Some sights and riding with Best Kiteboarding’s Sam Medysky and David Drinkwater.

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Catch all the action from the LEN10 Megaloop Challenge which saw 24 international riders compete for the title in this new freestyle kiteboarding event. In the end it was Lewis Crathern who looped his way to victory.

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Watch this beautifully done video from Black Owl Media about the 2012 Skyline Masters. This event was a part of the 2012 NAST snowkite tour.

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Experience a week of insanity in under five minutes. Featuring the 2012 La Ventana Classic, Paddle Royale, Kite Expo, No Mas Basura, and a few scenes from Burning Bush.

Join us down south in 2013!

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Watch Ruben Lenten literally go head over heels in South Africa.

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The Slingshot team went down to panama to test some product out at Travis Pastrana’s new actions sports resort, NitroCity. NitroCity boasts world class accommodations, five star kiteboarding, a system 2.0, a skatepark, and a full size motocross track all on site. Its the Place to Play. nitrocitypanama.com/

Alex Fox, Eric Rienstra Greg Norman Jr., Matthew Sexton, and Mauricio Abreu all make the trip for Slingshot’s frist team adventure of 2012. Enjoy the action!!

Huge Thanks to: Hayes, Walter, Ana Carolina, and Batman

music: Drivepilot – Halo

edit: Filibuster Films flbstr.com

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Check out the first session with the new Filibuster kicker. Riders Alex Fox, Billy Parker, and Dave Scott had an awesome first set at the 520 slick in Cocoa, FL. Thanks to DJ Rock Lobsta for playing some tunes on the the Red Bull truck and Mitch Morelli for filming. Can’t wait for the next set!

Music Credit: Bastard Lovechild Of Rock N’ Roll – My Terrific Tushhh

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From North Kiteboarding:

The Dyno stretches the boundaries of what was thought to be possible in a light wind inflatable kite. Utilizing the highest quality lightweight fabrics the Dyno’s specialized construction allows it to fly in super light wind and create more efficient power than a heavier kite of equal size.

The Dyno’s optimized canopy profile offers unparalleled upwind performance and superior low-end grunt for steady and predictable parked power that carries you through wind lulls. Besides it’s impressive light wind abilities many of Dyno’s free-ride attributes, like steady bar feel, quick turning and generous depower, also happen to make it the number one choice for our world cup race team.

With multiple world championship race titles to its name, the Dyno is clearly a highly competitive course-racing kite, but it is also equally at home free-riding and boosting huge jumps.

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By Dan Tealdi | www.kiteadventures.com

Photos by Rogerson Barroso

When your plane drops in for landing at the Fortaleza International airport, you will quickly realize just how beautiful the northeastern state of Ceara, Brazil, really is. Its endless white sand beaches bordered by beautiful blue water and the sprawling untouched sand dunes make it a kiter’s paradise.

You will also quickly realize that the natural terrain isn’t the only thing that is beautiful here. The culture and the people are special and unique as well. No matter where you go, whether it is the large metropolitan city of Fortaleza or the tiny fishing village of Icarai, you will observe the locals greeting each other with a smile and a hello.

There is a unique sense of national pride and happiness to be Brazilian – something that I greatly respect and that you just don’t find many places when traveling the world anymore. This unique sense of pride is prevalent all throughout Brazil and it seems to help define their sense of community and brings them together as a culture.

Since 2008, I have been frequenting Brazil on a regular basis for business and pleasure, but a particular trip I made in 2010 touched me in a special way. I am sharing it with you as I hope my experience will touch you as it did me.

It was a warm and beautiful mid-October day when I arrived at the Fortaleza International airport. As I stepped off the plane, I took in a deep breath and my face lit up with a big smile as the familiar scent in the air reinforced the fact that I had arrived in Brazil, my home away from home.

As I walked out of the terminal I noticed “Mr. Tealdi” spelled on a white arrival card being held by a taxi driver. As we made eye contact and acknowledged each other the gentlemen asked me in broken English with a Portuguese accent, “Hello, are you Mr. Tealdi?” I nodded my head and said, “Sim, Obrigado” (yes, thank you).

