Catching Up with the Slingshot Crew – Female Kiteboarder RITA ARNAUS
Rita Arnaus is a professional kiteboarder from Barcelona, Spain. Rita has proved herself on the freestyle world tour ranking 4th overall in 2019 and 2018 whilst building one of the biggest Instagram followings in kiteboarding
with over one hundred thousand followers.
Rita’s inspirational strive to better herself and enjoy life to the fullest is why we are super proud to have her on the Slingshot team!
Team Manager, Sam Light, catches up with Rita during her busy summer.
Hey Rita! How’s it going? Congrats on 100k Instagram followers! Please give us some tips on building a following for those people starting out?!
Hey guys, thank you so much! Honestly what I have been doing is just following my passion and wanting to share every step of my kite adventures. I’m a passionate kiteboarder and I believe that everything you do with passion will result in success.
I never had a role model to follow on Instagram I just wanted to be myself and I think that it has helped me to grow as I’m always trying to show the real me behind the hard work on Instagram.
Have you been at home during lockdown and the summer months? Where is home and how is the kiting scene there? Are more people kiting now?
Yes, I was in Puerto Rico and flew back home when they started the lockdown. I grew up in Barcelona but now I’m based in my home town of Sant Pere Pescador which is 115km up north from the city, a town in the middle of Roses Bay.
The thermal winds are pretty good starting in May until September. Summer months are the best and we have a lot of tourists from Europe. The kite zone is packed that’s why in the busy days I usually take my hydrofoil to cruise around the bay.
We have seen you foiling with your dad, how is the foiling going? How does it compare to Freestyle for you?
it is a great escape from the crowd and I’m having so much fun learning and improving in this discipline, cruising in the bay with the wind and playing with the waves together with my dad. For me, freestyle is more aggressive, more adrenaline, more power and more challenging and I definitely need more wind for it. We have a lot of light wind days in Roses Bay which is perfect for foiling.
Have you missed traveling and competing on the World Tour? Has the time off at home reflecting about the sport changed any of your goals and plans in kiteboarding? What are your long term goals and ambitions in kiting?
Yes, I have definitely missed traveling and competing but it has been good to have some time off after so much traveling in the past years to fully enjoy being at home with my loved ones. It hasn’t changed much tho in the perspective of the sport, It has made me appreciate even more how lucky I am to be able to live this way, chasing my dreams and doing what I love. After the 2 months of lockdown at home I just wanted to kite more and to be productive as much as possible.
“I want to be able to keep doing what I’m doing while inspiring and encouraging people to kiteboard, it is such an amazing sport, it has changed my life for an even better one and my way of living/thinking and I believe it can change it to many others.”
We see you are training and keeping fit more than ever, how do you stay motivated, and does it help your kiting?
An active lifestyle has lead me to amazing results physically and mentally, our body is our temple and we have to take care of it. One of the biggest reasons for me to train and stay fit is to avoid injuries so I can stay sane and enjoy kiteboarding the most. All in all, I’m a really active person and I feel the best when being outdoors in contact with nature or pushing my limits in the gym.
What is your favorite Slingshot kite and why?
Definitely my favorite choice is the RPM v12, Slingshot has been improving this kite over the past years, developing the perfect machine for freestyle and free ride. It has the perfect balance of a strong kite with stability, fast turning, and hang time. Having the possibility to make the most out of your kite sessions depending on the conditions and your riding preferences with the different attachment points. I know I can go big with it in any kind of conditions.
If you could only kite in one place for the rest of your life, where would it be and why?
Probably in my homespot since we have good winds all year round blowing from different directions and delivering all kinds of conditions. Also because is the place where I’ve learn a lot about the wind and the sport and I want to be somewhere where I can share the stoke with my family and friends that have been there since the beginning of my kite career. There are plenty of good and beautiful spots to kite in the world but for me, it’s more important with the who rather than where it doesn’t matter the conditions as long as you are having fun.
Do you have any interest in Big Air? Why don’t we see more girls participating in Big Air?
That is a good question! Probably since women are more aware of the danger…? haha! Well, I do like to ride overpowered and jump high when the conditions are good for it. That’s probably it, at least for my experience, when there are strong winds for big air, it is probably gustier hence more difficult and more chances to get injured because you want to go as higher as possible and if you miss the landing it can be very dangerous.
* FLASH FACTS *
Bindings or straps? Bindings for freestyle and strapless for hydrofoil.
Favorite meal? That’s a tough one, a good meal is welcome at any time, if possible the healthier and the bio-organic the better.
Favorite music? Anything with a good techno base and deep house.
Favorite trick? Heart Attack, is an s-bend with a 360 handle pass. Love how the rotation feels in this one.
RITA RIDES THE SLINGSHOT RPM V12. WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE WHY.
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