The Journals - Ocean Rodeo's Weekly Report

2009 Ocean Rodeo Rise Dominates Windfest ‘08

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Held annually at Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island BC Windfest has grown into one of the Pacific NW’s premier kiting events. This year’s event saw competitors from as far away as Martinique, Norway and the UK attend as well as heavy representation from BC, Alberta, Washington, Oregon and California.

Each year Ocean Rodeo hosts a Crew Gathering to coincide with Windfest. Designed to bring our collective circle of riders, dealers and distributors together the Crew Gathering is our way to say thank-you to our Crew and to give them all a flavour of the new year’s equipment.

From the results of this year’s Windfest we can only conclude that the riders enjoyed their taste and that Ocean Rodeo is on track for huge success with its ’09 product line up!

Events for the weekend included: a long distance race; heated border cross races of 4 riders at a time, top rider advancing through to semis and eventually finals; and a freestyle competition.

The long distance race was clearly dominated by Ocean Rodeo’s 2009 line up. With over 60 kiteboarders participating in the race the top 3 spots and 5 of the top ten were won by riders on 2009 Ocean Rodeo Rise kites.

Boarder Cross events were heavily represented by Ocean Rodeo’s Rise and Diablo kites with the final results seeing an Ocean Rodeo 2nd place finish in the amateur division and 1st place finish in the professional.

Finally the freestyle competition was equally well represented by Ocean Rodeo and, when the dust settled the men’s overall Windfest 2008 champion across all divisions was won by Squamish’s Andrew Scott on Ocean Rodeo equipment.

Mark your calendars for next year’s Windfest and Ocean Rodeo Crew Gathering. We’ll be back again next year in full force with the OR girls on hand again to keep the campsite tight and the new gear available to all our Crew to ride and try. The Crew defines our company and its direction and we would like to thank all of you who made the effort to join us this past weekend.

Ocean Rodeo, welcome to the Crew!

Rise Works In Peru's Light Winds

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Collins) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:53:00 +0000

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

Kite - SUP Freestyle.

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:56:00 +0000

OR Sup Kite, originally uploaded by ocean rodeo.

Patrice Guenole (France) a pioneer in the rapidly expanding SUP market, and team rider for OR, has been pushing the freestyle envelope in the REALLY big board category. Using his standard 10’ GONG Stand up Paddle board, Patrice is nailing all the classic long board surf moves, with the added power of the kite. Is this the birth of a hybrid SUP/KITE discipline?

jeremietronet.com update - Ocean Rodeo Demo in Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:11:00 +0000

source: www.jeremietronet.com

First of all I wanted to share with you a cover of the french kiteboarder magazine with a special pic.

Half water, half air with a nice nurse shark in the bottom ! The picture was taken in the Grenadines.
I am just back from a small demo trip in Spain .... only 7 days between Malaga and Tarifa, kiting on the costa del sol.

I left Nice Airport on thursday ( France ) and flew to Zurich where I had to catch an other plane to Malaga in Spain.

Alberto the Ocean Rodeo dealer in Spain www.boardriderscompany.com , came to pick me up at the airport.
I was super hungry, so we went straight to a nice restaurant right on the beach, Los Salamos ( one of the kite spots there) to eat some local specialities and check the wind. I also met Jema, Alberto's girlfriend , she also works with him.

The wind wasn't so good, so we decided to go to the cable park in Marbella. The place is very nice, and there weren't so many people around.

The cable is a very good way to train kiteboarding and wakestyle tricks, but was much more dificult than I thouht .

Back from the cable we went to have dinner with some of Alberto's friends and we went out.
Spain is famous for parties.... and I know why now!

We had some great fun hanging out with Jesus, German and the others.

It was a very busy first day.

The next day we stayed home to rest from the cable and the party. All my muscles were stiff.
The Saturday we saw that windguru forcasted some Levante for Tarifa so we hit the road and arrived in Tarifa. It is one of the most famous spots in the world with many kiters from all over Europe.

As soon as we arrived, the various windmills were turning very fast because of the strong Levante.

We headed to Val de Vaqueros, the best place in Tarifa to kite with the Levante .

The spot is very nice but choppy and full of people, kiters and windsurfers.

It was blowing over 40 knots and very very gusty .. impossible to do some handle passes.

