SO…the dates and locations have finally been announced and locked down.  I’m teaming up with the rest of the LF crew to hit the beaches of Europe and demo all the 2012 Liquid Force range.  Check out the poster and be sure to come check out the tour if it’s coming to a beach near you

So, my time has unfortunately come to an end out here in Maui.  It is truly one of the most spectacular places I have ever been to and feel blessed to have experienced some amazing sights and conditions here.  Part of the reason I love to kite is the freedom to travel and experience new places and experiences.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from my time spent here, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.  Today I left to fly to Oahu where i’ll be doing some riding and shooting with a few mates and then I return to the UK for a very busy summer of kiting and travelling.

Aloha!

This winter I’ve found myself out in Maui for a few months to escape the winter clutches of the UK. I’ve had some great sessions already and it’s been exciting being involved with the testing process for the Liquid Force equipment. There are some exciting products in the pipeline.

Maui is such a beautiful place i’ve been spoilt when it comes to feeding my photographic habit, so here’s a couple shots from my time so far.

In this video i decided to gather some unused footage from the year and put together an edit of what i’ve been up to and some of the places i’ve been to.  Check it out, it has a distinctively british feel to it!

Pretty stoked to see the latest cover of Kiteboarding mag with me on it!

So i’m back once again in Brasil, it’s been 3 years since I last came here.  I’d forgotten how great the wind and conditions are here.  I hooked up with Brandon and Craig from LF to shoot some video action the other day at the lagoon out here and this was the end product!

After a successful trip to Egypt It was time for some home time.  After a brief spell back in Manchester I packed up vanzee and drove north to one of my favourite destinations in the UK.  Arriving in Oban early in the morning after driving through the night I boarded the Calmac Ferry destined for the tiny island of Tiree in the Hebrides islands.

The weather is so changeable and you can have days with every weather condition rolled into one.  With beaches all over the island there’s never a condition not kiteable.  WIth some of the most insane sunsets and cloud formations it is an amazing place to enjoy the wildlife and being by the water.

After a successful trip to Fuerte to shoot with the UK freeride crew it was time for a break and some time out.  I hit up long term friend Marco Koppel at Bigdayz.com and hooked up a flight out to Egypt for a fortnight with my brother for some riding and desert time away.

Arriving straight into nuking winds for the first week wasn’t completely what i’d expected but it certainly made for a change back to riding small kites after 12m conditions every session in Fuerte.  Having worked out in Soma Bay back in the day after graduation from uni it was good to get back and check out some of the spots I used to ride at.

After the heavy wind start to the trip it was nice to be back on a 9 during the second week and get in some filming and shots on the new 2012 gear.  Rocking the nirvana’s and DLX this year was the perfect lineup for egypt flat water and steady wind conditions and we scored a couple of good sessions with fellow brit Jon Bleiker who was there getting in some competition training for this years British Champs.  WIth my main focus on the freeriding movement in kitesurfing it was the perfect opportunity to get back to pushing some new grab variations on some moves after a highly successful rail project with Aaron Hadlow, Sam Light and Tom Court in Fuerteventura.

Last week saw me packing once again and for a much longer US bound flight this time.  Nearly a day of travelling and I arrived in Hood River, Oregon for the Invitational Ro-Sham Throwdown event.

First up was the ever growing and extremely successful Kiteboard 4 Cancer event where riders come from all over the world to raise money for cancer sufferers.  The event is one long gruelling race lasting 6 hours and the idea is to do as many laps of the course as possible.

The UK crew has all rolled in now and we’ve been getting out to hit a few of the spots around the gorge and get in some shooting at a variety of spots.  Yesterday saw the completion of the rails for the Ro-Sham event and the qualifiers get undergo.  After, we had a bit of time to free-ride and session the new rails.  A brand new Liquid Force dancefloor has just been commissioned and looked the party piece of the park with everyone enjoying some good hits.

The semi’s and finals are held on Saturday where there will be 45 minute heats of 8 riders with only 2 riders from each progressing into a final so will be a pretty tight competition.

Thanks to Boomting for a few of the images:

I’ve just returned home from a big fortnight trip to the States culminating in the prestigous Triple S held at Real Kiteboarding, Cape Hatteras.

To kick the trip off I flew out to Charleston (knicknamed Chucktown) to hook up with a good mate of mine, Davey Blair who rules the roost in Chucktown and has competed yearly in the SSS since it’s infancy 6 years ago.  Sam Light flew in to meet the next day and after some gun shooting, night giggin for flounder and winching at the local boat lake we set off for our 9 hour road trip up to Cape Hatteras for the Triple S.

The first few days of the event saw no wind so our time was spent in the boat basin riding the new rooftop rail on a winch (a small motor that pulls a long line enabling you to ride for a short period of time and hit obstacles).  It wouldn’t be the triple s if the parties and bands weren’t up to scratch so we were able to chill out take turns in hitting the rails whilst enjoying the music and many pints of Longboard local ale.

The last 3 days saw good SW winds hit and 3 mammoth days of riding going down.  I don’t think any of us have ridden that hard in a long time so the effects were felt buy everyone but the stoke and attitude of everyone kept the atmosphere on the water so good it was almost impossible to stop.  The final day brought strong 9m conditions and the park set up giving everyone a run through so they could hit rooftop, A-frame, wall ride, kicker and incline in one long run.

Aaron Hadlow, Billy Parker, Brandon Scheid and Bruna Kajiya all stepped up to dominate the disciplines and take home the result spoils in a rider voted result format but every rider went away happy as it’s more of a show the riders put on and an opportunity for all the guys to come together and ride some of the best kite features in the world with similar minded riders all focused on the true style of kiteboarding.

Next month I’m off to the Gorge in Hood River, Oregon to attend the Ro-Sham throwndown, a similar event aimed at the core style of riding rails and features in one of the best kite parks out there.