to again another day of no wind activities. People were at the LF tent checking out the new gear and Brandon and I got our tech on!


By the afternoon it looks like kiteboarding was canceled for the day and we pulled out the ski to run the "sliders" portion of the contest on the Kite Jam slider park! There was the Dakine up box, the Chenzo up, flat, the Best up, flat and a huge kicker! Everybody got 1 warm up run, then 3 park laps. I hadn't hit any sliders since Hatteras in early June so I was feeling a bit rusty but by the 3'rd run through the park I finally had some solid hits! Too bad the third run was the my last lap and I didn't really get to put my run together... oh well that's how it goes.


Brandon staright up beasted on the Kite Jam park though and took 1'st place for the LF crew! BAM! Behind him was the other Hatteras boys in 2nd Eric Rienstra and in 3rd BCS showing that the Hatty boys got there slider skills locked down! That night the band got rained out at the main stage so we headed out to one of the local bars and tore it up!


Sunday morning was a slow start but by the time we got to the beach in the morning it was blowing just over 10 knots and there was 50 + kites on the beach. By noon the wind was coming up and those kites were on the water and there was easily another 150 + people on the beach watching! We didn't get enough wind to run the freestyle heats but we still had a fun session! I was riding the wakeskate all afternoon and scored some pretty sick photos with John Bryja and David G Tran from SBC Kiteboard Magazine! Brandon was stalling on this fence and post that went out into the water and I'm sure got some bangers as well!





After the final word we took down the LF tent and were packing up when the wind started to get stronger. The decision was made and the crew headed out to North Oliphant for one last session in the Bruce Peninsula! We kited over 3 km offshore to these uninhabited rock islands that offered up beautiful rock slicks and clear blue water! We kited out there for a couple hours then headed in hoping the wind would hold for us to make it back to land! The spot were pretty sure has never been kited before and was coined "Steinbag Cove." I wont forget this session for a long time! Everybody throwing down in the middle of nowhere with MAJOR consequences if you broke down! Fun times!


After we all packed up we toured back to the Medysky's cottage and made the decision to dip out that night and head south from Sauble Beach to my home spot in Long Point for some favorable SW conditions! BCS came along with Chuck from LTR productions and David G Tran! On Monday morning we woke up at my place just outside of Turkey Point and headed out to the slicks on Long Point! Loaded up my little 14ft aluminum boat with all our gear took the quick 5 minute ride out to the west slick!


It was pretty sick rollin' up to my home spot with these guys because other than Tran nobody else had ever seen this place. We had it all to ourselves and when we got out the reeds were bending over! We knew we were going to get the goods today! Chuck and Tran fired up their cameras and we pumped our kites! It was on! Pretty stoked we scored a solid session here with two of the best wakestyle riders in the world... can't wait to see the footage to come out of it! After we were done we all headed back to my place to relax and figure out our plan for the next day.




The wind was looking okay but the new Sesitec System 2.0 in Sarnia always has perfect conditions... but Tran had to head back to Toronto and Charlie and BCS back to Hatteras via Maine. Too bad everybody to leave because the next day Brandon, my girlfriend Tahnee and I took the 2 hour drive North to Sarnia to check out the new System 2.0! They had put in a new 6 inch wide A- Frame with a super legit ollie on in and they also had the Metlab up, flat box set up! 2.0's are so much fun if you haven't tried one yet you really need to! Hit after hit on the rails and we even started getting some air tricks down too! To bad it was getting dark out by the time we arrived and we didn't have any flashes... Thanks to the boys over at Boarder Pass for hooking up the session and letting us ride until we could barely see the sliders! Super fun night, I'll definitely be going back soon!






What a week! Who would have thought with all theses crazy sessions that we were cruisin in Ontario? It was a lot of fun having the Hatteras crew here since we spend so much time down there on the island! Hopefully next year everyone will come back to shred, chill and party and hopefully more people will come to check out KiteJam and all Ontario has to offer!

2011 Liquid Force Team / 2011 HiFi Comp

The new website for Liquid Force just dropped along with all the 2011 gear! Looks really nice and clean and it's easy to navigate as well. If you check out the Team Page you can see there has been some new faces added to the LF Family for 2011!

I managed to snag a spot on the International Support Team this year which I'm super stoked on! I still can't believe it... Couldn't be happier to be riding for LF in 2011 and representing Canada! They make the best gear available on the market and in my opinion have the most solid team in the kiteboarding industry. Plus they promote and have pushed wakestyle riding from the beginning and everybody knows it's the raddest stuff out there! Like...

I was also featured in the Official Release for the 2011 HiFi Comp and in the 2011 Product Catalogue as well! They used one of the shots Bryan Elkus snagged during the LF Team Shoot back in May from a session at Kite Point in Cape Hatteras, NC! I'm riding the 2011 Contact and the HiFi Comp (obviously) in the photo! Check it out at www.kiteroam.com

The kite is killer once again this year! Four strut freestyle/wakestyle beast that delivers lots of power, tons of slack but still has good range, relaunch and depower! The Contact is the freestyle board of choice in the lineup this year and replaces the best selling Recoil from previous years! It's really fast, blasts upwind, has loads of pop and comes in at a really nice price point! Check out all the 2011 gear in the Product section on the new site... www.liquidforcekites.com

...and don't forget to check back here for weekly updates! Were coming into the windy season!!!

First Day on the System 2.0 in Sarnia!

