What happens when you mix 1 part REAL Kiteboarding, 2 Parts Kiteboarding Magazine photographers, 1 part Cape Hatteras SW Breeze, 2 parts warm water and top it off with an open invitation to riders?
You get a REAL “No Contest” weekend of epic proportions…
In an effort with Kiteboarding Magazine, REAL Kiteboarding was proud to host the first official ‘No Contest’ Riding Party this past weekend, May 14-16!
While thinking of ways to get content for their upcoming Cape Hatteras feature, Kiteboarding Magazine Editor Gabe Brown approached REAL Kiteboarding to collaborate their ideas. With a smile on his face and that maniacal look in his eye, REAL’s Trip Forman suggests “Let’s have a riding party at our Kite Center in Waves. We’ll set up the REAL Slider Park, do insane downwinders and light stuff on fire. It’ll be great and we’ll have an open invitation, giving us lots of riders to work with. We’ll have a huge expression session, waterfront BBQ, and outdoor movie premier Saturday night at REAL to bring everyone on the island together for kiteboarding!”
That was all that was needed to get the ball rolling and it was on. REAL riders prepared the REAL Slider Park, adding supports and a new slick plastic covering to the “Death Star”. The rest of thhe REAL Slider arsenal was deployed like nuclear subs leaving the basin including the legendary “Triple S”, “Dragon Tail”, “Windsurfing’s been Cancelled”, and many more all witness in ACL’s new TEN4 video. KB editor Gabe Brown booked his flights and called to invite some other riders…
By Friday afternoon, we had a large crew of riders and building SW breeze- the perfect set up for a “Planet of the Apes” Downwinder! While an amazing site for those who were seeing ‘The Planet’ for the first time, local riders commented on never before seeing that many riders in those spots. Never the less the conditions were perfect with 20+ knots of the steadiest SW wind anywhere and dead flat glass water!
Bri Chmel came to The Planet on a mission to hang like an ape, and did so with amazing style, throwing down these sick unhooked, one handed fronts with a front kite loop. Very smooth and raising the bar for the other girls out there with her consistent unhooked and powered maneuvers.
No stranger to “The Planet”, Jason Slezak was taking it easy, getting comfortable with his new Liquid Force Drop 130cm board and LF Spectrum Kites. Seems like he had everything dialed in as he continously threw everything to blind in the glass of The Planet.
Pulling out of The Planet, Bri, Slezy and Gabe spent some time in front of the ski-cam, getting some quality tracking shots. Coming downwind towards town, the group pulled into the cove at the “Wind over Waves” development for a quality sunset slider session.
Again, trying to charge it harder than anyone, Bri took the REAL “Dragon Tail” by force! Getting more comfortable with each hit, Bri was going end to end and off the kicker, riding away powered before the sunset, and continued to go for it even after we were in complete darkness!
Friday night ended with everyone worked and tired from an insane day of riding, ready to rest up and charge it again in the morning. REAL hosted a welcome party on thhe back deck of “The Slick House” that night where all the riders were able to share winter stories and make plans for the next day’s riding.
Saturday morning brought us another beautiful sunny day with the SW breeze already blowing when we woke up. The morning and mid day were filled with tons of sessions and people riding all of the popular spots and downwinders.
While KB Photographer Bill Doster was following the crew in The Planet of the Apes, Tekko went and hung out in “The Slick” for some new shots there.
Just off the clock from coaching a camp at REAL, Justin Souter cruised up into ‘The Slick’ to unwind from a day on thhe ski. In standard Souter fashion, Justin dominated with his powered laid out wakemoves while Dimitri was there doing some high altitude Mobe Hunting.
Litewave Dave was in town for his first true SW Cape Hatteras experience and to demo his latest boards, the 115cm, 125cm and 145cm Freestyle Series. Very well received, the Litewave boards specifically caught the eye of REAL coach and rider Sam Bell, who had no problem integrating the 125cm into his “go big and land blind” style.
As the sun began to set for another day, the focus was on the REAL Slider Park and BBQ Party.
Visiting rider Davey Blair from Charleston never stopped charging all weekend! Even after breaking his board and losing his kite Davey, on a borrowed Hammersurf board kept pushing himself in the park, with a solid performance on the Triple-S Slider.
While REAL staff got the grill fired up with burgers and hot dogs, REAL co-founder Trip Forman was on a fire detail of his own. With a strong vision of “blowing up kiteboarding”, Trip did not hesitate to deploy copius amounts of lighter fluid onto the picknick table slider while Slezy-J, Bri and Davey kept skying over it.
As if the live riding wasn’t enough, the REAL Party was in full swing in the backyard with 10′ outdoor theater, continuously showing kiteboarding videos, Dave McGuire on the grill, feeding everyone and 3 kegs on the deck to challenge the livers of all in attendance! It was a beautiful sunset to star filled night and the SW held straight through until the final rider came off the water close to 10pm at night ! 80 degrees, warm water, waterfront at The Slick with a cold beer and a burger. Can it get better?
Sunday morning brought beautiful sunny skies and a lite breeze. The crew took advantage of the break in the wind with a lazy day on the beach. Relaxing, surfing, kite skimboard riding and generally resting after a solid couple days of riding.