Kites 2005Photo session Åsa

Learn to turn with styleTravel: Hurghada, Portugal part II

www.surfineurope.net Editor and translation: Jonas Hörnstein info@surfineurope.net +46 702 63 22 79 Contributors: Bengan, Christian Dittrich, Kristina Karlsson, Markus Lindgren, Michel Lundell, Anna Sparre, Mattieu Turries Advertisement: KitesurfinEurope gives a unique possibility to reach Europe’s growing numbers of kitesurfers. Contact KitesurfinEurope for more information. Contributions: KitesurfinEurope is happy for all kinds of contributions to the magazine and the webpage. All published contributions are refunded. Please contact KitesurfinEurope before sending any material. About the magazine: KitesurfinEurope has 4 issues per year. Cover photo: Jonas Hörnstein, Stenudden, Åsa, Sweden. Photo: Mat, Aloha Photo

Welcome to a new exciting year with KitesurfinEurope. The staff has not been resting during the winter and releases not only a new issue of KitesurfinEurope, but also a new homepage and a whole new magazine, WindsurfinEurope. The new homepage will better complement the magazine with up-to-date news and a forum where you can read and share opinions. We hope that you also take a look at the windsurf magazine in order to kill some of the prejudice and antagonism that sometimes exist between the sports and maybe even be inspired to try something new. Here though it is still 100% about kitesurfing and to prepare for this issue we have spent a lot of time looking at new equipment and doing what we like most – being out on the water – all in order to bring you the most complete magazine possible! As a result, in this issue you can read about all the big news on the kite market and join the staff in the cold winter waves in Sweden. If you prefer to dream yourself away to exotic places we have put in not two fantastic destinations, Egypt and Portugal. Don’t forget to read Kicki’s packing advice before you go and have a nice kite season 2005! Contents: Hurghada, Egypt….…...……………………………… 4After a hectic summer with the kite school, IKO instructor Michel finally had some time on the water for himself. Kites 2005.....…………………………………..………. 8A new season means new interesting toys in the shops. We have checked out the new kites. How should I prepare my kite trip?…....…………. 13Avoid breaking your back and paying expensive overweight by bringing the right things on your next trip. Winter waves, Sweden….………………………….. 16Sailing waves in the middle of the Swedish winter wasn’t a very good idea, but we got some nice photos. Learn to turn with style..…………....……………… 18A turn can be much more than just a way to switch direction. Learn to carve like the pros. Portugal part II – winter in Lisbon………………... 20Portugal is not the warmest, nor the windiest, place to spend the winter, but the waves are great! Relaunch test.…...……………..…………………….. 26Tired of endless swimming to relaunch your kite? It is time to get yourself a modern relaunch system!

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Hurghada - Egypt Text: Michel Lundell, michel@swell.se, www.swell.se, Photo: Michel Lundell, Bengan Travel, but where? Why Hurghada? It is always sunny and windy almost all the time. Rumours have it that Colona Watersport in Hurghada offers good service and a great spot, which made the choice quite easy. After a hectic summer at the kite school it was finally my turn to get a few hours on the water. 40-50 students during the short Swedish summer don’t leave much time for free riding. Magawish - Colona Watersports The choice of hotel is always difficult. I wanted to be close to a good spot, while my company wanted to have other things to do than to sit on the beach and look at a spot at the horizon while I’m having fun. The choice stood between Magawish (where the kite centre is) and El Gouna (about 30 minutes away). The choice got obvious when we found out that there were only rooms available at Magawish. According to my source (Niklas Funk), El Gouna is a good place for families with more to see and do for the non-kitesurfing family members. New stuff! A shipping with new kites, boards, and bags arrived to Swell and the kite school immediately bought some and laid out on the floor of the living room, and with only 14 days to go I was eager to unpack and get to test everything. Pack the golfbag… In the new kitebag ”Naish Golf” I managed to squeeze in a Torch 12, a Torch 16, a Sol 130, harness, helmet, and a screw-driver for the fins. The weight – around 20 kg. I called the travel agency and booked a golf bag for the price of 30 Euros. Checking in at the airport Finally we arrived at the airport. “What? Are you going to weight the hand luggage?” For the first time ever they weighted the

hand luggage, but after some repacking everything was ok. The golf bag passed without any problems. Arrival at Hurghada! The door to the plane opened and a warm wind swept into the plane. On the way to the bus I estimated the wind to 16-18 knots, great! The mini-bus driver was surprised by the weight of the golf bag as the unexpected weight made him fell backwards on the floor between the seats. “- Sir you have lot of balls with you!” After a slow 10 minutes trip we arrived at Magawish Resort and had to pass the mandatory metal detector in order to receive our keys. The detector were signalling but no one lifted as much as an eyebrow. Why? Unofficially it is the president’s son that owns the fabric that builds the metal detectors and every hotel has to have one – even if it only covers one out of 10 entrances to the hotel! Magawish Resort The resort is about 2.5 km long and situated at the Red sea. There are two places where you can eat. Manta serves a buffet and Alpino that serves a la carte. Manta has different themes on the food like Mexican, grilled, European, Asian, Italian, and so on. What hits you is that all food is more or less the same, what changes is more the clothes of the staff. Anyway there are two different

accommodations at Magawish, the Nubic style and the more traditional apartment style. We choose to live at a part that was called Lotus and consisted of two two-store buildings formed like a U with grass in the middle (which was a good place to unpack and clean your kites). The beaches... The beginner and school beach stretches from the Alpino restaurant down to the diving centre. The beach has shallow water 200 meters out from the shore and the wind is sideshore – perfect for beginners who want to train their water starts. Colona Watersport is the beach that is situated south of the diving centre and is the most popular beach. In front of Colona the centre has marked a starting and landing zone. Sometimes it is a bit tricky to get in as the wind is cross offshore, but there is one kilometre beach south of the centre if you miss it. The wind... The wind was offshore in the morning and sideshore in the evening. The first days were perfect. I hadn’t been able to kitesurf since July and was really eager to try out the new Torch-kites with their shift-system. The first day started with around 16 knots in the morning and increased to around 20 knots in the afternoon. I sailed with a smile the whole day!

