Vimeo version

Youtube version

http://surfmag.pl/2012/04/surfmag-2/

Premiere Thursday, March 28, 2012 at 9pm on ‘canal OFF’

Watch the preview of the show:

Show will stream live on TV tomorrow March 1st, on Canal Off at 9pm.

Here is a photo from a few days ago at Pipeline.

Their first issue just came out and here is an article I was featured in.

If you’d like to read the article, here is a copy of the pdf.

First I want to say that kitesurfing transformed my life for the better since I started in mid 2008. I could not have imagined the amount of waves I could catch during this time and the amount of fun I am having. Also the most important and rewarding thing that has happened during this time are the close friend I have made and how much closer this sport brought me to my husband Chuck.

After having no wind for over 3 months last winter here on Oahu, we were back in the water around mid March.  I could not wait to glide again through the water with my kite and surfboard.  When the wind did finally return it was on pretty much every day for the rest of the year. We were also lucky because the waves were fairly consistent throughout the summer months and this winter has been unreal so far.  The conditions were so good that I took 10 days off of work in April to kite everyday and shoot some photos and video with Chuck. It was during those ten days that I got my first real session at Backyards! What an adrenaline rush that sessions was.  Here is a pic JB took of me that day.

In July I got invited to be part of the Triple SSS event in Cape Hatteras. We scored a few days of really fun waves and wind and I placed 1^st in the surf sessions. This was an amazing event to be part of and everyone there was super friendly and the local fans were all super stoked with the sport in both freestyle and surf.

On the way back to Hawaii we stopped in Santa Cruz, CA so we could kite Waddell Creek. We scored a few really good days, but the best session I had there was at Scott’s Creek!  The wind direction was perfect side shore and the waves were in the 4-6ft range. Long rights peeling down the line with just a few guys out! Santa Cruz was really cold and it was hard to kite for long hours like I do at home. The weather and the water temperature was around 50°F.

The following month I got a letter from the KSP World Tour Event saying that I got a wild card to compete in this years world tour. This was great news for me and I was very excited about the opportunity.  Because of my work schedule and not having a major sponsor to help me go to every event, I decided to go to Peru and Cabo Verde.

Chuck and I went to Peru two weeks before the contest started. This was my first time riding lefts and I needed to get some practice riding on my switch stance. We first stopped in Lobitos and scored some really nice waves for a whole week. At the airport  in Lima we met up with Sylivio Mancusi, his wife Bia and Sebastian Ribeiro. Sylvio is a TV host for a sports channel in Brazil and during our stay in Lobitos we filmed a whole show that will air in Brazil in a few weeks and it was a lot of fun!

The contest was held in Pacasmayo, which is home to one of the longest lefts in the world. What an amazing wave and place!!!! The resort we stayed at was really nice, it is called El Faro Resort and I recommend this place if you ever go kite or surf in Pacasmayo. The crew at the resort is super helpful and is always looking after us when we are kiting. This was an awesome place to have the second stop of the KSP World Tour event. During the competition I got some really nice waves and had two of the tightest heats of the contest against Kelly Wren and Milla Ferreira, loosing by just 0.25 to Kelly and 0.01 points against Milla. I was so happy with my riding in Peru and I think I did really well for not ever riding on my switch stance. I placed 5^th in the competition and won an award for best up-and-coming rider of the event.

In late November we were off to Cabo Verde for the last stop of the KSP tour. This was my dream place to go to since I started kiting. Unfortunately mother nature didn’t cooperate for us during our stay and we only really had one good day of wind and waves. Because the waves were not big enough to kite Ponta Preta, they had to call off the contest and instead we had an expression session at “Secret Spot”.  I got 1st place in the expression session and was so happy to finally get in the water and kite.

This was truly an amazing year for me and I just hope that I can be this lucky again in 2012. Thank you to all my friends, my family, my sponsors Hyperflex Wetsuits (http://hyperflexusa.com/) and Tambor Acai (http://tamboracai.com) for all the support and thank you Chuck Harlan for all the countless hours you spend taking photos and video of me at Mokuleia and all your coaching!

I wish everyone a great New Year filled with lots of wind and waves!

Aloha,
Adriana

2011 Contest Results Summary
Triple SSS Cape Hatteras – 1^st place Surf
KSP in Peru – 5^th place and best up-and-coming rider award
KSP in Cabo Verde – 1^st place in surf expression session

I actually just got home from Cabo Verde and it took 59 hours of total travel! I decided to go home early since the event is over and there’s no swell on the way and the forecast for Hawaii looks really good.

Since we arrived in Cabo Verde on November 21^st we had only one real day of wind and waves. Everyday we would drive around the island looking for some small waves to ride, but the wind was also not cooperating. I kited one day for less than an hour in chest high surf and very light wind. We attempted to kite a few other times, but the wind was so light that I could not stay upwind. Also, the launching and landing was very difficult at most places, with exposed shallow reef, sharp rocks everywhere and lots of sea urchins. Some of the riders would ride at Kite Beach on the east side of the island but this spot was pretty much straight onshore and I just was not motivated to kite onshore there.

The KSP event ran only one day at Ponta Preta and they were able to run three men’s heats and the wind was as offshore as it can get. I tried to ride a few waves that day but was not able to even get into a wave due to the crowd and the light wind. It was the strangest kiting experience I have ever had, I would be tacking parallel to the beach, almost going back in and then once I would turn around to catch a wave I would end up getting stuck behind the waves because the wind was light and blowing me back out to sea.

The only day the wind was blowing consistent and strong and there was some fun waves to ride was during the expression session of the KSP event at a spot called “Secret Spot”. This day was super fun with head high sets and the wind blowing around 30+mph. I was so happy to finally get on the water and ride some waves. I stayed out as long as I could during and after the expression session. It was not easy for me because the wind was so strong I needed a smaller kite, but I was on a 5m kite and a lot of other riders were also using small kites.

The expression session for the women was divided into 2 heats of 20 minutes each. Everyone was riding the smallest kite they had, 5 and 6m mostly. Even though I was super overpowered I managed to do well and win the expression session. I was very happy with the results especially competing against some of the big names like Kirsty Jones and the current world champion Ines Correia.

Because of the lack of conditions over the two weeks, I was only able to get a few photos and video clips at Secret Spot and not one shot from Ponta Preta. The island has incredible potential and maybe one day we will return during the proper season. All the locals were saying February and March are far more consistent and from the photos I saw it looks like we missed out on some amazing surf and wind.

On a brighter note, we are heading home to a solid forecast in Hawaii and hopefully we can work on getting some photos and video footage to put together a new video clip and post some photos.  I had a great time hanging out with all the riders and hope some of our new friends from Peru and Cabo Verde can come visit us in Hawaii and enjoy the fun conditions we have at home.

Women’s Surf Expression Session Results:

1^st Adriana Harlan (BRA)
2^nd Kirsty Jones (North – UK)
3^rd Kristin Boese (Best – GER)

Men’s Surf Expression Session Results:

1^st Bear Karry (USA)
2^nd Airton Cozzolino (North-ITA)
3^rd Sky Solbach (North – USA)