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 CARL & LISA BRAGIEL, "The One Man Kite Team" from Amity, OR has been flying three dual line sport kites for 14 of his 18 years as a kiter. Assisted by his wife Lisa, Carl is one of just three people in North America and one of a handful of people in the world who can fly three dual line kites simultaneously.
GARY MacEACHREN, from Brookings, OR became interested in sport kites after attending the inaugral Southern Oregon Kite Festival in Brookings, but it wasn’t until 1996 that he started flying sports kites. Once he actually flew a sport kite he was hooked, every weekend and many nights after work he would fly, fly, fly,. After his wife complained about him spending so much money buying kites he bought a sewing machine and that winter started making his own kites. In the following spring the Oregon Kite Company was formed to sell his hand made custom sport kites. The “Gull 8.5” is the kite he's most proud of and that along with it’s predecessor the smaller “Gull 7.0” are the two Oregon Kite Company's kites most people are familiar with.
"I’ve had the pleasure of handmaking kites for fliers throughout the Northwest and with the help of the internet for both national and international fliers as well." With the “Gull 8.5” design now being fabricated in China and distributed by Gomberg Kite Productions, Intl a whole new arena of kite flying demonstrations has opened up for him. He looks forward to showing people how easy it is to fly a sport kite and then being able to place a factory made kite in their hands to try out. Like Ray Bethel, the world's premier multiple kite flier from Vancouver, British Columbia and Carl Bragiel, the one man kite team from Amity Oregon, he flies 3 kites simultaneously and would like to encourage everyone interested in flying multiple kite routines to contact him for tips on technique and of course for obtaining a set of Gulls, one of the best kites available to do the job.
LAM HOAC, Burnaby, British Columbiais an internationally recognized kite flier and designer. He has been making high performance kites since 1986, he has also been competing since 1988. His Style is graceful and the tricks are magical. This is the kite flying we all dream of being able to perform. He won the honor of Grand National Champion at the 2003 American Kitefliers Association Championships. Learn more about Lam at his website www.skysportdesign.com.
RONDA BREWER, Lincoln City, OR can be entrusted with the safety and kite education of any kid in America. But when she is flying in a Rokkaku battle, other competitors beware. Ronda not only has been a faithful and supportive organizer of the Lincoln City kite festivals for many years, but also is the co-owner of PhantomStarDesign.com.
PHIL & BARBARA BURKS, from Portland OR, are regulars at the Lincoln City Kite Festivals and also travel each spring to a kite festival on the Gulf Coast in Texas. They were a part of the group that broke the world record with 21 giant Octopus kites on one beach at one time in Lincoln City at the 2008 Summer Kite Festival. Along with their giant octopus kite they have a large array of red, white & blue kites and enjoy watching Phil & Barbara fly their kite stacks side by side!
JERIMY COLBERT, Lincoln City, OR, specializes in assorted appliqué shapes and cody war kites. His skill allows him to fly both indoors and outdoors. Jerimy is not only a great daddy, but profoundly patient and skilled in teaching youngsters to fly kites indoors and outdoors.
DEB COOLEY, Lincoln City, OR has been flying and making kites for over 25 years after first discovering kites here on the Oregon Coast. Over the years she has experimented with many different techniques to build kites and has been a teacher at the Oregon Kitemaker and Fort Worden Kitemaker retreats.
BEN DANTONIO, from San Diego CA, is well known for flying four line Revolution kites but also enjoys big inflatables. He was part of the giant kite flying teams, that went to Kuwait, to help fly the 3 world's largest kites and was also a part of the world record breaking Octopus fly (21 of the large Octopus kites on the beach at one time!) in Lincoln City at our Summer kite festival in 2008.
DAVID & SUSAN GOMBERG, from Lincoln City, OR, have organized giant kite shows around the world. Together they own Gomberg Kite Productions and have performed for Disney, major motion pictures, the Super Bowl and kite events in 25 countries. They were instrumental in creating the current 21 octopus record here in Lincoln City, Oregon. The previous records in Washington and France owe their bragging rights to the Gombergs as well. David will serve as our "Announcer" this year as Susan shows off the "Big Stuff" on the beach along with our friend AL SPARLING from Illinois.