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In the evening I started to get more timing in the jumps. 24 meter lines make everything happen more quickly than 27 meter lines. The 5th line was used once and worked as one would expect. When the kite was back in the sky it was just to stretch out and reach for the board. The following two days were great fun. The wind was around 30 knots and the Torch 12 was perfect for a heavy guy like me. I pulled off some of the highest jumps I’ve ever made and realised that shallow reefs hurts when you fall on them. The Torch has one of the biggest wind ranges of any kite I’ve tried and I used the 12 meter in everything from 16 knots to 34 knots, so I’ll sell my 16 meter and buy a 18 meter instead. When you are used to 24 meters lines 27 meters feel very slow. The wind was sometimes gusty, but unlike at home the gusts didn’t mean more wind but instead that the wind died off for a while (lulls). Colona-Watersports IKO Centre Is driven by "Bengan" from Sweden. He is a nice guy that knows what is going on in the

sport. This year he arranged Hurghada KiteShow 2004 which was a successful event with most of the brands present and riders from all over the world got together. This event is a must if you want to try out new equipment. The event will be arranged again in 2005. Check out www.colonawatersport.com for the date! Service The centre has a bunch of guys that check everyone that have registered (you should do that!). If the wind dies or if you get problems in any way, they’ll pick you up with their boats. When they arrive they ask you if you need help and if you do you just let go of the bar and when they have grabbed your kite they give you a sign and you release the kite and wait for them to pick you up. When they have picked up the board it is just to lean back and enjoy the sun and the wind on the way back to the centre. Apart from a nice staff with great equipment and spare parts they have Internet access in form of a wireless hot spot so if you

have a laptop with wireless network you can order a cup of tea and surf on the Internet during windless days! The sandbank The sandbank is situated around 250 meters offshore from Colona and extends about one kilometre further out. South of the bank you find some of the flattest water in this part of the world. Part of the reef is sand and part is coral so it is just to choose according to personal taste or clothes. I usually choose the sand after being body dragged over the coral on low tide. I was kitesurfing two weeks with nothing but shorts, helmet and a harness. Bengan that lives there usually wears a 5 mm wetsuit on the winter when the water temperature reaches “as low as” 25 degrees. The sandbank is perfect if you want to take a break and you don’t want to go back to shore and write autographs. As the water is very salty I recommend to drink some water during the breaks. The autographs have to wait!

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What do you do when there is no wind If you live at the Lotus part of Magawish Resort you can treat your kites at the pool. It isn’t difficult to get to know the pool keeper “Mammut” and it was perfect to clean the kites at the pool shower and dry them on the lawn. At Colona you can also clean them by using the water hose. Another activity that also suits the people that doesn’t kitesurf is to go on a one-day snorkel trip to Giftun Island. Sunbath and snorkel at a lovely beach with coral reefs 20 meters out from the beach. You have lunch at the boat and then a few stops on the way back. Don’t forget to bring a camera that works under the water. The coral reefs are wonderful and there are hundreds of fishes in the water. Then there are the mandatory trips to Cairo (the pyramids at Giza) and a trip to Luxor (Karnak and Kings valley). It’s so f---ing mighty! A tip if you go to Kairo is to make sure that the guide gets all people up early (at least by 7.30) so you have a

chance to get into the Cheops pyramid. The number of visitors is limited to 150 persons in the morning and equally many in the afternoon. When the area opens, there are usually 20-30 busses already lined up so you better wear your running shoes! Of course you can go into the town Hurghada and be drawn into the numerous souvenir stores, but it is easy to get tired by all the confusion. Ask the people at the Colona centre where to go to see the best side of Hurghada if you choose to go there. Tips To get rid of tiring salesman you can say "malesh" which means ”God doesn’t want”. It works well, but if you want to keep the door open if you would like to return later and check out the store you can say "ensjalla" which means "if God wants". Bring kites for winds between 12 and 36 knots. I managed well with just a 12 and a 16 meter Torch. The board was a Sol 130 and I used it all windy days. If

you miss something or want to try some new model from Naish you can talk to Bengan and he will arrange it. A golf bag (kitebag) costs around 30 Euros on the plane and no one questioned or weighted my Naish Golf bag. Bring long trousers and a warm sweater if you go to Hurghada during winter. Even if it is 25 degrees in the water and air, the wind gives a chilly feeling during the evening and in the morning. Bring an old wallet were you can keep your Egypt pounds, as they are anything but cleaning tissues. The money smells bad and has (according to a guide) around 4000 more bacteria than a Swedish note. Immodium or another “stop the bad stomach” pill is always good to bring. A bus tour to Cairo or Luxor takes around 6-10 hours and a bad stomach under those conditions is far from fun, even if the bus is equipped with AC and a toilet.

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Kites 2005 Text: Jonas Hörnstein A new season is here and the stores are once again filled with new exciting kite models. The development teams have been working hard and the marked is full of interesting news. Unfortunately it is an almost impossible task to write about all the new models. This year we have therefore chosen to focus on the models available in the Swedish stores, which hopefully don’t differ too much from what you find in the rest of Europe. We also concentrate on tube kites in this issue and will instead make a foil special in the next issue. To help you to select the right kite we give an introduction to the models available and the differences between those. We also take a look at the biggest news for the season. Different kite models As said there is a difference between the tube kites that has to be pumped up and the foils. Through their air filled bladder the tube kites get a more stable profile and answers more quickly to the steering. The disadvantages are heavier and more easily damaged kites. Foils on the other hand are easy to handle on land where they are easy to launch without any assistance. Tube kites is the most common choice for water use, while foils are the technique most commonly used on land. There are no indicat-ions that this will change during 2005, or that one of the techniques will completely take over. Manufacturers of both tube kites and foils keep their eyes on each other and tries to copy each other’s advantages which has made tube kites and foils getting more close to each other when it comes to both feeling and pure performance. Irrespective of the technique you choose you’ll find a variety of models to choose from depending on what you want to do with your kite. Until recently the simple rule was that the better rider the higher AR (aspect ratio) of the kite, i.e. the wider wingspan to area ratio the better but more difficult the kite was considered. As long as it was mainly the high of the jumps that counted this simple

