Kite 2012

As you may already know, Youri Zoon has left Slingshot to BEST’s advantage. Apperantly Youri has gotten a very good offer from Best which is the easy cause to why he leaves Slingshot. Below is an interview with Youri where he clear things out for us.

Q. Welcome to BEST Youri! We are really excited to have you on board for 2013. Can you tell us a little bit about why you decided to come and Ride With Us?

A. The offer BEST made me was one I could not refuse. As a pro-rider I have to be able to pay my bills but more important than that was the chance to become heavily involved in developing a product which focuses on outstanding quality, is safe and reliable and has a lot of key innovations. Developing a good product is very important for me and BEST is very open to this, they have a great R&D team based here in Europe and I’m looking forward to working closely with Peter and Jordi. I saw the offer as a great opportunity and took it.

Q. BEST is a big family with team riders and departments spread all around the world, how big a factor was the BEST family in your decision to change brands?

A. I always saw that Best is very involved with their riders and that team riders play a large part in developing and testing new gear and they do have a reputation for throwing a party at their team meetings. It’s always good when a company is like a big family, working with their team riders, thinking, talking and listening for opinions on all the gear and also looking for things we can do better and make the Brand stronger and stronger. I’m sure I’ll be very happy here.

Q. What gear will you be riding in 2013, just the GP or will you be using a combination of GP and TS kites for competition and training?

A. Next year in 2013 I will be riding the GP for competitions but I’m planning on being heavily involved in the further development of the TS. I have been riding a open C shape kite for the past 4 years so I think Peter and I will really be able to drive the TS forward.

Q How long do you think it will take you to feel at home on the new kites?

A. Not long at all. I rode the GP already and after 5 minutes I was landing my Blind judge 7, 317 and S-Mobe 7 so I think I will get used to it pretty soon. That kite is sweeeeet!

Q. You’re the number one ranked rider and current PKRA champion, you’ve already tested the GPv2, what is it about the GP that you think will help you win once again in 2013?

A. The GP has the explosion I am looking for in my tricks. With this I can go for new tricks and go bigger than before. This way I hope to be on top again in 2013.

Q. What are your plans for next season? Are you committed to boots for the PKRA? What are you going to be pushing for the 2013 season?

A. Next year for sure I will ride boots and the main goal is to become world champion again! That’s pretty much the only goal I am aiming for. Beside’s that I just want to make clean runs and go for really high scoring tricks.

Q. Have you made any plans with Gisela yet? It must be pretty cool knowing that you’ll have a female team mate with you on the podium at every event?

A. I haven’t made any plans so far but soon we will meet up and talk about a plan for the upcoming season and about the gear we will be riding on.

Q. Where are you going to be training during the off season? Do you have any trips planned and when will we see some BEST videos from you?

A. Soon there will be some nice videos coming out! I have some sick projects that I will be working on. For the off season training I will be in Cape Town (South Africa).

Q. Other than BEST, what will be your full sponsors list for the year? Let’s have some props for everyone that supports you.

Brunotti: For boards and clothing: I’ve been riding with them since the beginning of my career.
Javra Software: They’re keeping my website, iphone/ipad apps up to date!
Mystic: Mystic has been there since the beginning as well, keeping me warm with their wet suits.
Koraal.org: Koraal has and is one of my first sponsors and has always been there for me.

Q. What are you most looking forward to about riding for BEST?

A. Working with the R&D team, creating new products and pushing the brand forward. Making the best products out there!

Q. If we see you on the beach what should we say to you?

A. Anything you want, I’m always up for a chat! Come and Ride With Me and let’s grab a beer afterwards, it’s all good.

Here is a cool vid from Gulfport in Mississippi. Nice footage and good choice of music, just the way I like kitesurfing videos!

Youri Zoon

The youth has always been fond of trying out new things. Among the new things youth want to explore are new sports. The adrenalin rush that sports bring excites the youth and brings out the adventurous individuals among them. Extreme sports are become more and more popular among the sport-minded individuals as they bring a certain sense of excitement and power that regular sports may not possess. Among the extreme sports, water sports are the most interesting.

