Latest News, Blog & Videos
David's Top 5 Kiteboarding Accessories for the Daily Shred
We all know about the basic gear you need to get out for your session: a kite, a board, a harness, and a wetsuit if it's chilly, but what else might you want out there, and how essential is it? Dave is here to share his top 5 items that he uses for most, if not all, sessions.Sunscreen
This one is a must. Even if you're in a full wetty, you'll still want to protect your face, as well as your hands and feet if you're not using gloves and boots. Some people like the zinc ones because of the
…
29th Jan 2025
Mystic Foilbag 110cm | What Can it Hold?
The Mystic 110 Foil bag is a fairly compact case, but is there more to it than meets the eye? Aaron from MACkite is ready to give it a test run with his foil setup, and he's got grand dreams of even getting a kite in there.The bag itself is made from sturdy, padded canvas and has heavy duty zippers. Inside it's got two sheets of quarter-inch foam to separate layers of gear. This is perfectly adequate as a daily driver, but you would certainly want to add more protection if you want to brin
…
22nd May 2024
How To Size Your Ride Engine Harness | A Quick Guide
With the amount of harness and spreader bar combinations, getting the right size Ride Engine can feel daunting. The good news is when you nail it, you get a precise, comfortable fit that translates to more time on the water. As a general rule, the size chart below gets you 80% of the way there. Here are a few sizing tips from the hundreds of Ride Engine harnesses we've sold over the years.What's Your Body Type?
Consider your body shape. Leaner bodies are best represented by the above char
…
5th Feb 2024
The Aluula Kites Breakthrough | Who Should Make the Switch?
Dustin and Pat take a look at some kites made with Aluula. What is it, and is it worth the hype? Is it right for you?What is Aluula?Dustin: Aluula is a step up from your normal kites. It's like the carbon bike of the kite world.Pat: Absolutely. It's that carbon fiber frame mountain bike in the kite industry. Is aluminum or steel good for most people out there? Yes. Do you need carbon? Probably not, but is it a nice upgrade and do you get some performance benefits from it? Absolutely.What a
…
29th Nov 2023
2024 Dakine Renegade Ultralight and Pyro Harnesses with Connect Spreader Bars
Aaron has caught up with Daniel Ware from Cabrinha at the King of the Great Lakes Test Fest to chat about some new harness offerings from Dakine.
Aaron: Daniel, what have you got for us, buddy? What are we talking about?
Daniel: I've got a new product from Dakine that we're really excited about. This is the all-new Connect bar. This is a brand new spreader bar system from Dakine for 2023. It's a fully modular system. The kite bar has a fully molded hook with no welds, so it's super str
…
27th Oct 2023
What's New for Slingshot's 2024 Foil Line with Fred Hope
What's new in the Slingshot foil line for 2024? Pat's with Fred Hope at King of the Great Lakes Test Fest to find out!
Pat: What do we got, Fred?
Fred: We've got two new front wings and two new stabilizers for 2024. One of the front wings is the G 1007, which is our light wind high-performance front wing. It's 1,700 square cm, so if you're coming from the E Series and you want something that gets you out in light wind like we have today where you'd want a downwind SUP board with a huge
…
27th Oct 2023
Slingshot Sentry V2 and Joystick V1 Control Bars, with Fred Hope
Pat is at King of the Great Lakes with Fred Hope from Slingshot, checking out the new bars for 2024.
Fred: Thanks for having me! This year we brought out a whole new bar, and we changed from the white lines to the new SK99 lines. They're a little thinner and a bit stronger. You can really notice it in the air because they have a lot less drag through the air and you don't have that wobbling from side to side feeling like you have with the square lines. These are perfectly round, so it r
…
25th Oct 2023
2024 Slingshot Ghost V3 with Fred Hope
Pat is at King of the Great Lakes with Fred Hope from Slingshot. They're checking out the new 2024 Ghost V3.
Fred: The Ghost is our one-strut kite for the new year. You tried it today, right?
