Showing posts with label KTA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KTA. Show all posts

KTA Bintan Videos


Die ganzen videos findet ihr auf Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/60462689
https://vimeo.com/60353953
https://vimeo.com/60306544
https://vimeo.com/60216756
https://vimeo.com/60133554
Read Full...

KTA Bintan

It's been a while...

I have spent most of my time in Boracay till now wt some new and lots of old friends. I had some good trips for the KTA to Bintan to check out the first tour stop location and to Hainan Island where we are organising the Kite Race World Championships for Nov. 2013. It's gonna be a kick ass event there, where the riders will get pampered and spoilt and for sure not getting bored.

I moved into a new apartment which is way overpriced, like everything is here now. The cost of living doubled in the last 2-3years!!
I enjoy my time here as much as possible, as i think it might actually be my last full season on this island. It's getting too crowded, polluted and messed up by the grief of all the business owners who just wanna make bucks and don't think about the environment.
If the new airport is coming up.. and it really looks like it, since they have already started to take down the mountain at the end of the runway, then Boracay will go down very quickly. This island just can't take any more than 1million tourist/year, and they plan on up to 3million... but hey if they take down the mountain filipino style wt a plastic pipe and a nail.. it might at least take some years to build the runway ;-)

I'm looking for some new location to go for the next season, there is still plenty of locations around asia to be discovered. If anyone knows a interesting spot or locations wt a couple of month wind.. let me know. I'm pretty much up for anything that is not so crowded, has some steady wind and i'm actually really keen on some waves, maybe i'm getting to old for the freestyle ;-)




The KTA started late this season, but wt a big bang. 100rider registered for the first competition in the new kite spot of Bintan island, at the Agro beach resort.

Every one expected this spot to be light wind and not much chance of running much freestyle. We had to proof it all wrong, the kite spot if a pearl, flat water lagoon, steady wind and a massive area for course race boards. We had winds of 16-20knots every single day of the competition. We managed to run full double elimination and 11races for all fleets, that's over 50races in total.

This was the first time we had an IRO and IJ wt us to get the 50points for the ISAF world ranking. It was smooth sailing wt so many professional team members working behind the scene. I could actually concentrate on running the whole competition, which is much better then jumping from start boat to judge tower to jury room to scoring.

My next trips are already booked and seald, we have the next competition coming up in 10days in Thailand and a week after that i will be back in Boracay for the next competition. So pretty busy time right now, but it's good like that, keeps the mind focused.

U can find all the pictures of the competition on our FB event page
https://www.facebook.com/kiteboardtourasia


The full report of the event can be found here
http://www.kiteboardtour.asia/news/kta-indonesia-the-final-story/

so long, stay prosper and warm

Stephan Read Full...

KTA Boracay 2012

it's already a while back but i thought i should write a little wrap up of the KTA Boracay tour stop.

This year i had to start early to organize it, since i was local organizer and competition director. So not only dealing wt the daily schedule stuff, but also run around the island and get permissions done, wt a lot of help from Ken. The observing the whole setup, get everything printed on time and delivered. It was all on very short notice.. since the main sponsor signed the contract about 5weeks before the tour stop and we had a 2 week block off for xmas and new year.. where nobody really works.
I the end it was well worth it, first of all we had 80! competitors registered, reduced the partys to what is actually needed, and made every one feel comfortable on the spot and able to focus on kiteboarding.
The Beachfront of Aqua Boracay is definitely the best spot for the competition, the widest beach and once finished it will be a stunning background.
We started off wt the freestyle and went all the way to the single finals. Very successful first day of competition. Second day was as good as day one, races in the bag in both categories twin tip and race boards and freestyle doubles started.
We managed to make it all the way to the double finals on day3 and had the last day reserved for racing only. Lucky as we are, the wind dropped off on the last day and we could only do a few more races.
We had a nice opening party in Epic, a midweek party in Dos Mestizos and the final night was in Sands Bar and the after party in Jungle Bar... as u can guess.. we had a blast and i think no one went home sober :-)

All in all.. the best event we ever had on this island. thx to all the competitors, i hope i will see u all again next year again on my home spot and hopefully together wt Aqua Boracay again.. Read Full...

