The PWA caught up with Kiri Thode in Austria to quiz him about his new move, named “Kono”. Kiri Thode’s brand new move, the Kono has been the talk of the freestyle world in recent weeks.
Q: We’ve just seen you do your new move, the Kono. Can you explain to us what it is?
Kiri: “A Kono is when you’re going for a bob but you do a sort of upwind Wymaroo in the air. It’s really similar to a Wymaroo, just upwind!”
Q: How did you make it up?
Kiri: “I was trying to do a Culo, but one time when I’d ducked the sail I didn’t have enough speed, so I went upwind to make a tack and the board popped a little bit. I crashed that time, but it made me think that I could do it in the air. Then I started to land them. It happened totally by accident.”
Q: What conditions are best for trying it?
Kiri: “You need steady wind, not too gusty, say around 20 knots. You also need pretty flat water, so you can duck the sail easily. I prefer to do them on flat water rather than in chop.”
Q: Are there any variations yet?
Kiri: “Yeah, there’s the standard one, which starts like a bob, and there’s a switch version that starts more like a Funnell. Right now that’s it, but we’ll see.”
Q: Have you learnt any other new moves, or invented anything else new over the winter?
Kiri: “I can do a Spock into Kulo, and I’ve invented some other new tricks, but I think I’m going to keep those quiet for now. You’ll have to wait and see for those ones!”
© PWA/Andrew Buchanan
