When Andre Phillip made the bold move to Tona, it brought about a unique opportunity for change, having been with the same kite brand for 11 years.
After testing the best kites available on the market, he was most excited about Slingshot‘s kites and has chosen them to take him into the next chapter of his career.
With over a decade worth of accolades, numerous awards, and a reputation that is unmatched by anyone, Andre Phillip has become one of the most iconic riders in the industry.
Introducing the new Pop 142. Now available worldwide!!
“We had request from larger riders to add a bigger board to our pop line up, so we delivered. Read the rest of this entry »
Tona is stoked to announce that we have teamed up with Ronix and are now offering you the best bindings for your board, directly from our store. Read the rest of this entry »
UK Tour
I didn’t really know what to expect when I got the chance to visit the UK, all I ever heard about the UK was it had bad weather and was quite cold.
It was my first time being back to the UK since I was probably 5 years old. Read the rest of this entry »
Ck out the interview with Adam
“Tona is a kiteboarding company that was recently launched in Antigua by longtime friends and kiteboarders, Adam Anton and Dereck Camacho. While this company is small by industry standards, they are looking to make their mark by developing high end kiteboarding equipment, with a little island style twist.”………….. read more!
TONA introduces the NEW North American TONA rider/Rep program. We have always thought that the most effective way to get hooked up with the best gear is from somebody local. Someone you know, trust, have watched ride, spoken too, someone you can ask questions about what and why they ride what they ride. So we at TONA have gotten creative and reached out to riders across North America and gave them a chance to try the TONA pop. Then judging from their stoke level on the board we then offered them a chance to Rep for TONA in their local area.
We did not offer heaps of money or incentives to already established pro riders to represent us. We are not paying any of these riders to work for us and sell something they do not believe in. It is simple. If they are stoked on the board and the company, we will reward them for doing what they do everyday anyway. Showing up at the beach and talking with your friends and local riders.
TONA is a new and exciting company centered around the rider, so what better way to spread the vibe. What we wanted to do is give every rider out there the opportunity to hook up with someone that is riding a TONA board, possibly get the chance to demo one and join the movement. Your local rep can answer questions, show and talk to you about the latest product, even lend you a demo and when you are ready to buy, they can even make it easier for you. We know we have a solid product and company, but don’t just take our word for it. Contact a Rider/rep and get closer to the action. Ck out the map for the closest rep to you. TONA may be closer than you think…
View Tona Reps in a larger map
“I had an awesome time competing at the latest cable competition at our local cable park, Trophy Lakes (Johns Island, SC). It all started as a fundraiser to get new features on the advanced cable. Thanks to the crew at Trophy it was a huge success, and we now have a new rooftop rail, and a new kicker! Trophy lakes is growing fast, and is becoming an awesome Wake Park. I am stoked on my win, and glad I could be a part of such an awesome event!
The POP is the perfect board for cable, and kite. I use it for both, and it is amazing how well it excels in all conditions, from glass, to chop, and whether you are on cable or kite you get tons of pop, with soft landings. It also gets upwind way better than any wakestyle board I have ridden, even in light wind! The board is also insanely tough, I have been hitting tons of rails, kickers, and even sliding around on the beach, and the bottom is still great. It also slides just as good as the best rail boards out there! It is crazy that the guys at Tona have designed a board that is so good in all conditions, with almost no tradeoffs. They definitely put a lot of work into making the best board possible, and it really payed off!” Ben Holmquist.
“I have had an interesting year so far, my career as pro kite boarder has suddenly kicked off, I now find myself traveling to all these places that I never even imagined I would get to see.
I just got home from attending the Ro Sham Throw Down which is a competition in Hood River Oregon.
I had an awesome time in Hood River, there is so much to do over there. You can kite, skate, mountain bike, Frisbee golf, slack line and even snowboard! And the way the hood river is set up, it seems to get windy nearly every day so it’s the perfect place for a kite junkie.
The actual competition was a blast, every single person there was really good. It was motivating to see all these other good riders and actually getting to ride and compete against them, coming from Antigua where most times it’s just me and a few friends out on the water.
Hood river is a pretty crazy place to ride, the water is a lot colder than what I’m use to mainly because the river gets a lot of run off from Mount hood which has snow year round, so the river is basically getting fresh ice cold water flushed into it all the time. And when you’re trying not to freeze you are trying to stay clear of the huge barges that go in and out of the river every day, there is never a dull moment riding in the Hood River.
I ended up buying my first ever wetsuit just to ride in the Hood River. It took me a while to get used to having to put on a wet suite every time I wanted to go out and ride, coming from Antigua where I’m always in board shorts and a shirt.
But it was great riding in the river and getting to hit all of the obstacles that were setup.
They had a total of 5 obstacles set up. A kicker, Funbox with an A-Fame, Dance floor, box to rail and a black pipe that was angled up like a canon.
The kicker was bigger than most kickers you see in a kite park, but I think it’s the perfect sized kicker it gives you plenty of height when you hit it but it’s not overly big that you’re blowing out your knees on every landing.
The FunBox was super fun, I enjoyed hitting the box and transferring up to the A-Frame that was loads of fun. But it was a little intimidating coming up to that thing full speed because it had a pretty nice sized Ollie on it, that looked like it was just waiting to eat you alive, but after hitting it a few times I got over that.
The Dance Floor, this is just a big wide flat box that’s pretty easy to hit and tech out on. I haven’t hit much sliders like this one though, so it took me a while to figure out what combos to throw on it.
The Box to Rail set up, this consisted of a box angled up with a gab to a handrail. This was one of the harder rails to line up because you had to line up the box hit and then also the gab on to the hand rail. But when it all came together it was a super smooth feeling rail.
The Black Pipe, this was super fun because it’s a pretty low risk rail, it’s not super long so it was more of a quick tech slide, I think my favorite trick on this rail was a toe side front board to back side 3 out.
So they had quite a variety of things set up and believe it or not all of these rails are set up year round!
It was good getting to test out all of my gear in different conditions, I found that the Tona POP handled the choppy river water very well; it still delivered a smooth ride and pop even though it wasn’t that flat. And I also got the new 2013 C4’s from Ozone just before the competition and they are awesome! They look way better and I find them a lot more stable than last year’s model, also the depower is phenomenal, we had some pretty crazy conditions during the competition and with just a little depower I was able to hold down my kite and feel comfortable in crazy wind speeds.
The competition had a great format, basically each rider would go one at a time and would get two attempts on each rail and flat water trick, with a format like this it keeps the crowd interested and pushes you as a rider to plan out your run and be as consistent as possible.
I made it through my first heat and all the way to the semifinals but then ended up getting edged out of the finals.
But even though I didn’t come back with a win, it was a great experience and I enjoyed getting to ride with some of the best riders in the world, which has really motivated me to stay focused and keep progressing my riding.
I just got to the Uk and I’m here for nearly a month, until the 5th of September doing a bit of a meet greet and shred for the guys at Ozone and Tona and also to attend the The Rhosniegr Park Jam which is on the 31st – the 2nd of September in North Wales. If any of you guys are in the UK you should come down and check it out!” Jake Kelsick
Photography. Lance Koudele