I went out on my 8 diablo c kite and it was a nightmare, I could barely hold on to the kite in the gusts and it was to risky to jump high or do anything because of the hundreds kiters and windsurfers in the water downwind.

It wasn't the best session ever, especially when you come back from the Caribbean and the easy spots ... but it was a nice day !

That night we decided to go out for a while and discover ( again) how crazy the parties are down here.

The next day, the Levante was still blowing strong, so we decided to go to Canos, an other spot more to the west where the wind is a bit weaker.

I went out on my 8 and 10 but the gusty and the wind didn't allow me to train properly and land some new tricks. I could play around and do what I already knew .

Sunday night was the football match between Italy and Spain, we were eating in a restaurant when Spain won the match. It became completely crazy in the streets and it was a great excuse to go out again .

We went back to the hotel early this time and drove back to Malaga the next day.

The Poniente was blowing between 15 to 20knots down here so we went straight to the beach pumped up the kite and did a nice demo.

The night was the St Jean, so again, a party was organized right on the beach with big bonfires until the day came.

The last 3 days we haven't been very lucky with the wind but it was an opportunity to speak about communication strategy to represent Ocean Rodeo in Spain.

I am now in France where I finally got my new passport that I can fill again with brand new customs stamps from all over the world .

Alberto

Beautiful pictures , trip update Jeremie Tronet

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:53:00 +0000

source: www.jeremietronet.com

Linn Svendsen and Jeremie Tronet at work

My trip in Coche was very very Nice, Linn and I spent a month there staying in one of the hotels close to the spot. We went there to get enough freestyle footage for the next movie I am editing now.
Venezuela was the last place we visited in our trip to the Caribbean.

We started in Martinique where we rented a small chalet and stayed a month.

Next we left on a 10 days cruising in the Grenadines on a 46 feet catamaran.
Back from the trip the skipper dropped us off on the island of St.Lucia.
There we met David Hastilow and some local riders who helped us to discover the island and it's various spots.
From St.Lucia we took a plane to Barbados and its nice waves for 10 days.
After St.Lucia we took a plane to St.Vincent, and a ferry to the islands of the Grenadines.

We have spent over 2 months on Union Island, kiting, filming and fishing ... this place is just amazing.

Jeremie Tronet, Sunset KGB in Venezuela

After the 2 months in Union we decided to go to Coche island in Venezuela, it is a very good freestyle spot and the season is going towards its end, so it is less crowded on the spot.

I am now back in Europe for few weeks, my plane landed in Nice on the French Riviera while my girlfriend Linn went back in Norway for a couple of months.
I came here to renew my passport, it was becoming old and the picture was peeling off , so I started to have some problems with the customs offices in some countries.

After this long trip I now have over 20 hours of video and thousands of pictures I have to digitize and select for my next video.
I arrived in France 4 days ago, since then I have spent my days behind the computer waching everything again and again.

Jeremie Tronet, Sbend

I hope I will be able to go kite with some of my friends with whom I started my first competitions years ago ( Adrien Jaujou, etc...). They live close and it will be nice to see them again.
I also spend some of my time visiting some family and friends I haven't seen in a long time before I go back around the world again.

For the moment I am here for the next week, next I might fly to Tarifa for a week to do some demo with the spanish Ocean rodeo dealer Albreto

http://www.boardriderscompany.com/

I will be back in France just on time to maybe get my passport back and "maybe" go on a trip to Peru for 2 weeks maximum to shoot the 2009 Ocean rodeo gear.

After Peru I will fly back to France and then Norway to visit Linn and maybe do a trip along the Norwegian coast. This country is cold, but very beautiful.

Ocean Rodeo team rider Linn Svendsen

Then, mid august, I 'll have to fly back to Canada on vancouver island to the Ocean rodeo head office to work on the gear and for the Nitinat event they organize on a beautiful lake with wild nature and indian reserve. I love this part of the world.

After Nitinat in august ..... many many more destination are planned but I won't start to do the listing, it will be boring for you to read it.

Check out the next The kiteboarder magazine, they just published the Martinique trip on 6 pages with beautiful and interesting pictures. There is also an interview of Linn and 2 pages where I explain how to do a f16!