7Stones KTA Boracay

it has only been a short break in between the Thailand and Philippines event, but we got it all sorted out and pulled another great event.

Boracay showed it's best side to the competitors and we were blessed wt endless winds and sunshine again.
So this was actually our last tour stop of this season, as we just got the news from Korea that the event is cancelled due to the political situation. So, no Korean kimchii for me this year.

The Boracay event wouldn't been possible without the great support from 7Stones Boracay, as the main event sponsor and organizer of the event, special thx to Dani and his crew. FANTASTIK job

I will not give a detailed report of the event, as Neil done that already on our website. Check it out here
www.kiteboardtour.asia

As u can see in the results my girlfriend Rebecka got the first place in TT-Race, wohooooo i'm proud of you!!


Frenchie pulled out another great KTA video to be watch here
http://vimeo.com/20915398

So whaz my plans now... i think i will do some trips around the Philippines probably Palawan and the far north end of the Philippines, Kingfisher for some more kiting.
My plans for the summer are not really worth the ink yet, as it is all written up in the stars. Might be some trips to Middle East, Asia and probably some judging on the KTE, which will have tour stops in France, Spain, Germany, Holland and Poland this summer. Maybe i will also get a job for a few months and work a little bit in Switzerland and enjoy family and friends there for a while.

Life is a beach and tomorrow is another day... so i will keep movin on and around the world for a little longer.
We also got a few new KTA projects and i might get busier around Asia.

So i will keep u updated once it's fixed.

thx to the KTA Team for a great season (-:

Stephan Read Full...

Thailand and friends

My journey around Asia continued back to Thailand. It's still one of my favourite places in this world, specially because of the food, the mix of flavour in such a great way and everything just cooked to perfection.

We had a blast with the KTA, as this tourstop in Pranburi was one of our best ones, surprisingly we had wind every day and managed to do 10races and a full double elimination freestyle. As a special bonus in this round we were running a Old Skool competition, with great success. Toby came all the way from Germany to join us here and he put out a big show for the crowds and competitors. It's not all about as low and fast as possible, specially for the crowd, mostly they get lost during the normal freestyle competition, as they have no clue what the riders are doing out there, but when mr. crowd pleaser Toby goes out, they can actually see what he's doin.







Another great add to the KTA Thailand stop was Alberto Rondina, he was on his way back from Haiwaii and joind out tour again. This time to give us a Freestyle clinic and some usefull tips for the rider on how to improve their tricks.
















The last day of the event was topped wt a home made fullmoon party... pictures speak more than words...




So after a very nice competition i made my way back up to Bangkok to meet up wt some good old friends. Cindy and Andrew let me stay in their appartement again, they have the best housemate!! She cooks great food wt passion, i got lucky enough to try her newest creation, Laarb dumplings... soo yummie. So i like to thank them again for the hospitality.

Bangkok was also the perfect joice to buy all the b-day presents for my family in Switzerland, i hope they will enjoy it ones it all arrives.

On my way back i felt the stupidnes of the Philippino Airport and travel tax system again. It is one of the last places on this planet where u still have to pay airport tax, instead of just including it into ticketprices.
The best invention lately is the tax u supposed to pay if u wanna get a totally overpriced Trycicle from Caticlan Airport to the Jettyport, the ride cost u 50PHP plus 25PHP tax...for what??
Can i now setup a trycicle stall in front of our kiteresort and start to collect tax?
If you walk up to the mainroad (100m) u can get the same ride for 6PHP...  that's about 12% of 50PHP or 88% cheaper, plus there is no tax for nothing. I know that 69PHP is not much for a tourist but it is still a rip off and not a nice way to treat the poeple that bring all the money to the island.

so long and thx for all the fish... (-:
Stephan Read Full...