rule worked quite well. However, as the judging criterion radically changed in the freestyle competitions height was no longer the most interesting para-meter. Instead it was technically difficult jumps with kiteloops and handle passes that scored the highest points. This put new requirements on the kites and many competitors chose to use kite with a slightly lower AR which gave better control. If we look at this year’s kites we can therefore see that the AR value has been decreased on many of the kites aimed towards freestyle competitions. In some cases the manufacturers have chosen to keep a kite with high AR since many people still like to jump high, and instead make a second kite aimed at competition with a slightly lower AR. Therefore you can no longer see if a kite is aimed towards competitions or more recreational riding by only looking at the AR value. This year the difference is more about the layout and the choice of material. To make it easier to see which of the different kites that the pro-riders use I wouldn’t be surprised if we in the future will see different types of signature-kites in the same way as we already have seen for boards where the pro-rider using the board also puts his or her name on it. For this year however the manufacturers

have mainly chosen to divide their kite line into a heigh-AR-kite for competitions (even though the kite usually have a slightly lower AR value compared to last year), a medium AR kite for freesailing, and a low AR kite for beginners and kite schools. While the main types remain the same for 2005 there are some interesting new types like specialised kites for waveriding and speed, where the wave kites are focused on turning quickly and having lots of depower while the speed kites are the opposite – they are designed to go fast and do not need to turn at all. These types of kite I think we will see more of in the future. New technique So, apart from the fact that the AR value has decreased on many of the competition kites, what is new for 2005? Last year we observed that many manufacturers had decreased the diameter of their tubes. This trend has continued this year, at least for the bigger sizes. We also noticed that the depower range had increased a lot last year. Due to the focus on power moves, depower is not con-sidered as important this year, except for kites designed for wave riding. Wave riding seems to be the next big thing in kite-surfing. One brand that has focused hard on wave riding is RRD.

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The biggest news for this year

is without a doubt the 5th line that makes it easier to water start the kite. Although there have been kites with a fifth line connected to the back of the kite before it was first when North put the fifth line in the middle of the leading edge that the revolution really started. The solution was named the 5th element and with this solution it was easier than ever to make the kite flip over and place itself in start position. Naish was

quick to follow the same path with their Shift system. However, North has the patent for the 5th line and some of the manufacturers has therefore chosen not to provide their kite with a full system, but provides connection points for a fifth line that can be used with either North or Naish system. Apart from making it easier to water start the kites the fifth line also make it possible to use a wider ark for the leading edge as we explained in the last issue

where we showed how you can construct you own fifth line system. The only manufacturer that has chosen to go their own path is Cabrinha that sticks to their Recon-system. Despite not using a fifth line they have managed to achieve a wider ark on their kites through their Pro span technique which gives more projected surface than a kite of the same area without Pro span.

Kobra

Advance kites Advance keeps their high AR kite Kobra, which remains one of the most extreme kites on the market aimed for the ones who want to pull off really high jumps. To meet the demand for kites with lower AR, Advance releases a new kite for the 2005 season, Skorpio. Skorpio has an average AR value which makes it easier to handle and suited for both freestyle competitions and wave riding. Both kites build on Advace’s Repower technique, which like a foil gives more constant power during turns and an increased depower-range. Skorpio

Contra Nitro CO2

Cabrinha Cabrinha have redesigned all of their kites for the new season and also produced a brand new light wind kite, Contra. All Cabrinha’s kites, except for their beginner kite Element (not on picture), use the new Pro span technique, which gives the kites a wider ark and therefore a bigger projected area. Apart from the Pro span, Contra is equipped with a couple of diagonal lines that stabilises the form of the ark. Nitro remains Cabrinha’s high performance kite developed for freestyle competitions and high jumps, while CO2 is better for riding waves and doing wakestyle tricks.

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F-one F-one has made some extensive rework on their kites, especially on their high performance kite, Mach that is designed from scratch and released under the name M5. M5 has a thin profile that is designed to be used with a fifth line. It is a high AR kite for high jumps. Dream stays as F-ones allround kite that works for freestyle, wave riding, and wake style tricks. 4U is a beginner kite that is easy to handle and water start.

Flexifoil Flexifoils line is always interes-ting as they make both tube-kites and foils. However, this year they have chosen to stop promoting foils for water use and has restricted their kite-surfing line to two tube kites. Storm3 is the kite used by flexifoils teamriders like Aaron Hadlow and Petra Goeschl. Strike2 is the second generation of their freeride kite and can be equipped with a fifth line to simplify water starts.

M5 Dream 4U

Strike2 Storm3

Phoenix 2 Vision Force

Gaastra Since last year, Gaastra has not only changed the model once, but twice, for their high performance kite. The latest model is called Vision and is, according to themselves, two times stronger than any of the competitors kites, and has a connection point for the fifth line. Phoenix 2 is the new version of Gaastras lightwind kite and Force is kept as Gaastra’s freeride kite that also works well for both wave riding and wakestyle tricks as well as for beginners.

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Naish Naish isn’t afraid to take the best solutions from their competitors and integrate them into their own designs. Instead of simply adding some connection points for the fifth line, Naish supplies a comp-lete fifth-line system called the Shift system with their kites. They have also developed their own version of Slingshot’s one-pump-system that they call octopus. If we look at their 2005 range, Raven is the kite with highest AR designed for high jumps and lots of hang time, while Torch is aimed towards trick and wave riding and the first choice of Naish teamriders, and Boxer for beginners.

Rhino5 Vegas 05 Toro 05

North As inventors of the fifth-line-concept, North have fully integrated the concept on their high perfor-mance kite Rhino 5, and the kite doesn’t work without the fifth line. They have lowered the AR value slightly compared to last year to get a more easy to handle kite for advanced freestyle maneuvers. The kite is also proved to be very fast as the last world speed record was set with a Rhino 5. Vegas 05 can also be used with a fifth line, but works with four lines as well. Vegas works well for wave riding and wake style tricks. Toro is more of a beginners kite with low AR.

Torch Raven Boxer

Ocean Rodeo Ocean Rodeo has continued to develop their two existing models, Bronco and Stinger. Bronco keeps it high AR, but has a thinner profile that makes it both accelerate and move quicker than before, which gives higher jumps. The kite is also lighter than before and is more stable in gusty conditions. The Bronco is designed to suit more or less every rider. The Stinger has a lower AR and is easier to waterstart and aimed towards beginners. Bronco Stinger

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Slingshot Slingshot works hard on making kitesurfing as easy as possible and focusing on developing kites for freeriding. As for last year, Slingshot has two models in their range, Fuel and Diesel. Fuel is their top-of-the-line kite. This year the Fuel offers more speed, pop, a wider wind range, and higher jumps. Diesel is more aimed towards beginners who need a stable kite with good upwind capabilities. New for this year is the Autopilot Relaunch system which makes it easy to waterstart.

