On The Fly
Issue 93 / Thu 9th Jun, 2022
Get in the know with On The Fly, featuring all the latest industry news. Learn about the new kite from Airush, the life of a grom with Marley Franco, and a few very exciting industry events scheduled for June 2022. Get updates from riders in South Africa, Dominican Republic, Tarifa, and Ireland, and more in this issue’s On The Fly!
NEW RELEASE // Airush Ultra Team
Just announced, but not officially on the market, the new Airush Ultra Team is already turning heads! Check out the sneak peek video and hear from rider Elias Ouahmid who was the star of the shoot!
Elias Ouahmid: "I mainly use the Ultra Team for foiling in light wind conditions. If I can't use the 12m for foiling, it's because there is no wind at all. But I also got myself a 17m Ultra Team to be able to do some freestyle tricks on the twin tip in light wind. All in all, I’ve got to tell you that I fell in love with the kite when I used it for the first time! The amount of energy, speed and power the kite generates is unreal.
It's clearly an Ultra because of the one strut design and the foil performance, but the Ultra Team is simply better in every way. The Ultra was focused on foiling and riding a directional, and the Ultra Team works for everything. The kite flies better and faster in light wind and is a proper all-rounder in stronger wind. I even did kite loops on it in Cape Town, and they felt really good. I remember Gijs doing shortline kiteloops on it and going crazy!
The shoot was funny from the beginning onwards. The suit was super unique, 1mm thick, and my feet were covered as well. The struggle was that when water ran into the suit it didn't run out! I had to lie on the beach and put my feed up to get the water to run out!
Stay tuned for the official release of the Airush Ultra team!
MARLEY FRANCO // Living the Grom Dream
At only 12 years old, Marley Franco is already a pro kiter and valued member of the North Kiteboarding International Team! We are blown away by this kid’s talent, not just in kitesurfing but in all water, wind, and board sports. We catch up with Marley Franco to find out what it’s like living the grom dream!
Marley, it is crazy to see how much talent you have shown at such a young age and how your watersports career has progressed. You are, without a doubt, living the grom dream! Tell us how it all began!
The first water sport I started with was surfing and bodyboarding in the shore break at Sugar Cove. Before I can remember, my parents took me out on a bodyboard, then on their surf and SUP boards in the little waves. I have seen lots of pictures. I don’t remember how old I was, but I think I was around one year old when they first took me out.
I was around six when I first started flying using a trainer kite. My dad used to take me out on his kiteboard, and we would ride, where I would stand between his legs, and we would do jumps. It was super fun! My parents didn’t rush me into kiting; they took their time with me, and we went when the winds were not so crazy. We did a lot more surfing and stand up paddling. It was definitely my parents that got me into kiting; they both taught me.
Did you find kiting easy or challenging? You were pretty small when you got into it – what kite sizes were you riding??
At first, kiting was pretty tough for me because the winds are always nuking on Maui. My parents wanted me to weigh more before flying a real kite, and the smaller kites just weren’t the best yet for safety. It was also hard to find something smaller than a 5m that was stable. My parents made me a smaller bar, and we used shorter lines to start. I didn’t really understand much, but then I got the hang of it the more I did it. I was pretty small and didn’t weigh much when I started kiting. I’m still pretty small now. I was mostly riding 3m and 4m kites. Now I am riding the North Reach 4m and 5m a lot.
Your family has been a major inspiration for you and so supportive of your growth in kitesurfing. What does a Franco family session look like?
My parents are a big inspiration for me because they taught me how to kite, and they show me all these cool old pictures of them kiting. Mostly when we go to the beach as a family, we will all be winging or kiting together. My dad will jump over us if we are winging while he’s kiting, and we goof around a lot, towing each other on foil boards or surfboards or trying fun different things. So it’s pretty cool how I can do wind sports with my parents!
Tell us about how you got linked up with North Kiteboarding!
I first got linked up with North Kiteboarding through Jesse Richman on the Next GEN program. I was super lucky he chose me as his grom to mentor. From there, I made it onto the international team for wingfoiling and began doing photo shoots for kiting and winging with them. It’s been awesome working with the North and Mystic team; I feel like now we will keep progressing together.
Want to read the full interview? Head over to our website to learn more about the life of Marley Franco!
SOUTH AFRICA // Alessandro D’Ambrosio
Windy season has come to an end in South Africa, and all the Cape Town locals have been searching high and low for wind, whether it’s in Europe, Northern Africa, or further afield. Alessandro, known around his local beaches as Ally, has been staying local, taking advantage of the lack of wind to surf in SA’s famous winter swell. With a solid set of surf skills, it’s no wonder he’s so talented on a directional kitesurf board! Keep an eye out for this stylish shredder on his Slingshot kite during your next visit to Blouberg’s windy beaches!
C Kite Festival at C Mauritius
Mauritius, the jewel of the Indian Ocean, is a mecha for kitesurfing. Le Morne, in southwestern Mauritius, is hope to one of the best waves on the planet, One Eye. However, this small island is surrounded by kite spots in stunning locations. This June, professional kitesurfers will meet in a relaxed atmosphere for the inaugural C Kite Festival at C Mauritius.
