Quite a lot has happened in a 10 year “kite career”. Mañana rides very intensively. What has happened to him, what does he enjoy and what has been the course of his kite development? We interviewed him!

How long have you been smoking? How old were you when you started?

I’ve been sailing for about 10 years. I was in my early 20s.

How did you get started in the sport?

Before that there were some attempts at acrobatics with delta kite, but that was pretty boring. So I made a giant scale acrobat at home out of bamboo and a sail, which had quite a bit of thrust and that was probably the first impetus for powerkiting. A few videos and articles on what it actually is, then a friend bought an old Montana from HQ and it was off and running. I had to have it too and today I’m glad I did.

How many hours per month/year (approx.) do you kayak?

I used to be a total orthodoxy guy who had to be on the wind every day off. That was easily 30 hours a week waiting for a gust. Seva and I scrubbed the wheels as hard as we could. Everything went sideways, it was an addiction! It’s weaker now, mainly because I know that you can’t ride in no wind and I rather choose the conditions. I try to take it easy, but it also spoils my work, where I only have to go when it’s windy. I wouldn’t count it in hours or days anymore. Kite simply influences all holidays, trips etc. in my life. No kite, no kite.

What is your favourite discipline and why?

My favourite thing is snowkiting! First of all I love winter/snow, secondly you enjoy the terrain, obstacles, nature, you can go from point A to point B. Exploring the unexplored, freeride and tons of powder.

What other disciplines do you ride?

I grew up as a landkiter on a mountainboard and I’m not giving that up, the kitebuggy was out of curiosity so I made one and when it finally worked as it should, I found out it was a category for retirees and I’ll wait for old age. Then one day I found myself in Wieko and found out that I could ride on water. So I consider myself a full-fledged allseason kiteboarder.

Do you race too? What kind, why? Success?

I try to participate in Czech races. My discipline is Race, because I’m too cheap for freestyle. Landkiter’s heart is clearly the Czech Championship in Panenske Tynec, because you need balls to race with a mountainboard on concrete, which eliminates a lot of people and leaves a great squad of punks. Of course snowrace like Stormy, Moldava XC , I’ve done a few of them, but I think of it more as a diversion. Somehow I came second in the Landkiting WC once, when it was at Smeťák and then second at Moldava.

What are your favourite locations?

Hardangervidda is in the lead here. Then the Ore Mountains and our favourite and forbidden Olympus in the Giant Mountains.

Your greatest kite experience?

One of the greatest experiences is definitely the trips to the bivouac in Norway, which is in a fight for the first place with the trip to the bivouac on the water in Wiek. That was a blast . The most powerful experience is definitely my passage through the bivouac, when in very strong winds a kite took me on a passage across the beach, ending in the bivouac. There were a lot of things wrong here, but I survived.

Have you ever had any injuries? How did this happen?

The worst was just a broken nose, when in my kite start I was catapulted by a kite and on impact my nose carved a furrow in the frozen field. Then it was just scrapes and bruises all over my body gradually.

Do you prefer chambers or inflatables?

I prefer chambers. Since I mainly rode land and snow, where blowers suffer a lot, the chamber was the obvious choice. I end up liking them more too, chambers are just sexy, let alone race razors, no fukna can match that. Another good reason is the lack of a pump, which I don’t like to carry around with me. Sure I have fuknas too, but the fukna/chamber ratio is 2:4 in my stash.

What brands of kites have you ridden?

I’ve ridden all sorts of things, but I’ve owned kites from Ozone, HQ, Nobile, Flysurfer, Aeros.

What is your favourite kite to ride and why?

My favorite today is the Aeros Navy 8qm. It’s just super fun with steering as precise as a fukny’s C. When it’s not so windy it’s the Aeros Compi 15qm to which I would just add that it’s a locomotive you have to learn to get the most out of and I enjoy that.

Why do you drive AEROS now, what attracted you to the brand?

Well, I’m riding them in the first place because you offered them to me. The price/performance ratio is very interesting compared to the competition. What intrigues me about the brand is the history of aeros wings, whether paragliders or hang gliders. I figured the Ukrainian guys have been taming the wind there for a while now, so I guess it will work, so I’ll buy one from lafoun and see. The other aspect was that I hadn’t seen it anywhere, which made me feel like a gentleman amongst the flock of flysurfers.

What all have you ridden from AEROS and what did you like/dislike the most?

Blowers: cruisers, explorers, even some attempt at a C, I think it was called Tyrant. Compi, Navy, Gyro I like Compi and Navy the most, they are gladiators! I didn’t like Cruiser 3, it was so soft and slow to react for me. But for relaxed riding, a jump here and there was perfect. The new Cruiser SR is now in my backpack waiting to be tested, I have high hopes for it, so I’m expecting another addition to the lovely kites category.