Skoop Wook Mamoot

Takoon Takoon keeps the same range as last year, but has further refined the designes for the new season. Skoop is a fast kite with thin profile that gives good upwind capabilities and high jumps. The bigger sizes are equipped with Takoons Wing Span Line that stabilises the profile. Wook is designed for wave riding and freesailing and is easy to handle and turns quickly. Mamoot is Takoon’s lightwind kite.

Fuel Diesel

RRD For 2005 RRD focuses almost exclusively on mid-AR kites. Their previous high AR kite, Type-Z now only exists in the big sizes under the name Type-ZH as RRD things that there is no use of high AR kites in the smaller sizes. Type-6 is the kite that Martin Vari has been riding during 2004 which is the most allround kite. However, the most interesting kite in their range this year is without a doubt Type Wave which is a kite specifically designed for wave riding that turns quickly and has lots of depower.

Type Wave Type-6

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How do I prepare for my kite trip? Text and photo: Kristina Karlsson Now it is time to escape the cold winter and go south to warmer latitudes. The question seems easy at the first glance… What should I bring? Sometimes it isn’t that easy though, especially not if you are going far and staying away for a long time without loosing half of the budget on paying the overweight. As for the allowed weight I took on the mission to check the policies for some of the air companies, which is presented in the end of this article. Ok, where do you start? A good start is to check out some facts about your destination. This is a classic point 1 in any travel guide, but in the kiter’s case it is actually quite important. With checking out some facts I do not refer to checking out the number of inhabitants, religion, form of government, etc., but to check out what kind of kitesurfing conditions that you can expect, and also if it is a city where you are going. If there will be a lot of partying you’ll need more than a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Is there a kite centre or a surf shop where you can get equipment (if something breaks or if you find out that you simply forgot something when you packed). Check out the prices in the shops. Is it worth the effort to bring your stuff, or is it cheaper to buy there? Check on the Internet. The questions are many and it may seem like I’m exaggerating, but I know from own experience that every detail can be important for a successful trip. Especially the bad experiences can teach you a lot, and I have had my share of bad experien-ces. I will tell you about a few lesson learnt during my trips to Dominican Republic and Vene-zuela that were done in 2003 and 2004. The first trip I did was to Cabarete in 2003 and it is fair to say that I didn’t do my

homework before that trip. My investigation consisted of asking a bunch of guys who had been there about the place and what to bring. They said it was a quite relaxed place with nothing to do but kiting, i.e. no partying. Perfect I thought and packed a pair of shorts, TWO T-shirts, my kites, and other stuff that you could use on a deserted place. The only problem was that the guys I asked must have been on another place than Cabarete, because the Cabarete where I arrived was a big party place full of life and kite shops where you could find anything you needed. Hence on my first trip I ended up working since all money were spent on partying. Another not to funny result was that I had to spend six month in ONE pair of dirty shorts and TWO pairs of even dirtier T-shirts. When it comes to Venezuela in 2004 the problem was the opposite. In January 2004 I was back in Cabarete, this time with a more suitable wardrobe, but a spontaneous decision brought me away from Cabarete and on to the wonderful Venezuela. Once again I asked my friends about the conditions down there and once again the answer was that there was a very small place with absolutely nothing to do but to kite and sleep. Ha! I thought. I will not do the same mistake twice, and hence I packed all my colourful shorts and T-shirts that I had missed

on my last trip and was ready for some partying, but guess what – this time it was all true. Our town was a small deserted village and not a party place at all, except for the wild mutated dogs that were barking and fighting the whole nights. Once again my packing was a complete failure. Instead of lots of clothes I should have brought lots of kites and repair kits as extra lines, screws, fins, and maybe an extra harness, tape, and books. Another surprise that I hadn’t anticipated was problems with the money. In Venezuela you gain on bringing cash in dollars as the exchange rate on the street is almost twice the official exchange rate at the banks. Hence, if you had 1 USD you got 3000 Bolivares (April 2004) on the street compared to only 2100 Bolivares on the bank. Hence, if you bring dollars you get much more value for your money than if you withdraw money using your card. With all these examples I simply want to show that it can be worthwhile to check out home-pages, forums, friends, and other sources of information in order to get a good under-standing of the place you are going to visit. The one point that I want to stress is to check the average number of windy days at the destination in order to estimate how much you will use

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the equipment and be able to decide on how much extra equipment you should bring if something will be worn out. Another question that can easily cause a headache is which and how many kites you should bring. My tip is to give priority to the kites as kiting is the number one reason for your trip. Even if Windguru tells you that you rarely need a bigger kite than 12 meters, you will get a little stressed the days that the wind isn’t strong enough for your kite and your friends are out having fun on their bigger kites. The same goes for the small kites. If you have a small kite, bring it. When it comes to the bars it is always wise to have an extra bar or at least a second set of lines. If you have a big and a small kite you should bring the bars to both of them as the size of the kites usually influences the size of the bar. If you only have one kite then bring different lengths of lines, e.g. one set of 25 meters lines and another set of 20 meters lines. The line length has an effect on the power in the kite and by bringing different sizes you can increase the wind range of your kite. When it comes to the board it can be a good idea to bring extra screws and maybe some extra fins. The screws are important as you’ll have to tighten them from time to time and it is easy to destroy the head of the screws and you do not want to end up in a situation where the head is so destroyed that the screwdriver doesn’t grip and you won’t be able to neither fasten nor release the screws. Therefore it is better to ex-change the screws before they get destroyed. Of course you can find screw everywhere in

the world, but be aware that the screw-threads may be different and you do not want to use the wrong model and destroy the inserts of your board. Hence, bring extra screws that you know fit your board. If you think you’ll ride your board on top of some reefs or land on stone (like me) you better bring some extra fins as well. Where should I put all my stuff then? First, get yourself a good board bag as it reduces the risk of damaging the board. Another thing with the board bags is that they usually have lots of extra compartments that simplify the packing and the travelling. By now I think we have covered most of the issues that has to do with planning the trip and packing the bag. However, the battle is not won yet. The bag is ready and we are off to the airport. The stress is getting more intense and the stomach is full of butterflies as we are preparing ourselves for take off, but the check in brings us back to reality. The air companies are harder than ever when it comes to checking the weight and how much you have to pay for a few kilos of extra weight. The companies allows different amount of luggage for different destination and I’ve tried to compile a list of the rules for some of the most common air companies. You find the list in the end of this article so make sure to read it through and before you finish your packing and put it on the scale. The first time I went I didn’t have any problems to get the bags onto the plane but the last year it seems like the air companies have opened their eyes and realised that they can make some extra money on us and