Roadtrip along the west coast of Turkey

A shortcut through one week of road trip around Turkeys best kite spots.

Driving along endless Eucalyptus tree alleys, olive trees all over the mountains, adventures roads, fresh figs from the garden, endless empty beaches, windy spots, flat water, kicker waves, cozy hotels and enjoying and experiencing the Turkish cuisine...










KTA Turkey
First of all i wanna start with a special thx to all the organizers and helpers of the KTA Turkey tourstop, u guys did a great job. I think I speak out of most people's mind if i say we had a blast. We had some great onshore winds the first days and some hardcore offshore to finish off the comp. At the end we got it all done with a full double elimination and 8 races, not bad for the first stop of the 2010/11 season.

read the full report here on our new website: www.kiteboardtour.asia







So after the competition we pampered ourselves for two more days in the 7800Cesme Hotel before i moved up to Izmir together with Rebecka and the whole KTA crew. Most of em went straight for the airport to disappear to different parts of the world, while Rebecka and myself stayed two more nights in Izmir with Basak at her parents place. We got spoilt again with a great hospitality and more Turkish food experiences... donno if there is an end of it, but u definitely need a lot of workout if u stay here for long time.
Rebecka got her eye surgery done over here in the Izmir Eye Hospital, called "Kaskaloglo Göz hastanesi" no more contacts needed.
Here like to thank Basak and her parents again for the great hospitality.

So after our time in Izmir it was time to split up again, Rebecka went back home to Oslo and i started my way down to Gökova. Gotta say, the busses here are very comfy, looks like 5star airline, screens in every seat.. playing only Turkish movies (-;

My trip went from Izmir - Gökova - Bodrum - Didim - Bodrum - Didim - Bodrum - Istanbul

ok, we spent a few too many hours in the car, but hey, that's what happens if ur chasing new spots and the wind.
We had wind at nearly every spot we went to, i kited every day.
Gökova, is a wide Beach in a Nature reserve area in between mountains, where the wind funnels through. The water is flat to choppy and knee deep for the first 100meters. Little school and Bistro is setup on the beach. The wind is mostly onshore.



Bodrum, is not really a special spot, but still a nice change for a visit, the beach is a bit narrow and water is mostly choppy, a kiteschool is just around the corner.
Didim, lots of spots around here, all within 30min from Didim. I will not tell u about the exact locations, but this area definitely has some great potential. Most likely the big lagoon with random sandbars which goes along the coast for 17Kilometers!!! It can be very shallow in some spots and knee to waist deep in others. The best spot is a bit smelly, caused by the fermented mud, but who cares if u got a perfect flat water spot... think positive, u got a free mud pack (-;


There is another small spot called "flip flop beach" with some nice little kickers, this spot is not for beginners, there are sharp rocks on both sides and the space is limited. The name is not official, it's called like that because the first to experience this beach found it covered wt hundreds of flip flops... sound like Koh Phangan after full moon party.
One last spot is at the Harbour, we did not had too much wind there but it is also a flat water spot within the harbour. Setup on the pier and ride in front of it, there are windweehls all along the top of the surrounding mountains, so there is a lot of wind around this area.




We spent one night in a friends place close to Didim, this restaurant is mostly visited by Yacht charters and it's placed within a stunning bay. Some trollers coming back from a night out at sea in the morning unloading their catch of the day. Special thx for his hospitality and the lovely, rich breakfast the Kaptan Restaurant.You got a very picturesque place there.



I arrived at the Istanbul bus terminal and went straight to the airport wt the Metro. The 12h bus ride was not that much of a sleeper as i thought, so my butt hearts already... could someone please go ahead and push the science of beaming. Well at least the bus was cheap only 35Euro, no luggage limit... not bad.

Now i'm sitting in the Airport in Istanbul wt another 15h journey ahead... think i cannot sit for a while after this (-; At least i found time to update my Blog and i know my winterseason in Boracay will be a blast again!!

