KEAHI DE ABOITIZ - NEW GENERATION WATERMAN

Recent Comps

2010-11-17T15:07:00.010+10:00

Its been awhile so I've been getting up to a bit lately. Spent a lot of time at home at Noosa during the last couple months and been getting a few pretty fun sessions in. There has been some fun days for both surfing and kiting so I have been getting out as much as possible to try and get ready for the upcoming comps. Have a look at some of the pics below from some of my recent sessions.

Also just spent some time in Brisbane as well as Lennox Heads. First was a rail Jam in mid October which was similar to the Core event earlier this year in January. They got together some pretty fun rails and it was good to get out for another event like this. Although the wind wasn't the best, there was some pretty good riding so thanks to all everyone involved in making it happen.

Next was the Lennox Heads Wave riding Titles down which also turned out to be really good fun. Unfortunately the wind wasn't the best and although there was a couple hours of wind late one afternoon, there was enough time to run the regular format so instead they ran an expression session. Although it was pissing down with rain, there was plenty of wind and everyone had a good time. I managed to do pretty well winning the opens which I was really happy with and it was good to see some results come out of the comp with places from all divisions. It was a really well organised comp so it was a pity to see it not getting the wind they needed to run it properly. At least the surf was pumping and everyone had to be pretty happy the banks straight out in front of the comp site so I think everyone had a good time. A big thanks to everyone involved and it would be great to see this event happen again next year.

Anyway, thats it for now, keep an eye out for more regular updates now

Keahi

Recent shots

2010-09-16T10:48:00.009+10:00

I know its been awhile since my last post so here are some shots from my latest sessions. Its coming into Spring now the northerlies are kicking in and the rivermouth is turning on. Its good to get out on some flat water again as well as some fun waves on the open beaches. Check the photos out.

Also check my latest video below

Keahi

Coastalwatch from Keahi de Aboitiz on Vimeo.

Photos above by Geoff Fanning, photos below by Natalie Page

Mackay Slider Jam

2010-05-05T13:24:00.004+10:00

Hey guys,

Just got back from a pretty fun little trip to Mackay on the weekend. Chris Wardell put together a huge effort to organise a super fun slider jam and it ended up being a super fun event. We missioned it with with the 10 hour overnight drive to get there but it ended up being worth it and we got in some super fun riding on all the rails. They had a super fun wallride, a couple flat bars, a big floating box and a heap more obstacles and I think everyone was pretty stoked with the riding they got in.

It was a super fun event and a big thanks to Chris and all the sponsors more making it happen. Here are a couple pics from the event

We decided to break the drive up a bit on the way home and as a bit of a bonus we got to have a session at a winch park at hervey bay. There was some sick rails set up so we had a pretty sweet session and everyone got some good hits. Here's a couple of pics.

All pics Cam Prest

Hawaii, Noosa Festival and Malfunction

2010-03-14T09:29:00.014+10:00

Well I've been pretty busy over the last month or so. I ended up doing a pretty sick trip to Hawaii where I got to spend a bit of time on Maui with Pete Cabrinha. We scored a pretty sweet swell with some good wind and got a couple sick sessions both kiting and supping. I got to bring home a sweet new Standup board just in time for the Noosa festival of Surfing that was on from the 14th till the 21st of March.

This years comp turned out to be pretty sick and we scored some of the best waves Noosa has seen in a long time. Thanks to not one but two cyclones we scored a week of epic swell at the points for the whole comp. There was a pretty major turnout for the SUP division and it ended with a total of 60 competitors which made for some pretty tough competition. They ran through the division until they cam up with a pretty tough final. It ended up having myself, Billy Watson, Matt Lumley, Jackson Close, Noel Graham and Zane Swheitzer. The conditions for the final weren't nearly as good as the rest of the week but there was still some good waves coming through and it was still pretty contestable. After a pretty tough final I ended up with second place which was one better then last year. It was close but in the end it ended up with Billy in 1st, myself 2nd, Jackson 3rd, Noel 4th, Matt 5th and Zane 6th. I was pretty happy with the way I surfed and super stoked to land a pretty good air in my final. Check out the pics and video. Keep an eye out for a longer video soon.

