Rise Works In Peru's Light Winds
Upon arriving in Peru I was invited by the Chicama Surf Resort owners to check out one of the worlds best surfing point breaks to see if it can be kited. Based on the pictures I had seen of the 150 high cliff right next wave I had my doubts. Not that the bay couldn't be kited, it's definitely windy enough, more like could I get into the waves and ride them under the turbulent winds behind the cliffs. Well I'm sure surfers will be happy to know that Chicama's waves are safe from kiters. Here's a few shots of me setting up and launching the kite.
Unfortunately the kiting shots don't exist as the camera battery died. Suffice to say I could kite just out of range of the breaking waves but actually riding best part of waves is pretty much out of the question except maybe for the largest swells with rare combination of extremely windy day. On that day you would probably be
hard pressed to catch a wave free from a surfer so I'd call this wave off limits. With the help of Marino the owner of Chicama Surf Resort I did explore a new place just to the south of Chicama. 
El Milagro is a mini point point beach break with two distinct sections and slightly side to side onshore wind. It's an easy launch and a big beach. This would be a perfect freestyle wave on a windy day and any size swell. My experience was fun but extremely light winds kept me from staying upwind even with the light wind combo of a 7'6" funboard and 14m Rise. Here's a couple of photos from the day. I ended up showing the Chicama surf resort Guide and boat driver and great surfer, Del Mar how to fly the kite and let him put the harness on get a feel for it. He was stoked but intimidated by
the power of the kite.After the fun experience at Chicama we headed North to Pacasmayo to ride the one of the best left point breaks in the world. We were joined by friends from Florida and new OR riders Greg Meischeid and my son Noah Collins. We met up with OR rider from BC Adam. His strapless back side riding was an inspiration to try new things. Later in the trip new OR team rider and friend Kevin Scholes from Santa Cruz showed with his brand new OR Rise 12m and 16m and his new custom 5' Quad Fin Skim board. We also ended up meeting Fernando DeLa Rasilla, the Argentinean OR distributor and his crew of riders.
On this trip we scored one good swell and lots of fun size waves before and after the best waves. While the wind never got solid 10m or 12m strong for me, a few friends who are lighter were able to ride their 10m and 12m and stay upwind but not all the way up to the main point. Getting upwind and staying up there in light winds requires some extra effort or a little bigger kite or a bigger board. I choose to take advantage of both for the light wind days and use my 14m Rise and 7'6" Mini Tanker. To my surprise this combination allowed me get out earlier, stay out longer and ride more waves.
Sacrificing some performance on the wave face but ultimately having more fun than I could imagine. When traveling it's always better to get your waves in then sit around in the hotel watching perfect waves peel off the point. I'm totally impressed with the 14m Rise for wave riding. It's fast enough to generate apparent wind by pumping it and big enough to drift downwind when riding down the line. This kite not only has low end grunt, it can handle some strong gusts with ease. Note the lack of texture on waves and lack of white caps in the ocean. You can park the kite and make hard square 
turns to keep the lines tight and this to me is the essence of wave riding. Staying in the critical part of the wave and looking for opportunities to get covered if you've got the balls.Overall the Rise works in light winds and waves.
If you are interested in attending a wave clinic in Peru in 2009 drop me a line at kc@kitehawaii.com
Aloha
posted by Kevin Collins at 6:53 PM
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