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Transcript75 lines
- [00:00]
A
I mean, they're not for sale.
- [00:02]
B
You know, when you get down there, all your mates are there. You get carried away sometimes, you know,
- [00:05]
A
Core XR probably still goes higher than anything else.
- [00:09]
B
The six packs made in the kitchen.
- [00:11]
A
It's a great line which is like very Brainchild esque.
- [00:14]
B
Maybe that's a team to keep an eye on in the next next 18 months. Catastrophic equipment failure.
- [00:24]
A
Going for the boogaloo double just to get the landing.
- [00:26]
B
Oh.
- [00:27]
A
Had a couple of strings and it was extremely dangerous.
- [00:30]
B
Guys, I sent the TR and it is gold for Ellie Aldridge and gold for Great Britain.
- [00:39]
A
What's wrong, Adrian? Something's up, mate.
- [00:42]
B
Yesterday I did two two hour sessions of kiteboarding. The last time I kiteboarded was basically I did three tacks and a shigaki before the wind shut the bed. And I woke up today feeling pretty brutalized, to be honest. It sort of reminded me back when I was playing a bit of footy, you know. I'm sore. I'm so sore. I feel sick.
- [01:02]
A
Was that were the conditions all time? What was?
- [01:05]
B
No, it was just like, you know, just. Just a good day, you know, like 18, 1890 knots and I was on my 12 and just a fun day, you know, just all the boys out and I just got a bit carried away. I got a bit carried away. I did. Did a two hour session and then I was like, let's go for a sunset one. I was like, yeah, why not? I should have gone home. It was a bad move. But good to be back on the water. Good to feel the pain of kiteboarding again. We didn't get the reps in Ishigaki like we hoped.
- [01:30]
A
No, we didn't. It's not about us though, is it? What's the setup? Tell the, tell the folk what the water's like, what kite you're on.
- [01:38]
B
Oh, I was just riding my 12 meter reach. Yeah, it was like 18, 18 to 19 knots. It was just a good south wind day. And in old sunny Hua hin and it was just a fun day to be on the water, you know? You know when you get down there, all your mates are there. You get carried away sometimes, you know. So I think I pushed a little bit hard that went out today, but I was like, oh, I've got a work meeting. If there wasn't a work meeting, I wouldn't have gone anywhere. I'm too tired. Hit the rest up.
- [02:04]
A
Where's the pains in the abs is in the legs.
- [02:07]
B
The abs, Legs everywhere. Shoulders mainly the abs. The abs are the worst One, Yeah, it's getting. Getting in and out of the beds. A bit of a tough one at the moment, but, yeah, feeling good. But it's a good pain. You know, it's that pain when you're like, man, I put a shift in yesterday. But, mate, the other thing as well, man, is my voice is still not better after two weeks.
- [02:25]
A
It is sounding, yeah, quite husky.
- [02:29]
B
Husky's not what I want. I lost my voice in Ishigaki after a cold day shooting. But, yeah, really bit of a concern that. I've actually got some Thai herbal medicine to take tomorrow, so I'll be probably chipper by Friday.
- [02:44]
A
Mate, you'll be singing. Singing BIRDSONG in the morning.
- [02:49]
B
Have you had a chance to get out in the water? Have you been doing any kiting? No, not since Cape Town.
- [02:55]
A
Not since Cape Town. Did I kite in Ishigaki? Yeah, I did kite in Ishigaki briefly, didn't I? Yeah, we all tore the place to shreds. Everyone was in awe.
- [03:03]
B
No, that was my board. You tore tortoise. That was the bottom of my board. We shouldn't be saying that. Ishigaki said, by the way, it is a beautiful place to kite. It's just that the day we were there was particularly low tide. Particularly low.
- [03:17]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [03:18]
B
Don't let that put you off, though. Don't let you put you off.
- [03:21]
A
Yeah, just avoid the SAE spot.
- [03:24]
B
Exactly, Exactly. Exactly. You know, I was just looking at kites, let's say since the end of the sea Kites, Colin. And there's. There's like almost a distinct trend if you look at sort of. Okay, Nick won. Nick Jacobson won 2017 on the cabrina switchblade.
- [03:40]
A
One king of the air. Yeah.
- [03:42]
B
One king of the. On the Cabrina Switchblade. And then we had. We had two years of pivot wins. We had two years of orbit wins. Then we had the D Labs come with the Rebel and the. In the Evo. Harlem's the team at the moment. Who's next? Is it going to cycle back around to those brands or is another going to. Is another team going to rise up and dominate? Because I. I feel like those brands at the top and they want to be there. Like, you know, when north came back, Du north split up and Duotone became Du north became North. They had that fire in their belly to create something special, and I think Harlem's there now. And Duotone probably were there at the time as well. And you could probably say the same about Nash. Who's next? Do you Think, what's the next brand to. To come on and say, I want to be at the top.