our usually heavily overweight bags. Last year there was a trend to hide the kite equipment in something that looked like a golf bag, but be prepared to open the bag and demonstrate the contents. I tried to convince a Dutch air hostess that I was going to give an economy class at my golf club in the Dominican Republic and that my books were to be counted as golf equipment which means that I would be allowed extra weight. As you probable already guessed she didn’t buy the history and I had to pay 90 Euros for 4 kilos of overweight! So, make sure you have backup for you histories, or try to stick within the recommended luggage weight if you are not a God of flirting or knows how to fake-cry convincingly. To transfer the overweight to the hand luggage is another proven method that has failed so avoid that alternative. If there is some trick that does work it is to try to wear as much of the weight as possible, so this I can really recommend. Try to put as much as possible on you until you board the plane. This allows you to get some overweight with you without having to pay for it. However, the best way to avoid trouble remains having a look at the luggage policy of your air company and try to stick to that. I hope that my experiences and tips have been to help and that I’ve managed to bring some light and a little of humour into a subject that is often overlooked because it seems difficult and boring. Make sure to share your experiences on the beach and on the forum so that we all can enjoy a trip without any hassles. Have a nice trip!

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Ground policy (British Airways, Martinair, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Air France) to/from/via USA, Canada and Mexico (only Cancún for KLM and Martinair ) Class Piece of baggage

allowed Maximum measurement Maximum weight

Economy Class 2 pieces 158 cm 32 kilo per piece Other destinations Class Piece of baggage

allowed Maximum measurement Maximum weight

Economy Class Not specified 20 kilos Airfrance: Hand luggage max 12 kg, 1 luggage + 1 accessoar (e.g.: laptop, handbag, camera) SAS: Cost for overweight: In average 1,5% of the cost of the most expensive Economy Class ticket. Martinair / KLM: Hand luggage: 8 kg (115cm) + accessoar 20 cm thick. Cost for overweight: Europa Outside of Europe USA, Canada, Mexico

(Cancun) Kite/wakeboard * € 60,- per return trip € 80,- per one-way trip € 80,- per one-way trip * One kite is included in the price.

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Learn to turn with style. Text and illustrations: Jonas Hörnstein To be able to turn the board and sail back to the same place you started is of course a fundamen-tal move that everyone will have to learn. Luckily it is not a very hard move to learn, as all you have to do is to slowly steer the kite back over your head and down again in the opposite direction, i.e. more or less like

stopping and then starting again in the opposite direction. This is something that most kiters learn even before they can go straight forward. Unfortunately many people seem to be satisfied with this kind of turns, but a turn can be so much more than just a way to switch direction. A pow-erful turn can be both beautiful

and fun and is the entrance to more advanced manoeuvres so practising your turns can be well-spent time on the water! The trick to achieve a powerful turn is to keep the kite low during the turn and to maintain the power in the kite. This is done by initiating the turn with

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the kite relatively low and pull hard with the back hand. It is also important to initiate the actual carve at the right time. If we start to carve too early we risk loosing the power in the kite and getting slacks on the lines and if we initiate the carve too late the kite might finish the turn before the board and continue out of the power zone which gives a lack of power from the kite as we exit the turn. The exact time to initiate the turn

depends on how fast the kite turns. With a big and slow kite we have to start the turn with the kite before we start to carve with the board, while it is the opposite if we have a small and quick kite. Two other important tips are to look at the new direction during the whole turn and to bend the knees. To get a powerful turn you can not interrupt the carve by sliding the board around in the middle

of the turn. Instead you have to jump the board around either before the turn and make a backside carve or do a frontside carve and end the turn sailing toeside from where you can pop the board back to healside. Make sure to practise both front-side and backside turns. If you want to ride waves you have to have full control of both these manoeuvres. Carve hard!

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Portugal part II – winter in Lisbon Text and photo: Jonas Hörnstein It is better to say it at once – Portugal is not the right place if you want to spend the winter at a warm and windy place. The temperature is often between 10 and 15 degrees and it usually takes a low pressure to bring any wind and the low pressure often means rain and big, mushy waves. Despite this I didn’t hesitate to take leave from the work between October and February, put the kitestuff in the car and drive the 3500 km between Gothenburg and Lisbon. Portugal has so much more to offer than just the sun and the wind of the summer. I don’t know how many times I’ve done the trip down to Portugal by now, but it has been many trips and this was the second trip by car just during 2003. However it was the first time ever that I would drive all the way on my own. To get a soft start I had booked a cabin on the ferry between Gothen-burg and Kiel and was looking forward to a good nights sleep. As I didn’t have unlimited re-sources I had chosen the budget alternative that meant that I had to share the cabin with two older men that seemed to suffer from catarrh in both the lungs and the stomachs. After having listened to their snoring and coughing for two hours it got too much for me as one of the men left toilet door open after a smelly session. As the light went out and snoring continued I collected my things and went out of the cabin where there were still air and managed to get a few hours of sleep on a small bench. Despite the lack of sleep it was nice to reach the harbour and be able to stretch out on the autobahn. The goal for the first day was Belgium where a Formule 1 hotel was waiting. These hotels are per-fect when travelling, no un-necessary luxury, only a bed and a minimal TV. The toilet and the shower are placed in the corridor. If you get hungry there

is a candy machine in the reception. No pushy persons that want to help with your bag as in the more fancy hotels. However, this time I could have used an extra hand. Apart from the kite equipment I had two computers, a stereo, loud-speakers, camera equipment, and other useful stuff. Usually I had to make four to five trips up the stairs before I had managed to get everything into the room (off course the hotels do not have any elevator). In the morning it was just to start carrying everything back down and continue driving. I had two more pit stops in France and Spain before I finally reached Lisbon where I picked up my girlfriend and went to see the apartment that she had arran-ged for us in Estoril outside Lisbon and that would be our home for the next four months. Estoril is part of the more luxury surroundings along the coast outside Lisbon. In Estoril you can find the biggest Casino in Europe along with some nice bars and restaurants. Moreover Estoril has a nice beach walk to Cascais where you can find even more restaurants and bars. Along the coast you also find several world-class waves. Needless to say, it was the latter that made me insist on choosing an apartment there instead of in Lisbon. The apartment showed