Jeremie Tronet, sunset Venezuela

You can also check the next Kiteworld where the Catamaran trip in the grenadines should be present on over 8 pages with beautiful pictures !

The world is Huge but you can make it small, travel more !

see ya around !

read the rest of this news on www.jeremietronet.com

Linn Svendsen Blind pass

Jeremie Tronet, Union Island

Jeremie Tronet, Zen pro model + diablo

noreply@blogger.com (KevinM) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Hello All,

It has been recently brought ot our attention that one of the knots that tie the trim line on our bars to the chicken loop may not have been tied with enough of a "tail". It is obviously imperative that there is sufficient excess line extending past that knot, otherwise it has the potential to pull through when under load.

The line should extend a minimum of 1.5cm past the knot. If it is less than that it can be corrected quite easily be loosening the knot and pulling excess line through.

Please see picture provided and feel free to contact us with any question or concerns you may have.

Windance and Ocean Rodeo party

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:13:00 +0000

John Z and I just returned from a great weekend in the Gorge. We had a fantastic turnout on Sunday at the spit. Fortunately the clouds parted and brought us sun and wind. We had everything from 6 -12m's Rise kites out all day long, and of our course the ever popular Mako Wide. The Mako Surf was also in high demand and was very well received, excelling in the river's chop, gusty conditions and rollers. Dave from Windance Boardshop must have launched/landed over fifty kites!

After the demos we capped off the weekend with a killer party at the River City Saloon. We were all more than stoked on the bikini show, put on by Windance's very own cutie, Amarett. This was followed up by a crazy Burlesque show.

Thanks very much to the Crew at Windance for everything! I'm already looking forward to next trip back to the Hood.

Cheers,

Evan

Amazing beautiful pictures - Jeremie Tronet Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:40:00 +0000

source: jeremietronet.com

tobago Cays lagon

jeremie swimming with marine turtles

Hi to all !

It is official, I just received my new zen Jeremie Tronet signature model board.

This board is amazing, I worked with Ross (OR designer) on the perfect freestyle weapon !
It has an unbreakable wood core and the x torsion technology giving the rider the best flex and pop for all freestyle tricks !
The size is 129x39 allowing easy landings and for the first time, it has my signature on it !
(see the pictures).

I am now helping on the design of the 09 gear that I should get in few month to test the first prototypes and get the first pictures.

For the moment we are planning our trip to Venezuela with some issues regarding the plane ticket and stuff that I hope will be solved before friday when we should be flying to Margarita and then Coche.

After that I might go to Peru and back to Europe for a while to renew my passport !

Down here in Union island, life is quiet and easy ... Months pass like weeks down here and after swimming with sharks and taking beautiful kite pictures with them ( check out the next kiteboarding magazine covers u might have a surprise in a few months), swimming with turtles, I also went on a photo trip with Jean Marc (the owner of the hotel where we stay) abord his small plane. I had he chance to fly over the tobago Cays, the beautiful lagoons, private islands etc.
We had to open the door of the plane to allow me to get the best shots.

I was sitting on this tiny seat with the plane belt and my kite harness and the suicide leash to prevent me from falling from the sky.... that was pretty scary, but an amazing experience to see those islands and I got beautiful pictures ( see the pics attached).
While I was in the air, Linn was kiting and I took the opotunity to take few aerial pics of her kiting on the lagoon....

read the rest on www.jeremietronet.com

Cabrinha Races Series #2, OR represents again!

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:02:00 +0000

JZ and myself had a great view of the races this week! We were able to watch from the race deck at the Saint Francis Yacht Club, which is so close to the start line that it felt like we could almost reach out and

grab a few of the kites. Race one saw most of the riders converging at the pin end in an attempt to port tack the fleet on the favored line. The result was a gnarly tangle and a violent " tug " for one of the riders involved.

Congratulations to Chris Brown of Windy Devil , who was Ocean Rodeo's top finisher with an overall placement of 9th overall in a fleet of close to 50 participants. Chris was one of the few riders charging the front of the pack on a twin tip!

Thanks again to Cabrinha, Ozone travel, Adventure Sports Maui and the St. Francis Yacht Club for doing such a fantastic job!