Kitesurfing, also known as kiteboarding, is a surface water sport that is growing in popularity among the youth. It is an extreme water sport that is a combination of surfing, wakeboarding, paragliding, windsurfing, and gymnastics. Kitesurfers employ different techniques when kitesurfing. Some of the techniques kitsurfers enjoy doing are downwinders, freestyle, course racing, free ride, speed, jumping, wakestyle, and wave-riding.

One well-known kitesurfer today is Youri Zoon. Born on the 14th of December 1989, Youri Zoon has been an experienced kitesurfer for seven (7) years. He was a windsurfer who discovered kiteboarding and fell absolutely in love with it right after he had his first kitesurfing lesson. Zoon’s favorite kitesurfing spot is Brouwersdam. He has visited many kiteboarding sites. He kitsurfed in the following places already: South Africa, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Canada, Vietnam, USA, Venezuela, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Japan, Cabarete, Portugal, Brazil, France, and Netherlands.

Among his kiteboarding gears, he is happiest with his Slingshots kites and Brunotti boards. He gets his Brunotti boards form board shaper Jinne Sietsma. His favorite board style is 133*40.

Whe asked about his riding style, Zoon said that he likes to keep his kite low. His riding style is one that prioritizes both power and technique. Youri Zoon’s favorite trick as a kitesurfer is known as Mobe 7. For him, the Mobe 7 is a very technical trick and when it is performed correctly, it exudes a certain air of power. His latest tricks with his kitesurfing gears include making doubles of almost all the tricks he has already learned and done.

He advices all those who want to try kitesurfing to make sure that they take lessons first before doing it.

Among his sponsors are: Slingshot, Brunotti boards, Koraal.org, Mystic Kiteboarding, and Daarom,com Online Marketing.

Youri Zoon has been a professional kitesurfer for 7 years already. Within that span of time he has joined many competitions all over the globe. He has competed with other well-established kitesurfers. There were a lot of instances wherein he won competitions. However, there were also competitions where he weren’t as lucky. In December 2011, he finished 3rd place at the PKRA World Tour. He joined 6 competitions in a row but was unable to win every single one.

Youri Zoon can be seen in a new video from Slingshot:

Related External Links

• Carlos Madson | Kite 2012
• HIDDEN LINES – Trailer ! | MyAdrenaline.TV
• HIDDEN LINES – trailer | KiteMovement
• HIDDEN LINES: Youri Zoon, Kevin Langeree and Nick Jacobsen …
• PKRA France 2012 – Day 6 | KiteMovement

Thought about buying a second hand kite? If you like me are a poor student without a fat salery that drops down in the end every month, then buying a brand new kite might not even be an option.

I have bought several second hand kites throughout my kite career. I have usually been happy with my kites, but I bought some really crappy stuff a few times. If the person that sells the kite lives in another state or even country, then maybe you don’t feel for spending hours in a car + expensive gasoline to go and buy the kites when it´s easier to ask the seller to just send the kites by mail. The drawback with this is of course that you can’t check the kites and you have to rely on photos and words from the seller. In most cases this is fine. Kitesurfers are in general an honest race and will let you know in what condition the kites are if you don’t have the possibility to check the kites in forehand. However, there are always a few that withholds deficiencies with the kites they are selling. I am now going to tell you about my last buy, that could have cost me a visit at the hospital.

2010 Slingshot RPM 8m and 12m with two bars.
That’s whas the title of the ad. The two kites had apperantly been used abroad in some warm country during the winter in 2010 and were well used, but in good condition. The 8m kite was repaired in the canopy, but that was all. The seller also pointed out that they were holding the air. The price was ok too, $990 for them both with shipping included. Here are some images that I got from the seller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks pretty nice huh? But once I got them, the kites turned out to be salty and the metal pieces on the bars were rusty and sandy, the safety release was completely stuck on one of the bars. However, I could deal with that. Some fresh water for the kites and oil for the bars fixed made them look nicer.