to be really nice – a small studio with balcony and, at least partly, view over the Atlantic. I immediately felt at home. Kitesurf The beaches outside Estoril may have nice waves, but unfortunately they are not very suitable for kitesurfing. Most of the cost line between Cascais and Lisbon is made of small beaches surrounded by sharp rocks. An exception is Carca-velos, halfway between Lisbon and Cascais, which has a really long beach. Normally the wind is offshore which make the place less interesting for kitesurfing. It is also common to find hundreds of surfers in the water, but when a low pressure hits Portugal the wind usually turns to southwest or west, which gives sideshore or cross onshore conditions. The surfers are spoiled with clean waves and usually don’t go out in these kind of conditions, which leaves the field open for the kitesurfers. Despite the waves getting more irregular due to the low pressure they can still be powerful and are fun to ride. Usually it doesn’t get that big at Carcavelos, but typically between 1.5 and 2 meters. During my four month I had time to experience almost every possible condition, like sideshore from both the left and right, and onshore conditions.

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Guincho – a good day

Guincho – a too big day

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During the working days I was more or less alone on the water, but during evenings and week-ends it could be quite a few kitesurfers in the water. Even when there is no wind Carcavelos is a nice beach to hang around with its bars and cafés and it has great waves if you like surfing as well. The only problem from a kitesurfing point of view is that the number of days with wind are quite few. During the time I was there it didn’t work more than a couple of times per month. If it is warm and sunny the ther-mal winds of the summer may blow even during the winter, even if it is a rare occurrence. When I arrived in October it was full summer though, with temperatures up to 30 degrees, which made all the beaches that normally works in the summer go off. I usually went to Praia da Vaga south of Lisbon. In the summer there are usually very small waves at Praia da Vaga, but in October there can be quite decent waves. I had several days with cross offshore and one meter plus waves. The only one that didn’t like the daily trips to Costa da Caparica was the car, which winter tyres

melted like butter in the sun. Don’t go to Portugal with winter tyres! Not totally unexpected it was quite hard to find new winter tyres. Even though they knew about winter tyres they didn’t exactly stock them. The tactic became to drive as little as possible with the Volvo in order to not wear out the tyres. Instead I once again lent the Twingo from Sara’s mother. The car was now equipped with a completely new motor after my incident during the last trip. The tactic worked well until I had to break on the highway between Lisbon and Cascais and found out the breaks were not in the same shape as the new motor, which also the car in front soon were to find out. Luckily no one got hurt, but this time it wasn’t enough to buy a new motor to the car. The car had to go to the junk yard and I had to confess to Sara’s mother that I had wrecked her car for the second time in less than six months… Even if there is no real thermal wind, the mountain of Sintra will strengthen any wind that has a northen direction, which makes Guincho to the most consistent spot even during the winter. While other spots may work like

once a month, Guincho seems to work at least once a week even during winter even though you might have to use a 16 square meter kite. The problem with Guincho is that the waves can get really big during the winter – up to four meters is not unusual. Several times I didn’t even manage to get out through the waves, but stayed on the inside where it was mainly white water. Off course there were a number of classic days when the wind was a little stronger and the waves a little smaller and I was able to fully go for it both on the way out and while riding the waves back to shore. During those days the only things you have to worry about is some rocks in the middle of the beach and off course the cliffs south of Guincho. The current can get quite strong and depending on the direction of the waves it can actually take you against the wind, which is nice as long as you stay on the board, but if you loose the board it can get really difficult to get back to it.

Carcavelos Lagoa de Albufeira

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If you don’t like waves, or if the wind would come from northeast and be offshore on all beaches you can drive down to Lagoa de Albufeira. As I wrote in the last issue Lagoa de Albufeira is a small lake south of Lisbon that is only separated from the Atlantic by a small sandbar. Here there is usually a little less windy than in Guincho, but it is a safe place to kitesurf with flat water and beaches on all sides. Another nice thing with the spot is that you can alter and ride flat water for a while and then go out in the waves outside the lake. The waves can be pretty clean, but breaks close to the shore and usually don’t get very big. Next after Guincho it was here I spent most days with my kiteboard during the winter. Surfing As said, the winter is not the best season in Portugal if you’re looking for wind. However, if it is waves you are after, the winter is the season for you and if you want to combine surfing and kitesurfing Portugal is definitely a good alternative as a winter destination. The surfing is definitely world class. I’ve been surfing for 10 years and still feel more at home in the water with

the surfboard than with the kite. Hence, as my surfing friend Johan Hempel made a visit, the kiteboard was put away for a week, and the surfboard were taken out of the closet for one week of hard surfing. Johan arrived at the airport at the same time as the swell of the year, if not the decade, hit the coast of Portugal. Massive 10 meter waves pondered the west coast and made all the coast line north of Lisbon un-surfable. In that kind of conditions there is only one break that works, Santo Amaro outside Oeiras close to Lisbon. Normally Santo Amaro doesn’t have waves at all even if the rest of the beaches are going off with head high waves. That Santo Amaro would get too big was something we didn’t even consider. The only problem as we saw it was that, since it would be the only place working, it would probably be pretty crowded especially con-sidering it’s proximity to Lisbon. Therefore we went up at 05:45 and arrived at Santo Amaro when it was still dark. With the head still heavy from the sleep we put on the wetsuits and jumped into the water from the

cliffs outside the break. The cold water and the first light of the morning quickly made us realise what we ha got ourselves into. Santo Amaro is one of the best point breaks in Portugal when it works with hollow waves breaking over a shallow reef, and the waves this day were definitely classic. The problem was that our surfing capabilities were nothing near the class of the waves. Petrified we looked at the waves as their face reached three meters before the lip was thrown over and formed perfect tubes on the inside. There were only we and one more surfer out and while he was picking wave after wave we were starting to wonder what we were doing out there, but as we didn’t know how to get back to the beach we decided to at least give it a try. My first wave was quite lame. I had a nice drop and a couple of turns before I left the wave and paddled back. The next time I took off deeper on the reef and got a bottom turn back onto the face before the lip was thrown over me and I found myself in a sick head high tube. After a second of total happiness I got to pay the prise as the wave closed over my head. After being caught in the