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Phil and Barbara Burks |
PENNY LINGENFELTER, Port Orchard, WA, is well known for the four-line Revolution kites she has been flying for more than a decade. Seven years ago she began flying kites indoors in no wind and with no fans. But Penny can take her costumes, props, and kites outdoors too, and her colorful and exciting routines are enjoyed by all. Penny often offers free kite lessons to children and adults of all ages.
KEN TUMMINIA, Lincoln City, OR, is a colorful and regular feature of the kite festivals in Lincoln City. Ken's first experience with kiting was watching his grandfather make box kites and launch them from his vineyard tractor. If it is big stuff and appliques you enjoy, watch for Ken's displays.
AL WASHINGTON from Portland, OR, has been dubbed the "Dancing Man" and "Twinkle Toes." His personal performance is every bit as wonderful to behold as the performance of his two line stunt kites. Al's teenage grandson AARON WASHINGTON from the East Coast, an expert flier in his own right, will be performing demos for us also.
AMY & CONNOR DORAN This "Mother & Son" team are from Bend, Oregon and a favorite at the Lincoln City festivals. Amy has been competing for 4 years in both Indoor & Outdoor sport kiting and Connor has 2 years of flying experience under his belt. Amy, or "Mousie" as she is better known by the kite world, started out flying TRLBY stacks but now flies both duel line sport kites and Revolution Quad kites. Amy holds 2 consecutive National Championships for the Outdoor Unlimited Individual Ballet. Don't miss her "Charlie Chaplin" routine, it has always been a crowd pleaser! Connor is a junior at Mountain View High School. He was encouraged and inspired by his fellow fliers at the Bend Kite Festival in 2007 where he began flying Revolution Quad kites. Connor is now entering his second season of competition. He received first place in the Experienced Class at the Windless Kite Festival in Long Beach WA. and second at the Lincoln City Indoor Festival which qualified him to be able to compete at the 2009 AKA National Championships!
ROD & CINDY THRALL, from Newberg, Oregon have been flying kites since 1992 when they purchased their first kite on a weekend anniversary trip to Lincoln City! Many years and many kites later, they enjoy traveling all over to share their toys. They are known for their giant Peter Lynn Teddy Bear, custom Jordan Airform kites and large ground display. The Thrall's most recent kiting adventure took them to Thailand, where they participated in Thailand's 9th International Kite Festival, winning the 'People's Choice' award for their Bear Family kite display. Rod & Cindy are both accomplished, award winning kite builders. They are making a name for themselves with their colorful custom made banners, line art and large inflatable kites. Cindy has also made some really neat line anchors resembling little kids standing, holding a kite. The Thralls are no strangers to the Lincoln City Kite Festival, noted for flying the large, background kites on festival weekends. Watch as Rod launches his "Pacific Wonderland" master piece!
TEAM 6TH SENSE, from Washington has been a team since the year 2000. The team started as a three person team, expanded to four in 2003 and went back to three in 2006. Currently the team consists of Wayne Turner, Dan Haigh and Bill Rogers. The team won their first National Championship in 2001 in both Experienced Team Ballet and Precision. Then again in 2004 they won Masters Team Ballet and in 2005 Master Team Precision and in 2006 & 2007 they won both Masters Team Precision and Ballet. Making for a total of eight National Championships. Team 6th Sense has competed at the world championship four times. In France 2002, they placed 5th, in Lincoln City 2005 they placed 8th, in France 2006 they placed 7th and in France 2008 they received 3rd place. The team is currently on a two year break from competition and plan to start practicing again this fall for the Spring set of National competition.
