Ian Young was the first ever kiteboarder in Australia, an ex special forces soldier Ian has had an affinity with water sports from an early age. His first love was surfing and then when back issues meant he couldn't do that any more he switched to surf skis and flying kites. This early interest in kites led him to believe he could power his surf ski with one to reach out reefs that were too far to paddle to. Eventually after lots of experimentation he came across Cory Roesler who had been using ...
Jan 07, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 16
I'm back after missing a Monday over the festive period, don't worry, normal Monday service will now be resumed! This week I'm chatting to Bill Tai, an incredibly influential man who's early love of electronics and electronic engineering has led to him becoming one of the most successful Venture Capitalists in the business. Running alongside his career has been a passion for water sports and the ocean and Bill is often referred to as the Kiteboarding VC in the media. He started out sailing at gr...
Dec 31, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 15
This week I chat to one of Britains most talented watermen, Dom Moore is a surfer, kitesurfer, spear fisherman and big wave aficionado with some incredible tales to tell. I've got a feeling this won't be the last time we sit down with Dom for this series! I asked him about to major changes that have effected his life recently. The first was a trip to Hawaii where by chance he met with Archie Kalepa and trained for big waves with him. This led to a real moment of change in Dom's surfing career an...
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This week it's something a little different, I chat to Matt Crowhurst, AKA Mr Wakeboard UK. Matt's been a friend of mine for a while and he's an incredibly talented athlete as well as being an MC for many sports events around the globe. He now works closely with the Arena Cross brand and you can see him waxing lyrical at freestyle motocross shows all over the world. We chat about the early days of wakeboarding, Matt was one of the first wakeboarders in the UK and his breadth of knowledge on the ...
Dec 10, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week I'm talking to longtime kiteboarder and coach extraordinaire, Jo Wilson! I've known Jo since the very beginning of the sport, I first met her when I was judging the Student Windsurfing Championships in Rhosneigr, Wales. I watched as she got to grips with the sport and went on to podium finishes on the PKRA World Tour after winning two British Championship titles. These days Jo is a mum Finn, an energetic three year old boy who's been brought up on the beaches of the world by Jo and her...
Dec 03, 2018•59 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This week I'm chatting to James Boulding, Marketing Manager for Cabrinha. James has had an interesting path to his latest role with roots in climbing, maths and music. We discuss how he got into flying kites back in the day and his early career as a pro rider. James and his friends, Aaron Hadlow, Sam Light and Tom Court, redefined what it meant to be a pro rider when they embarked upon the groundbreaking Freeride Project and we talk about that too. James has been all over the world and his got l...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This week I head to the Kendal Mountain Festival in the Ford Transit Custom van to catch up with Gee Atherton, multiple UCI Downhill World Champion, winner of numerous UCI DH World Cups and Rampage competitor and Hardline winner 2018! Gee's one of the best riders on the planet although he's pretty humble with it. We talk about those early days riding bikes for fun and how his passion morphed into a career without him even really realising it. We discuss the crashes that go with the territory and...
Nov 19, 2018•50 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week I chat to Alex Jones, AKA Stig, an old friend of mine who suffered a horrific crash on his mountain bike. Hitting a jump he had done a hundred times before, he landed a touch rear wheel heavy, looped out, and landed awkwardly on his head. He'd broken his neck and was, at this moment, lying in the woods paralysed. Fortunately for Alex one other person was hitting those jumps that day and they put a call into the emergency services. Alex missed out on a chopper ride, thanks to some thick...
Nov 12, 2018•59 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This week I chat to Mark Shinn, one of the originals of the kiteboarding competition scene and multiple World Champion. Mark's an interesting guy, and one of the few pro riders from the sports inception who is still heavily involved in the sport. He has a knack for testing and feeling the subtle differences in boards which led him into a career as a board builder and creator. His passion for developing and improving the equipment we use led him to set up his own company Shinn, which he runs with...
Nov 05, 2018•54 min
This week I talk to Sky Solbach, shaper and tester for Duotone Kiteboarding. Sky has been instrumental in creating some of the most well known kitesurf boards on the planet, and the chances are you've ridden one of his sticks at some point. He's an interesting guy with a mild nature and a real passion for all things aquatic. Together with his wife Kristin they bought some land on Maui, built a house and went about creating a sustainable lifestyle with their own farm. At one point they had over 5...
Oct 29, 2018•44 min
I was very privileged to chat to Pete Cabrinha earlier this year. Pete is one of Hawaii's most talented watermen, a pioneer of many of the ocean sports we all love. He had a glittering windsurfing career in the 80's and was part of the first group of riders to tow surf the monstrous waves at Jaws. Pete has a huge passion for trying new things on the water and more recently he's become totally addicted to foil surfing. He picked up kiteboarding before it was even really a sport and he's the drivi...
Oct 21, 2018•49 min
My guest this week is Colleen Carroll, I sat down and talked to her at the Duotone meeting in Tarifa earlier this year. I've long been a fan of Colleen's riding but it's only in recent years I've spent a little more time with her and got to know her on a more personal level. What draws me to Colleen is her passion for the sport and her drive to get more women involved in kiteboarding. More than that though she is always extremely positive and easy to talk to. I think this shines through in this ...
Oct 14, 2018•53 min
Philipp is the International Marketing and Communications Manager at Duotone Kiteboarding at Boards and More. If you kiteboard then you'll no doubt be aware of the North Kiteboarding and Duotone Kiteboarding situation. If you don't I've attached a link to this podcast to an article I wrote on the subject in one of the last issues of IKSURFMAG. It's not all about Duotone though, Philipp has arguably one of the most desirable jobs in kiteboarding. He has some incredibly interesting stories from hi...
Oct 07, 2018•47 min
This week I chat to multiple world kiteboarding champion Steph Bridge. Alongside her husband Eric they have raised three young men, Olly, Guy and Tom who are all world-class athletes in their own right. At the same time she runs numerous businesses in Exmouth and between them all, they travel the world competing in numerous events. I've known Steph for a while and it always amazes me how she keeps everything together with so much going on. We talk about the Olympics and kiteboarding, raising thr...
Sep 30, 2018•41 min
My next guest is David Hastilow, you might have heard of him, but probably not. 20 years ago Dave learned to kitesurf, like so many of us he became hooked and fell in love with the sport. From those humble beginnings, he has gone on to become the division manager for Cabrinha, one of the biggest kiteboarding brands in the business, second only to Pete Cabrinha, the driving force of the brand. Some of you listening to this might have just learned to kitesurf, just imagine where 20 years might tak...
Sep 23, 2018•37 min
Welcome to Episode 01 of Intriguing Beings, a new podcast featuring interesting conversations with Rou Chater. My first guest is Nick Jacobsen, one of the world's most impressive kiteboarders. We talk about that first crane jump and how it changed his life to the more recent jump off the hotel in Dubai. Discover how seriously Nick takes safety when he does these tricks and how he deals with the fame it has brought him. We also talk about his relationship with Richard Branson, dealing with injuri...
Sep 12, 2018•50 min
