Mai Tai Kite Camp 2008 - Video

Thanks Mark! a video summary of a fun week.

Tree a Kite in Kihei? Coco Mike(s) TO THE RESCUE!!!

One of our riders treed a kite during Mai Tai 2008. Apparently a pretty common occurance in Kihei behind the Maui Sunset. Attempts to fly it out in one piece failed of course, so half a kite was left in the tree.

After repeated calls to the Maui Sunset with no response, Kon Othmer was finally able to find a GREAT resource to come to the rescue. Coco Mike (who's email is plural because the singular version was taken) can climb huge palm trees, BAREFOOT, without any spikes, cleats or anything that can damage a tree!! The ropes you see in the picture are not used to tie HIM down, only to lower things from the tree safely.. If you are ever in the same situation that we were, contact Mike Shortell at (808) 572-2845 or reach him by email at cocomikes@gmail.com.

Jump Lessons at Mai Tai 2008

Wow. These guys can jump. Ben Meyer of Naish :


and Tom Court of North:

What to do on a windless day on Maui - Freebord!

Just before heading out to Maui, I brought Susi and Tom up to SF to visit Freebord to try out their gear on a windy day at Crissy. We wanted to see if we could snowboard on asphalt and stay upwind with a kite. 35MPH winds, with a trainer kite and a freebord...

The product is like a longboard with two truck wheels along the center that swivel - so it rides like a snowboard. Here are some cool shots of the board's evolution :

The intention was to bring them to Maui and try them out with 4 line kites so we could also depower if needed. We planned to kite but the wind was too light. So we rode 'em anyway! Susi Mai, Tom Court, plus Jesse Richman (winner of PKRA France) and Clarissa Hempel, who just won the Texas Velocity games last week.