Latest News, Blog & Videos
How to Back Roll Kiteboarding - Ultimate Beginner Guide: Unhooked
Today we're going to break down a heelside back roll. This might be the most popular trick in kiteboarding. This is actually even easier than the raley. This will be your first roll in kiteboarding. It's going to open the door to many other more advanced tricks that begin with this rotation.
The back roll is often a misunderstood trick, not because it's overly difficult but because people often mistake it for a flip. While you can invert your back rolls into a flip, more often than not they
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17th Feb 2020
Can I Mix Kiteboarding / Kitesurfing Control Bars
I wanted to cover a topic that comes up all the time. Can, or should, you mix control bars? The short answer is yes. The long answer is... maybe.
The last few years, I've used a ton of different brands. Cabrinha, Slingshot, Liquid Force, North, Duotone, Naish, Airush and more. When I started at the shop, I was surprised to see the crew was always mixing control bars. More often than not, you can mix any modern 4-line kite with any 4-line bar. However, there are some things to watch out
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10th Feb 2020
How To Trim Your Kiteboarding Kite For Big Air & Hangtime
With the Red Bull King of the Air competition having just wrapped up, we wanted to do a video on big air, specifically on how you can trim your kite to get more air and hangtime! This is an easy tip that will make a big difference in your kiteboarding. Rather than our normal ride with Blake blog, we decided to keep this one right to point. Enjoy!
Step One - Trim your Kite for Hangtime
The point of this is to trim your kite so that you can sheet the bar all the way in without the kit
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6th Feb 2020
How to pop kiteboarding [Unhooked] -The ultimate guide
Welcome to our latest playlist: The Unhooking Fundamentals. With freestyle kiteboarding being so advanced these days, it can be overwhelming. Strangely, unhooked riding has a weird reputation. You see it all over in the magazines and in pro rider videos, yet on the local beach it has become far less common. Often people are worried that it's too intense or dangerous. In truth, unhooking is one of the most fun aspects of kiteboarding. If you learn to do it right, it's actually easy
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6th Jan 2020
Kiteboarding Transitions: Sent Crail Grab
Nuke or Crail? It has come to our attention that this particular grab is actually a Crail grab. In the video we call it a Nuke, however for the written steps, I'll be using the correct name. My apologies for any confusion. The Crail Grab is your backhand reaching across to the nose of the kite. The Nuke is technically when you take that a step further to your heelside edge. -Rygo Today we are going to go over how to do a Sent Crail grab. This is one of the more early intermediate leve
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9th Dec 2019
Kiteboarding Transitions: Toeside Backflip
Today we are going to go over how to Toeside backflip transition. This is the second video in our intermediate to advanced transition playlist. Normally we focus on beginner and intermediate level tricks. Don't worry, we have some easier transitions lined up for this playlist. This trick is an interesting variation of the back roll. You're adding some style and difficulty by popping toeside and adding a jump transition into the kite movement.
We recommend you download
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25th Nov 2019
Kiteboarding: Handplant Transition
Heads up. We do not recommend you try this with solid objects. This is a very advanced trick.
Today we are going to go over how to do a handplant transition. This is the first video in our advanced transition playlist. Normally we focus on beginner and intermediate level tricks, so don't worry; we have some easier transitions lined up for this playlist. Even if you're a newer kiteboarder, this is a fun one to practice. Just make sure you avoid solid objects at all costs. The trick, broken d
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6th Nov 2019
Kiteboarding Hood River with Chris Bobryk
Last time on Sessions, we were in Portugal catching up with Christophe Tack in his home lagoon. It's been a busy summer since then. Blake and I were able to check out the 2020 Cabrinha products in the Florida Keys. From there we made our way to Spain with Duotone and eventually Morocco for the new North product release. Normally I'd release our Sessions chronologically but I wanted to introduce a couple of new faces to the team.
This week we're visiting the heart of North A
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3rd Oct 2019
Cabrinha Moto Vs the Drifter
We’ve had the new Moto for a full year now and we wanted to give you an updated review. This is going to be a shorter video but, unlike the Switchblade, there are some new insights we wanted to share. If you’re not familiar with the Moto, last year Cabrinha released a new kite in the lineup- something not to replace, but to complement the Switchblade, essentially a lighter and faster 3-strut version with characteristics of its own. This was a clever solution to a big problem for Cabrinha.&nbs
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26th Aug 2019
Cabrinha Switchblade Vs AV8
For 2020, Cabrinha has two kites that might interest the same rider. They are both aimed at big air riders who want to jump high and enjoy a kite with good hangtime: the Cabrinha Switchblade and the new AV8. While they have some cross-over characteristics, these are different kites designed for a different purpose and a different kiteboarder. I've noticed some people get annoyed while watching the product videos that claim the AV8 is a boosting machine or that the Switchblade has even lighter
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19th Aug 2019
Kiteloop Front Roll: Ride with Blake
Today we are going to go over how to do a Kiteloop Front Roll.
This trick is a fun one. People call it a front roll kiteloop and Ruben Lenten coined this trick as a Boogie loop. I would call a massive mega loop front roll a boogie and an average one a front roll kiteloop. It doesn’t really matter what it’s called because it’s the same thing so call it what you like. This trick feels strange at first because you and the kite are rotating in opposite directions. However once you get
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17th Jun 2019
Liquid Force NV VS Cabrinha FX a Comprehensive Review
Two freestyle kites that at first glance look similar, yet are noticeably different on the water... the long-standing Cabrinha FX and the even-longer-standing, yet new to the category Liquid Force NV. If you’re looking for a kite to take your kiteloops or unhooked riding to a new level, these will get it done. The question is, which kite is right for you? Today we’ll break it all down and dive into everything you need to know.
Let’s dive into some common attributes between these kites.
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17th Jun 2019
Freestyle Kiting With Christophe Tack - Sessions with Rygo EP 10
Last time on Sessions we explored Key West and the Canary Islands with our team rider Blake Olsen. We were filming for our
kiteloop playlist and just enjoying the islands with good friends. It was so much fun visiting what has become one of my favorite cities for kiteboarding in the USA. The only downside was that I had just injured my knee snowboarding and I had to sit out on most of the riding on both of these trips!
Testing the Liquid Force NV V9
Getting bac
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28th May 2019
Kiteloop Back Roll - Ride with Blake
Today we're covering one of the most sought-after tricks in kiteboarding: the backroll kiteloop, also known as the F-16. This doesn’t have to be a scary trick. Actually, most people accidentally do backroll kiteloops as they are learning their first backrolls because it is natural to pull in on your back hand as you throw the rotation.
The only thing that makes this trick scary is when you don’t know what you are doing and it gets out of control. If you can follow
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20th May 2019
Down Loop Front Roll Transition - Ride with Blake
Today Rygo and I are going to be covering a very important topic, one that will change the way you transition forever. The reason downloops are so cool is because they're basically a shortcut to more powered transitions, used for riding waves, carving turns and riding in light winds. Make sure to do this while slightly under-powered to minimize risk of injury.
This is one of our more advanced videos. The good news is that we have three tutorials you should master before attemp
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2nd May 2019