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Beginner Kiteboarding Lesson: Relaunch a 4-Line Kite Learn how to relaunch your kite in shallow water first, as this will make it easy when you're swimming in deeper waters. When your kite drops into the water, let go of the bar, untwist the lines, and check that your bar is the correct way around by using the color code. Now you're ready to relaunch. Pull gently on the floater to initiate the kites movement to the edge of the wind window. Once the kite is there, grab the bar and pull on …

Beginner Kiteboarding Lesson: Relaunching Your 5th Line Kite The 5th-line makes it easy to relaunch your kite, especially in low wind, when it is relied on to get your kite into the air. If you lose hold of your bar when riding unhooked, hold on your safety line and hook back into your chicken loop. Now pull the fifth line until the kite starts to flip over. Before it flips completely, grab the bar floater on the upper side and pull it towards you. As you do this, the kite will start to m …

Beginner Kiteboarding Lesson: Crash and Relaunch Your Kite In critical situations, it can be necessary to use the quick release on your kite. In doing so, your kite will remain connected to your harness via one line, and most of the kite’s power will be lost. To open the release, let go of the bar and push the quick-release mechanism away from you. In doing so, your kite will fall into the water and waiver in the wind. Once you're ready, you'll need to prepare your gear for relaunch. Hold the …

Learn how to land your kite in shallow water, with lots of free space around you. When you're ready to land your kite, be sure to signal clearly to your helper that you want to land the kite by tapping the top of your head with a flat hand.  Once the helper is ready, slowly lower your kite down along the edge of the wind window, using your top hand only to steer the kite. The lower hand should be free. Slow down the kite's descent by gently pulling on the top hand.  Once it's w …

Haey, Laay-deeez! In the spirit of encouraging women kiteboarders to jump their absolute highest, WOO has initiated their “Global Women’s Boost Off”. Participation is easy—just log your WOO Kite sessions and be sure to use the new gender filter to weed out those pesky dudes. From June 1st through July 31st, WOO will be tracking women’s progress and look for those ladies who are jumping the highest and for those who have accumulated the most in total jump height. Si …

North Ace Foil Kite - The High Performance Foil Kite Are you looking to step-up your game and enter the foiling world? North is giving you the opportunity to experience a huge wind range, fast turning, durability, hangtime, and easy water relaunching all packed in one kite: the Ace Foil Kite.  Riders can enjoy the Ace either with a foilboard or a twin tip. It's perfect for intermediate to advanced riders.  Hint: Pair the Ace with the Slingshot Hypermiler Foil Board and Gho …

Cabrinha Contra vs. North Juice The last few years, light wind kites have seen some very real improvement. Gone are the days where companies simply take their 12 meter kites and blow them up to slow, clunky 17m or 18m kites. All modern light wind kites are designed specifically for the demands of light wind and fly surprisingly nimbly and easily for their large size. North and Cabrinha have built a serious reputation over the years and established themselves as leaders of the industry. Le …

The Switchblade vs The Rebel  The aim of this video series is to remain as objective as possible.That being said, we made sure to get opinions from our entire crew. Rygo and Lucas collaborated to communicate the group consensus to you, and you can expect more videos to come soon. So, you're debating between the Cabrinha Switchblade kiteboarding kite and the North Rebel. Not an easy choice, but this should give you plenty of insight when making your decision. Both of these kites have been a …

 Traveling, Kiting, and Working Around The World It sounds too good to be true, an unattainable adventure. Traveling full time, working remotely, and kiteboarding as much as you want?! How is that even possible? Relax… it is. My name is Crystal Veness, and I’m living the dream. I’ve been traveling full time for more than two years, with no home base and nothing but a kite bag, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack in tow. This journey has spanned 5 continents, 19 countries …

North Kiteboarding - 2017 North Evo The Evo is the arounder of the range—best suited for free riders at home at all disciplines. The five-strut design, combined with the new Dacron frame 3-D shaping and updated strut-tip design intern an even cleaner profile and faster turning than the previous years. The Evo works on four or five lines, depending on your personal preference. When hitting the waves, the Evo wants the rider to use a proactive riding style. If you want to boost, you can take …

Jake on the 2017 North Rebel So you're Interested in the Rebel. We're imaging some of the questions you are asking yourself...What's New this year, and what type of rider will benefit from this kite? Well this overview should square that up for you. The Rebel is North’s long standing big air freeride kite. In years past people have turned to the rebel looking for that efficient user friendly kite that will jump huge, ride upwind better than your average kite and minimize shake in the bar …

Jake on the 2017 North Dice The Firecracker! or as you might know it. The 2017 North Dice. What's new, and what kind of rider will benefit from this kite. What is great about the Dice is it really has something to offer anyone. Whether you are into unhooked wakestyle/freestyle. Hooked in riding with some serious flair, waves or kite loops. This kite loops especially well! The Dice is North's answer to riders willing to sacrifice a little wind range for an exceptionally high performance all …

Jake on the 2017 North Neo The Neo is known as North's go-to wave kite but in all reality, it is much much more than that. What most people don’t know is with a slight tweaking of the bridle it becomes an excellent free ride kite. So What’s new with the Neo in 2017? This year North didn’t want to fix what's not broken. For 2017 you can expect incremental improvements in the turning speed, the de-power and a more direct feedback and bar feel. Order your 2017 North Neo today! T …

Noe Font - Melancholy (in cursive) "On a hot day, the snow melted away into a stream and flowed down the valley and into the sea. And this place was born." Hood River: an eclectic location filled with grandoise mountains and cool, deep blue water. Here, kiteboarders come from all over to enjoy the resources around them and to demonstrate their skills.  Noè Font has shown the joy of kiting in Hood River and spun his take in a way that's fun, unique, and inspiring. Video Synopsis …

Reflection with Aaron Hadlow It's healthy to step back and take a look at where you've been, where you are now, and where you want to go. What better place than on the water, where reflections are abound?  So, where will you go? We're coming close to the end of 2016, but there is still plenty of time to figure out where 2017 will take you. Video Synopsis Every living person in our world has to find the time to pause and look at its reflection in order to continue with the right way. For …