Three months ago, the call went out: “Let’s chase a storm!” Their mission? Capture the ultimate Big Air shots with Cabrinha's new MotoX kite. After weeks of tracking forecasts and waiting for the perfect conditions, they finally hit the jackpot in Mykonos. The result? Stijn Mul snagged IKSURFMAG Issue 106 cover shot!

Three months ago, James called: “ Hey Stino, we need to shoot the all-new MotoX Design Works kite; please keep an eye open for an upcoming storm somewhere around Europe, and let’s plan a storm chase trip!”

Stino responded: Alright, James, let’s do it! 

Stino Mul - For the past three months, Wouter (my buddy from Oneosevenmedia house), James (marketing manager at Cabrinha), and I have been checking the forecast weekly to find a place in Europe with the best conditions for Big Air. And when we say Big Air, we mean 40+ knots. 

Cabrinha and I have been working on a new high-performance big air kite with Cabrinha’s Design Works team for the past year. To launch the kite, we wanted to create a WOW effect and put the kite front and centre with its own launch and a new big air carbon twin tip board that we had also been fine-tuning. We aimed to shoot in a stormy location to create the best shots possible and have people experience a new Aluula kite that feels completely at home in the Big Air / Freeride market. 

After 4.5 weeks of classic hot and windless summer condtitions and not spotting a single strong forecast, James sent a screenshot of the Windguru forecast to our group chat. We’d been following the forecast for Mykonos as it always seems to get more wind than other parts of Greece, and the spot there comes alive quite often throughout summer. There are also plenty of flights in and out from around Europe, making it the perfect place for a last-minute trip! We locked in Wouter, the videographer, and then all the last-minute logistics like accommodation, car rental, and flights, and we got ready for a few days of Mediterranean action!

None of us had ever been to Mykonos before, so we felt out of our comfort zone. Finding the perfect shooting location was a bit of a mission. The first day, the plan was to wake up around 07:30 to check out the first spot, but at 06:30, James already woke us up and said: “Guys, look at that light and the wind; it is looking AMAZING out there, we’re going now!”. We rushed out of bed towards the kite spot without eating any breakfast and started riding in the strong winds that had arrived. This was the first session of six that we would cram into the next two days. The strong wind and long lines helped me fly to the moon but didn’t create the exact shot we had hoped for. After a quick breakfast, we drove to another spot on the north coast, where the windsurfers were shredding! Here, we were spoilt with an unbelievable backdrop of mountains and coastline that showed off the rugged beauty found away from the touristy areas of the island. Immediately, we all had big smiles and knew it would be a great place to ride. This time, I took out a bar with shorter lines. The shorter the lines, the lower you can send the kite in front of you. I started with 12-meter lines and pulled some pretty extreme kite loops. After one hour of shooting with the short lines, I went to the beach for a drink and checked some shots. I saw how insane the pics looked, and we agreed to give the shorter 10m set a go.

James said, “It would be best if you can add an inverted rotation to the loop, so at the apex, you’ll be upside down looking down on the kite below you? I laughed: “holy shit, that is going to be hard, but I will try!” This was the first time I rode my 8-meter on 10-meter lines. With the first loop, I already felt that kiteloop would be very aggressive. The whip and forward acceleration you get on such short lines in high wind can be scary but also exhilarating. The slack and free fall for a split second requires expert kite handling and no messing up with a kite that can climb incredibly fast in the window. The wind picked up even more after a few minutes back out on the water! I felt a nice gust coming, took off from the back of a wave and went vertically up. I pulled the loop with my left hand and tried to reach out to the board with my right hand. WHAT A FEELING! There was just so much G-force on my body that I couldn’t get down to grab.

After this jump, I saw James sprinting over the beach and waving at me to jump closer to the rocks and land. The wind here was more turbulent, with holes behind the rocks, so I had to get comfortable before adding the rotations and grabs. After James had repositioned and I was comfortable, I felt it was the moment to give my 100%. I shot the kite up, left hand gripping the bar and pulled into my ribs, sending the kite below me and spinning into the inverted backroll at the same time! That was the one I was sure of it! I cruised back to the beach with my heart rate pumping over 160 bpm and asked James if we got what we needed. The answer…“Yes, I think we got something…”

What a crazy experience that was. It was crystal clear blue water, the most radical setup I had ever rode, and two of the best camera guys on the same beach filming my riding. It felt like perfect harmony. After that sick session, the trip wasn’t over, but we all knew that that last session was the banger. Riding in this environment is different to competing in a competition. It’s not always easy to match the same adrenaline levels, and repeatedly doing the same tricks to make sure photo/video composition is perfect uses a different set of skills. Exactly a week later, I made it onto the podium in the Gran Canaria world tour stop with the same setup, albeit back on slightly longer lines! I think the confidence I found in the new kites was game-changing. The Moto X just helps you go to the moon in full control, no matter how challenging the conditions are.

James Boulding - Getting a cover is never easy; a lot of elements have to line up, and editors have pretty strict criteria for what makes it to the hallowed page number one. With a recent trip to Mykonos, it was a bit of an unknown, having not been before, but with the pressures of a new product launch and wanting to shoot big air, which requires really strong wind, it looked like the best bet. 

Stino worked hard to get the shot. It’s always a lot more work than you think, and there is a good amount of risk involved, too. For the cover shot, we found this incredible location with rocks in the foreground and a desert landscape behind, which was the perfect frame for the trick. All we needed now was a lucky gust and for Stino to be able to pull the move at the right time.  Watching Stino soar on this new setup from minute one was really inspiring and the levels of fun and stoke he’d return to the beach with after each session was very motivating for everyone involved.

The MotoX is a hugely popular kite for Cabrinha; we currently have it in the standard build and the Apex construction, which uses a more responsive leading-edge material called Ultra HT.  For the Design Works edition, Pat Goodman, actually started out making aluula versions of the Nitro but found the stiffness was so incredible he decided to see how removing two struts would feel and see how the stability was affected.  There was still lots of structure and support in the canopy due to the aluula airframe, and the advantage in steering was very evident so this spawned the beginning of the Works Moto X Design.

It has a vast wind range and can handle gusts better than any other kite in our line up. This allowed Stino to take it into some really tight spots with sketchy wind that made the conditions extremely challenging.  It’s a limited edition from Cabrinha, and it is our flagship performance kite, but I think what makes it such an incredible kite is how easy and intuitive it is to ride.

As for the shoot in Mykonos, it was a huge success, and it’s fantastic to tick another location off the list. The conditions were delivered, and I’ll definitely be heading back there soon. If you want some summer big air conditions I recommend you check it out!

 

By James Boulding
James Boulding has been a professional kiter for a number of years now; he’s travelled all over the globe and ridden in some of the best locations on the planet. An accomplished rider who features regularly at the wake style contests around the globe. James likes nothing more than a cup of tea and a biscuit, and, of course, the chance to explore new destinations with his camera and kite gear!

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