Tarifa Storm Chase
Issue 98 / Tue 11th Apr, 2023
When a mega storm pops up in the forecast, you know it's going to catch the attention of storm chaser Ruben Lenten! With a forecast hinting at 70 knots of wind in the big air mecca of Tarifa, you can only guess what happens next… In this article, Ruben tells the tale of his Tarifa Storm Chase, exclusively in IKSURFMAG!
After an amazing 3-month trip to Cape Town with my wife Nikki and our two children, we returned to the Netherlands, where a new house awaited us. My dad and brothers have a construction company, and they renovated our new home completely while we were away. Wow, what a makeover! Of course, there was a lot of stuff lying around and little bits that needed to be finished, but we were ready to get started as soon as we got home.
That's what I had planned, at least. But shortly after we got home, I opened my phone and saw a message from Ozone teammate Scott Barendsen. Scott is a 23-year-old Dutchie living in Tarifa and is sending it on the big air scene. The message read, "I've never seen anything like it", and included a photo of the forecast about to hit Tarifa.
The first thing to catch my eye was that tell-tale purple colour, which is a clear signal that a storm is coming. There was 4m swell and over 50+ knots on the way! Immediately, I felt the energy within moving, and the wheels started turning. This was going to be the strongest wind ever in Tarifa. I had ridden in 45-65 knots there before, but this storm had the potential to hit 70+ knots.
What would you do in this situation? There was only one thing I could do; I put on my puppy eyes and asked Nikki for permission to go. Of course, I didn't get it, but off I went. She married a pro kitesurfer, after all, and she knows that I will keep chasing storms, no matter what! She sent me off with a big hug, a kiss, and the usual "be careful".
I quickly packed my bags only to discover that I never got around to ordering a 5m and 6m Ozone Edge. Over the last years, I hadn't even used my 7m, always choosing instead to be hanging onto the 8m, fully overpowered on 23m lines. However, things are changing as the sport progresses into more technical moves. Line lengths are getting shorter, kite sizes are getting smaller, and how they perform has also changed. Sometimes you can jump higher on the 7m than the 8m as you can hold your edge better for a proper launch instead of battling your way to the takeoff and getting pulled off your rail halfway through on a kite that's too big.
Short line lengths are also something I've dabbled with a lot more recently, so I took my 12m lines, 15m lines and the regular 23m lines. My vision was to fly as high as possible on the long lines to hopefully break or get close to Jamie Overbeek's recent new World Record of 35.3m on his 9m foil (Ozone R1V4) kite. Then, switch things up and pull some insane loops on the short lines.
I got to Tarifa Thursday night, where I met up with all the fellow Dutchies who had flown down to take part in the action and get some extreme content going. We had a nice dinner at Vaca Loca, one of the classic Tarifa restaurants. The first time I ate there, I was 14 years old, and I've been going back ever since. After a nice meal and a beer, we discussed the conditions and game plan.
What I didn't realise is that there weren't going to be any kickers. While there was a 4m swell predicted, it was the wrong swell direction to work in Balneario. That was a bit of a bummer to the dream scenario I had envisioned, but either way, I was super excited to wake up and see what the morning would bring.
Nothing beats waking up early in the morning to the sound of the wind pumping against the window and through the aisle of the apartment. I was getting excited and scared at the same time; it was soooo strong and noisy. I quickly remembered that I only had a 7m Edge in my bag and nothing smaller to conquer the storm with. Oh well. I would make do.
Speaking on the phone, Scott confirmed that this was some of the strongest wind Tarifa had ever seen. It was absolutely mental, with gusts easily reaching over 70 knots and sand and water flying well above the beach and waterline. We knew we had to make the most of these insane conditions.
We put a plan in action and set off for the half hour drive up the coast to Palmones, where the wind was a bit lighter and perfect for the 7m Edge on 23m lines and the 8m on 12m lines. Scott was riding the new 135cm Code V2, and I had just received my 138cm Torque V3. I had never ridden 12m lines, and it was definitely crazy to get used to a new feeling of power, speed, and angles, especially in conditions like these.
Normally, with shorter lines, you can't jump as high as you don't have the same swing radius. However, the Edge has such a nice lift that even on short lines, it seems to keep going. In Cape Town, I had reached a height of 30m on my 15m lines. In the Tarifa storm, on the 8m kite with 12m lines, I managed to jump 24m. It was amazing to pull such aggressive loops on those lines and throw in some combinations. As I'm getting more and more comfortable with it, it almost makes riding long lines boring! This feeling is addictive, and I highly recommend you play with your setup once you are ready for a change. It's fun.
The next day the wind was super strong and gusty, making Balneario very scary to ride. For this session, Scott and I both rode our 7m kites on 23m lines. Scott threw one of the most massive megaloop late-backs I had ever seen. WOW! I only managed a few big jumps and some loops, but nothing too exciting; I was mostly focusing on surviving and timing the gusts. A couple of big drop outs resulted in hard landings and crashes. On my last jump, I landed on my ribs. But, we still hadn't gotten enough of the mental conditions and drove to Palmones for a fun sunset session and to capture a few more amazing photos. What an epic session that was. Antonio shot some great pics that will stay with us forever.
Conquering this storm didn't play out quite how I envisioned it, but it gave us exactly what we needed. We made the most of it with the right setups and spot choices. I already can't wait for the next adventure to keep on pushing it hard... I'm just waiting for that forecast to go purple again!
Videos
By Ruben Lenten