WAYNE TURNER, from Tacoma, WA, began flying kites in 1998 and competing in 2000 (to give his friend Scott Davis some competition). He brought home 3 awards in the Novice category at the 2000 national competition. That same year, he teamed up with Bill Rogers and Scott Davis to form Team 6th Sense. The following year he brought home a 1st place trophy for Experienced precision individually. Wayne has flown in competition with single line, dual line and quad line kites earning national trophies in fighter, precision, ballet and indoor competitions. Wayne has also been found at an occasional "Kite Making for Kids" as part of the Pierce County Kitefliers Association.
BILL ROGERS, from Poulsbo, WA, started flying kites in 1995 and started competing in 1997. He won novice individual precision in 1998 and intermediate individual ballet in 1999 at nationals. In 2000 he teamed up with Scott Davis to form the pair 6th Sense and later that year they added Wayne Turner to make it Team 6th Sense. The first nationals they competed in they won all four categories in experienced pairs and team. Bill quit competing individually in 2005 and has focused on team and pairs since then. He formed the pair team Fly by Night with Dan Haigh, and won a masters ballet and precision national championship title before they retired the pair team. In all, Bill has won 14 national championships. Currently he is on a sabatical from competing and his main focus has been play kites and trick flying.He will start competing again in the Spring with Team 6th Sense.
DAN HAIGH, from Oakland, WA, started flying kites in January 2000 and started competing indivdually in Sept of the same year. In 2002 he bagan flying pairs with Bill Rogers as Fly by Night. Team 6th Sense asked him to join that same year and he started competing with them in 2004. Dan has won a total of ten National Championships in his ten years of flying, two in Masters Individual Precision, one each in Masters Pairs Precision and Masters Pair Ballet, and three each in Masters Team Precision and Masters Team Ballet. Kite flying has given Dan the oppurtunity to travel across the US and Canada (and even once to France!) to compete and fly demonstrations.
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Team iQuad |
TEAM iQUAD, from the Pacific Northwest, formed in May of 2006, the iQuad team is composed of pilots from all over Oregon, Washington and Canada...iQuad was founded by John Barresi and David Hathaway just one month after they were first exposed to quad line team flying at the World Sport Kite Championships in Berck surMer, France.
In 2007 the iQuad team seriously began to promote the art and sport of quad line kite flying through exposure at events all over North America, providing workshops, interacting with media of all sorts and sharing the joys of flight wherever they've been... Their first love is simply flying, and especially with other people... This has been the mainstay of their philosophy and approach since the start.
As iQuad went into the 2008 season it was clear they'd get to fly with
TONS of people... By the time the season was finished, iQuad had performed at 33 events, festivals and shows, appearing briefly on Good
Morning America, and eventually covered fifteen US states, Canada,
England and Japan with some members having taken as many as sixty-five individual plane flights in 2008! All of this without any sort of choreographed kite routine! Yes indeed, up until this year iQuad had never performed a pre-planned routine together.
Instead, they develop and practice a large variety of maneuvers that start or finish in various positions, allowing them to execute combinations from the commands (or calls) given by their team captain, all the while adjusting speed and tempo based purely on the speed and tone of those calls... The team captain is on the lead kite, setting the pace and altitude, issuing commands and watching the whole sky.
