Cover story
Addicted to air
Abi Nicholas
Matt Winter
Tideline Magazine
Noah Simon
Lowcountry kiteboarders harness power of the wind
Click here to view the Lowcountry kiter's guide
Slashing across the water at 18 knots, kiteboarder Noah Simon leans back into his harness and steers his massive kite into a powerful downward swoop.
In an instant, 12 square meters of red and black, high-tech nylon capture the brute force of Sullivan’s Island’s winds and accelerate Simon across the shallow surf zone.
Zipping along at speeds that no surfer could ever approach, Simon cuts his board across the face of a small wave, pivots into a tight spiral and — whoosh — rockets 20 feet into the air.
A flash of red, green and yellow blazes across the sky as Simon twists his board and parallels the horizon. With one hand gripping the bar, he reaches down and grabs his board, flipping it around a few times before sliding it back onto his feet and splashing back down in the shallows.
Five years ago, you could drive across the Isle of Palms connector and see only two or three kites in the air — Simon, one of the first locals to take up kiteboarding, was probably on the end of one of them.
There were only a handful of kiters in Charleston in 2003 when sport kiting shop Air Company opened in Mount Pleasant, recalls Chief Operations Officer Elea Faucheron. “Now, on a beautiful summer afternoon, you can find anywhere from 20 to 50 kiters out on the water in a variety of locations,” Faucheron said.
Today, it’s estimated that nearly 100 locals and 250,000 others from all over the world call themselves kiteboarders. And as the extreme water sport grows, so does Charleston’s popularity as a kiteboarding destination.
Beautiful places
Unlike Malibu, Calif., Fiji, Australia, or Los Roques, Venezuela, our quaint Southern city is low-profile, barely on the map as far as extreme water sports go. But that’s not because Charleston doesn’t have anything to offer. Wild pursuits such as kiteboarding are simply hidden in the shadows of the Holy City’s historic charm and skyscraping steeples.
Not that anyone’s complaining.
“Many places I’ve been that are known for wind are rather desolate, so if you go there and it’s not windy, there isn’t much else to do,” Faucheron said. “Charleston offers culture, shopping, history and plenty of other healthy activities.”
Matt Winter
Tideline Magazine
THE SCENE ON SULLIVAN’S: The prevailing winds, shallow waters and wide open beaches have combined to make Sullivan’s Island one of the top local kiteboarding spots. On a nice, windy day, you’ll spot plenty of kiteboarders all along the island’s beaches.
But if the wind’s blowing, you’ll find most of Charleston’s kiteboarders whipping through a pool of shallow water on Sullivan’s Island known as The Bath. It’s the most popular kiteboarding spot in
Charleston because it has the most ideal conditions, Faucheron said, catering to everyone from beginners looking for safe, calm waters to experts looking to open up their bag of aerial tricks.
Sullivan’s Island isn’t the only place the wind blows, though.
Edisto Island, Kiawah Island, Folly Beach and Isle of Palms offer kiteboarding conditions that span the spectrum. And if you’re game for an intense ride, the northern barrier islands — Capers, Dewees and Bull — are just a boat ride away.
On its Web site (www.catchsomeair.us), Air documents 14 launch sites in the Charleston area — all within about 90 miles of each other. Some sites rival the most popular kiteboarding spots on the globe and have garnered Charleston major national and international attention in the past few years.
Kiteboarding magazine, for example, recently profiled Chucktown. And in its Travel Guide 2008, Kiteworld magazine named Charleston one of the top 100 kiteboarding destinations in the world, noting that “Charleston offers some of the most well-rounded kiteboarding conditions in the U.S.”
Faucheron has been kiting in Cozumel, Baja, The Dominican Republic and Cape Hatteras and says that, without a doubt, Charleston is her favorite place to be on the water.
“Charleston offers luxury conditions,” she says. “We have huge beautiful beaches, no coral, no trash, steady breezes, sandy ocean bottoms, room to spread out, barrier islands, flat water, waves and friendly people.”