All photos by Geoff Fanning

Next was the Malfunction which runs straight after the festival every year. It definitely wasn't as blessed for swell but even though it was pretty small there was still a good fun bank that was pretty contestable. They ran through the comp until we had a 4 man final which was fairly similar to that of the Noosa Festival. It was Billy, myself, Noel Graham and Andy Davies. Once again it was pretty hard heat in fairly hard conditions but I was able to take it out in the end with Billy close behind in second then Noel, then Andy. It turned out to be a great event and it's definitely something I'm keen to do next year.

Keahi

Melbourne Nationals

2010-02-21T13:25:00.005+10:00

This years nationals run in conjunction with the St. Kilda Festival from the 11th-13th turned about to be a great success and although the conditions weren't amazing, we managed to get some great riding and a full result. St. Kilda turned out to be a pretty sweet spot to run the comp and the location really allowed for spectators unlike other spots.

The wind was a bit of a no show for the first day of the comp, but it made up for it the next two days and it was windy enough to get through a whole double elimination in two days. I took me awhile to get used to the choppy water, but after a couple heats, I got it dialed and was able to get all of tricks done and get a pretty sweet result. After a day of riding I ended up first in the juniors and second to Andy in the open mens so I was really happy with my result.

The next day they ran the rest of the double elimination which gave everyone that was knocked out early a second chance to move back up the rankings. Ewan was on a roll and ended up coming back all the way through the doubles in the open men to face me for second place. He'd been riding good all day so I knew I had to pull out a good heat. I managed to land all of my tricks securing second place in the opens as well as first place in the juniors when I faced him again later that day. I went up against Andy again in the finals, but once again fell a little bit short and kept my second place position.

Sunday was basically the day of fun events and they ended up running the boarder cross which gave everyone a chance to do some racing a hopefully take home a prize. With around 36 starters we ran heats till we came up 6 people for the final. The no rules style contest is definitely good fun and anything can happen as we found out. There was a bit of Chaos on the course and after a tangle and some other dramas I ended up second to Ewan and got to take home a little more prize money.

Overall, it turned out to be a great event and I was stoked to go home with some prize money and a wild card for the PKRA stop at the Gold Coast at the end of this year. It was good to see everyone riding again and the standard has definitely improved from last year.

Thanks to all the organisers and sponsors who made the event happen, my sponsors Cabrinha, NPX and Voice and everyone else who got involved.

Check out the pics

Keahi

WA

2010-02-16T18:18:00.015+10:00

Alright, so I've been pretty busy lately. I got to spend a good month in WA recently and had a pretty sick trip. Got to check out some sick locations and spend a bit of time in Perth for the Core Jam which was a sick event. We had a pretty good turnout and the rails all the obstacles turned out really sick.

We ended up with a 24m rooftop, 18m incline/flatbar rail, a massive wallride to banked rail and a sweet kicker. I got to meet a bunch of sick people and it turned out to be a really good event. It was good to see everyone ride, especially Dre who was killing it the whole event. Keep an eye out for a video from the trip coming soon. Here are some pics of the action

2010-01-07T19:36:00.002+10:00

Hey guys,

Not to much wind here at the moment so had a good session at the cable park. Was super crowded because of school holidays but still good fun. Got some new tricks dialled and learnt some new things.

Anyway, check out the video from the session.

Keahi

Wave Nationals

2009-10-31T15:52:00.009+10:00

Hey guys,

Just got back from the 2009 wave nationals for kiting in Robe, South Australia and have to say that it was another sick event. They ran the event at Long Beach everyday and it had a very similar setup to that of merimbula. Cross to Cross Offshore winds and a smallish fun beachie which was pretty much a clone of merimbula.