Pismo Beach Kite XPO

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:19:00 +0000

Evan and I headed down the coast from San Francisco last Friday for the annual Pismo Beach Kite XPO hosted by the Kiteboarder Magazine and Extreme Big Air.

Unfortunatly this year's event lacked any wind but we did manage to get some people out on our gear on the Friday afternoon when we first arrived.

What was really noteworthy though was the Sunday trip back up the coast. We bailed on Pismo when it was clear there would be no wind and gathered up close to 20 people interested in our gear. We drove an hour north of Pismo to Hearst Castle and hit a local spot called Piedras Blanca.

Peidras was one of the nicest places I've ever kited. Really solid 20 knot sideshore winds with a small swell coming in and a beautiful California coastline complete with a castle made for an epic day of riding. Evan and I traded off on riding or helping people on the beach get on our gear and still managed to each get about 3 to 4 hours of riding in over the 6 + hours we spent there.

I'll post again from this weekend coming up. The weather pattern is looking like we'll be hitting Stinson Beach!

John Z
(here's a couple more shots from Piedras...)

Caribbean trip - swimming with sharks

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:11:00 +0000

And yes, I am still with Linn in the grenadines islands ...

It has been almost 1 month and a half we have been staying here on the island of Union. We are now spending our last week down here before we go to Grenada for a few days and after that we go to coche, Venezuela in front of Margarita where the PKRA will be happening.
Unfortunately I won't be there for the contest because I need to get my new gear, but I hope to arrive there before the end of the comp to see some of my friends that will be competing.

The wind wasn'treally good the last days down here in the Caribbean, but we had some great sessions, taking pictures and filming more for my next video.

When the wind went down, I went spear fishing with Lee and Thomas, two friends on the island.
The diving here is incredible, the clear blue water has thousands of fish to offer. We are fishing only the big ones like barracudas and spanish makrel.

To see what's under our boards is quite a different from what we are use to see when we are kiting, and scary in the same time.
I just realized that there were many sharks around the different spots we have been kiting.
While spear fishing with Lee, we crossed many different kinds of sharks with different sizes.
Lemon sharks, nurse sharks and the black tip reef shark.

Most of them are not really dangerous and didn't cause many deadly attack in the world. They are beautiful and strong animals that can take off your arm or leg in a second ... hahaha so it is always a bit scary to swim around them. they were coming really close to us and once, ..... Read the rest on www.jeremietronet.com

Cabrinha Race Series #1, OR represents!

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:57:00 +0000

Congratulations and a big shout out to regional team rider and SF Crew member Chris Slocum for his outstanding performance in the first heats of the series. Chris battled it out with well over 40 competitors in sketchy Crissy conditions to end up 7th place overall. The was the first time that Chris, Eric, Allen and Stefaans had raced on their Rise kites!

Stefaans pulled what appeared to be the most balsy move of the night when he tried to port tack the fleet as it was clearly the favored line....unfortunately it not pay off when another rider who had the same idea balked when the rest of the fleet was heading straight for them on starboard. The result was a twisted mess of kites that ended the heat for him altogether and resulted in a very late start in the second.

Thanks very much to Steve Gunn, Cabrinha, Ozone Travel, Adventure Sports Maui and the St.Francis Yacht Club for doing such an excellent job!

Ocean Rodeo tutorial video - Jeremie tronet Grab slim chance slow motion

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:05:00 +0000

source: www.jeremietronet.com

I am still in Union island with Linn, I just extended my visa to be able to stay more and get more footage ... I have been here for one month already but it seems like 2 weeks or even less.
I met a guy named Lee, he is living here and he is a really nice friend, we have been spear fishing barracudas and Spanish mackerel between some big 2.50 meter black tip sharks ...
This was scary especially when one was following me while I was going for a fish, Lee just made some signs that there was something big behind me ... scary I tell you, even if they don't attack ....

As some of you already noticed I created a new forum on the website ( check the forum link in the menu ). It is a forum where you can comment on the news, ask me a question about your next trip or ask me for advices to land your tricks . Beginners to handle passes, don't hesitate to login and ask your question or post your videos for me to comment on the mistakes .

