tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-189333642009-12-30T14:58:44.423-08:00An online journal of a KITESURFING VENTURE CAPITALIST -- "to the truly engaged, work and play are one and the same"kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-49148967286852396282009-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:002009-12-21T16:01:38.492-08:00

Year End Summary - KPWT 2009 Events SummaryA summary of the year's events - locations, riders, THE WORKS!! Lots of info here on places to kite around teh world to save for future reference.Kpwt Press Kit 2009

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-32821681426626937482009-08-20T11:00:00.000-07:002009-09-30T21:11:41.466-07:00

Race Results - First Ever Kiteboarding World Cup in San FranciscoCongrats to #1 Sean Farley (North Kites) who has been incredibly consistent and tough to beat for several years now; also to friends (and Ozone Team Riders) Chip Wasson (2nd) and Johnny Heinekin (3rd) who were riding Chip's radical new fin designs - with great results. Lastly a congrats to my Cabrinha Team team mates - Bruno Sroka

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-90378994817752892582009-07-12T07:50:00.001-07:002009-07-14T21:16:01.466-07:00

KPWT Tarifa, Spain (plus a visit to Morocco)Had a chance to jet out to the Kiteboard Pro World Tour in Tarifa Spain over 4th of July Holiday. The competition was held in "ok" conditions, with steady wind, albeit on the lighter side. Our pal Jesse Richman (2008's #1 overall) managed to win the kiteloop competition, and placed 4th in course racing and 9th in freestyle. I met up with Cabrinha riders

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-54524739262384518292009-05-18T23:31:00.001-07:002009-07-14T17:01:03.568-07:00

MAI TAI Kite Camp 2009 - Susi Mai and Bill Tai, back on MAUI!MaiTai 2009 -- What a BLAST! Hard to believe this is year 7 for KiteCamp in its various forms, and something like year 11 including prior versions built around windsurfing. Kym McNicholas of Forbes.com came out to cover it this year.If I can get caught up ill post some great pictures from the attendees. I have to start with this awesome

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-27102090667217089942009-05-02T09:19:00.000-07:002009-05-03T09:50:56.760-07:00

Midnight Metal Works - Ethan Kerber when not KitingI first got to know Ethan Kerber on one of those whacky days that separates the crazy & addicted from the sane. A storm was blowing through town and winds were whipping up into the mid 30's and touching 40 Mph. Nuts!! There were only a few of us nut cases out there, and as the heaviest guy around, Ethan held me down as I attempted to launch a 9

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-68358299772725988492009-01-05T11:58:00.000-08:002009-05-03T07:59:26.409-07:00

An Attempt to SnowKite Mt Rose Meadow, Lake Tahoe We spent a week in the Lake Tahoe area over XMas break. On new years day, the set up looked solid for January second - expected winds of 19 MPH, and light snow. Luckily I had brought kites (so I thought). Well, so much for forecasts - a blizzard set in for the day with super gusty winds and enough snow to reduce visibility to zero.. Weather aside,

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-56910125033850226402009-03-15T11:09:00.001-07:002009-03-15T11:28:32.209-07:00

20 Miles of Kiting at Skyline Ridge, Utah After kiting on the snow at Avalance Beacon Training Park (dense short traverses on the upper right of the map) for a bit, a group of us (Kafka, Gershenberg, Gibson and I) kited up wind (to the left) and up the ridge (bottom left). Caution - super blustry winds up there. I felt fully powered down on the flats on my Switchblade 12, and up top the wind was

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-46248770456585326672009-03-15T04:03:00.000-07:002009-03-15T11:05:17.806-07:00

A Jump Lesson with Jeff Kafka - Snowkiting Utah

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-1159942336475489832006-11-10T23:07:00.000-08:002008-12-23T18:35:20.022-08:00

More Infamy....KITEfamy ! Cimeron authored a fun piece for Kiteboarding Magazine, highlighting the unusual mix of wind, surf and kiteboarding addicted people we have here in the SF Bay area and Silicon Valley. It's this months issue - cover highlighted to the left.It's a great read!! Buy the magazine by clicking HERE.Here's the front page of the article (pp 80 - 87). There was no wind on picture

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-1163476139357255652006-11-13T19:43:00.000-08:002008-12-23T18:23:42.200-08:00

Snowkiting 101 DVD back on line..Shannon Best AKA "the most LOVED HATED man in Kiteboarding" has given me a green light to allow my friends to download his new DVD video - Snowkiting 101. I've broken the download into 2 parts (part 1 and part 2) to reduce the probablility of your computer 'timing out' as the whole DVD at once takes a long time. Alternatively, you can order the DVD for snail mail

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-5842284245084998252008-12-15T13:03:00.000-08:002008-12-15T13:23:35.213-08:00

Amazing Overhead Shot - Kiting over a WhaleThis picture speaks for itself - what an amazing shot, and what an amazing feeling imagining this moment.

