Liquid Surf and Sail, Fort Walton Beach, plays host this weekend for their 3rd annual Spring ‘Kite Bash’ at Gulf Islands National Seashore on Okaloosa Island. The North Kite team will be on hand to show off their new gear. On May 5th, Liquid Plays host again, this time for a Hobie Kayak demo. For the latest information, please visit the Liquid Surf and Sail Event Webpage.

Today’s demo was highlighted by warm sun, great board action, and tasty food. Unfortunately, a good wind was not to be had. Flexifoil rider Billy Parker reverted fossil-fuel power to put on a show for members of the Gulf Coast Kiteboarders Association and XLKites kite shop. The light winds made for great boating and we took ‘Southern Comfort’ out to watch the wakeboard and wakeskate action. Click on the photo to see the full gallery.

The wind forecast is favorable for tomorrow and everyone will be back out the beach around 9am for the demo and riding. The race and downwinder will start around 4pm wind permitting.

Local kiteshop XLKites hosts pro rider Bill Parker this Saturday, March 3rd for the 2007 Flexifoil kite and board demo tour. The event will kickoff at the XLKite shop on Miracle Strip Parkway in downtown Ft Walton Beach at 10am. Demos will be conducted at Leeside Park on Okaloosa Island in the afternoon followed by a kiteboard race and downwider ride at 4pm. If winds are light on Saturday, the demo will be conducted Sunday morning at 9am at Leeside. For more information visit the XLKites Event page.

We’ve also made a Google Earth map which shows the location of all the events and the rough course layouts for the race and downwinder. XLkites / Flexifoil 2007 Demo Map

Phil Midler, from Gulf Coast Kiteboarders has posted a great collection of kiteboarding videos on Revver - a free video sharing service. We’ve linked to them here using Revver’s great new Video Collection Widget.

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We didn’t have the greatest wind or the greatest weather, but it was enough to have a good time learning proper kite flying from the friendly crew of XLKites in Fort Walton Beach. Phil taught me basic kite flying and safety techniques starting with a 3m Slingshot trainer kite, then up to a 9m Cabrinha Contra and lastly a 14m Carbrinha Contra. Sarah got a little bit of video of me ’surfing’ down the beach which we’ll try to post later. We also uploaded the last of our photos from Damien LeRoy’s Cabrinha Gear Tour which you can see in our Kiteboarding Album.

Local kiteboarding shop XLKites hosted Damien LeRoy (not the rider in the picture) and the 2007 Cabrinha Pro Clinic tour and demo in Fort Walton Beach today. DestinSharks.com photographer Sarah was on hand to capture some great kiteboarding action as local riders took to the water today. After sunset, the Gulf Coast Kiteboarding Association cooked up a BBQ for the tired riders and friends. Wind permitting, Damien will take to the water again tomorrow morning at Leeside Park on Okaloosa Island before returning home in the afternoon.

Click on the photo to visit our online album from today’s riding.

Weather was a bit gray and windy for boating today, so we took Brian up on a chance for a second kiteboarding outing. Brian was in good form and made some great jumps. Virgil came ready this time to get wet and McIntosh Studio owner, Sarah, was on hand to get the pictures. (more…)

Last week, we hosted Brian and Jenna on their 1st cruiser overnight and shark fishing trip. This week, it was Brian’s turn to introduce us to something new - kiteboarding. Kiteboarding combines kite flying (really big kite flying) and wakeboarding for a fun action watersport. Yesterday, we had ideal wind conditions to get out and learn. Read on for the story, photos, and video. (more…)