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Aaron: Hey guys, welcome back. We are live on the island with Blake. Blake, where are you at buddy? What are you up to today? Blake: It's been a busy day. I'm in the BVI right now on Moskito Island, which is one of Sir Richard Branson's islands. Behind me is Necker Island, where he lives. He just got in today, actually. It's incredible here; he's got quite a quite a thing going on. Aaron: So what have you been up to? I understand there's some confidential things that you can't disclose, …

Pat: I'm Pat with MACkiteboarding, and I'm talking with Derek from Naish. Derek: What's up, guys? Pat: So Derek, you've been with Naish now for 10 years? Derek: Yeah, I came on board in February 2014, so I'll be pushing 10 years now. Pat: That's a long time with any company, really. I feel like very few people have stayed with one brand for that long, as far as the reps I know. There are a select few, but not a ton. Derek: For sure for the reps, but I'm not even close to being the l …

Aaron: Thanks for joining us. We are catching up with RyGo, who is currently located in southern Florida. Where are you at right now, buddy? RyGo: I'm in St. Petersburg right now, but I'm actually just getting the rig ready and we're gonna be heading to the Keys, probably later today. Aaron: Awesome. Well, on this quick segment today I was wanting to catch up with you, talk about your new gig with Airush, and talk about what you and Kristen have been doing in the off-season down …

Aaron: Well Dave, thank you for taking the time. Tell us about yourself and your role with Cabrinha. Give us a brief introduction. Dave: I'm Dave Hastilow, brand manager at Cabrinha. I've been with Cabrinha in some form probably from the beginning, over 20 years. I'm based in Maui, and I oversee everything visual: what the brand is, the brand itself, and the direction. That comes from myself and the guys. Aaron: We're here in Cancun for dealer week and the 03 Cabrinha release. I have b …

Today we are talking about choosing your first kiteboard. I'm going to go through what I think the best flow is, then I'm going to delve a little bit into the philosophy, and finally we're going to figure out which is the right direction for you.Start with a Basic Board and Upgrade as You ProgressGenerally, I think the best way to get started is to pick a very big and basic board. You don't need a lot of bells and whistles while you're figuring out how to water start, ride, do your first up …

Blake from MACkite here on my way to Buffalo, which does not seem like the best idea. I had already planned it and had my whole trip booked, and then there's this catastrophic blizzard of the century that just hit. My heart goes out to everyone that had to go through that over there at Christmas break, and all the lives lost. So, so sad and tragic. I can't imagine having something like that happen over the holidays. I was going to go home to Key West, but I got this great opportunity to go w …

Aaron from MACkite is on the beach at King of the Great Lakes with Ben from Duotone to find out what makes the Evo SLS such a popular kite. Aaron: Why is the Evo SLS Duotone's best-selling kite? What's the magic sauce there? Ben: The Evo has always been the all-rounder kite in our lineup. It does everything great. It's not spectacular at one specific thing, but you can do everything on it. You can unhook on it, it's great for jumping, it does boost--not as good as the Rebel--but it's us …

Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today we are talking about whether it's better to learn in lighter winds or heavier winds. Of course, this is just my personal experience and, being here in Michigan, we probably experience more light winds than heavy winds, so that's going to impact my answer slightly.My personal thought is that light wind is a better environment for learning to kite. I think it's probably easier to learn in heavier winds, but that doesn't necessarily translate t …

This is Jake from MACkiteboarding, and today we're going to do a topic I discuss every couple years because, as technology progresses, I think it makes sense to revisit it, and that is whether purchasing used gear is a good way to get into the sport of kiteboarding. We probably need to have a discussion on winging as well since that is evolving and changing so much, but here we're focusing on kiteboarding, and the answer to that is yes... and no. It really depends on where the gear is …

Pat: This is Pat with MACkiteboarding.com and we're with Sam Medysky today. We're going to catch up and get a little bit of background about him.Sam: How's it going, guys?Pat: All right, Sam. So you grew up on Lake Huron, right? How was that growing up? I know you were influenced a lot by your dad being a windsurfer back in the day, so wind sports are kind of second nature to you.Sam: Yeah, when I was growing up my parents had a summer cottage on Lake Huron in Sauble Beach, so I'd spend my …

Pat: This is Pat with MACkiteboarding.com here with Nick Baines.Nick: Hey guys. I'm Nick Baines here with Reedin USA in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.Pat: So Nick, how did you end up getting into kiteboarding?Nick: I got into kiteboarding when I was 13 years old. My uncle, who is based in Saint Croix, sent me a trainer kite. I flew that thing religiously for a full year and then purchased my first kite, a 2002 Slingshot Fuel. I took it out to the beach and learned how to fly the kite a …

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to MACkiteboarding. This is Jake, and today I have the new 2023 North Flex LX footpads.Another footpad review, you might be asking? Yes, but these are super, super cool. It goes without saying that I really like the two strap zonal adjustment footstraps. I'm kind of a simp for the Duotone Entity straps. The issue with those is that the hole spacing leaves them incompatible with most boards on the market. They're sized to have a seven-inch spacing, while most …

Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today we are answering the question about whether you should take a lesson before getting into kiteboarding. Honestly, I think the answer is "yes", but I'm going to talk a little bit about my personal experience, why I think that answer is yes, and I'll also go over the steps that you should take to have a safe and successful kiteboarding journey if you don't take a lesson.My Experience When Learning to KiteboardTo be honest, when I got started wit …

Welcome back to MACkiteboarding. This is Jake, and today I'm going to talk about something we have a lot of experience with here in Michigan, and that is making the most of those light wind days. I'm going to break it down into the three ways to do it: a big kite, a big board, and a hydrofoil. I'll rank them based on my personal preferences, take you through what I like and don't like about each, and hopefully that helps you to decide which direction you want to go when it comes to ex …

Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today I have the 2023 Duotone Entity straps. These have been a favorite of mine, so let's crack them open and see what is new.What's in the BoxLike most straps, they come disassembled, so we have the straps, the footpads, a couple extra heel pad stiffness options, a board handle, a little manual, and individually bagged hardware.Right off the bat, you'll notice a couple different screws. These are the handle screws and they go with your Duoton …