zCONTENTS

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zREGULARS

016 > EDITORIAL 020 > GALLERY: ESSENCE 028 > MOST WANTED Teasing and tempting 032 > SPY NETWORK Global gossip

044 > NOTES FROM A NORTH SHORE Jeff Pfeffer looks to the future after the sudden closure of the biggest foam blank producer in the US, Jimmy Hall encounters a great white, and a few locals get into trouble 046 > INTRODUCING ALEX BROWN KGB gets a lesson in style and the switch jibe gets the benefit of Alex’s attention

050 > FORTY, FAT AND TRYING The final leg of Cheryl’s journey through kiting’s early stages sees her venture further up the west coast of Oz

090 > MOTOR DRIVE Off-the-lip and the S-bend get worked 094 > DVD REVIEW In the player this issue: Auto Focus and Into The Air

098 > THE PANEL Riding blind, getting out back with a camera and the wife gets worried about some black spots 102 > THESE THINGS I KNOW Would you ride again after a kiting accident left you in a wheelchair for six months? Snowkite veteran Pascal Joubert shares some hard earned lessons

104 > SUBSCRIBE Never Come Down is back!

zFEATURES

054 > THE DECEMBER DIARIES Random tales from an epic month 064 > RAGING BULLS We've already featured these wave-hardened riders at The Zoo, Teahupoo and Shipsterns. Now Ben Wilson, Martin Vari and Jeff Tobias have applied the finishing touches to their big-wave vid, Spare Change. We take a look back at the other spots they nailed in their best year in kiteboarding

074 > STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES Did Bill ‘Stretch’ Riedel shape the boards of the future seven years ago? And why didn’t the world listen? Mike Richards tells a shaper’s story 080 > 20:20 20 riders make it crystal

086 > ALL THE GEAR, NO IDEA? Top instructors from the IKO begin a new series to make safe beginner and intermediate kiteboarders

Contents>Jeff Tobias goes head to head with one of Hawaii’s toughest breaks Photo>John Bilderback

Cover>Nighthawk Cyril Coste, Brazil Photo>Manu Morel

KITEWORLD #20> 11