What's up LF Troops?!
I recently returned back to Hatteras from a little over three weeks of boat life cruising around the BVI’s! I was there, along with a great group of people for REAL BVI 09. We spent 23 days living aboard our brand new Moorings 474 Power Cat. This was the fourth year for the annual REAL BVI cruise and my sixth winter in a row of spending time in the BVI’s kiting and surfing. From the first trip that I took to the BVI’s with Liquid Force product manager Corky Cullen in 2004 to this years REAL BVI 09 the tight cluster of islands in the north eastern Caribbean has never let me down.
This year we scored wind and waves of some sort almost every day of the trip! This allowed participants to maximize their time on the water. It was such an awesome experience to spend time with such a dynamic group of kiteboarders! All in all there were about 50 kiters that joined our crew which consisted of myself, REAL/Naish team rider Sam Bell (Captain Sammy), REAL founders Trip Forman & Matt Nuzzo, and REAL Head Coach and Liquid Force Team Rider Stan Radev. We also linked up with music icon, beach bum legend, and personal friend, Jimmy Buffett. I had met Jimmy on a trip through the islands a few years back and we have kept in touch ever since. We took advantage of the west end surf and sessioned with Buffett and his friends every chance we had. He even played a show for us one night at a beach front bar at an undisclosed location! It was amazing to hear him perform his songs in the very islands where many of them were written and are based on!
Along with taking as many sessions humanly possible and helping to lead the group through the islands (with the main focus on being in the best spot to session based on the conditions each day). I spent time giving clinics on the beach, coaching private lessons, and getting riders out on the water on all of the hot new 2009 Liquid Force gear!
People were blown away by the performance and direct feel of the 09 Havoc Generation 3 and the smooth ride of the LF/Rawson EVF Quad. A lucky few were even able to spend some time riding a near final prototype version of my new pro model, the 09 Influence, set to drop late this spring.
I will be hanging on Hatteras for the next few weeks, riding, organizing the Triple S, and preparing to head to Utah in early March for the Superfly Open snowkite contest and LF snowkite photo/video shoot. Check back for winter shots from Hatteras and the upcoming LF Snow tour.