11/10/2008 - 12/10/2008, Scheveningen, Holland
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10/11/2008, Scheveningen, Holland |
Finally last weekend was the weekend we've all been waiting for for a long time. The Dutch Championships had green light. The first day the wind came a bit offshore and so was pretty gusty. It also was not to warm. I hadn't kited in a long time due to school and I had a hard time getting used to the conditions as it was too cold to just go out for a warming up. I got knocked out in the second round and was happy I could get out of my wetsuit. The next day the wind was a lot better, but still very cold! the wind was for a 7m2. I had my 9m2 and 7m2 ready to fly. When my heat started. I wanted to take my 7m2, but it was soft :S. So I took out my 9m2 and was lit. When the heat was over I went to see what was up with my 7m2, but couldn't find anything. So I pumped it up just before my next heat and noticed that because of the leak it had a deviation to the right. Which on a 7m2 is really messed up. I manage to pass that heat, but the next heat it got worse and as soon as I tried to pass the bar the kite would fly into the water. So that limited my tricks like there is no tomorrow. I couldn't do enough tricks to pass the heat and so I lost. I guess Dutch Championships are not my thing.
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www.nkkite.nl
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4/10/2008, Brussels, Belgium |
Well the Dutch Championships was a no go and got postponed to the 11th and 12th of september! I also just came of the water and man it is getting cold already! I hope the will be next weekend, because otherwise they'll be only in november and I don't want to know how cold that is going to be.
I also recently started my education to become an airline pilot. So during the week I'm in school from 8:20 - 16:50. I've been in school now for 3 weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. It's getting a bit chilly to go kiting any way so that will be a nice push for the studying. I will still be kiting in the weekends though and will compete in the dutch championships as long as there is no to great of a risk for hyperthermia  ! So please be next weekend  !
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1/9/2008, Noordwijk, Holland |
After spending a month in Knokke, Belgium it was time to go home again. The time there was awesome. Teaching a bit, Hanging with friend a bit and making new friends... The weather on the day of my return in Noordwijk was generous as there was nice wind and a good amount of sunshine to play! Hopefully this weekend is the Dutch Championships as there weather forecast looks promising, but that can all still change.
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6/8/2008, Knokke, Belgium |
After getting back from The Gorge I did a lot of thing! We hit the cable park a few times and got a slider and kicker fever from it, but it was awesome! Did a couple of clinics for Q-music (NL) and went to some private concerts with no more then 100 people. A couple of days ago I arrived in Knokke, Belgium to give some lessons and hang around a little bit. I also have two clinics planned with Q-music Belgium and going to be in the jury for the MOËT Cup which is held right here in Knokke. For tomorrow there is a N.E.R.D. concert on my way so we'll see how that is going to end
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20/7/2008, Hood River, Oregon |
With a day off we desisted to go up to Mount Hood for some snowboarding. The snow was nice and soft. After we got some down hill action we went down to the sandbar for some kiting action. I mean now we can say we snowboarded and kited on the same day and I think that its pretty cool to say. Skippers meeting today was at 8:30 for the Big Air contest. The wind wasn't that great at first but got better as the event went on. I was on my 9m2 all day and was perfectly lit. My boosting skills got me up on the podium on the 3rd place as I lost from Alvaro Onieva. So pretty stoked with the podium. I got a couple of things I want to do here like mountain biking and kite some different spots. Now the comp is over I got some time to do those things.
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www.gorgegames.net
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18/7/2008, Hood River, Oregon |
I had a good session on my 9m2. I really like this place! it's nice and windy, sunny and the people are cool. The skippers meeting for the contest was at 8:30 am. I got my kites sorted out and pumped up my 9m2 and 7m2. The wind was a bit fluky and up and down. So I ended up pumping my 11m2 just incase. I didn't need it though. I ended up just using my 9m2 as I would be lit and underpowered on every kite and the 9m2 is the nice size. I lost against Damien LeRoy and got 5th as there were only singles. I had a super nice kite session after the contest was done and the wind got steadier. Tomorrow we have a break so we had a good idea to go snowboarding in the morning and then go kiting in the afternoon. Then on Saturday there is the Big air and we'll see how that is gonna go.