Here is my new small video clip. It is a Grab slim chance in really slow motion with the explanation on how to do it. It is also helpful if you want to land a simple slim chance.
Enjoy:

high resolution:
http://www.kiteforum.tv/video/Jeremie_tronet_tutorial_grab_slim_chance.html

low resolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-FnStVdX9g

download:
http://www.kiteforum.tv/download/Jeremie_tronet_tutorial_grab_slim_chance.html

jeremie Tronet http://www.jeremietronet.com/

Ocean Rodeo Learn To Ride Centers

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:27:00 +0000

Ocean Rodeo is proud to announce the launch of its Learn To Ride Program.

In conjunction with 8 of its key North American shops and their schools Ocean Rodeo has established destination Learn To Ride Centers in some of the nicest cities and towns in North America. We will also soon expand this program into Europe and into many more key North American cities.

Proper lessons are the best way to learn to kite in both a safe and efficient manner. Approved Ocean Rodeo Learn To Ride Centers offer trained instruction in some of the world's nicest kiteboarding locations.

For more information on the program click here. To apply to have your school added as an authorized Learn To Ride Center please email john@oceanrodeo.com for more information!

Jeremie Tronet Extreme Slow motion video

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Hey to all of the crew !

Here is a small teaser of one of my trick in slow motion, really slow motion ...

I am using the AMAZING new 2008 diablo "C" kite and my signature model board the ZEN 129x39 !

I hope you will enjoy this short video clip .

Here are the 3 direct links:

High res streaming :
http://www.kiteforum.tv/video/Jeremie_Tronet___Extreme_slow_motion.html

Low res youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV3ykPnRf0I&fmt=18

high res Download : ( click on it or right click and save as... )
www.jeremietronet.com/slowmo.avi

See you

Jeremie Tronet

www.jeremietronet.com

Double Rise Session At Hookipa, Maui w/ Richard Tamplin and Kevin Collins

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Tamplin) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Riders: Richard Tamplin/ Kevin Collins Photo: Jon Malmberg

Over the past couple months I have been meeting up and riding with Kevin Collins, a long-time Maui local and regular kiter at Lanes. As a well-accomplished wave rider, Kevin knows the in and outs of this narly spot very well.

For those whom don’t know, Lanes is the downwind break connected to the “point” at Hookipa. Due to space, kiters are not allowed to launch at Hookipa so Lanes is our reefy, gusty home launch!!! Hookipa is world renowned for windsurfing and surfing. Plagued by rouge, powerful sets and nasty off shore currents, Hookipa is the source of many humbling wave stories.

Many times when others just say its “closed out” and no good at Lanes (in other words: too big), Kevin is game. I became well aware of this the day after my birthday. (Yikes) Here’s a picture to describe what some may call “closed out”. That little speck up in the corner is my kite.

"Close-out" Rider: Richard Tamplin Photo: Jon Malmberg

Working with photographer, Jon Malmberg, Kevin and I wanted to get some shots with two of us on the same wave. In doing this I feel like I was able to learn a lot about the local wave and the positioning from Jon and Kevin. In waveriding, each person has his or her own style, strengths and weaknesses. This experience allowed me to gain more potential out of this very tempermental wave.

"Happy Birthday!" Rider: Richard Tamplin Photo: Jon Malmberg

On this big day, the waves were too closed out and we didn’t really get any shots, other than white walls. A couple of days later we were able to get some shots on some smaller, more manageable waves.

Riders: Richard Tamplin/Kevin Collins Photo: Jon Malmberg

Rider: Kevin Collins Photo: Jon Malmberg

Riders: Richard Tamplin/Kevin Collins Photo: Jon Malmberg

Kites are such efficient tools; however, some may argue that they are too efficient with wave kiting. They allow kiters, some with no surf experience, to get in and out of some very advanced surf. When I started wave kiting, I had no idea what these waves were capable of. Like an excited kid with way too much candy, I would eco-tow myself into waves without any idea of what this giant or not-so giant wave could do to me. I did some good humbling on my own to knock this innocence out of me. My advice would be to surf, swim, observe, listen, and most importantly ride. (Even if the wave is not over head, it can still swallow you!!!)

I would like to thank both Jon and Kevin for the invaluable knowledge they both taught me and Ocean Rodeo for supporting my wave & wind addiction.

Aloha,
Richard.