Pat: Yeah, I got out and had a nice foil session on it today. It's a pretty grunty kite, actually, with good sheet-and-go power. It's really quite fast-turning, and the relaunch on the thing was amazing. I was in really crappy, gusty offshore wind, and the kite just wouldn't stay on the water. Eve
…
24th Oct 2023
Why the Slingshot UFO V3 is Fred Hope's Favorite for Kite Foiling
MACkite's Pat Taylor is at KoGL with Fred Hope of Slingshot, checking out the new 2024 Slingshot foiling lineup.
Fred: We've got the brand new UFO for this year. This is my baby: the no-strut kite. It's the weirdest-looking kite on the beach because it just sits flat against the ground, but it's the best-looking kite in the air because of how different it looks when you're flying. There's no skeleton to the frame other than the leading edge, so it makes it really light and responsive be
…
24th Oct 2023
Top Questions Answered About Cabrinha's Fusion X-Series and H-Series Hydrofoils
Cabrinha's Daniel Ware chats with Aaron from MACkite at King of the Great Lakes Test Fest. Together, they tackle the most common questions about the Fusion Foil System.
Daniel: Thanks for having me, Aaron.
Aaron: Yeah dude, welcome. It's always good to see you.
Daniel: It's flat and straight offshore, but we had some fun winging yesterday and got some pumping around behind skis today.
Aaron: You milked every little bit out of that. It's nice to be able to show people what is possib
…
16th Oct 2023
2024 Eleveight GT1 Plus Wing Overview with Kevin Wade
Pat is with Kevin Wade at King of the Great Lakes Test Fest, checking out the new 2024 GT1+ Wing from Eleveight. What does the "Plus" mean, and is it right for you?
Kevin: We have the Plus Series now, including the RS+ kite and the Process and Master C+ twintips. We're building out a comprehensive upper echelon line to highlight which products have a little bit of extra special sauce and higher quality materials. If you're looking for the top of the top in terms of performance, the Plus
…
13th Oct 2023
2024 Eleveight RS V7 Overview with Kevin Wade
Pat from MACkite catches up with Kevin Wade at the King of the Great Lakes Test Fest to chat about the new 2024 V7 RS kite from Eleveight Kites.
Kevin: It's so good to be here. It's always a good time. It almost looks like the Caribbean out there with the water color. It kind of tricks you into thinking it's tropical, but it's a little colder. It's great weather and I'm stoked to be here and tell you about the lineup.
Pat: So you've got the new RS for this year- the V7, right?
Kevin:
…
13th Oct 2023
Reedin Space Agency with Nick and Pat
Pat Taylor from MACkite is with Nick Baines of Reedin at the 2023 King of the Great Lakes Test Fest checking out the new Space Agency. What is it? Who's it for?Nick: We're really excited to launch this board this year. In the past, we've only had two twintips: the Kev Pro and the Super E. The Kev Pro is for those guys that like to ride fast and boost huge, and then the Super E is for your more beginner/intermediate rider. It has a softer ride and cruises through chop easily.But now we hav
…
12th Oct 2023
2024 Naish Kiteboarding Lineup with Derek Sproul
Derek Sproul from Naish takes a few minutes to chat about the 2024 kiteboarding lineup with MACkite's Jake Mitchell at King of the Great Lakes Test Fest. What's new? Is there a must-have coming for your quiver?Jake: We're super stoked to have you all the way here in Michigan.Derek: The sun is shining and it's just so beautiful here in late September. There's nowhere I'd rather be. It's awesome.Jake: Amen to that. So you brought some new gear?PivotDerek: Yeah, we've got a bit of everything
…
11th Oct 2023
2024 Reedin DreamStick X V2 Control Bar | Overview With Nick Baines
Pat and Nick Baines from Reedin are at King of the Great Lakes Test Fest, and they're taking a few minutes to chat about the new 2024 Dreamstick X V2 control bar. What's new? Is it the right bar for you?Quick Release
Nick: The Dreamstick X V2 is by far our best-selling product worldwide, and we have some good improvements for this year. We're sticking with the same seat belt quick release since it works extremely well.Autoswivel Solution
Nick: I think we have one of the best self-untwis
…
28th Sep 2023