Lords of Tram 2024 Preparation The year is flying and I am back in France with just one week to go to the beginning of the window period of Lords of Tram 2024, the first stop of the GKA big air world tour.  Not only Race Director Like in the last two editions of the contest, I will be Race director. This year, however, I am more invested as I have joined Tristan Hattu and Etienne De Saunhac as one of the organisers of the event. Hence my presence a couple of weeks before. It has been an intense 3 months of preparations behind the scenes. The event is once again sponsored by the city ..read more

Joining Lacuna Super excited to announce that I have joined Lacuna Kiteboarding in a new adventure.  Besides riding their newly designed gear, I will be assisting Lacuna in development and testing. I will also help gathering momentum on the media front.  Passion is key Dave and Su Kay are passionate about the sport like I am. We speak the same language and believe in a brand that stands for functional, durable, enjoyable gear. With my 24 years of frothing for the next kite session and their experience in the Kiteboarding industry, I believe we are going to make Lacuna into a ..read more

And once again, Lords of Tram delivered! The Window period for this premium Big Air Event on the kiteboarding circuit was from the 1st to 30th of April.  Mother nature decided to deliver 2 days of strong Tramontana winds to the Parc des Dosses in Barcares  GKA World Cup event Last year I had briefly taken on the job of Tour Manager for Big Air Kiteleague. Unfortunately things didn’t work out and I stepped down in August 2022. However, last year I had been contracted directly by Tristan Hattu for Lords of Tram. He was keen to continue the working relationship and insisted on havi ..read more

The Takla Sterkies Classic 2022 - Jump to Action! On Monday the 8th of August , I caught, by total chance, a Notification from Josh Emanuel on a wind report group about an event in Sterkfontein Dam. The Takla Sterkies Classic. The event was to take place on Saturday the 13th and was aimed at amateurs.  I just messaged Josh and wished him luck with event. Josh’s reply; “Are you in SA and available?…” Josh I have known Josh since his early days when as a kid, he crashed onto the kiteboarding scene. Unfortunately he also crashed rather badly at one of my Cannon Rocks Classic e ..read more

BIG AIR KITE LEAGUE 2022 TOUR For 2022, I decided to challenge my sanity and take on the role of tour Manager for the Big Air Kite League. The tour is in its infancy and is still dealing with some of the issues one would expect from any such organisation, but one thing is for sure: It’s the best thing to have happened to Kiteboarding in a long time.  I have always believed that the true soul of Kiteboarding is in the ability to send yourself into big jumps. No other sport can really do that, not in the controlled way kiters can. So when Kiteboarding contests became driven by pure ..read more

Italian Gazzetta article Not many people know this, but my Kiteboarding experience (in the water) started in Italy. I was living in Rome at the time. Coming from my waveski days, I was desperate for some sporting activity in contact with the water. in 1999 Kiteboarding had just appeared and I was tempted. The cost kept me away, so I got close to it via a large foil kite to jump on the beach and get a taste.  From Beach jumping to the water The kite was 5m Peel which at the time was a beast of a kite with handles and a really scary climbing harness with no release. After a few attemp ..read more

Big Air Kite League In October 2021, I started chatting with Michael Macdonald. owner of Big Air Kite League (BAKL) about the event he wanted to organise in Cape Town  for the beginning of December. I had been following BAKL the whole of 2021 with interest. The concept of a contest concentrating on the big air discipline and the creation of a new platform for new up and coming riders to take part is something that has been missing in the fractured world of Kiteboarding.  With not much time to spare, I decided to jump in there and give Michael a hand to get this contest ready for t ..read more

Looping the 9m Session in 30 knots The “Session” from Airush is aimed at the waveride / Freeride application. However it has to be mentioned that it comes with two different bridles. One with 3 pulleys and one with no pulleys. The 3 pulleys option gives you a very forgiving kite that absorbs gusts and gives you a very comfortable ride. However the fixed bridle, even if it doesn’t absorb the gusts as well, gives you a way more direct kite, a little heavier on the bar but more connected. And suddenly it starts performing as a looper too! Check out this video where I decided to push the Looping s ..read more

The summer of 2020 – 2021 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.  But the wind blew and the waves pumped, even if we had to dodge some overzealous citizens intent on putting kiteboarding on the dangerous Covid spreading occupation list. Half way through the summer I received my new Airush “Sessions” which I obviously put to the test. Happy to report that the “Session” is a kite that has all the wave riding attributes needed but with a strong free ride application too.  There were a few epic downwind (force majeure) into unchartered territory. Discovered ..read more

Thanks to Covid, my plans for the year got turned upside down, Well to be truthful, you can no longer plan anything really. As a result I ended up spending Autumn in Sardinia. Normally I am there over the summer. I was looking forward to checking out the island out of season. With limited spare cash and equipment as my travel companions, I had to make do with quite a few limitations. Firstly I didn’t travel with a board and ended up having to beg and borrow to go kiting. I also didn’t have a guitar, which if you know me is a big deal! Anyway, turns out I have a great girlfriend and friends wh ..read more