This summer sees a new arrival to the kamikaze Boarding team. SUP rider Bobbie Cooper from West Wittering is paddling her way to success this year competing in the BSUPA stand up paddle surfing championships. Check out this short interview of her on location in West Wittering.
Bobbie Cooper
In her own words “I first stepped on a stand up at a 2XS demo day back in 2008! I’ve loved it right from the beginning. I signed to Kialoa Paddles and became a team rider for Gong Boards after winning the junior title in 2008. 2009 I came 3rd in the Women’s and in 2010 I Hope to win the women’s Title! Signed to Kamikaze Boarding in 2010 and completed my SUP instructor course!”
Come and check out her rider page and the newest range of Organic surf clothing.
XM leashes are known for their quality along with product design and with the growing popularity of SUP XM have made sure they are at the forefront of the leash market for this growing sport.
XM have developed A Coil Leash with a safety release “Power Clip”, the Coil Leash is ideal for flat water or downwind paddle boarding and can also be used for small to moderate surf, the leash sits on the board out of the water reducing any drag so the rider can maintain constant speed without leash drag. Leash drag may not seem like a big deal be when you are paddling any distance a coil leash will make all the difference.
XM Coil Leash
The other part of the Coil Leash is the patented safety release known as the “Power Clip”, this has been proved to be a life saver to riders who surf and SUP. The Power Clip allows the rider in the event of a leash tangle with another board, being caught on a buoy or underwater obstruction such as a breakwater or reef, by pulling the release the rider can escape from the leash and any danger with great ease. The safety release feature is also available for surf on the Power Clip Straight Leash.
XM Power Clip Safety System
If you are interested in the XM range of leashes then they are available from leading surf stores or you can contact the UK and European importers Surf 50 Ltd on Skype at Surf_50 or by phone on 01903 850998 or +44 1903 850998. Surf 50’s web site coming soon.
Standing on his18ft-long surf board, eight-time world paddleboard champion Jamie Mitchell was being filmed for a documentary off the east coast of Australia on Monday when he had an unexpected surprise.
Liam O’Brien / Jason Muir
A playful humpback whale breached (leaped clear of the surface) just a few feet in front of the 32-year-old Australian, dwarfing him on the water, but giving Mitchell — who was about 1 mile off the coast of Tweed Heads on the border of NSW and Queensland — an experience he will never forget.
“We were just out there doing our own stuff and mother nature was on our side,” Mr Mitchell told The Times.
Let’s face it, there are times when having a phone with you on the water can pay dividends. Of course, with the advent of the iPhone 3G and its plethora of GPS tracking apps there’re now even more reasons to take your phone out with you: “Look, honest, I SUPed 40 miles in a day. No really, check out the Google Maps track!”.
Whether you’re planning an epic down-winder or just like to multi-task while waiting your turn in the lineup, a waterproof phone case can be a handy accessory for the connected water sports fanatic. Current offerings can be pretty costly, so it was a treat to find a solution promising a reasonable level of access to the iPhone’s functionality at a £20 price point.
In April 2009 Tarifa witnessed the birth of a UK Kiteboard clothing brand with an epic launch party that echoes in the Spanish streets even today – Kamikaze Boarding had touched down.
With 12 months in creation it has been a roller coaster ride for the Kamikaze Boarding team. Pairing up with professional illustrators, photographers and riders to capture the ideal that is Kamikaze Boarding. No more straight lines, no more off the shelf surf clothing. Kamikaze Boarding have succeeded to provide fresh, urban off the hook styles put together with 100% quality.
Do you think you have got a cool VW T5 ??? well if the answer is yes then you need to enter yourself into the Coolest T5 competition being run by Euro Vans VW…
Euro Van are on the search to find the coolest, rudest and most stylish Volkswagen Transporter T5’s in the UK. So if your vans got some styling, you’ve done a cool internal conversion, chipped it, or customised it in any way, Euro Van would love to see it. In return, you get to show your van to the world on the Euro Van web site and Flickr, and be in the chance to win some VW goodies:
Prizes…
1st Prize - a FREE Service for your van at a Volkswagen Van Centre of your choice (there’s no deadline, so whenever yours in next due), £100 worth of Genuine Volkswagen Accessories (you choose whatever you would like to spend it on out of the extensive catalogue) & £75 worth of VW merchandise from their merchandise store.
2nd Prize - £75 worth of Genuine Volkswagen Accessories & £50 worth of VW merchandise
3rd Prize - £50 worth of Genuine Volkswagen Accessories & £25 worth of VW merchandise
The all brand new mountain bike magazine first edition in out now… IMBike Mag… The sister magazine to IKsurf Mag/ that we have all grown to know and love over the past few years…
Mountain biking is still as strong as ever in the UK and I am sure that this new fully interactive online magazine will prove very popular with the biking community… make sure you book mark the site so you dont miss any issues in the future
The Airhead will be back with more news and reviews very very soon….. ride safe and live life to the full because this is the real deal…
The team at Hooked on kitesurfing inconjunction with iKSurf Mag are organising an epic kiting trip to Dakhla Morocco… I know October seems a long way off while we are in the heat of the summer but to quash the winter-blues as it begin to rear it’s ugly head why not get in on an awesome trip to Dakhla which is a kitesurfing paradise.
With a huge flat water lagoon and a fantastic wave spot 5 minutes away, Dakhla offers something for all levels of kiter. Its tranquil setting next to the Sahara, along with consistent winds and warm temperatures makes it a no-brainer choice for an Autumn kiter’s getaway near to perfection.
Stand Up Paddle Boarding comes in many forms… Recreational, surf, flat water and river but one of the big emerging trends in the world of SUP is the endurance or marathon paddle board event and for those of you who follow the Airhead Blog you will know that we were involved in the Paddle Round the Pier 20 mile Endurance race, the event was a first for the UK and it proved a huge success with all the competitors.
The next event on some of the riders calendar was the Jever World Cup in Hamburg Germany, with some 143 participants including world surfing legend Robby Naish in the different races and with over 27,000 spectators throughout the weekend you could say that Germany is embracing the sport of Paddle Boarding.
This years Paddle Round The Pier was the biggest it has ever been… With fantastic weather all weekend and record crowds in the region of 20 thousand to see all the action and soak up the atmosphere, Brighton beach was set for one of the UK’s biggest surf festivals… it was like Hawaii had landed on the South Coast of England for the weekend.
There where surfers there just for the fun of the events and others who where the to compete in the UK’s first ever 20 mile stand up paddle board endurance race from Brighton’s West Pier to Worthing Pier and back again which is no small venture..
Endurance Race Line Up
All the competitors of the Enduro Race would need a game plan to negotiate the tidal currents, the warm weather along with the potential for a head on seabreaze for the first leg of the race… This was no ordinary race with dedicated amatures racing next to seasoned professionals but the one thing that put them together was the fact none of them had raced this distance before.