Jeremie Tronet & Linn Svendsen -Ocean Rodeo endless summer trip in the Caribbean -

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:02:00 +0000

union island

Jeremie Tronet Diablo+ mako surf in the grenadines

The Caribbean is full of of various spots, each island is completely different and has so many different spots to offer.
After Barbados with its nice waves we came back to the Grenadines islands where we were for 10 days on the Ocean Rodeo catamaran. I wanted to go back there to be able to shoot my next video.

We flew from Barbados to St vincent in Kingston where we spent a night and then caught a ferry to Union.
As soon as we came in the boat Linn mentioned that the boat looked familiar to her, and after few minutes she noticed that it was written all in Norwegian with the name of her city in Norway written on the life jackets. It was actually an old boat from Stavanger (where linn is from) which ended up in these small Caribbean islands. The contrast is really interesting.

Norwegian ferry in the grenadines

We arrived in Union where we already stayed 2 weeks. I found a really nice apartment right on the hill with an amazing view a few meters away from the spot. From our beds we can see Palm island and many other islans.
Lorenzo and Elody found this place for me, they are a very nice french couple living on the island with their two kids.

It is blowing almost everyday here with beautiful crystal clear water everywhere.

Jeremie in the new apartment - nice view

Luckily there was an amazing north swell, the whole Caribbean got an incredible swell with over 20 feet in Puerto Rico.
As soon as I saw that on internet I tried to get a plane or a ferry to go to Barbados where the waves would have been huge. Unfortunatly everything was full and the private planes a little to expensive.

Jeremie and the mako surf board 2008

Big set in the Caribbean

So we stayed down here and enjoyed the smaller waves. I had 2 nice days with very nice waves around 10 feet for the biggest one. But before to go in the water Linn scared me a bit when she told me that she saw 2 fins in the water, it might have been nurse sharks which are not dangerous, but when I lost my board a couple of times and took over 10 minutes trying to get it back, I was a bit scared.
We got really nice pictures that will be in the next magazines.

The next days we had some great sessions in some other spots around Clifton and Ashton the 2 small villages on the island.

Jeremie and the 129x39 Jeremie Tronet signature model board

Full moon session

A few days ago we were taking some nice full moon pictures in the lagoon, I had the camera set correctly on a tripod in the water ( a few centimeters deep ) and we were shooting the kite with the moon, the pictures were good until Linn dropped the camera in the water.

We lost the 20D canon and the 10-22mm canon, the flash have been recovered.
Ocean Rodeo is sending me a new 40D and a new lens for us to be able to do this trip, I am now waiting the gear coming with UPS.

This will give us the opportunity to get the video footage for the diablo movie, the C kite from Ocean Rodeo.

Linn Svendsen enjoying the flash and the full moon

stars in Union

We are here for 2 more weeks. Next we should be heading to Grenada and maybe directly to Venezuela in Coche to be there for the PKRA.

Have a look at www.jeremietronet.com !

See u

Jeremie Tronet

to be continued ...

Riveria Maya

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:24:00 +0000

After the chaos of the Cancun airport (mass influx of spring breakers) I was really stoked to have a beer in hand and be blasting southward through Playa del Carmen and on to the solace of Tulum. There I met up with Marco from www.extremecontrol.net and had a fantastic time. We had three great days of wind, and ran demos at his location on the beach beside the hotel and beach club El Paraiso. Good times were had by all - warm water, sun, wind, a killer DJ, drinks, food, spectacular scenery and topless women.....what else does one need to be happy?

On the first day I went upwind and rode in front of the ruins - I have a feeling I am likely in hundreds of vacationers photo albums.

I stayed at a really cool jungle hotel that Marco and his girlfriend Heather run called Uolis Nah. Located within walking/biking distance of the center of Tulum and a short drive to the beach made it the ideal choice and I highly recommend it. If you are looking for a destination that offers much more than just kiteboarding, contact Marco and head to Tulum!

Cheers,

Evan

Jeremie Tronet surf trip in Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:18:00 +0000

After leaving the island of ste Lucia we landed in Barbados 5 days ago.

This Caribbean island is really different than the other ones I have already been to. More flat, less vegetations, good Rum and some amazing waves are the ways to describe Barbados.
I found a nice place right on the beach at Silver rock on the south east of the island, where the wind is stronger.