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-59245486738651219532008-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:002008-10-29T16:47:18.014-07:00

NEW SPEED RECORDS!!from Tyrone Rawlins --The 2008 Luderitz Speed Challenge was nothing less than spectacular. With months of preparations getting the strip ready, it was all worth while as every session delivered results as new records kept being set. History was made when Sebastien Cattelan became the first sailor to break the 50 knot barrier. But the racing continued with faster times being

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-57167818170441206812008-10-06T18:18:00.000-07:002008-10-06T18:24:41.507-07:00

getting ready to KITE THE LOBBYLooking forward to David Hornick's Lobby Conference in a few weeks. David has each of us do an introductory video as a way to get to know each other - I turned mine into a time capsule given the extraordinary things that are happening in the credit markets these days, as the issues surrounding the financial markets are definitely on my mind, even more than kiting

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-64386202714459302182008-08-02T22:07:00.000-07:002008-09-13T08:58:14.681-07:00

WATERPROOF H20 Audio IPOD Shuffle + AquaPac Ear Buds!GREAT combination. H20 Audio sent me their new waterproof IPOD Shuffle casing to try out. It comes with a "swim belt" that is intended for a swimmer's body - it fits perfectly mounted on a Cabrinha waist harness. The "pull cord" designed for the customer to unmount the IPOD doubles as a safety when the swimbelt is fed through the loop as shown

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-55318028353062700232008-07-04T16:35:00.000-07:002008-08-29T11:48:26.329-07:00

Pentax Waterproof Optio W30 - Kite Mounted in Las Terrenas, Dominican RepublicAfter the PKRA we went exploring other parts of the Dominican. I had one short evening session as the wind was fading in the town of Las Terrenas. Enough wind to cruise, but not enough to lift off the water - really cool to look below at the coral and sea life. Next year if we are back again we will hit Las Terrenas

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-15213222678147358722008-08-15T11:10:00.000-07:002008-08-29T11:46:41.927-07:00

Pentax Optio W30 - Filming KiteloopsMy Pentax Optio W20 is now at the bottom of the ocean somewhere off Kite Beach. So I replaced it with the w30. When filming with the camera mounted on a kite - 2 changes to note : SET the focus on 'infinity' - the default autofocus will lock in on a shorter distance when launching and the video will end up fuzzy if you don't. Separately, if trying stunts, the

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-75373556696679350812008-05-22T10:37:00.000-07:002008-08-29T11:42:50.398-07:00

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.

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-20200020743528067772008-07-12T14:11:00.000-07:002008-07-29T07:38:05.901-07:00

Susi's CabareteOver 4th of July holiday, Susi took me to her favorite kite spots in the Dominican. Far better than anything I could ever write to describe the Dominican Republic is this clip. This is a chapter from a kiting video called Catalyst, shot by Elliot Leboe. This is Susi's chapter on the D.R... "SOUL". She nails it with her description.

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-75064861370395736102007-08-08T11:39:00.000-07:002008-07-12T13:38:04.026-07:00

Kite Cam Video - Pentax Optio Attached to KiteYou can attach a camera (in this case a 6Mpx Pentax Optio W10 digital still cam, in movie mode) to your kite and film. After some expererimentation, placing the camera about a third of the way back on the strut centers the rider pretty well. Here's a test :

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-71275126363902071742008-06-28T08:04:00.000-07:002008-06-28T08:14:14.415-07:00

EPIC Battle for #1 at PKRA CabareteAmazing amount of energy and non stop hard core kiting at PKRA double elimination finals between reigning world champion Aaron Hadlow and second ranked Kevin Langeree. These are the raw photos capturing 2 of the 7 minutes. The entire 7 minutes were filled with moves like these..

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-64973122574686651052008-06-27T11:16:00.000-07:002008-06-28T08:13:18.442-07:00

PKRA Tour - Cabarete 2008My first time ever at the PKRA let alone visiting as a sponsored rider. All the names I've read about for years, right here. Day 1 coverage on Extreme Elements) plus pics below of registration:

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-33513567386728078902008-06-20T02:02:00.000-07:002008-06-20T02:38:01.289-07:00

USKN Winners!! Clarissa, Damien, and Jon Course racing is stepping up to be a big part of kiteboarding these days - it could be on it's way to becoming an olympic sport. If I understand it correctly, 48 countries need to particpate, hold trials, & qualify riders for kiting to become an officially sanctioned Olympic sport.Given the number of countries where wind and water have combined to produce

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-13619442879964945372008-05-29T14:11:00.000-07:002008-06-01T08:13:35.364-07:00

Mai Tai Kite Camp 2008 - VideoThanks Mark! a video summary of a fun week.

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-85660622179925553282008-05-16T11:46:00.000-07:002008-05-18T21:17:51.418-07:00

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

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18933364.post-5560918731676051302008-05-18T12:57:00.000-07:002008-05-18T13:03:38.137-07:00

Jump Lessons at Mai Tai 2008Wow. These guys can jump. Ben Meyer of Naish :and Tom Court of North:

kiteVChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12386222081191073728btai@crv.com2