- [04:28]
A
I think it's changed a bit in that the standard of kites now is fairly level. When the orbit came out, it was better than anything else. When we did that blank kite test and Hill was on Ocean Rodeo, he tried to buy a blank orbit from me, to which I wish I still had the WhatsApp messages, because they're so funny. He was like, can I buy it? And I was like, I mean, they're not for sale. And he's like, but can I buy it? And I was like, well, what are you gonna give me? And then we had this, like, back and forth where I'm like, I think it's worth 5,000. And he just laughed in my face, obviously. And that went back and forth. He thought it was worth €20 and such. And then we never met in the middle. And I've still got that kite today, but I think after that it was. Yeah, you're right. The D Labs particularly, actually. Lorenzo won on the Rebel sls, didn't he?
- [05:33]
B
Oh, sorry, you're right.
- [05:35]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then, yeah, the D Lab Evo was way better than anything else. And people still think it's, you know, if you gave a random pro, if you've had a random pro and you said, here's two and a half grand, you got to buy one kite, what are you going to buy? I think it'd be a good slice of them that would buy a 20, 23 duotone D lab Evo, which is now not in production. And they're kind of.
- [06:03]
B
Mica still rides that kite.
- [06:04]
A
I've still got one. I've still got one, guys. Yeah. And I will sell it to anyone for €6,000. It was way better than anything at the time. Do I think the Harlem Peak is way better than anything? No, I think it's way flatter now. I think the Slingshot NXT is a great kite. I think the Core XR probably still goes higher than anything else. I mean, if it can get heel up there, that means it's a serious rocket. What else is great? The D Lab Rebel looks incredible in the hands of Andrea Pancipi, doesn't it? So I think there is a range now and there didn't used to be. It used to be you needed the kite and now it's swinging way further. Background to being more about the rider. Do I think Lorenzo could have won King of the Air this year on a Rebel D Lab? Yeah, yeah, I think you could say the same about the Slingshot and xt and I think you could say the same about the Core XR Pro. So, yeah. Does that answer it? What's going to be what? What's going to be next? We don't know. One brand that I've haven't been excited about in a long time but is actually looking good. Wasn't it in the hands of Jason Van der Spee in Japan was that was the Nashkite, which I don't really know enough. Enough about. But it looks lighter, looks like a different construction. They're doing the crazy print stuff, which is like very brainchild esque, but presumably without the two or three years of iteration and fine tuning. So, yeah, that's another one that's in the mix there. And I think the North NU80 material looks and sounds great too. So you kind of can't go too wrong now. If you're a top level, you've never been able to go wrong if you're an amateur kiteboarder wanting something great in Dacron and traditional construction. But now, even at the top end, you can't go too wrong either.
- [08:23]
B
I mean, let's give Harlem props. When they have a team meeting, everyone's there, including Aaron, including Ralph. They go through everything, you know, they really want it. And I think north wanted it back in the day. And maybe with. I think maybe teams need to find that want again because I think you can't sort of rely on your law. Okay. For sure, they got Lorenzo and, and Stino and Leonardo, you know, they're. All of them are great pilots. And as you said, they can probably do it on any kite. But I still think it comes back to having that desire as a team and wanting to, wanting to push. And it's not just the riders, it's backhouse too. Right? It's making sure the fins are there, it's making sure the lines are right. It's making sure looking at the, you know, okay, we're on 18 meter lines. Should we ride on a low V? How does that talk to the designer? How does Ralph think about that? You know, I think they're doing thing as a collective and maybe being a smaller brand, they can operate like that a bit better. So it'll be interesting to see how teams react because I still believe that results make big sales for you. I mean, we see it all the time, right? What Lorenzo and Andrea ride is what people want to ride.
- [09:30]
A
Six packs made in the kitchen.
- [09:32]
B
The six packs made in the kitchen. It's a great Line.
- [09:35]
A
I think the other one, if you're talking about, like, culture and wanting it, is F1, who also have access to Brainchild. Yeah. Making a big push at the moment. They got Charles Bradell, who took out a WOO record last year. Not very long, but he took it out. And Pippa recently, too. Lord's Tram around the corner. It's a French event. They love it. Elliot Bhutan, who you've just recorded with. Yeah. Who's really good and has a bright future, too. So. Yeah.
