TheKiteMag

TheKiteMag is a premium international kitesurfing publication. We work with the very best in the business to ensure that only the highest quality content appears within our pages... With many years in the kitesurfing industry we truly have our finger on the pulse and the best contacts in the business to ensure that you get the best kiteboarding content on the planet...

On the Line

TheKiteMag

FOCUS

Olympic Games • The 2024 Olympic Games are seeing kiting, in the genre of foil racing, as part of the excitement. We hear from Andy Rice, a journalist who has been reporting on racing for the past few years, then from one of the favorites to win a medal, Lauriane Nolot, two times World Champion.

ON THE LIST TARIFA • Tarifa is one of the world’s most popular kite spots, and while there is plenty of info already out there about it, we thought it wouldn’t hurt to do an upto-date round up as it’s an ever-evolving kiting hub. Keanu Merten, two-times Spanish champion and team rider for Duotone, hails from Benahavis, Estepona, 70km from Tarifa, but spends several months in Tarifa every year and knows it as well as anyone…

HARLEM THRIVE • Harlem Kitesurfing was thrilled to welcome five-time World Champion Aaron Hadlow as well as designer Ralf Groesel to their family recently. We hear from Aaron about the Thrive kite that he and Ralf have been working on, which Harlem have just released.

CURIOUS GEORGE • We hadn’t heard of Greek kiter George Kintis before now, so we were curious to find out more about him. Originally from Athens, he spends most of the summer teaching on the island of Paros, as well as training in his favorite discipline of Big Air. He was stoked to be invited on his first trip with the Eleveight crew, to spend a week on a Kite2Sail catamaran in beautiful Sardinia.

Under the Hood • It’s been a massive 30 years since RRD’s first production collection, and as we love celebrating an anniversary, we caught up with brand founder Roberto Ricci to find out more about how these three decades have gone.

MATCHU LOPES & LUIS DE DIOS • Hopefully you already noticed this issue’s epic cover of Matchu Lopes – who came second on the GKA Kite-Surf World Tour for the last two years running – deep in the barrel, the stuff dreams are made of. Axel Reese caught up with him in Tarifa and also chatted to Luis de Dios, Matchu’s personal trainer and mental coach, about what it takes to be a success..

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BAÍA DOS TIGRES • We’d never heard of the Angolan island of Baía dos Tigres before this story dropped into our inbox, and after reading through we could see why it doesn’t exactly pop up on every kiter’s destination wish list. Mystic team riders Camille Delannoy, Graham Howes and Oswald Smith, together with photographer Kyle Cabano, videographer Jop Heemskerk and local guides Matt Sakko, Tiaan Hoeben and Donovan Mark, had an adventure getting there that goes down as one of the most perilous we’ve ever printed.

THE WIND AND THE WILD • After watching Leo Verrecchia’s video “The Wind & The Wild”, we caught up with him to find out more about his recent trips to Brazil and the US. He was stoked to report the 2023/24 season was his best kite season to date – he experienced significant progression in his riding, explored new places, made new friends, and had unforgettable experiences. And when he eventually returned home he topped it off by winning the Australian Freestyle Nationals…

STRONGER • When Alessa Mensch suffered a back injury last year, she wondered whether she would be able to kite competitively again, but she kept her mindset strong and went on to compete in two Big Air events earlier this year, placing on the podium at one of them. She then...