Almanarre Vid from Lines Productions
This is the little video my friend Jim Thirion from Lines Productions edited from the weekend we spent at l’Almanarre, my favorite spot so far. Unfortunately the wind isn’t always in this direction and it does not happen too often, but when it’s good, it’s perfect!
Thanks to him for editing this nice vid!!
Rio de Janeiro
I’ve always got that happy smile when I pack my boardbag for a new trip to a new place. Traveling is really a drug once you’ve started and I could be going non-stop from place to place over the globe until I get tired. So far, I still got plenty of energy and desire to continue. 
After almost a month riding in sick conditions from dead flat water to big storms and waves around the Côte d’Azur, where I’m still studying, I’m off to Rio de Janeiro for 10 days. I’ve already been 7 times up in the North-East of Brazil, where there are kilometers of empty beaches and lagoons with perfect wind. This time I’m going to the “other Brasil” to visit my friend Reno Romeu who is from Rio. He will show me all the nicest spots, we’ll visit the best places around the huge city and hopefully we come out with a great photo/video trip with photographer Andre Magarao who is also a local.
I’m really looking forward getting there and see why Reno is always complaining that he wants to come back to his sweet home when he’s away. He just loves his hometown and I’m pretty sure I’ll understand why soon!!
Here a few screenshots from the shots my friend Jim Thirion (KTA cameraman) took in l’Almanarre… the coolest spot I’ve been at for freestyle but we’ve got either strong or light conditions this time. I’m pretty sure he’ll make a nice little video and hopefully my riding isn’t too bad!
Red Bull Batalla de Trafalgar, best kitesurfing event!
The Red Bull Battle of Trafalgar was certainly the funniest kitesurfing event we all participants ever attended. The comp offered the chance to amateurs to compete with us on the race on the first day, and the second day was for our teams to make the show for the crowd. Gisela was the Spanish captain, Aaron was the English and I was the French one. We all had invited some of our best mates to compete, as for me I called my friends Forest Bakker, Thomas Paris, Nico Franco, Paul Serin, Victor Hays and Miss Marie Switala.
The competition required a bit of strategy since we had to choose the riders for each heat according to what other teams had decided, the purpose was to make the most victories. There were individual heats, heats of 2 riders doing synchronized tricks, and finally the whole team doing a sort of synchronized show… We, frenchies, didn’t get much first positions in the individual heats but we did a good job on the team thing… we tried to make the best possible show for the crowd and it was very funny.
Red Bull team was very friendly, perfect organization, nice little hotel near Caños de Meca and the atmosphere was great. Plus we were lucky to get great conditions for freestyle.
Gisela and her team ended being first overall, we managed to finish second and the British third. However I’m pretty sure they won at the night comp. Tom, Sam, James and Aaron represented!
Here a few pics, the first video of the event, and thanks to all supporters who gave us a bit of advantage thanks to their votes.
Kitecamp Dakhla to Red Bull Battle of Trafalgar.
The kitecamp in Dakhla went great again. I had 10 trainees and all of them improved their riding skills within a week more than in several months… They all learned new tricks and we were again very lucky with the wind conditions, I rode my 9m every single day.
We’ve done a few downwinds to the perfectly flat speedspot, I had a few long speed run to burn my legs, two amazing freestyle sessions with huge sunset, and the rest of time I was dedicated to help my guys improve. I was happy to see their evolution and we had much fun. Dakhla has become one of the top spots in my list of kitespots around the world to enjoy riding, riding and riding. But being in Ocean Vagabond makes it even nicer, you find great food and accommodation in the middle of the desert with a pretty flat spot at low tide just in front. So thanks to them, to Fun&FLy again for the great kitecamp, and to all my trainees.
Now I just landed in South of Spain where I’ll be doing the RedBull Battle of Trafalgar together with 17 other friend riders… 3 teams, representing the naval armies of France, Spain and England, just like in the real battle 200 years ago, and there will be a competition where members of teams will compete against each other. As the captain of the Frenchies I’ll be deciding who go at each heat to fight the others… we’ll try to change history, don’t know if we’ll make it, but I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun and ride hard for a few days. Then I’ll enjoy home for a bit in Tarifa.
Red Bull Batalla de Trafalgar event.
This is a cool event to come in Octobre to re-do history in the same scenario as the legendary battle of 1805 where French, Spanish and English navies were involved. There will be a team for each country and my team and I will try to beat the English in order to change history!!!
Gisela and Aaron will be the captains of Spanish and English teams while I will be leading my team with a few kite friends such as Forest Bakker, Victor Hays and Marie Switala.
The event will take place from the 7th till the 12. Here the cool website and if you want us to win just vote for the Frenchies!
www.redbullbatalladetrafalgar.com