We are staying at "Bright's" place just in front of the "Silver rock".
It is the perfect accommodation, really spacious and you can see the wave spot from your room.... perfect.

There is also a really nice hotel: Silver point. A bit more luxury.... you can choose depending on your budget. www.silverpointhotel.com.
Barbados offer various good waves for surfing, this is why I chose this destination, to do a really nice trip in the waves and finaly try this nice surfboard board Mako from Ocean Rodeo.

Soon as we arrived we met Brian Talma, famous windsurfer living here. He runs the windsurf and kiteschool right on the surf of Silver rock.
He is a really nice guy, giving us all the information we need to find the best spots on the island. We might go paddle surf in few days, he has a few really nice boards ... I hope the waves will be good enough.

A few days before coming in Barbados I sent an email to Jim from the kitesurf magazine Kiteworld about some publications we were working on. I got an answer from his co worker Seb telling me that he was on holliday ... A few days later, I meet him on the beach for the first time without even knowing he was in Barbados. It was a funny situation.
I don't know if you read kiteworld, if not you really should have a look at their magazine, it is really interesting with beautiful pictures in each issue.

Yesterday we went to Bachiba with Jeff and Kurt, 2 very nice guys from the US we met down here. The spot is known for the big waves braking along the coast on the north but unfortunately the wind wasn't good enough to reach the big sets.... so we drove up to the north and found a really nice beach with nice waves but only 10 to 12 knots ... I decided to pump up my 12m diablo and tried to get some nice Aerial handle pass pictures off the lip with the surfboard ... we got some really great shots.

Today we drove back to Silver rock and went kiting on Long beach with Jeremy, an English dude who's running IKsurf: www.iksurfmag.com , the kite magazine on line, and Mathias, a guy from Austria.

The spot is amazing, white sandy beach and blue water, but unfortunately the swell went down and the wind to .. we had enough to do some good pictures with linn going kiting.

Unfortunately Mathias going back on the beach missed his edge and broke his foot on the beach ... I drove him to silver rock to find Kurt who could give him a ride to the nearest hospital where he is having surgery right now ... I hope he will be alright !

We are leaving Barbados on Friday, we will fly to the island of St Vincent and take a ferry boat to the Grenadine Islands where we will be staying for a month to shoot the new diablo video.

www.jeremietronet.com for more trips

Jeremie Tronet

Ocean Rodeo Catamaran

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremie Tronet) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:33:00 +0000

To be able to do the Ocean Rodeo endless summer trip in the caribbean, we needed the best tool to cruise between the islands. So, I introduce you the new Ocean Rodeo Catamaran for 08 !!
We will be using it for 10 days in the Grenadines islands, one of the most beautiful place on earth !

with Linn, we should be going back to Ste Lucia in a few days, next go to Barbados and come back to the grenadines for one month of serious shooting !

check out my website www.jeremietronet.com for more information about our trip.

See you !

Jeremie Tronet

Cozumel, why did it have to end?

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:12:00 +0000

So, I am sorry to say that my three weeks in Mexico has finally come to an end. Overall, I enjoyed Cozumel the most. The accommodation, food, company, riding and all around stoke spread by Adrian from Cozumelkiteboarding.com and Adam and Elea from Aircompany were fantastic and I can't wait to go back!

The 14m Rise was probably the most tested and most popular kite on the trip, especially in combination with the new Mako Wide. If you need a killer light wind combination that smokes upwind and eradicates chop, then this set up is for you. I also rode the Mako Wide well powered on an 8m and at no time did it feel like too much board. Order or demo one today if you can!

On the last night of the trip I met Estrella in a bar. As it turns out she is a kiteboarder and a friend of Adrian's, who I am now really hoping that we hook up with some OR gear!

Cheers,

Evan

The Kiteboarder.com Reviews OR's 2008 Rise Venturi

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:39:00 +0000

The Kiteboarder.com Reviews the 2008 Rise Venturi!

SBC Kiteboard Magazine Reviews OR's '08 Rise!

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:33:00 +0000

SBC Kiteboard Magazine's 2008 Ocean Rodeo Rise Review

Words by Shane Thompson, SBC Media (read the online review here)

The clever Venturi technology is yet another innovation from Ocean Rodeo that sets this company apart from the competition.