As he began to assist with my luggage and kite bags he introduced himself as Fernando. Fernando and I then made our way to his taxi enjoying small talk and proceeded to load the car for an approximately 90 minute drive through the back streets of Fortaleza, the fifth largest city in Brazil, to our ultimate destination of Paracuru, Brazil, a small fishing town approximately 50 miles northwest of the city.

Little did I know how this one taxi ride with Fernando would profoundly affect me when I learned how our sport can positively impact a community in ways I had never imagined.

As we made our way through Fortaleza, Fernando and I began to engage in conversation about kiteboarding and the pride and joy of his life, his son. “Mr. Tealdi I just want to thank you so much,” he said. Assuming he was referring to the use of his taxi service I replied with, “Your welcome Fernando, it’s my pleasure.”

Fernando continued to thank me again and said with a quivering voice, “I want to thank you for helping to bring kiteboarding to our community. Before kiteboarding kids here did not have much to look forward too.The towns were having problems with rising violence and crime and the kids’ outlet of choice was getting mixed up with the wrong crowds. There is less violence and crime here now because of kiteboarding. The availability of local jobs in the community has increased and the kids have opportunities again.”

I proceeded to ask Fernando about his son and whether or not kiteboarding had directly impacted his life. Fernando said, “Yes, kiteboarding has impacted our lives in a big way. My son is the love of my life, but because I work all day I can’t oversee what he does after school. My son is 15 years old and I know for a fact that if it wasn’t for kiteboarding coming here, my son would be involved in some kind of crime or gang. My son loves kiteboarding and now I can be confident knowing that my son is not getting into trouble at night when I am working because of his dream and the goals that he has set for kiteboarding. My son has a goal and dream to become the best kiteboarder in Brazil by the age of 21. He is currently only able to ride on a 2-line kite and uses very old equipment that does not work properly, but he has fully dedicated himself to the discipline and work ethic to accomplish this dream.”

It is difficult to translate through words and reveal the true sincerity and genuineness coming from Fernando’s voice at that particular moment — he practically had tears running down his face so it was an intense and special moment for me at the same time.

Listening to Fernando make that statement was extremely touching as it revealed to me that kiteboarding can be so much more than just a cool sport or recreational activity. Our beloved sport of kiteboarding has the ability to improve and positively impact entire communities not only in Brazil but all around the world. Fernando continued to mention how discipline and a strong work ethic would have been difficult for his son to learn on his own, given the way his local community was going before kiteboarding came to the area.

Through kiteboarding boys and girls like his son can have passion for something that is positive and productive in their lives. Fernando said, “I see my son setting personal goals for himself and I am so proud of him. I work this job as a taxi driver every day so I can support his dream of becoming the best kiter he can be. I don’t know how to thank you but my son is my life and he is very important to me.”

As we arrived at Paracuru, I asked Fernando not to think about how to thank me but rather I would like to thank him for sharing such a personal and genuine story about how kiteboarding had such a positive influence not only on his son, but an entire community.

Continued on Page 2

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Weendy, an app where you can send and get real time info and video of your local riding spots from people that are actually there, introduces new versions for iPhone and Android. New user interface and cool features have been added to enhance  user experience, making your sessions “as fun and motivating as they can possibly be.”

New features include:

All video reports are now on  one single page, making it a lot easier to decide on where to ride.

Weendy added an invitation button so you can make your own groups or local communities and invite your friends through your phone’s contact list.

Extended profiles can also be created, by adding your short description/bio and your twitter/facebook accounts, to help you get in touch with other weendy members. This feature is especially very useful for businesses which would like to let other weendy members know more about them.

You can now share your video reports through social networks and let those who don’t have smartphones know about the current conditions and join you.

The Weendy app upgrades are due to feedback from their users so please continue to send  your suggestions through Facebook http://www.facebook.com/weendyapp  Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/weendyapp or email hello@weendy.com)

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