Cheeers from Istanbul and teşekkürler to all my friends in this Country
xoxo Read Full...

Korea, Kite, Cold, Kimchee

Welcome to Korea

what can i say about Korea... first of all, nothing because i don't understand a single word and i can't read the signs, all i can say is kimchee... and that is one of the best dishes u can get in Korea, it comes with every meal..

So after my journey from Boracay 35°C to Busan 5°C i was lost at the airport. The pickup didn't work outand i had no contact nr, but lucky i had the Hotel adress... which is actually a Motel... that's the ones with dildos and porn movies in the corrido ((-: but hey it's clean and close to the Kitebeach.


So my first taxi driver had no clue where i wanted to go, even if i showed him the adress of my Motel, so he drove me around for half an hour till i told em to stopp and changed the taxi. The next taxi told me that i'm in comletly the wrong place, so i drove another half hour wt this taxi till i finally arrived. Was a bit strange to check into the Motel, but i was tired and fell asleep very quick.

So next morning first thing was get some food, which can be a very funny part if all menu cards are written in Korean, but lucky as i am there were 3pictures on the wall, so i just pointet out one of them and got lucky wt a noodle soupe and kimchee... So next step was to find an internet connection to tell Mr. Kim that i arrived last night and he missed to pick me up, so by midday he found me in the hotel.


I made a visit to the kitebeach, which is pretty large and shallow. perfect for freestyle - don't bring a race board, it' not deep enough (-: My first contact wt the water was shooockinggg cold... it's maybe 10-15°C so i will only judge this competition but for sure not touching the water.
So a the day passed by the we went for another Korean dinner wt at least 15 dishes on the table and to digest all of that healty food we went for some screen golf. It's a very funny way of playing indoor golf, the big difference is that u hit the ball towards a screen and not the open field.
After a short visit to a bar it was already bedtime, oh by the way.. i got a round bed...

So this morning also Yo arrived here, in shorts... first thing Korean breakfast.. kimchee and lot's of other stuff.. yummmie
and the story will continue hopefully wt some wind and a successful event.
pics will follow soon

over and out.... Read Full...

KTA Boracay

We had another great kite event in Boracay. The wind was playing with us for the whole event, but we managed to get it all done. 3 races and a full freestyle double elimination. Not to forget the great party venues and dinners each night.


Boracay is about to get empty slowly, all the kiteboarding instructors are about to leave the island and heading back to europe for the summer season to start over there.
We got one more event in Thailand to go... our final tour stop, with the anouncement of the KTA tour winner in freestyle and race.


Check out our KTA page to stay tuned!!

I will be in Thailand from the 16th of March to the 5th of April. I'm really looking forward to some great thai food and i heard songkran is also these days... ohohhhhhh
The food here Boracay is still far from exciting, so i'm cooking my own dinners most of the nights.
How can it be so close to all those countrys like china, vietnam, thailand which are among the best food experieces, and the Philippines in the middle of it just don't have it.


so long and have fun in the snow...
wont be back before May June... (-: Read Full...

another windy day


After a day with no wind, it's back on. Honestly it was good to have a day off after that heavy 80's party on friday night. check out the pics on my FB site, was defnitly one of the better Hangin partys, we went throu 11cases of Beer and some bottles of hard stuff. It was a good laugh and i guess all the spectators on white beach were enjoying the change as well. Was good to have a night wt some different music...



I think i should go for a massage.. my body starts to respond to all those unhooked tricks and crashes... not 20 anymore ((-: maybe one day i will land that d*%+m Tantrum to Blind.

I've seen the first draft of the KTA video from Fatsand, nice high quality shooting. There will be a videos from all events and a summary video at the end of season after the Thailand event.
Looks like we're getting pretty busy with the whole KTA thing, after the five official events we got to go to New Zealand, Japan and Taiwan to organize some invitational- local events. love it...

 dinner time now.... yummmie Talipapa food s comin up wt some good company Read Full...