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www.gorgegames.net/
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16/7/2008, Hood River, Oregon |
After the Jack Johnson concert in Den Haag we had a long flight the next morning from Amsterdam through LA to Portland, but we made it. Trying to rent a car is not as easy as it seems and we ended up renting a U-Haul van. We started driving towards the town Hood River and when we arrived the town was pretty small for the amount you hear about it, but nonetheless it's a super nice town. We met some people and ran in to some people we already knew. The first session was on my 11m2 and was pretty mellow. The spot is awesome here and can't wait to go out again. The backdrops here are insanely pretty. With a snowy Mount Hood in the background.
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12/7/2008, Noordwijk |
When the doubles came up I had long ways to go. So I could fix my leash as it broke in the semi finals. The wind wasn't as steady as the day before. I went out a little bit before I had to go put up a show. It was perfect for my 9m2. The wind went a little flukey on us the heat before the second and third place. So we had a little break. It didn't take too long for the wind to pick back up. So they started the comp again. I put up my 11m2 during the heat before mine and it was perfect so I stayed out. 1 min before the heat the wind picked up a good amount and I was well overpowered, but I knew if I would change my kite it would only cause stress, so I stuck with it. I lost this heat and went on to my 9m2 for my second chance. I was powered perfect and was doing well the first half of the heat and the other guy was crashing everything, but in the second half of the heat it turned and I was crashing my tricks. I don't know why, but I guess I wanted to do everything to fast when I had the time. I unfortunately lost this heat and became second which is also pretty satisfying. I stayed a bit longer and got my PADI open water diving license which was a cool experience.
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22/6/2008, Paros, Greece |
After getting in on Paros I chilled with George. He is the event organizer and a good friend. We did the single elimination. I got to start in the second round already as I was ranked in the top 8. We started of and when I had my heat I was on a 11m2. The wind was good and I passed on to the quarter finals. They stopped after the second round and called it a day. The next day we had course racing on the program. I was really stoked with that as I like it a lot! We did a test run and it was about 6 min course which was perfect for multiple races. We started at 1 o'clock together with the live television. I guess I did pretty well as i finished 4th in the first race. The second race was a different story though. I was on the 5th position and about to get 4th again, but my nose dove and I lost my board and saw a bunch of people pass me. After the course racing there was a hangtime contest. I took a 12.5m2 Flexifoil ION3 and boosted a massive time of 7.35 sec. This was also the winning time! so that will be my first podium place for the event. The freestyle continued the next day. There was live TV again and I took out my 7m2 in the quarter finals. I was pretty lit and I won this heat and was stoked, because worst I could get now was 5th. In the semi finals I had Antoine Auriel who was killing it, but I had the favorite of the judges in that heat and went on to the finals against Leander Vyvey. The wind dropped a bit, but was still good for my 7m2. As they did the podium for the live TV the called Miguel Willis for 3rd place and Leander Vyvey for 2nd so that meant I was first and won the Singles. Super stoked and hope to keep my first place in the doubles. For now I'm going to have a nice chill.
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www.kiteboardpro.com/greece2008.htm
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15/6/2008, St Thomas, USVI |
After some of the last kite sessions and a nice surf session it's time to move on. I took a flight from St Thomas to Atlanta where I spend the night. I'm waiting for my flight to Athens, but as I'm on standby I don't know if i'm going to make the flight! If not I'll try to get there an other way or day. I will report back when I'm in Greece and let you guys know if I made it or I had a mission.
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28/5/2008, St. Thomas, USVI |
The wind has been good to us! We also did a protest to safe the reefs and the beaches on the islands... what we did was snorkel the reef and put buoys next to every endangered coral we saw and then we took an areal shot of it. The next morning we had 15 min to leave the house and get to the hanger to go to the BVI's to kite. Unfortunately there was not much wind, but we still had a blast. I saw a little baby shark and luckily I didn't see it's mother. On the way back we flew over the BVI music festival where Damian Marley was preforming. Looked cool from the sky, but we couldn't land anywhere near so we went back to the USVI to wake up to another windy day! We kited an other spot this time. They call it the laguna and it's close to the marina.
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11/10/2008 - 12/10/2008, Scheveningen, Holland
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