The first Florida Update to appear in SBC Kiteboard appears below with links to more information:
"Florida conditions have been good with the passage of normal cold fronts across the peninsula. Frontal winds should continue to bring good riding through the Florida windy season with particularly good winds typically coming through in February and March.
Lots is going on in Florida including:
The recent first ever,
Ft. Lauderdale to Bimini Kiteboarding Race.
Kite4Girls for the third year running should be coming off in Miami in March.
The Islamorada Invitational should happen early in the new year as well.
Sad to say, not true after all!
The Kitehouse is setting up a new opearation in Turks and Caicos
Ty Luckett starts novel
“pole boat” operation in Miami that speeds rider progression through wake style tricks at light speed. (i.e. it’s always a good wind day on the “pole boat!”)
Comments from Red Bull sponsored rider, Susi Mai dispel rumors of Red Bull pulling out of kiting sponsorship with the closing of the King of the Air series. A party was held in her honor by The Kiteshop and Cabrinha on Key Biscayne recently. Susi says Red Bull is still going to be sponsoring kiteboarding events including an all women kiteboarding tour in the new year.
Pat of
Extreme Kites in St. Augustine told me that on the weekend of January 6th: Dimitri from Airush is coming up for a demo weekend. He will have all the new 2006 kites and boards that will be available for everyone to try. We will also hold another kite video movie outside our shop on one of the nights. More info, contact our shop.??Past few months: The wind has been good for us in Northeast Florida. Until recently, temperatures remained in the mid 70’s, with lots of good wind. Matanzas Inlet in St. Augustine and Hugenot Park in Jacksonville have remained the most popular spots. On any good day, it is not uncommon to have 20 kiters out at either of the inlets. ??Upcoming Riders:?Ryan “Dude” Mattison: He is leading the wakestyle charge in Northeast Florida. He is basically fearless and you can often see him flying through the air at what seems to be 100 mph, unhooked and coming in hot. He has an aggressive style that comes from a snowboarding and wakeboarding background. He is fun to watch and awesome to hang out with. He rides Aggression boards, and RRD kites
Johnathan Marsh: He is known to throw down big, lofty jumps. Part Old-school, part new school. He usually jumps the highest, and is always on a kite way bigger than everyone else. He also has a smooth style when doing just about everything. He has only been kiting about 2 years, but is one of the best out there. He is also one of the nicest guys on the beach. He rides Slingshot boards, and Flexifoil kites.
You can find out about these Florida events and more by checking out happenings on
http://fksa.org/ ."