Palmar, the home of C Mauritius, offers the ideal conditions for the #CKiteFestival, set on the windy east coast of Mauritius. And the timing of the festival is also right: the trade winds are strongest in the season from April to October. On top of that, event visitors can kite in the clear Indian Ocean, and can expect extremely pleasant water temperatures, a dream beach to relax on and plenty of sunshine.
Kitesurfing has developed into one of the biggest trending water sports, even though the sport itself has only existed for 30 years. It is probably the mix of speed and balance that gives kitesurfers a special adrenaline kick and entices more and more people to get on the board - competing in hotspots across the world. Since the development of kitesurfing has been rapid in recent times, you can now sweep over the water with kite foiling, using a soft foil kite or with wing foiling - a mixture of windsurfing and kiting.
The Kite Festival at C Mauritius celebrates these sporting moments in the summer of 2022 with the world's top kitesurfers. The French kitesurfing expert and TV presenter Antoine Auriol will be the host of the event. Professionals, locals and resort guests will be taking part in kitesurf, kitefoil and wingfoil sessions. Festival-goers can calmly try a kiteboard themselves or watch the impressive skills of the champions in live demonstrations. Guests include two-time kitesurfing world champion Youri Zoon and pro kiteboarder Victor Hays. The C Kite Festival is enhanced by a special evening programme including a concert on day two, cinema under the stars with cocktails and buffet on day three and a closing dinner on the last evening.
For guests at C Mauritius, the modern lifestyle and atmosphere is immediately noticeable. In the midst of the magnificent natural scenery, the cheerful hotel team always strive to ensure that travellers have fun and find time to feel free. The innovative, refreshing concept has just been awarded the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award 2022 as one of the best all-inclusive resorts in all of Africa - showing how the positive vibes are very much part of C Mauritius. Experience the perfect balance between casual relaxation and a lively atmosphere. Come play. Let go. Feel free!
The #CKiteFestival is from June 23rd to 27th, 2022. For more details, visit https://www.c-resorts.com/en/
GKA Big Air World Championships & Kite Expo
Are you ready for kiteboarding’s biggest event? The Global Kitesports Association and GKA Kite World Tour have an incredible line-up running in Tarifa in June with a triple header of headline acts – all part of the same huge event, from 20th June – 06th July!
GKA BIG AIR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
20th June – 6th July, Valdevaqueros Beach
Pulling together the immense skills of twin-tip, strapless and hydrofoil riders to compete for respective World Titles at the same event is a world first in kiteboarding competition – a spectacle you do not want to miss and the GKA livestream means you won’t have to!
HUGE KITE EXPO!
21 – 26th June, Valdevaqueros Beach
Are you excited about the latest developments in kiteboarding, and would you like to pitch your questions directly to those who make the gear that we all love to ride? Then the Kite Expo is the place for you! Plus, you can try all sorts of brand new equipment on demo, join pro rider / specialist clinics, meet your heroes and much more!
Click here to find out more, and don’t forget to tune into the livestream of the GKA Big Air World Championships!
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC // Adeuri Corniel
It’s been a while since the IKSURFMAG team has been to the Dominican Republic, but the spot still holds a place in all of our hearts! Local Adeuri Corniel tells us what he’s been up to this summer, and shows that there’s a lot more on offer in the DR than the Cabarete classics!
"At the beginning of the summer, I had the chance to come out of my comfort zone and explore in depth what our beautiful country, Dominican Republic, has to offer. We have been working on a breathtaking project together with Red Bull and Cabrinha around the whole Dominican Republic, and I cannot wait to show you and tell you more about it.
During the Red Bull scouting trip, while figuring out shoot locations a d getting all the info we needed before shooting in the area, we visited amazing spots that I have never been to. I also experienced kitesurfing in a pink salt pond for the first time. The feeling was just amazing, and the location was too beautiful and unique to describe. It is for sure something I will never forget, and this photo right here truly says it all.
We found this secret pink salt pond in the northwest region of the Dominican Republic, on a secret island close to Monte Cristi. Besides kitesurfing on the pond, you can also kite around the island, and jump around the bridges with an amazing view. The other two photos were taken on Cayo Arena, a rare coral island off the coast of Puerto Plata in Punta Rucia. The water is crystal clear, and you can find good constant wind if you are lucky. Shooting in paradise feels like being born again. Filming with the drone and seeing everything from above offers a completely different point of view. I’m so lucky to call this place home and enjoy what mother nature has to offer."
IRELAND // Niall Power
Tramore is on the south east coast of Ireland, about two hours south of Dublin. This spot boasts three miles of sandy beach, which are perfect in SE winds. The back strand in Tramore is a tidal inlet behind the main beach that works only with a very high tide, but offers a fantastic flat water session in any wind direction. It’s rideable when every other spot on the coast is blown out with huge surf.
There is a good community of 20 odd riders and friends that kite here. This session was on a Friday evening after work, and the riders included Hamish Patton, a Kiwi settled in Tramore, and Jim Ryan who is from Dublin but lives locally in Waterford.
Videos
By IKSURFMAG