Near-death-experience #1 – Santo Amaro Near-death-experience #2 – Ericeira

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washing machine for what seemed an eternity the wave finally released me and I managed to paddle back out. However we decided it was better to try to take the next wave all the way to the shore and give up. This was only the beginning of a long week full of adventures. As soon as the waves got smaller we went up to Ericeira north of Lisbon where you find Por-tugal’s best waves. However, the waves hadn’t decreased as much as we thought and Johan had yet another near-death-experience as he had to climp up the cliffs south of Ribeira d’Ilhas while a head high wave broke straight onto his head. Luckily he survived with a broken board and a broken lip, but it could definitely been much worse. Somewhere here we should have realised our limits, but the next day we were at it again. This time at Bafureira between Carcavelos and Estoril. The waves had increased again and were now double overhead! We thought that we had found a

place to go out and had nearly managed as a big set hit us in the head. When I turned around I saw that Johan had drifted away hundred meters down the coast where there is no beach and nothing but steep cliffs. Somehow he managed to get back to the beach though and I managed to pick a couple of waves. Despite all near-death-experiences we had a really nice week of surf with amazing waves. The city of Lisbon You don’t have to surf, or kite-surf either for that sake, in order to like Lisbon. For the ones who want to do other things than to hang at the beach the city offers excellent cultural experiences and a great nightlife. In the nights, Bairro Alto is the place to be. The area is packed with small bars where the crowd gather to watch football, listen to Fado, or just to talk and drink cheap beer. If you prefer to do Lisbon at daytime, I recommend a walk through Alfama up to Castelo de São Jorge. From there you have a nice view over

the city. Another favourite among the more touristy destinations is Belém where you find the monastery where Vasco da Gama is buried. In the same monastery rests another famous Portuguese, the poetry Luís Camões. He is most famous for writing the Lusiades where you can read that the Greek goddess Venus falls in love with the beautiful language of the Portuguese seamen. To be honest I have to confess that it sounds a bit like Russian, but the Portuguese are very proud of their language that is the fifth biggest in the world, so that is something you should keep to yourself. If you plan to stay for a longer time it can actually be worthwhile to learn a few sentences in Portuguese, even though the Portuguese speak much better English than for example their neighbours in Spain. Portuguese can also be good to know for other possible kitedestinations as Brasil, Cabo Verde, or why not Moçambique. KitesurfinEurope therefore offers a small phrase book with the most important phrases.

Some Portuguese phrases: Olá Hello Tudo bem? How are you? Como se chama? What’s your name? Chamo-me… My name is… Donde és? Where are you from? Sou da Suécia I’m from Sweden E tu? És daqui? And you? Are you from

here? Onde fica a praia? Where is the beach? Esquerda Left Direita Right Sempre em frente Straight As ondas estão grandes The waves are big O vento está forte The wind is strong Fixe! (uttalas fish) Cool

Uma cerveja A beer Quanto custa? How much is it? Está bem ok Obrigado/a Thanks Queria alugar/comprar… I would like to rent/buy Um carro A car Uma prancha de surf A surfboard Uma vela A sail Um kite A kite Adeus Bye Beijinho Kiss Abraço Hug Até logo See you Saudades Home ache, longing

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http://www.swell.se

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Relaunch test Text Jonas Hörnstein, Photo: Mat, Aloha Photo To relaunch a kite that has fallen into the water can be a tedious task, especially if the kite is big and the wind is a bit weak. With the traditional technique you would easily end up doing a long swim towards the kite before it turns on the back and then another long swim towards the side before the kite will relaunch from the water. However there are several modern systems that make it easier to relaunch the kite once it is in the water. You have probably heard of both the fifth line that is used by North, Naish, and several other companies, and Cabrinha’s Recon. KitesurfinEurope took the two systems out on the water to look at their respectively advantages and disadvantages. We also took the chance to try out Flysurfers system to see whether it was possible to waterstart a foil that has fallen into the water and we were surprised as their kite was actually the easiest of all to get out of the water. Before we take a closer look at the different systems maybe I should ad that I had never tried any of the systems before. In fact I have always been a bit sceptical to relaunch systems as I always thought it worked pretty well to get the kite out of the water the traditional way. Ok, it takes a bit of a swim, but it works. However, after having tried the systems and seen how much easier it gets I’ve changed opinion and think that you should definitely get yourself a kite with a modern relaunch-system, at least in the bigger sizes. All systems have their pros and cons so it is hard to give any general advice as to which system you should choose. However, after reading the full test you’ll at least have an idea of what system that is best for you. North 5th element We start by taking a look at North 5th element. In this test we used a 16 square meter North Rhino 05. The 5th element is just one of several systems that are based on a fifth line attached to the front of the kite. The fifth line has many purposes and the simplified relaunch is just one of them. The fifth line also helps to maintain the profile of the kite while riding and turning the kite, and makes it possible to use a thinner leading edge. Further-more, the fifth line provides an

effective safety system. If you attach the leash to the fifth line it automatically depowers the kite if you drop it while sailing unhooked and slowly brings the kite down into the water and puts it in start position without tangling the lines. This makes the fifth line a good alternative to the commonly used suicide leash. Personally I think that these features are more important than the relaunch capability. However, since this is a relaunch test, here we concentrate on how well the system works once the kite has fallen into the water. At the first test I didn’t even release the kite, but brutally smashed the kite into the water and waited until the kite was completely downwind (see picture 4 in the North-sequence). This is the most usual position to start from if you drop the kite without using the release-system or if you use a suicide leash. The technique to water start the kite using the fifth line is very close to the way you would do a traditional start. Here you also need to flip the kite over on its back and get it out on either side before you can relaunch it. However, these steps are simplified by the fifth line. You no longer have to swim towards the kite in order to flip it over on its back. Simply pull on the fifth line and the kite

will automatically turn on its back. If you are hooked in and stand on the bottom like in the pictures you have to pull hard. If you lay in the water, or if you’re not hooked in, it is much easier. The next step is to get the kite out on the side. This step is also simplified by the fifth line. If you grab the bar with one hand and slowly release the 5th line with the other the kite will sail out towards the edge of the window (see picture 5) from where it can be safely relaunched (see picture 6). However I should admit that it didn’t work that well during my first try. The trick is to try to grab the bar before the kite has flipped over completely on its back. If the kite flips over completely you might have to swim a little bit to the side before you’ll be able to relaunch the kite. If you use the release system it actually becomes even easier to relaunch the kite, compared to when the kite is flown into the water without being released. When you release the kite it depowers and automatically falls down into start position (picture 1-3 in the sequence). In short the advantages with the fifth line are that the system works with most of the kites on the market and that it is quite quick to water start the kite if the

