LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - The Red Herring brings the KiteWing to my RSS reader this morning. The Kitewing is a wing shaped kite. Many people call it “the wing” for short, just because of its shape. You can use Kitewing with your skis, snowboard, mountainboard, ice skates or in-line skates etc. Many say it is like a mix of kite surfing and wind surfing.

Most riders learn to cruise with the wing in half an hour. At the same time there seems to be no limit to the amazing jumps and tricks that are being developed by many keen riders around the globe at the moment: Speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mp/h) and 5 m high, 40 m long jumps on flat surface are not unusual.

Video:

Would I like to try one? Yes - big time. But probably on water or snow!

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - It has been kayaked blind and windsurfed across but now Rupert and Al are kiting across the Irish Sea to raise money for the hospital that ‘put Al back together’ by kitesurfing across the Irish Sea.

In March 2006, Aberdovey kitesurfer Al Crisp broke his back following an accident which could easily have left him paralysed. He sustained 17 fractures in total, several to the spine, lumbar and thoracic, as well as two broken wrists, smashed heel and cracked ribs. He spent 2 months lying flat out in Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Spinal Injuries Unit and a further 6 weeks in a full body brace. Oooo!

Following months of recuperation and physiotherapy, Al is back on the water and training to complete a kitesurf passage from Ireland to home town of Aberdovey in Wales this September. A 1.5m plank, some canvas, lots of string and 90 miles!

The team set off from Arklow on Irleand’s east coast and will be sailing almost due east to Aberdovey in mid-Wales. The distance is approximately 90 miles and if the team average 10 knots (kitesufers are capable of speeds of up to 40 knots, but this will be in rough seas and for a extended period of time) this should take about 9 hours to complete.

You can join their facebook group or visit their website thecrossing.org.uk. Good luck to Al and his team on this tough endeavour.

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Treasa featured as a guest poster on mulley.net this weekend. What caught my eye were Treasa’s fantastic Kitesurfing galleries shot in Sutton & Howth, Co Dublin, Ireland. This is where I grew up.

Treasa’s official photography site is here treasalynch.com and her blog can be found at Dancing Shades of Light. Both sites are worth a visit for some local extreme sport photography. If you want to learn kitesurfing in Sutton, lessons are available from PureMagic.ie

(Image Credit: Images are copyright Treasa Lynch).