- [10:07]
B
And you know, the funny thing about that. And also that Martin Kabushki as well, from. From Wicker. The crazy thing is that it's interesting how if you go to France, like Duotone has this massive stronghold in France. I don't know why, but why. And I'm loving that. The fact that if one have come in and taken two young, great riders and also Pippa, who's like a senior operator to fill that team up. And I think. I think you're right. Maybe that's a team to keep an eye on in the next 18 months.
- [10:36]
A
What will be interesting is whether they go with the Brainchild construction, the Grossel kite that's in that F1 range, or whether they will go with the way of Charles Bredel and his banger, which is, I think. I think tailored towards his foil riding. And therefore I think it's a better fit for women in big air. But I've never flown it. I don't know. I flew a very early Eluder prototype of Charles's in Morocco and it. Yeah, that one was. I didn't think that was okay at all, but that was really, really early. But it just. It just made me realize how different it is to. To design something for. For him. He needs something really specific. And that's it with prototypes, isn't it? You actually don't know what they're looking for. They could be searching for, like, different elements and different feels from different bridal setups. So they could, like, really compromise and know that it's going to stall terribly. But they're just. What they're actually looking for is the way accelerates, like, not necessarily in the turn, but how fast it can get from A to B.
- [11:52]
B
What's your take on riders designing kites for them versus the market? Because I kind of. I know this is the big debate, right? Do you create a kite for yourself which maybe no one else can ride, or do they see value in. In the banger as actually legitimate?
- [12:07]
A
Or.
- [12:08]
B
That's going to be great for consumers because you have to think that Charles wants, you know, we've, we've seen Jamie and these guys riding and they're, you know, they want something very, very, very particular to them, which doesn't necessarily mean that's going to be great for everyone else. Is that where you think the banger is going to be positioned in the market? Because they've got the Quadex stuff, they got the, the original bandits that are really being done, they've got the brainchild construction, they've got quite a lot of offerings. Now,
- [12:35]
A
this isn't necessarily about the banger, but I think in general it's smart to make the most technically advanced, highest performing thing because that's actually what the consumer wants, even if it's not good for them. Like, should people have bought that d Lab Evo 2023? No, it was like very technical to fly. Very difficult. Did they sell a shitload of them off the back of Andrea winning two King of the Airs? Yes. People are stupid. They just want what the best person's on. They don't look too much further. That's enough for them. So if I was them, I'd be doing that. But then, you know, you listen to Ralph talking about how he designed that kite and he says, oh, no, that was for the general consumer. So it's all a bit convoluted.
- [13:25]
B
But you got to remember the Evo had been in the system a long time, you know. And the Evo and the dice. Yeah, yeah, and the dice. Almost like, strangely, with like, almost the same kite, you can, you can ride strapless, you can freestyle, you can do big hair. And then suddenly this one sprung out of. It's like they put fertilizer on it, became this weapon, almost like the pivot. You could probably say the same about the, the Nash pivot as well. It wasn't really designed to be what it turned into. Yeah, that's, that's kind of interesting, Interesting thing to think about.
- [13:56]
A
The XR is the exception to that. That is a kite that's always been about usability and that is not just in the xr actually. It's a core that kind of is through all their products. You saw it in the blank kite test. Sam light on the core pace and he's like, this thing just has more lift. Of all the kites, if you're going to break the 10 meter barrier, this is the one that's not even the xr new XR coming this year, that'll be a massive, I think it's probably the biggest product release of the year. They're always so anticipated. And yeah, there's been a gap, hasn't there? So I think everyone's ready and waiting for that. Also, it looks like they're tuning it to. They're constantly refining it, aren't they? What will this be? XR9, XR10, 11, 12. But this is something that's gone under, you know, decades now of. Of trial and error and tweaking and finding new things and adding refinements and adding and building. Yeah, yeah. So that's something that's always had usability at the core of it, and that's allowed people to get the best out of themselves, which is completely different to something like a D Lab Evo, which is so technical and difficult to use. I feel like, yeah, the sweet spot's just so small, whereas on an xr, it's huge. And then you feel like a legend and that, like, isn't that the point?
- [15:35]
B
Yeah, but, you know, I want to just reference it back about market versus performance, because even yesterday I was just cutting around and I was just looking around and dude, the amount of north orbits that I still see that the 20, 20, 21, 22 era, you know, the. Before they. Before they made the graphic changes, just the red or yellow kites, they're unbelievable. They're still. I still see so many of them. And that's what I'm saying. I want to go back to what I say. If you can get a great result on a kite, you know, maybe not the sales straight away, but that you see. You see the results of those wins for the next two or three seasons, I think, and cause times coming right. I think Shahar is going to be the king of core. You know, he's. He's the next big one. And I know he'll even said to me, I'd love Shahada take my place. Shahar, stall that. Oh, no, I don't want to take heel spot. I'm like, dude, you need to knock him off, you know? Yeah. A great result for Core would be. Would be awesome as well.
