Latest News, Blog & Videos

So, let's go kiteboarding in...Siberia?? Lake Baikal, close to Russia and Mongolia, is the deepest lake in the world. Come follow along as North Kiteboarding team riders, Aaron Hadlow, Stefan Spiessberger, Craig Cunningham, Noe Font and Fran Bagnioli shred the gnar in a land real far...away. The trip was planned to be an adventure but nobody expected this. Apparently, there were broken-down vehicles, guys with gold teeth, windless weeks, and borderline starvation. Sounds awesome! Wait— …

Your one stop kiteboarding video travel guide.  Wind By Season  It's warn and windy most of the year but summer is the the best season to visit. Granted, even the winter months seem to work like clockwork. There's really not a bad time to visit.  Adventure scale  There are plenty of high end accommodations for kiters and non kiters alike. If Grey Goose and infinity pools are on your radar you can find it. On the other hand, if you'd prefer something a little more adven …

I used to profess this simple concept back when I was a kiteboarding instructor and I know it to be true today. Kiteboarders are simple creatures. We like windy days, good people to share the stoke with, and a good feast afterward. Easy enough.         Hey, new guy—just show up with some pizza, introduce your self, and be humble—it'll be all good!" Seriously though—here's how you break into your local kiteboarding scene and be welcomed into the fold. Dec …

Working at MACkite has some unique benefits. Working with friends in an industry that we are passionate about makes most days feel less like “work”. The huge amount of demo gear available is also well appreciated by our staff. However, it is hard to monetize the value of our “Board Meetings”. Our "Board Meetings" are not the typical drudgery that is associated in most workplaces. Rather, it is a meeting of employees where we can go play and test gear during work hours. …

Since this was a special edition this article will be a little different. We will repost the initial question followed by our initial response in Youtube to the user. I will then add any additional information below that to round out the knowledge. Stas Firer: What category does the 2018 Naish Thrust KS1 fall into and do you guys plan on doing a review on it? MACkite:  Hey Stas! We think the Naish Thrust KS1 fits nicely into the "Performance Freeride" or "Powered Freeride" category. We'l …

Welcome to destinations, your one stop kiteboarding video travel guide.  Wind By Season It's warm and windy most of the year, but spring is the best season to visit. Progreso doesn't always work like clockwork, but it can be consistent! To give you some perspective, we visited in the winter and it was quite windy. In fact, we could have ridden every day had we not been so tired from adventuring. Touch base with Angel from Yuckite if you're planning a visit and he can give some insights …

Foilboarding is the newest and fastest growing aspect of kiteboarding, without question. The rapid advance of riding styles and equipment is a hard thing to keep pace with. As a result, we get a lot of questions. Since most of the people getting into kiteboard foiling are already kiteboarders, a popular question is, “How will my kite(s) work for foiling?”;  A legitimate question!  The kite you have/choose will have certain advantages and disadvantages for your riding and …

5 Best Kites for Foiling Hydrofoil kiteboarding has been on fire lately at the shop. I cannot remember the last time where every employee was so excited about one aspect of kiteboarding. Every employee from our young guns to shop legends caught the foil bug. As a result, we have seen a dramatic shift in the kite quivers chosen by our staff. Our quivers were dominated by large freestyle kites like the Cabrinha FX; now, we are switching to kites that compliment the unique challenges of foilbo …

Many years ago, pro rider Chris Bobryk and I were kiteboard instructors here at MACkite. Our lesson center was right on the sugar-sand beach of Pere Marquette Park, in Muskegon, Michigan. We would ride as much as we possibly could before and after our lessons and I can remember Chris just hucking himself constantly. He was sending it on every tack. He was absolutely consumed with progressing his kiteboarding ability and it paid off for him in his pro career. I, on the other hand, did not have p …

There are a lot of different travel bags out there for kiteboarding and kitesurfing. North offers the "Combi Bag" and "Team Bag Surf", while ION has the "Gearbag TEC". Here's the breakdown from Ben Skaggs, our North and ION Kiteboarding rep from Hood River, Oregon. North Combi Bag Colors: Black and Blue Available sizes: 140cm 155cm Surfboards up to 5'6" Surfboards up to 6'2" "This is a lightweight travel bag that uses the method of “use your gear and clothing as padding to save weight& …

If you hop onto our website and look at the listings of available foils, you might be pretty quickly overwhelmed. Just like the rest of us, you're probably wondering which foil combo would be great for your personal needs. Foilboarding is exploding; and with it, a lot of gear has been developed. We've got so much to offer with so many different uses, we thought it would be helpful to break all that down all our foils into three separate categories. Freeriding Powered freeriding (yes, we expla …

Welcome to the beginning of our knowledge center. While we're building out this new category on our webpage, we'll be pairing our Foil Friday videos with these extensive blog posts. If you have any questions, be sure to let us know in the comment section of the video.   Have you ever seen a pelican soaring inches above the water? Smoothly cruising the shorelines, unaffected by the choppy waters below, pelicans are a frequent sighting at many beaches. If you have ever seen one, you h …

So if you’ve watched the last few videos, you might have caught Freeride Kites vs Freestyle Kites where we talked about how most kites that undergo years of development slowly get so well rounded that they cross over into all-around territory. The Cabrinha Drifter is one of those kites. While it is a surf specific kite, it is a great contender as an all-around freeride kite. It’s even decent at unhooking. So the first thing to consider would be the most obvious, and that is where t …

As any dedicated wind-chaser knows, it can be challenging to balance work, life and kiteboarding. Sometimes, we just can't get enough time on the water. Here are 3 simple tips to help you out! Subscribe to Wind Alerts via iKitesurf.com. Keep your gear with you at all times. Communicate with your significant other.   The Alert iKitesurf.com is one of the most important sites/apps for kiteboarders who want real-time wind data from around the world. Not only can you access wind speed, di …

Surf Hydrofoil Choices Choosing a Surf Hydrofoil Choosing a surfboard foil can be a difficult decision. Luckily, we have the gear and knowledge to help anyone choose the gear that will expedite their progression. Some of the variables that may influence your choice of foils are weight, wave height, board choice, ability, and riding style. The path to choosing the best foil can be a convoluted one; as a result, we encourage new foilers to reach out to us for a personal recommendation. If you have …