Really excited to announce that I’ve won this years Triple-S Open to make it into the main event!

I’ve had my eyes set on being a apart of this event since I visited Hatteras, NC 4 years ago. The Triple-S Invitational is the biggest event in North America and the largest invite only contest in kiteboarding! To become part of this event was truly a dream come true!

Coming into the event I was a little worried about having good winds for the event as in years past the Open event didn’t have the strongest of winds. Luckily this year we received plenty of wind! It was however quite gusty and out of the NNE making it a challenge to ride in the backyard of Real Watersports. Between the 20 riders entered there was only 1 spot guaranteed to make it into the main event, keeping all the competitors on there toes.

With the shifty and challenging winds I made the choice of taking my 14m out and I think in the end this is what set me apart from the rest of the riders. Most riders where rigging there 10-12m kites to handle the gusty winds but then would struggle when the wind would lull. Having the 14m Mutiny P-Series being my favorite and most used kite back home in Sarasota, Florida it was a no brainer to take it out for the final heats of the Triple-S.

Can’t begin to express how excited I am to be included in this event! I want to give a Huge Thanks to every at Real Watersports for all the efforts and opportunity to be part of this event! Can’t wait to be back for it next season!

Check out this edit that Nate and boys put together of my finals run!

Finally getting back on here to give you guys a little wrap up of the annual Miami KiteMasters event that runs every spring on the beautiful beaches of Key Biscayne, Florida. This event is the longest running kiting contest in Florida, however it didn’t happen last year making this years have a even larger excited crowd ready for action after the 2 year hiatus.

We got lucky coming into this event as the wind didn’t look too promising a few days out from the weekends event. Then on Friday before the event the winds began to change, and changed for the better! Showing 15-18 mph from the NorthEast for the weekend! Seeing the new forecast I threw my gear in my car and started my trek over to Miami!

Sure enough when I arrived, I was greeted with a lot more wind then what we had back home! Knowing that I wasn’t missing out on anything back home and scoring a session somewhere else for some reason is one of the best feelings. My favorite part about the kiting events here in the United States is that it brings a lot of the core kiters together from across the country making for one big reunion. If there was anything that could bring us all together it’d surely be the wind!

As the wind continued to fill in the Freestyle heats where scheduled to start at noon. As the draws went up I was excited to see myself in one of the first heats with a lot of new names. With my 12 and 14m Mutiny P-Series rigged I reached for my 14m before the heat started as I wanted to be well powered to stay in the small judging box during the contest. And with this decision I had a great heat helping me in advancing to the next round.

In my semi-final I drew a lot of familiar faces. I was up against Damien Leroy and Kellen Hall, two of the best riders on the east coast of the US and probably for that matter the US. The wind was picking up still but I wanted to keep my kite low and powered against these two so I went on my 14m again and with some luck and a smooth heat made it through to the finals with Damien and myself advancing.

Making it into the finals I now knew each rider.. Making it seem kind of like one fun session with my friends! Most riders went out on 9-12m kites but once again I decided for the 14m! Got some strange looks when I went to put it up as it was blowing 20+mph! But I’ve ridden the kite before into these winds and really enjoy the way the 14m P-Series feels for freestyle tricks powered up.

I have to say in the finals I had the best contest heat I’d ever had! I landed every trick I could throw and didn’t crash once in the finals! However somehow this wasn’t enough to make the podium.. I think I made kiting look too easy or something to the judges and needed to crash and butt check more to get my degree of difficulty up a notch.. 😉 This is what makes competing tough and feel unrewarding. But at the end of the day I was so excited with how I was riding I just continued to keep riding after the heat had ended!

To wrap up the day the heats of Boarder X started and I was excited to race around a fun downwind course! I won my first heat with a little bit of heat from a fellow rider I respect as he didnt like how powered I came into the turn making for a dicey jibe. It was clearly my fault on this one but it was a race with what seemed to be no rules.. Board X style. In the next heat I was leading the pack and couldn’t find the paddleboards to jump.. resulting in me ending the heat in 3rd and not advancing to the finals. None the less this was the most fun I’ve ever had in a kite race!

Wrapping up a fun day with a nice sunset on the bay water with dinner and friends I made my journey home not with a medal to show for it this time but a lot of contest experience gained and new friends to remember the times with!

 

Finally sitting down to write up a little review on my week spent visiting Panama and on my stay at Nitro City for the first tour stop of the PKRA.

First off if you haven’t been to Nitro City its a must for the whole family! There is so much to do at the resort that you can easily keep everyone happy while you go score a kite session. Really no matter what you want out of a typical resort its offered at Nitro City. However what they offer that I’ve never seen before from a resort is so many activities offered onsite of a resort! You can kiteboard, cable, skateboard, dirtbike, atv, paintball all right outside your front door. And don’t forgot this resort truly has “NO RULES”!

Most of the rooms at the resort are themed after pro athletes that have spent time at Nitro City. I was very impressed with the comfort and overall impression of the rooms. It was very clean and up to date, with an amazing view to boot! But lets be honest we are here to have fun and stay in the water more then inside the rooms..

^^^ Like I said there aren’t any RULES! Sessions in the ocean and the pool!

With views like this and kiting everyday at my doorstep I think its an easy call that I’ll be revisiting Nitro City soon again! With all the new friends and experiences made from a week spent in Panama I can’t wait to return to the windy country in the near future!

A Big Thanks to all my sponsors who helped support this trip to my first PKRA Tour Stop. Couldn’t have done it without the support of my local kiting group “Kite Jam” either! Thanks guys!

After spending 2013 based out of Florida for the winter I trekked up to Hatteras for SSS before heading out West to get my Hood River fix! For the first time in my life I truly found myself living an “Endless Summer”! If you enjoy it please share it on, any feedback or comments are more then welcome! Please leave them below in a comment

Camera : Cole Elsasser, Luis Chavez, Brendan Kerr, Sean Buell, Drew Christianson
Edit: Drew Christianson
Gear: FS700, 5D, 70D, Gopro

The CKA Fall Event started off in one of my home spots here in St.Petersburg, Florida. With a good group of riders from across the southeast of the country coming together to compete in this first stop made for a good level of riding! I was stoked to make it to the finals and knew it was going to be hard to get to the top of that!

Stoked to end the day in 1st after battling it out all day! Huge thanks to Ryan, Billy Parker and Luis for judging and making this event happen. Excited to see the level of riding at the next event!