Smiling faces
Even if you’re not a seasoned kiteboarder — you can’t judge wind speed based on how the sand is moving; you don’t know if the wind is blowing side-off or side-shore; you have no idea what side-off or side-shore mean — all you need to do is glance at the beach access path at Station 28½ to know the conditions at The Bath on this hot July afternoon are perfect.
People—mostly men but a few women here and there—steadily file through the path, hauling backpacks and harnesses and wearing nothing but suits and smiles.
Bathing suits, of course.
You wouldn’t guess it, but most of Charleston’s kiteboarders spend their days in coats and ties — they’re business professionals, doctors, lawyers and such in their mid-30s to late-50s.
Take Mike Barto. He’s the general manager of Palmetto Café inside Charleston Place Hotel — a “dream job,” he calls it, because his restaurant closes at 3 p.m., allowing him to get to the beach in time for the best wind of the day.
Catching a quick breather, Barto stands with his toes in the water and watches his son and about 15 other kiters kick, soar, spin and swerve around each other like a colony of bats at dusk.
“That guy’s a neurosurgeon,” he says, pointing to a man cutting around about 10 feet from the shore. “And that one’s an attorney.” Barto has been kiteboarding for a little more than a year and isn’t ashamed to admit he’s obsessed. “I stare at treetops to see if it’s windy,” he says. “And I know where every flagpole on the peninsula is.”
Brian Lewis can’t look at the trees to determine the wind conditions in Charleston, but he checks online weather report just as religiously as Barto checks the flags.
Lewis is a former collegiate athlete and arena football player who lives in Charlotte. He makes the 200-mile trip to Charleston a few times each month — and has done so for more than a year — to rig up his kite and spend a few hours on the water.
And he’s not alone.
“Kiteboarding is like a drug,” says Faucheron, which might explain why it’s the fastest growing extreme water sport in the world. “Once you start, you can’t stop.”
Faucheron began kiteboarding about five years ago when she met Adam Von Ins, the founder of Air. “When we started talking about kiting, I knew I had to give it a try,” she recalls. “Once
I did, I was hooked.”
Simon caught the bug after just one session, too. Not long after his first ride, he started working at Air, teaching kiteboarding lessons and learning everything he could about the sport.
For four years, Simon spent every spare moment with a kite in his hand, a board at his feet and a dream of going of pro stuck in his head. Now, a college student at the age of 20, Simon has reached the next level, becoming the second professional kiteboarder to launch out of Charleston.
“I live on Sullivan’s Island, so as soon as the wind gets good I can just walk out of my house and start riding. I come out here everyday, almost,” says Simon, standing on the beach, watching his kiteboarding buddies — probably 20 by now — zig-zag across The Bath.
In addition to their passion for the sport, kiteboarders have an intense appreciation for Mother Nature and take pride in the fact that they work with the earth’s resources instead of exhausting them; they crave the rush they get when they interact with the wind and water.
Athletic environmentalists, you might call them. Or the hippies of extreme sports.
“It’s about getting outside, enjoying the elements and taking a moment to breathe,” explains Faucheron.
“All you need is your gear and the wind,” says Simon. “It’s kind of like surfing — you just need your board and some waves.”
While kiteboarders may be the surfers of the sky, they aren’t exactly cut from the same mold. Namely, there’s little territorial competitiveness in kiteboarding — you probably won’t ever hear one kiter yelling at another to get off his gust of wind.
“It’s not like surfing where you’re fighting over waves. Sometimes your board kicks back and you need someone to grab it. Or you need help launching or landing,” explains Simon, who also
surfs, wakeboards and skateboards. “We’re all friends out here. We work together.”
Matt Winter
Tideline Magazine
TAKING THE FIRST STEP: Instructor Elea Faucheron (right) shows Tideline's Abi Nicholas the basics of kite control.