So one day it was blowing about 25 knots and gusty like hell. I decided to try the 10m kite. I pumped it up and got out in the water. About 30 minutes later I notice how the kite is acting flapping and very hard to keep stable, it wants to go left even though I steer right. I go back onland, bring down the kite and notice how it is soft, apperantly it´s leaking somewhere. In almost all cases kites that are leaking air are leaking from the LE bladder, so I pumped it up again and closed the valves to the struts just to be able to exclude the struts from the air leakage investigation. 5-10 minutes later I give an OK-sign to my buddy to launch my kite. Now I did expect to launch the kite smooth and controlled in the edge of the wind window up to 12 o´clock. Instead it quickly turns to the left and rushes through the power zone. I barely had time to react before I was torn up several meters in the air. I remember that I stayed in the air long enough to have time to think “This can not end well … it is now I will break a bone”, but luckily I landed in shallow water and soft sand. For once I was launching the kite when I was standing in the water, otherwise I normally stand on land when I launch the kite. This is something to keep in mind, if you ever feel uncomfy with launching the kite or if you aren’t 100% whether the kite is correctly set up and in good condition, do not launch on land! If something goes wrong would you rather crash on land among stones, trees, building, people… than in water? Just don’t be stupid lazy and put yourself in to danger when you easily can prevent it. Ok, back to me. So, it turned out that one of the struts was leaking air and was almost completely drained with air when I launched the kite, which made the kite almost uncontrollable, imagine driving a car with a flat tire.

Once back home I took out the strut bladder and noticed that there was a big fucking hole, which was poorly repaired. Was a little bit pissed of of course, but didn’t bother to contact the seller, I fixed the hole and waited for another windy day.

So came another day, when it was blowing even more, around 25-30 knots and 4 degrees celsius in the air and maybe 6-7 degrees in the water. Not the most perfect conditions, but I just had to kitesurf this day and knew from before that the 8m kite at least was holding the air, time to try it! Once on the spot, the kite was pumped up, the lines where lined up and all I had to do was to attach the lines to the kite. While doing this I notice that the right wing tip had a blue short line attached to the attachment point. I did suspect that the red line was missing on the left wing tip, but I wanted to kite so badly that I decided to believe that the blue short line simply was there for no reason, so I removed it, to make the steering lines in equal length…

It was time to launch. Do you think I went out in the water? Hell no, I stood on land and made thumb up to the guy holding the kite… Have you ever launched a kite in strong wind with the bar sheeted in to the max? Even if you havn’t you can probably guess what happens. The blue line should of course not be removed and doing so results in way to short steering lines, just like you have full power and a bit more when the bar is sheeted out to the max.

So what happened? I launched the kite, but instead of going to the edge of the wind window above my head it stayed in the power zone, about 60 degrees from the ground. The kite immediately started to pull me forward, I took a few steps and then got airborn. I released the bar, but this didn’t depower the kite, now I only had full power in the kite. I landed with my feet in the ground and slided on my feet about 15 meters before I came to a stop only a meter from a fence. The ground was a muddy mess from an earlier storm and heavy rains so I got covered in mudd, it sprayed up in my face and in my eyes as I slided through the mudd.

Miraculously, neither me or the kite got hurt. I did learn another lesson and hopefully will I be more careful in the future. I´ve seen many accidents that occur on land. You learn from them, but they are sometimes painful.

With this said I hope that you as reader, especially if you are a beginner, have learned something. If you buy second hand kites or other gear, check them carefully and don’t tempt fate if you´re somewhat doubtful with your gear, wind conditions or whatever. Kite safe and don’t hurt yourself due to stupidity.

Related External Links

• Common misconceptions about kiteboarding – Getting dragged …
• PKRA France 2012 – day 4 | KiteMovement
• PKRA France 2012 – Day 3 | KiteMovement
• PKRA 2012 France – day 2 | KiteMovement
• Slingshot Key Kiteboarding Package | Surf Info Systems

We have all seen Youri Zoon in numerous of promo videos and we know that he is a pure talent. He won the PKRA in Germany this year. Here is a video from the final.