The water was cold and the wind was fairly light for most of the event but we had enough wind to run it everyday and I had heaps of fun. Had enough wind for a kite every day and managed to get some pretty fun surfing in as well and some of the other spots around robe. They ran through the whole double elimination and I ended winning the Juniors with Lindsay Hobbs in 2nd place. Lindsay's riding has improved heaps and he's definitely going to be someone to watch out for in the future. I also competed in the opens and managed to get 6th place after losing a close heat to Lee Kavanagh who actually went on to win it.

Anyway it was a super fun event with some sick riders and I'd really like to thank Hudson for putting the event on after it was never going to happen this year.

Keahi

PNG

2009-10-31T09:51:00.006+10:00

Hey guys,

I know I'm pretty late on this one, but I thought I'd put a post up.

Spent some time in PNG earlier this month and have to say it was a pretty epic trip. Got to hang out with a bunch of cool people, eat awesome food on the boat and kite some of the best spots I've ever kited. It was a really great experience and I'll never forget the locals and much the get excited about everything. We couldn't even pump up our own kites.

Anyway it was a great experience and keep an eye out in KBM for the full story and pictures as well as a video that will be coming out as well. Check out the teaser!

LAND OF LAHARA from chase burns on Vimeo.

I really want to thank Marvin for getting the trip organised and helping me out as well as Cabrinha for supporting me on this trip

Keahi

Japan

2009-09-20T19:35:00.019+10:00

Day 1: Friday 18^th

After arriving the night before on the plane feeling a bit sick, I woke up feeling a bit better but still had a cough. We drove down to Kujikuri beach, which turned out to have a setup just like home. An open facing beach break with waves very similar to that of Sunshine Beach. There turned out to be no wind, but a bit of swell because a typhoon that was beginning to get closer to the coast. I surfed a fun little shorey and the wind never got strong enough to kite.

Day 2: Saturday 19^th

The typhoon has arrived. Woke up at 6am so we could get back down to Kujikuri beach and set up for the annual TED kitesurf cup. We arrived to a solid swell, but the wind still hadn’t come up yet, but by 10am the wind picked up and they began running heats. They started with the Wave open which had pretty good conditions with a strong cross-shore and solid waves and I ended up taking out the division. Next was the freestyle division and the wind had picked up even more. Was a good 25 knot cross-shore so there was plenty of carnage to be had. I also managed to take out this division, but there was good competition in both and there are definitely some good kiters in Japan.

Day 3: Sunday 20^th

The typhoon was still in full force conditions similar to the day before, but with bigger waves. They had organised to have a Standup paddle division in the comp as well, but the swell was too big and it was also to windy. Ended up just going kiting again and had a pretty fun session on both the surfboard and twintip. There was a super strong rip running down the beach so staying upwind was a bit difficult. It was a good session and it’s surprising how similar the beach is to my home beach.

Day 4: Monday 21^st

Once again they were looking at holding the SUP comp but the swell was still pretty maxed out at Kujikuri so it was cancelled completely. We decided to go have a look for some other surf spots that were holding the swell a bit better and we managed to find a fun little beachie late, but didn’t get any photos. We stopped and one spot on the way and got a pretty cool shot with the waves hitting the rocks.

Day 5: Tuesday 22^nd

The typhoon started moving off the coast so the waves were heaps smaller and there was basically no wind. We went to another beach and one of the locals had a land board so I had a play around on that for a bit.

Day 6: Wednesday 23^rd

We woke up to another day of no wind, but there was a few waves so we checked out one of the spots that had been maxed out on Monday. It had a super fun little wave with not many out so I had a good solid 3 hour session. There are some sick surfers in Japan and I was pretty surprised at some of the waves they get in Japan. They also had a local festival in the afternoon so we check it out as well.

Day 7: Thursday 24^th

We woke up to a bit of wind so we went to check out Kujikuri and there was a bit of wind so I got a bit of a kite in. It was pretty up and down so I didn’t stay out that long and we had to leave for the airport at 5.

Photos by Taki

It was a great trip and I had heaps of fun. Thanks to everyone in Japan who helped me out and I'm definitely keen to go back

Keahi

Website launch

2009-09-19T16:51:00.002+10:00

My official website is now online at www.keahideaboitiz.com

Check it out and drop me a line!