When you're learning how to kiteboard, you've got to crawl before you can fly
I began having dreams about kiteboarding a couple of weeks before my first lesson. I would skim across the surface of the ocean and soar through the clear, blue sky. The wind swirled through my hair, and saltwater kissed my face like the mist of an earlymorning fog. I was one with my kite and kin to my board...
And then I’d hit a boat. Or collide with a fellow kiter. Or the board would deliver a gnarly blow to my face, leaving me toothless with a broken nose and a left eyebrow that would never fully recover.
I’m happy to report that after my first kiteboarding lesson, both of my eyebrows are doing fine. The same cannot be said for my thighs.
I like to think of myself as a top-notch reporter — always prepared and as educated as possible on my subject.
Kiteboarding magazines, DVDs, pamphlets and printouts littered my desk for weeks before my lesson. I learned that kiteboarding is a young sport, so new gear and techniques are being introduced all the time. I found out that kiteboarders fork over between $1,800 and $2,300 for all their equipment.
In light of my “kitemares,” I paid close attention to what I read about safety: Like how the kite would have an air-filled frame to help it hold its shape and float on the water. And how I would be connected to the kite via a harness to help me leverage my weight against its power.
But this is where my research failed me.
Come to find out, I would not be wearing the same type of harness — a waist harness — worn by the fancy-pants pros spitting tricks on the glossy pages of my kiteboarding magazines. No, I would wear a seat harness, which is a smart idea for a newbie, unless you opt to wear short board shorts instead of long ones. (Note to readers: Should you decide not to heed my advice,
Moraz Galilee Medical Herbs Polygonum Anti-Chafe Cream does not disappoint; available at a drugstore near you.)
I signed up for my lesson through the Air kiteboarding shop in Mount Pleasant. Elea Faucheron was my instructor. Right away, she taught me how to determine wind speed and direction without any hightech tools. Then she sketched figures in the sand like a high school football coach drawing plays on a dry-erase board, illustrating where my neutral and power zones are located. We talked about where the best place is to launch, and how, when I fly the kite, I should move the bar like I’m riding a bicycle, not driving a car.
“Ninety percent of kiteboarding is knowing how to fly the kite,” Elea said as we rigged the trainer kite.
Matt Winter
Tideline Magazine
Abi Nicholas holds on as her kite drags her across the beach.
Elea said women tend to pick up the kite part of kiteboarding faster than men, because we’re smarter. No, I’m kidding — it’s because we often have more patience, along with a healthy fear of the kite. We respect it and quickly realize to work with it instead of against it. Men, on the other hand, often try to muscle the kite and usually can’t wait to get on the water, so they hop on the board before mastering the most important part.
I don’t mean to brag, but Elea said I did pretty darn well with the trainer kite. Sure, my heels screeched across the hot sand like tires on asphalt a few times, but overall I did well enough to graduate to the big-girl kite — a white, yellow and black wind-catcher bigger than my bed.
It had only 7 meters of rope attached to it instead of the 30 that you use when you know what you’re doing, but I flew that thing — on land and in the water.
Flying that kite — my body soaked from sweat and saltwater, my arms weak, my neck stiff from looking up for hours and my thighs screaming for some anti-chafe cream — was nothing short of magical. Especially the last 10 minutes, when I dove the kite back-and-forth through my power zones, allowing the wind to fill the canopy and propel me across the surface like a dolphin.
Okay, so I looked more like a dolphin on crack, but I felt what I was supposed to feel. For the first time, I really understood what Elea had been saying all along about how incredible it feels to interact with the wind and the water and feel Mother Nature at work. It was peaceful and therapeutic. I felt strong and smart. I was learning to do something that few women try, kiteboarding being a sport dominated by men.
Elea wasn’t kidding when she said, “One lesson and you’ll be hooked.”
Not that I would call myself a “Woman of the Wind” just yet. “Temptress of the Trainer Kite” is fine for now.