- [16:28]
A
Crazy that Kor's been so dominant in the big airspace without a king of the air, without Ross dillon player on 11 the mega loop on a core, didn't he?
- [16:37]
B
Yeah, he did. It was on the gts.
- [16:39]
A
But if you think back and Josh Emanuel.
- [16:43]
B
Yeah. If you think back to the back years after Janik Jagy broke his leg, dude, it went down to one stage. There was one guy, I think it was Evan Klein was riding core. I mean core on the male side of Core. He'll have gone to Ocean Rodeo. I think on the male side, the core representation in male big air for two or three season was almost nothing. I mean, it was tiny, but they
- [17:05]
A
just had the Yannick Years, which was so loud. It was booming. That was booming.
- [17:12]
B
And by the way, shout out to yannickin and Mike McDonald. I know I speak about Mike a lot, but those guys pushed that XR in the early days. You know, they. They were the one who pushed that kite. And they should have. I don't know if they're getting paid for sales, but they should have been because they were making that kite hot.
- [17:27]
A
You know, also, they chose that kite not because, I mean, those two, like Yannick Sugar, let's get that point. I know had offers from every brand, but he chose the XR because it was liftier than anything else. And that's what they wanted at that time when they were kind of reshaping what the next five years of kiteboarding was going to look like. I've got a dog that's just constantly whiffing and it's just pissing me off.
- [17:53]
B
As you listen to this, it is the last day to enter a video for the Lords of Tram. Well, the first 10 guys or the GK's top 10 ranking has automatic entry. Interesting on that list. Let me just go through that. The guys who are ranked by the GKA and get automatic entry. Lorenzo Casati, Andrea Principe, Edgar Ulrich, Leonardo Casati, Finn Flugel, Kim over Kirk, Shahar Sabri, Zach Adams, Steenmo, and Yosui San Ferreira. Great to see Yosui back there. Finn getting another look. But the big name that stands out to me there is Edgar. Are we going to see Edgar ride?
- [18:26]
A
No.
- [18:27]
B
You think he's done?
- [18:29]
A
Let's see. Why? I would. Yeah. Hasn't he publicly said multiple times he's done? Haven't we all lost interest as well? Maybe he can't keep up. I don't. He's really talented for sure, but it's a different ball game now.
- [18:42]
B
Like. Like Elliott said, it's time to move on, let the young guys shine, and
- [18:46]
A
that Lorenzo's gonna put his pants down.
- [18:48]
B
And that leaves 16 places available, which will be made up from video and Wildcat. On the ladies side, I guess it's the top six, which is Mikhail Issol, Francesca Maney, Sara Sadiq, Alexei Ruggier, Alyssa Minch and Natalie Lambre. Pippa sitting there at rank seventh. And I guess there's six more from video on that side as well. I really like the Lords of Tram. You know, not just the conditions, but I was never a massive fan of the 24 and, and 12 but it kind of makes sense to me because it does. It is a valuable pathway for young riders and I think that's something that, you know, we always shit on the GK but I think by having the 24 and, and 12 it does actually give a lot of opportunity for people to get in from the fringe and people to have a chance. And Lords of have always done that. So it's going to be interesting to see how the next few hopefully by next week that full fleet list is out because yeah, that's, that's a great comp.
- [19:39]
A
Yeah, for sure. For sure.
- [19:40]
B
Baby shark in. Let's watch that space, Guys. Fantasy will be back for 2026. We are making some changes. We're going to freshen up a little bit. It's been running for a few years. We're felt a little bit stale. I'm kind of excited about what we're going to do on this. I don't want to give too much away now because I want to get fully flushed out and organized. But we will be changing the system so it's going to make picking teams more difficult. You're still going to have the tier system. Yeah. It just means so many, lots of people can't choose the same fleets. I think that's the problem we had before. Too many people choosing just the same riders every time and we want to mix that up similar to other games, similar to other card games available, similar to other Fantasy games around. So yeah, stay tuned for that. I'm excited about it. I think it's going to bring something different. Could have transfer markets. It's going opportunities for people to build a little community around around Fantasy as well. And I think that could be something that's going to just a bit more fun to it as well. Because before you sort of people sort of picked and didn't really do too much. Now you're going to be able to pick and actually be able to have a bit more fun with, with your fleet. So stay tuned for more information on Fantasy.