This year, the team has choreographed their first routine to a song by
ACDC, titled Back in Black... While they still fly freestyle as well, iQuad team members have also enjoyed the addition of the faster and more
dynamic flight made possible by having a fully pre-planned routine. The kites they use are Revolutions (or "Revs"), specialized quad (four) line kites originally designed by Joe Hadzicki in 1987. Above andbeyond any other, Revs are truly multi-directional in the sky with the ability to fly forward, backward, sideways, adjusting speed, and even stopping on a dime to hover nearly motionless in mid-air... While some maneuvers require a certain wind range, iQuad has successfully performed as a team in all conditions from zero wind (indoors) all the way up to nearly 50 miles per hour. Today they are flying an updated version of Joe Hadzicki's original design called the B-Series, developed through the combined efforts of John Barresi, iQuad team members and Revolution Enterprises... Built to fully utilize the Revolution's flight abilities, it's quickly become one of the most popular commercially produced sport kites in the world. WATCH VIDEO HERE
JOHN BARRESI, from Portland, OR has been flying since the age of fifteen, John first picked up a sport kite in
1990 on the Marina Green in San Francisco... Now in his 30's and having
flown in over a dozen different countries, he's been fortunate enough to
make kiting his life's dedication. As one of the most prolific and successful sport kite competitors in
North America, John has earned national championships in nearly every
discipline, including his role as one of the members of three national
champion dual line sport kite teams in 1993, 1995 and 1997 respectively,
each of which represented the USA in the World Championships. John was voted American Kite Magazine’s Experienced Class “Rising Star”
(like rookie of the year) by his kite flying peers in 1992, and in 1997
he was again recognized by his peers, this time as the “Outstanding
Flyer” among all Masters Class competitors. In the 11 years that
American Kite Magazine was published, John is the only flier to have
ever received both the “Rising Star” and “Outstanding Flyer” awards. These days he flies as team captain on iQuad and works hard as both
owner and editor of the only on line kiting magazine in the world. With a bi-monthly Internet magazine, hours of video, out
of print publications, a discussion forum, photo galleries and more,
Kitelife is devoted to promoting and facilitating kiting worldwide. Most recently, John became the youngest ever recipient of the Steve
Edeiken (or Kiteflier or the Year) Award, nominated by his peers and
awarded by our own American Kitefliers Association at their annual
convention in October of 2008. If you asked him about all that however, he'd tell you "I just love
kites, and kite fliers."
STEVE DE ROOY, from Victoria, British Columbia. Steve has been flying in all aspects of kiting for over 24 years, with
more than 19 years of thatflying Revolution kites, and is one of the few
pilots in history ever to be able to fly two Revolutions simultaneously
(8 control lines). He’s also spent 7 years in the power-flying arena…
Kite buggying, kite surfing and mountain Boarding. At the very beginning
of this addicting sport, Steve was also involved in single line kites.
Back in full force flying Revolutions, Steve has joined iQuad at WSIKF in 2006 and has been a core member of the team ever since. Steve has
only done one competition in his life, and his enjoyment primarily comes
from watching new fliers come out and try this wonderful sport.
ADRIAN FLANAGAN, from Victoria, British Columbia has been flying both sport kites since September of 2006, Adrian was accepted as a
full time member on the iQuad team in June the following year, and since
then he has traveled to various events around North America spreading
the fun and enjoyment of quad line flying. He hopes that with iQuad he
will be able to share his passion for team flying to all that watch.
BARRY "BAZZER" POULTER, from Lakewood, WA, is a longtime award-winning kite maker, Bazzer’s company
(GluedtotheBlue.com) produces some of the finest handcrafted kites in
the world. Joining iQuad in 2007, Bazzer quickly earned a core slot on
the team… In addition to his team duties on iQuad, Bazzer produces all
Pro model B-Series Revolution kitesand is one of their most prolific
masterpiece designers.
JD FABICH, from Rogue River, OR, An original iQuad member, JD Fabich has been flying for over a decade on
both dual and quad line kites. Since joining iQuad in 2006, he has
dedicated his talent to Revolution kites and has become a regular
fixture with the team, traveling throughout North America and the UK.
Back at home in Southern Oregon he attends college, is regularly
involved in the Rogue Valley Windchasers kite club and enjoys anything
involving the sun.
DAVID HATHAWAY, from Vancouver, British Columbia. Also know as “Monkey”, iQuad co-founder David Hathaway has been flying
sport kites for 14 years, and with 12 of those on Revolution kites
exclusively, he founded the first dedicated discussion group and web
site for this type of kite, called Revisions. Starting his competition
career in 2006, he’s accumulated 4 AKA Nationals trophies since then,
along numerous NWSKL individual and pairs championships. An Internet
geek by day, a writer/photographer for Kitelife magazine, David is also
involved in 2 music groups in the Northwest.
Watch for other great fliers as well.
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