Going pro
Matt Winter
Tideline Magazine
Noah Simon
20-year-old Sullivan’s Island man takes kiting to the next level
NAME: Noah Simon
NICKNAME: Air Grounded. When I was younger I was always getting grounded, plus I used to always get dragged up on shore, so the guys at Air call me that.
AGE: 20
HOMETOWN: Sullivan’s Island
OCCUPATION: Professional kiteboarder; employee at The Air Company
SPONSORS: Globe Kites, Litewave Designs, The Air Company
KITING SINCE: 2004
MOST RECENT TRIP: The 2008 Gorge Games in Hood River, Ore. in July. It was my first big competition. I didn’t advance after the first round, but I got kind of unlucky with the way they distributed the heats. I got put with the thirdranked rider in the world.
But some of the biggest names were there, and it was cool to ride with a bunch of people who don’t hold back. I got better just watching them, and I have a good feel for what I need to work on and how heats are set up. And now it’s just lots of training until the next competiton.
WHICH IS: Possibly Germany (this month) for a PKRA (Pro Kite Riders Association) World Tour stop, and then maybe Canada for another World Tour stop in September.
FAVORITE GEAR SETUP: A 12-meter GK Trix kite and a Litewave Rasta Pro 133 board.
FAVORITE KITEBOARD MOVES: If I want to be technical, a back mobe 540 or a tight loop flat 3. And everyone loves just getting big air; that’s the main reason people enjoy the sport and why it’s so awesome. Flying through the air never gets old.
MOST DIFFICULT TRICK: Probably mobe 7. Or a kite-loop slim chance, which is like a front flip and a 360 handle pass upside down, completely inverted, passing the handle opposite of the way you’re rotating behind your back. And you’re looping the kite until you get whipped down wind, and the kite’s almost even with you or under you as you’re passing the handle.
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS: Definitely take lessons. It can be incredibly dangerous — the kite is extremely powerful if you don’t know how to control it.
And talk to locals on the beach; that’s how I got my first gear set up. They’ll give you the low-down on where it’s safe, where you’re not allowed to ride and stuff like that. And use common sense, like never go out on offshore winds.
TIPS TO IMPROVE: There’s a lot of people who are probably better than you, so ask other kiters for tips. And there’s instructional DVDs and resources on the Internet. Just stick with it because you’re going to get better and better every time you ride.
WORST KITEMARE: I’ve had kites float out to sea, gotten wrapped up in lines, got caught in a tropical storm at night. Probably the worst was after I had been kiteboarding for about a year. It was my first time getting blown out to sea. The sun was going down, and I had been on the water for about a half-hour when the wind crapped out on me and started blowing straight offshore.
I had been the only one on the water, it was cold, there was barely any sunlight, and I was about one mile off when I had to let my kite go and just swim. It was a long swim back to shore, and when I got back there were
Jet Skis and fire trucks. They kept asking me if anyone was out there with my kite, and I kept telling them it was just me, that it was my kite. Then I asked them if we could take one of the Jet Skis and get my kite. They said no, and I had to watch it float away.
FAVORITE SPOT TO RIDE IN CHARLESTON: Hmmm...There are so many good ones. My friends and I like low tide at Sullivan’s for flat surf. Or high tide at 3rd Avenue on Isle of Palms for waves and kickers.
FAVORITE PLACE TO RIDE OUTSIDE OF CHARLESTON: Every spot has its own specialty. Mauritius, this small island off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, was really cool. It was just so far away, a neat experience getting out there, and it’s beautiful with the craziest reef and wave set-up I’ve ever seen.
I have to give love to Charleston, though, because it’s just luxury kiteboarding. There are no big hazards. The wind’s super consistent, super steady. And great beaches.
OTHER SPORTS AND HOBBIES: Wakeboarding. Really anything with a board — skate, surf, snowboard. And I like to play golf, tennis and basketball with my buddies.
Click here to view the Lowcountry kiter's guide
Reach Abi Nicholas at abi@tidelinemagazine.com or 843-958-7375.
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