- [20:54]
A
Changing it up. Aren't we changing lots of things up this year? It's gonna feel quite different from us over the next few months. Not only the Japan shoot that's about to go into production tomorrow actually that starts. We start the editing process of that. So we'll be posting some behind the scenes stuff in on our DM group on Instagram. So if you're not signed up to that I think we're like 30 away from a thousand and that's one of our company goals. So if you're not signed up to that, go and help us.
- [21:22]
B
Get in the tent, boy.
- [21:22]
A
Get in the tent. Get in the tent, boy. So that's happening. What else is happening? We're just going to do more dramatic stuff. That is what is most compelling for me because a lot of what we've done thus far has been like documenting what is actually happening. But I want to do some more strict, I guess, storytelling and using drama to do that. So that will be in various forms. Whether we are completely coming up with stuff from the ground up and doing more like audiobook sort of stuff with ridiculous characters and ridiculous things happening to following, doing the documentary stuff again, but just, yeah, paying more attention to how we're constructing the story and how we are displaying each character in a thoughtful way and being closer to the work that we love in film and TV as opposed to documentary. So, yeah, that's our plan. And then of course bringing you the usual event coverage that we do and all the gear, reviews and bits as well. We're changing up. We want to do benchmark testing this year, which is where we get. So for the xr, we get the newest XR and the one before and we get Neutral Party to fly both and say what the, what the difference is and whether it's worth upgrading or not. I think the other big release this year will be fun to do that with is north with the NU80 compared to Alula, the orbits and the reaches, that'll be epic too. So, yeah, good stuff coming.
- [23:12]
B
Yeah, I mean, I think we're just freshing it up, right? I mean it's time for a freshen up and we, we feel like we want to just slightly change the direction and as I say and you know, in podcasts I get out, you know, if you believe in what we do, you know, go check out Portrait Kite and get involved. I mean, we're trying to make content the way we believe it should be made and we're trying to have fun and bring fun back to the industry. I mean, I think we're here, let's be honest, I think the industry is in delicate times right now and it needs a bit of fun. It needs people to be enjoying kiting. Like yesterday, I wouldn't have done a four hour session if I wasn't having fun. It's just that the first time I had a lot of fun in the water again and yeah, let's find the fun again. Let's find the fun, Ben. Let's do that.
- [23:52]
A
I also think that we've spent way too much time training our lens on Big air.
- [23:58]
B
Sure, yeah, 100%.
- [24:00]
A
And I think the real fun is actually in free ride and in combining freestyle and foiling and downwinders and adventure, as well as jumping around and looping.
- [24:12]
B
Mate, the real fun is on the characters.
- [24:14]
A
Yeah, for sure. And how good are the characters in cardboarding? Let's be honest.
- [24:18]
B
I mean, amazing, you know, like, I mean, I think back and I often sit with Andre and I said to him, do you remember the time when me and Ben saw you and Lorenzo walking down the hill in Tarifa? I think it was early 2022, you know, and he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's just crazy to see their development and, you know, our development as a, you know, we call them friends now, you know, and how that's developed. And I think we're always looking for the next person. We're always looking for what next. And I think. I think we have an idea of who those people are going to be. The next sort of group of savages and rock stars. I used to think Andre and Lorenzo were going to dominate for the next 10 years, but I don't believe that anymore. I just think those guys kicked it into gear. They're going to be known as the pioneers of this next generation. But the Next Kids are coming, I think, are more balanced and more well rounded. I mean, you know, watching Finn flugel ride that slingshot code with. Never been on that kite before. I mean, he tore it up like it was his favorite glove. You know, it was crazy. And I think that's. I don't think Andre Lorenzo can do that. They're so focused on Biggie, they don't have that. Matt Lorenzo has more because he can foil and does strapless. But it'll be interesting to see. Actually, sorry to ramble on there. Be interesting to see if Lorenzo cuts back on the strapless. I mean, he. I think him and Leonardo went round two around three at the stripless weekend. You know, I think Renato had said that they can be world champions in that as well. I think that his goal has extended away from them. I still think they'll do the hydrofoil, but I'd be interested to see if they. They tighten things up a little bit and. And focus a bit more. Or maybe Leonardo will be the first person to break away. I'd like to see those two have slightly different paths. I think it's unfair for Leo to live in that shadow. I'd love to see Leo to go and do what he wants to do. That might happen in time. We don't know.
- [26:08]
A
Very good. All right, well, we'll be there to capture all, as it happens, don't you worry. And then we'll put it on the Internet like we always have done. So, yeah, think to us, as always. We'll see you in the next one. Goodbye.