Sebastian Ribeiro’s personal motto is: “Never complain, there is always a positive side.” To learn more about the optimistic and influential wave rider from Florianopolis, Brazil, check out our feature interview with him in the latest issue.

Sebastian Ribeiro has found that if he can relax and focus on the positives, life works out pretty well. This approach seems to be working considering that, when he’s not traveling the world competing on the GKA and collecting media for North Kiteboarding, he’s at home in Florianopolis, one of the hottest beaches in all of Brazil. One of the many surfers who have embraced kitesurfing, his route to the top followed a different path to most of us…

You learned to surf before you began kiteboarding. What spurred the transition from surfing to kiting, and how has your background as a surfer shaped your career in kiting?

I started to kite because of all of the days that weren’t good for surfing because it was too windy. I thought to myself, I need something for these days. I want to stay on the water. Luckily, during that same time, I met Roberto Veiga who has become a life long friend. He was looking for a kid to teach how to kite. I found it easy to learn to kite because I knew how the board worked and, of course, because I was young. I spent three months in the lagoon then I went straight to the ocean.

Your KSP Rookie of the Year award in 2012 showed you could hang with the best. How did winning this award affect your attitude toward competition and kiting in general?

Being Rookie of the Year meant that, even though I was new, I could compete with and beat the best in the world, competitors like Mitu Monteiro and Guilly Brandao. Winning the Rookie of the Year award made me a stronger rider. As a surf competitor, I knew that I needed time to adjust to the way kite events are run. For example, the heats are much shorter than they are in surf competitions.

Florianopolis is rumored to be one of the most beautiful zones in all of Brazil — what’s it like to call Florianopolis your hometown?

I’m so glad to call Floripa (nickname) my home spot. It has a big wind sports scene, and it’s a really good place for my daily training.

There are so many different disciplines within kiteboarding — even on a directional board there are many different styles and approaches to choose from. How do you define your style, and how do you choose which disciplines to focus on?

As you know, I came from a surf background so I define my style as pure surf, and my focus doesn’t stray from the surf very often. Sometimes I train strapless freestyle, just so I know a few moves.

What is your current gear setup, and how do you select your equipment?

My current setup is the North Neo with North Kiteboarding’s pro construction surfboards: Pro Wam, Pro Whip and Pro Session. As a surfer, I like a kite that allows me to surf using the power of the kite to drive the turn, but what I like most about the Neo is that it follows me. Even if I don’t have enough power or space to move, I feel that I can push the Neo hard, making my style very surfy.

When it comes to boards, I like to surf with the board before I kite it. After surfing a board, I can tell you if it works!

Congratulations on your 2nd place finish in the 2017 GKA Mauritius event! For you, how important are competition results, and how to you stay on top of your game?

Competitions are important to show that you have the talent and are in the mix, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. The last three or four events before the Mauritius comp, I was feeling good. I kept getting hard heats, like my draw in Mauritius in 2016. My first heat was against Airton. I had good scores and I could have won a couple of heats the same round, but Cozzo (Airton Cozzolino) was on fire. Unluckily Mitu lost in the same round, making my heat in the loser’s round super hard, even after scoring 17 points I didn’t advance. By the way, with that score I could have won any other heat from the same round. 

So, this time in Mauritius my focus was not to be focused. Most of the time when I compete, I’m too focused. Now, I feel that I’ve found the balance between focus and relaxation. It’s funny that before the final heats I was surfing One Eye with my teammate James Carew, and I saw Keahi’s heat, the first of the day, from the water. That’s how relaxed I was.

Would you describe the relationship between riders on the GKA as more friendly or more competitive? Who are your best friends and biggest rivals?

The GKA riders are friendly with each other most of the time. Sometimes personal issues pop up, but nothing against the game. Riders who prefer strapless freestyle push it in freestyle, and wave riders push it in the waves. In general, we are super democratic, always looking for the best outcome for the sport.

My best friends are my teammates, Cozzo, Matchu, and James and also the Brazilians Filipe Ferreira and Pedro Matos.

Rivals… all of them! But, my biggest rivals are the surf-style riders like Pedro and Filipe.

What are your personal and professional goals for 2018? Do you have any exciting projects or surprises coming up that we can look forward to?

My goals for 2018 are to get more involved in North’s R&D process, get some good photos, dominate the GKA tour, and finish my profile video with Tiago Azzi who is one of my best friends and part of the new generation taking over the cinematography scene. I also have wave clinics planned in Peru and Mauritius and I’d like to progress at different sports, including snowboarding and foiling.

How important are fitness, nutrition, and cross training? What do you do, outside of kiteboarding and surfing, to stay fit and healthy?

Your body is the most important thing in every sport and everything else you do. Right now, I’m taking my time after a really busy year. I’m resting, which is also is part of the preparation. I will get back to cross training one month before Punta Preta.

Do you have a personal motto, any words you live by, or any valuable advice that you try to follow?

Never complain; there is always a positive side.

Describe your dream session: where are you, who are you with, and what are the conditions?

My dream session is easy — a right hand barreling wave with perfect, cross-side wind and just my best friends and my girl in the water.

Thanks Sebastian for taking the time to talk to us, good luck for the coming season!

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By Lindsay McClure
Lindsay is a pro rider from Hood River in the USA, she works for IKSURFMAG as our Features Editor and is an integral part of the team. Lindsay is really into wakestyle riding and can be found in the Hood River Slider Park during the summer months, she also travels all over the world with the World Class Academy helping younger riders develop through kiteboarding!

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