Been windy for about 3 weeks in a row now since I’ve gotten to Hood River. This spot is truly special and gives your body way too many days on the 6m kites 🙂

Anyways to back to the point of the post, I got to sit down with Bill over at Dakine last week and he gave me a quick tour around the Dakine office in downtown Hood River. Pretty cool to check out what goes into making a company like Dakine run everyday. Super cool group of people that all share a passion for the outdoors and can all get stoked after work on the water. Was a very cool experience to walk through the place!

Bill setup me up as a Team Rider for Dakine and has given me a bit of gear to get me stoked on!

Glad to be back in a supportive and comfortable harness! And be working with one of the biggest companies in the Kite Industry!

I’ve been meaning to write a review for The Street for sometime now, but as you can imagine if its blowing its hard as a kiteboarder to sit behind a computer screen.

I’ve had the Street now for a few months and find it to be my favorite board of the Shinn lineup for my riding style. I’ve used the Street with straps and with boots and prefer the board to be ridden with boots.

Here are a few stand out features of the new Street by Shinn

The Street has the most aggressive rocker line in the Shinn lineup. But when I say that, what makes the board really stand out is that even with that extra rocker the board remains quick and not like the wakestyle boards in the industry that are very hard to find the right amount of power to ride with. It can be challenging to unhook on a 12m in 20 knots because thats only time you are powered enough with these other wakestyle boards. With the Street I can get going on my 12m  in 13-15 knots and have a great session.

The new Ep Tips are nice for a quick release of the water. However I can’t say that the release is much different to my other board the SuperShinn. Both are quick boards to pop against and load up the kite with confidence. This is one of my favorite things about the Shinn boards is that you can get out and ride any of the boards and it feels natural and comfortable. Making you get right in tune with the board from the minute you step on it.

I’m currently riding The Street in the 137 by 42.5 which is very lightweight for its size! With the extra width there is no leg spray and the added rocker makes for no spray off the nose no matter how choppy it is! Landings are super smooth and you don’t have to be punished for keep the kite low during wakestyle moves.

If your looking to ride a bit more powered and like to have a solid edge to lean in to accompanied by the softest landings and smooth release off the water for boosting, looping or wakestyle trick look no further. Contact one of your local Shinn Dealers or Reps and try out the new Street! If you see me on the water come grab the board from me to try!

Check out Shinn Teammate Alex Bournay making the Street look mighty fun!

http://youtu.be/MnIjByQiGPE

Just got back from a fun week up at SSS with plenty of sessions to talk about on the long trip back to Florida.

We started the trip up at midnight and made it to Hatteras the next day, just in time for a quick session in the ocean and the first party at Real.

The wind wasn’t the best for Hatteras, but luckily for the awesome crew that I was up there with I don’t think we had too many dull moments. We had sessions everyday not always with a kite but with the Surfboards, Sup’s, Jetski’s and Slacklining there thanks to everybody. Sessions were always to be had!

Was a great time to watch all the pros and cheer on local Billy Parker at SSS earning himself 2nd place overall! Now just have to find my way into the event next year!

Thanks again to everyone who made this trip possible!

Just got in Hatteras last night with the Shinn Team, somehow it took a few hours longer then it was suppose too 😉

Showed up to a nice party with MassKiting and plenty of food to be passed around! We will be driving around with them the next couple days chasing the wind. I’m currently in Avon but if you see the Mass group or any Mutiny Kites in the air stop on by and try them out!

Ill be staying at the Air Retreat next week, so come on by and try out the lastest Mutiny Kites and Shinn boards with us!

Stay tuned for more updates on where we will be and whats going on!

I’ve been trying to work out a board deal for a longtime and haven’t had any luck finding a company that I wanted to work for along with a sick line of products to ride on. Luckily, I know the guys over at All Out Kiteboarding as they were my first kiteboarding sponsor back when I was starting off, and now they are helping me with new Shinn Boards.

I met Mike, one of the owners of AOK, down in the Florida Keys on a windy weekend, I really liked the boards I got to see and ride and liked what he was doing with the company. I’m very pleased to now be on the Shinn National Team here in the US. Glad to be tied back in with AOK too as they are always a pleasure to work with. They have incredible customer service, along with an amazing shop and school in Tybee, Georgia.

The SuperShinn just showed up at my door in time for another trip to the Keys! Just check out some of photos from the trip. I think it gives you an idea on how much I’m liking  the board 🙂

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With my Spring Break this year I wanted to get some kiting in and having just found out my buddy had an X-Star I knew that would be in use too! But won’t have guessed we would have chased the wind to the places we did! Awesome crew of riders along the way! Can’t complain about this Spring Break!

All shot on the GoPro so make sure to watch it in HD 🙂

Check it out for yourself!