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safety release has been used. The disadvantage is that it is actually not that much quicker than the traditional relaunch and that the fifth line doesn’t work very well on land or on snow. Cabrinha Recon 2 Cabrinha’s relaunch system, Recon 2, was tested using a 16.5 square meters Cabrinha Contra. Also here we took the chance to try out the safety system while we had the chance. The quick release on Recon 2 has two positions, one that is called Tap out™ and one that is called Ride. When the safety system is set to Tap out™ the kite is automatically released when the bar is pushed away from the rider (see picture 1 in the Recon sequence). When the system is set to ride you have to pull a more traditional release in order to prevent that the kite is unintentionally released. Once released the kite depowers quickly and falls into the water. As with the fifth line this is done without tangling the line (picture 2 and 3). However the system has to be mounted before the kite can be relaunched, which can be a bit difficult out on the water (picture 4). Hence I don’t see the Recon as an alternative to a suicide leash if you drop the kite a lot and want to get going quickly. Once the system has been mounted again or if the kite has ended up in the water without using the safety release system (which as said before is the most likely scenario, especially when using a suicide leash), it is very quick to relaunch the kite. With Recon you don’t have to flip the kite around on its back before you can relaunch it, you simply pull one of the lines attached to the rear (trailing edge) of the kite, see picture 5. The side attached to the line will

then release from the water and fly backwards around the other side (see picture 6). You have to pull hard and wait until the kite has turned around almost completely before releasing the back line. The first times I tried the kite turned back down into the water when I released the line, but once I got the technique right it was possible to turn the kite around and start it very quickly. A trick that can help you to start the kite when you are in deep water is to put on the board in order to get sufficient resistance in the water to start the kite. A little warning should be made that the kite starts in the power zone so be prepared to be dragged a couple of meters and make sure that you do not have any hard object downwind of you when you start (which you of course should make sure of regardless of which system you use). As a summary the big advantage with Recon is that it is possible to relaunch the kite very quickly. The disadvantages are that the kite starts a bit brutally and that the system only works with Cabrinha’s kites. Flysurfer Flysurfer’s relaunch system was, without a doubt, the big surprise of the test. As many other I had the misconception that a foil could be difficult or even impossible to get out of the water if it was left there for a longer period. For the test we used a 10 square meters Flysurfer Extacy. Kaj Kjellgren who showed me the system made sure to burry the kite deep in the water and took his time to explain the system before I tried to relaunch it (picture 1, Flysurfer sequence). Flysurfer’s kites can be relaunched in a number of different ways.

According to the homepage you can simply pull any of the three lines and the kite will automatically relaunch. Of course we were a little more scientific and asked Kaj how to best relaunch the kite in the light wind. When the kite is down in the water with the leading edge facing down as in the sequence, the best way is to pull both of the back lines (picture 2). The kite then relaunches backwards and can easily be turned around (picture 3 and 4). The difference between Flysurfer’s system and Recon is that you can adjust the amount of power you want from the kite by pulling or releasing the blue leash-line (picture 2). The more you pull, the less power the kite gives when it starts. Flysurfer’s kite was the only one that I effortlessly managed to relaunch right from the first try. Flysurfer’s kites can also be relaunched with the trailing edge down. This is simply made by letting out on the leash line or pulling on the depower (the middle front line). In light winds this can be done both in the water and on land. Kaj even showed how you can park the kite on land with the trailing edge down and then relaunch it again without assistance – something that I would not try on a LEI-kite. In harder winds you can finally start the kite by first letting it out on the side. This option was not tested since the wind was very light during the test. Finally we tried the release and just as with the fifth line the kite falls down nicely into start position. Actually the only dis-advantage we could find was that the system only works with Flysurfer’s kites.

North 5th e le m e nt

Our te s t pilot Jonas trie s th e re le as e s ys te m of th e 5th e le m e nt. Th e k ite q uick ly de pow e rs and falls dow n into th e w ate r...

Once in th e w ate r th e k ite w aits nice ly in th e s tart pos ition...

You jus t h ave to pull in th e fifth line and grab th e bar.

If you drop th e k ite in th e w ate r w ith out re le as ing th e s afe ty s ys te m you can s till flip th e k ite around by pulling th e fifth line ...

Now you only h ave to pull th e bar w ith one h and and s low ly re le as e th e fifth line w ith th e oth e r and th e k ite w ill s ail s low ly to th e e dge .

As th e k ite re le as e s from th e w ate r you can s till control th e pow e r by pulling or le tting go on th e fifth line

Cabrinh aRe con 2

Putte from Surfe rs Paradis e s h ow s Re con 2's re le as e s ys te m .

W ith Tap Out activate d you only h ave to pus h th e bar aw ay from you in orde r to re le as e th e s afe ty s ys te m and de pow e r th e k ite . Th is option can be turne d off once out on de e p w ate r.

Th e k ite falls dow n w ith out tangling th e line s .

Th e re le as e s ys te m h as to be m ounte d again be fore you can re launch th e k ite . If you us e a s uicide -le as h you do not ne e d th is s te p.

W ith Re con you don't ne e d to flip th e k ite around be fore it can be s tarte d as you w ould w ith th e fifth line or a traditional s tart. H e re you s im ply pull one of th e back line s .

Th e k ite re launch e s back w ards and autom atically turns around...

Th e k ite s tarts in th e pow e r z one s o be pre pare d as it pulls h ard...

Flys urfe r

- "No proble m s ", s ays Kaj Kje llgre n. You can tak e your tim e and le t th e k ite s tay in th e w ate r. Th at it s h ould be difficult to re launch a foil th at h as be e n in th e w ate r for a w h ile is a m yth .

W h e th e r you s tart on land or on w ate r you can e as ily launch th e k ite back w ards by pulling th e back line s .

Any w ate r th at th e k ite h as be e n tak e n in is autom atically draine d as s oon as th e k ite fills w ith air.

Th e k ite can be turne d around in th e s am e w ay as w ith Cabrinh a's Re con, but th e k ite s tarts s m ooth ly w ith out ge ne rating to m uch pull.

Kitesurf inEurope 2:2005 s. 32