Sarnia a town about 2.5 hours from my house just dropped in a Sesitec System 2.0! I've only rode cable once before and have never seen a 2.0 system but I've seen a bunch of videos on the setup and have always wanted to try it out! So my friends Sam Medysky and Dan Steiner drove out to meet up with my girl Tahnee and myself for an afternoon session this past friday! The park was kinda small but the owner Tim was super chill and he was saying that him and his partner have some bigger plans! The towers were really short since they set it up in the water (set up in a marina) instead of on land. This made air tricks nearly impossible but was a dope set up for shredding rails! I'll definitely be going back once my cable board arrives next week! I was riding the 2011 Contact and it worked great but it will be fun to shred this park with a LF flex board!

Check out some of the photos!


The Sesitec System 2.0 setup in the @ Boarder Pass in the Sarnia Bay Marina!


My girlfriend Tahnee making her first few laps on a Cable system and loving it!


Naish team rider Steiner fresh of a broken femur! Getting his shred skills back!

Best team rider Sam Medysky showing the locals he's hit a few rails this season!


Couple Shots of me having some fun on the flat bar with the 2011 LF Contact!


Thanks to Tim @ Boarder Pass for hooking up the session! It was a fun day with good friends and good hits! Can't wait for the new A-Frame to drop in! Should be crazy!



Check back soon! Hopefully shoot some footy tomorrow in the slick!

Back to Hatteras... LF 2011 Team Shoot!

Damn, I haven't posted in a while. Been super busy... lots of fun times and crazy adventures! I was back down in Cape Hatteras, NC to do the 2011 Liquid Force Team Shoot! Couldn’t have been more happy to be a part of this for 2011! Liquid had an amazing house complete with a golf cart and a home theatre with seating for the whole team! Just minutes from Real Kiteboarding, we basically just hung out, rode and shot a bunch of footage for a whole month with a few side projects here and there! The Liquid Force Team is stacked with sick riders from all over the world, bringing different personalities and different steeze creating the perfect team environment! Kite legends like Sleezy, Morris, Moe and Mulcoy, wakestyle rippers Brandon Scheid, Chris Burke, James Boulding, and Petter Johnson, Young bloods Chad Worall and Aaron Abel and the ladies of the house were Nuria Goma, Lulu Vroman and Arla Funk. Throw Liquid Force mastermind Gary Siskar in the mix, photographer Bryan Elkus and videographer Nate Appel and the house was full with constant entertainment!


The first little bit we didn’t get the weather for banger footage that we were hoping for so we used our time wisely and started on the Liquid Force Recycled Slider Project! This project was from start to finish built with recycled materials from old jibs that had been laying around in the back yard at Real Kiteboarding for a few years now. When the project was finished, the wind turned back on and the sun crept out and we had a fresh wallride and kicker to session!




Now things were rolling and so was the footage! We had to get photos and video for the 2011 Product Campaign like ads, website, product catalogue and some other random stuff! We scored some epic sessions and the LF Team was getting loose while Bryan Elkus and Nate Appel were there to document all of it! Check out Nate Appels Teaser for “All of it” the 2011 Liquid Force Team Video!

Liquid Force 2011 Trailer from Nate Appel on Vimeo.

We got work done and wrapped up the shoot! It was time for the SSS to start... ohh shit! LF was nice enough to keep the house for an extra week so everybody had a place to stay! If you dont know what SSS is you gotta check it out! Jason Slezak and Real Kiteboarding put on week long kiteboarding event in which the top 24 riders in the world are invited. There are no rules or judges and everybody rides for however long and often as they please. It’s 7 days long with 7 bands and 7 killer parties and at the end of it your lucky to still be alive. On the final Saturday all the riders and media personel vote on who killed it the most and the awards are given out and the final mega party kicks off. All I can say it was complete kaos on the island that week and you may hear the stories but you’ll never know what SSS is all about until you get down there to expierience it for yourself! Just want to throw out some props to everybody involved in this event and to my good friend and Liquid team mate Brandon Scheid for holding it down and claiming the #1 spot! Brrrrap!


Check out the latest SBC Kiteboard Magazines section on SSS. There is a cool article and a shot of me hanging out with the crew at SSS!


Once SSS was finished up and there was calm again on the island I had a couple extra days to hang out with everybody and get some riding in before I had to dip. Nate, Brandon and I were hoping to get some more footage before we left but things never really came together. We did have some fun skate sessions though and the day before we left, the wind came up and we headed up to the slick for a couple hours! Hatteras was over for the spring... it really sunk in when Nate and I were sitting at the airport knowing we were heading back home. Such a fun crew and good people, the perfect place to push your riding... I’m missing Hatteras already!



Now it’s back to Ontario for the summer! When I arrived home the wind was strong which is not very common here in the summer!


I dropped my little aluminum fishing boat into the bay and headed out to the slicks! It was on for almost two weeks, minus a day here and there but then the regular summer weather kicked in. I've Been riding the 2011 Contact with the new U2‘s and it’s been really good in the conditions we’ve been having on the Great Lakes this summer, I've had a few sessions lately and it’s been pretty light but the Contact has been working really well for me!


Lately I’ve been working on getting the Long Point crew slider upgraded for some winching sessions! Can’t wait to get some hits in on it with a kite when the wind fills back in!


Keep checking back for more regular updates and if your looking for more kite photos check out www.BryanElkus.com or pick up a copy of SBC Kiteboard!