Size Tested: 8 m2, 10 m2, 12 m2
Style: Four-line SLE / Dealers: 120 / Warranty: 1 year / Price: $1,249; $1,359; $1,439 / What’s New: Venturi panel lets wind through the canopy to stop stalling and back flying

The Rise is Ocean Rodeo’s SLE kite that offers well-rounded, freestyle-oriented performance over its flatter-shaped freeride kite, the One. Easy relaunch and easy flying make the Rise ideal for intermediates and beginners.

Bar setup and safety system
The four-line bar sets up in a 1:1 configuration with no pulleys. The soft EVA grip is contoured and colour coded with a stainless-steel and widened centre hole. Pre-stretched and wound, colour-coded and kook-proof flying lines come standard. The safety leash attaches to a below-the-bar integrated chicken and trim line. This trim and chicken line run through the clam cleat and up to a roller pulley at the frontline V. A non-mechanical stopper-ball system can be positioned to prevent the bar from traveling the super-long length of the trim line. The quick-release trim loop is easy to engage and can be reloaded on the water.

Key kite features
The Rise is packed with OR’s robust build features and industry-leading design technology. Features include single-point inflation system, shorter convertible bridle system for tunable performance, Dacron 3-D framing for durability, and the Venturi system for a more forgiving and efficient kite.

On-water performance
Ocean Rodeo has designed a kite geared toward the freestyle rider, but its tunable performance caters to a range of skill levels and conditions. With two front attachments and two rear on the wingtips, you can access different levels of bar pressure and steering speed. The more sensitive the steering, however, the more likely to cause oversheeting, back flying and stalling. Fortunately, OR designers have come up with a solution to mitigate this common SLE phenomenon. The Venturi panel, made of breathable mesh material, is located toward the canopy’s trailing edge. Air flows through this narrow pane, which reduces turbulence in gusts and hinders back flying by reconnecting the air flow through the kite. Regardless of what features improve this problem, the kite’s performance impresses us. There is fantastic low-end power, good, direct feel and awesome range. Our favourite of the three sizes is the 10 m2, which has as much low end as our old 14 m2 C kites. The 10 m2 has one of the broadest wind ranges on test and the biggest sweet spot for boosting massive air, with plenty of pop and smooth steering for unhooked riding. Beginners will appreciate the easy relaunch. The kite can also be tuned to have more stability and less-sensitive turning, more suited to beginners.

Reality check
The Rise doesn’t fly backward when oversheeted, but in the most sensitive steering mode, it still stalls and requires trim-line tuning when doing powered unhooked manoeuvres.

Bottom line
The Rise is suitable for almost any rider because of its great tunability features. It has loads of usable depower and safety for the beginner and tons of performance to satisfy any new-school rider. The clever Venturi technology is yet another innovation from Ocean Rodeo that sets this company apart from the competition.

'08 Mako Carve Board Series from Ocean Rodeo

noreply@blogger.com (The Ocean Rodeo Crew) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:43:00 +0000

Ocean Rodeo's 2008 Mako Carve Series

Ocean Rodeo is proud to introduce the 2008 Mako Carve kiteboard series. Built with Ocean Rodeo's legendary attention to detail the 2008 Mako series is designed for durability, control and Carve!

The 2008 Mako line up is Ocean Rodeo's deepest line of heavy concave carving boards ever. Featuring 4 shapes with upto 18mm of concave the 2008 line up of Mako boards smooths choppy waters, carves up wind with ease and bites into every turn you make.

The 2008 Mako has bite!
Visit OceanRodeo.com to learn more!

available in sizes: 134x35 Freestyle, 150x34 Freeride, 150x40 Freeride Wide and 170x42 Surf Directional

Cozumel bliss

noreply@blogger.com (EvanOR) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:56:00 +0000

A few days in now and things could not be better. It's hot, windy and the water is the clearest that I have seen anywhere.....great food, great people and the accommodation is fantastic. The Mako Wide is proving to be the board to ride and it is hard to get a hold of.....it smokes all the specialty light wind boards but still carves, jumps, and holds an edge when you are lit up - the Crew here calls it the Cadillac because it eats chop...In my opinion this is THE board for 2008!

The Rise 14m's have seen the most action - also the kite of choice...

Cheers,

Evan