Newsfeed: Kitesurfen

Sylvain Hoceini broke the nautical mile speed sailing world record at Plage du Rouet, in La Palme, France. On July 15, at 8:40 pm, the French kiteboarder rode his kite at 39.11 knots (44.88 miles per hour) during the 2020 Prince of Speed. Hoceini improved by 0.08 knots last year's record set by American rider Rob Douglas at 39.04 knots (44.93 miles per hour).

The sport of kiteboarding will make its Olympic debut with foiling equipment. As a result, athletes will compete for medals using hydrofoils and specific foil kites licensed under the Formula Kite class rules. International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) invited kite industry manufacturers to submit equipment for validation by the Technical Committee.

Liquid Force (LF) announced the closure of its kiteboarding division. The sports company founded in 1995 by wakeboarding pioneers, Tony Finn and Jimmy Redmon, has pulled out of the kitesurfing industry. The Hood River office has been closed on June 30, 2020, with all customer service and warranty issues managed out of the office in Carlsbad, San Diego.

Nick Jacobsen has jumped off a 60-meter-high crane mounted on a massive cargo vessel, in Demark. In 2011, the Danish kiteboarder jumped off the shipwreck in Table View, Cape Town, South Africa. Nine years later, Jacobsen was finally able to perform his Crane Jump 2.0. It was a longtime dream that saw the light of day aboard "Leap Heart."

Nick Jacobsen has jumped over a breakwater in Hundested, Denmark. At first glance, it looks easy and doable. Kevin Langeree, Ruben Lenten, and Olly Bridge have already landed similar and bigger jumps. But there are a few variables that make this one harder to perform, including a couple of months of confinement, wind speed and direction, a bonus trick, and the landing's condition.

The Ozone R1 V4 kites have been approved as registered series production equipment for Formula Kite class. After a successful factory inspection by the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) Technical Committee, the kite sizes 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 21 meters were officially granted Formula Kite status. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 limitations, the physical factory inspection was replaced by extensive documentation.

The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) announced that the factory inspections regarding the new Formula Kite equipment will include 15 manufacturers. IKA revealed that the technical checkups for the Formula Kite registered series production scheme will focus on 15 of the 17 received applications. After completing the registration application process in September 2019, which featured an extensive list of technical equipment requirements and documentation, it is now time to assess the businesses' liability.

The Global Kitesports Association (GKA) announced that a new international standard ISO 21853 for quick-release systems has come into force. The professional circuit which runs the wave kitesurfing and freestyle kiteboarding disciplines revealed that the safety standardization of all kite control bar quick-release systems is effective and valid since February 14, 2020. The GKA worked with a team of engineers and experts alongside the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to set a new, internationally valid classification for this critical kite gear item.

We woke up one morning not so long ago, and the world had changed. By the long view, not much has happened. There's a viral pandemic underway, which is quite infectious but not very lethal. Humankind will easily survive this and would have even if no action had been taken to limit its spread.

The riders line-up for the 2020 Red Bull Megaloop has been unveiled. Last month, the organization announced the first 12 invited athletes. Now, the Red Bull Megaloop committee and judges have selected the last four riders out of 47 video submissions. Usually, the wind window runs from April 1 to November 1.