BALANCE VECTOR NEWSLETTER # 2 - November 05
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| Nathan (on right) and Team Balance Vector in an earlier event |
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Just a couple of days ago Nathan and Team Balance Vector scored a huge win in the Adventure Racing World Championships in New Zealand. The race was reputedly one of the toughest ever and Nathan and his team took the lead on the first leg and never looked back, finishing with an incredible 13 hour winning margin! This was Nathan's last race for the immediate future so it was one he really wanted to win! You've done Balance Vector proud!
Introduction
Time for the second Balance Vector update and as always it seems everyone in the Team has been incredibly busy with their various projects so it's been great to hear what everyone is up to. More importantly it's been inspiring to hear about some of the future plans! Watch out in 2006 because there are some fantastic projects in the pipeline.
It's also great to see some of the Team working together. The vision for Balance Vector was always to create some synergy, where the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts. And that is starting to happen now.
We're still hoping to get everyone together at some stage. It's not going to be easy to coordinate everyone's schedules and locations but it would really help us to build on those synergies. We're tentatively thinking sometime in mid 2006 possibly in Jackson Hole? We'll keep you posted on that one anyway!
Other than that Steve (through Balance Vector) has been involved in some fantastic charity projects this year. Check out some of the Team and Project updates below.
We're hoping to get a Balance Vector website up and running in the next few weeks - we'll email you all as soon as that goes live. Finally Kit DesLauriers and her husband Rob are currently in Antarctica on an expedition to climb and ski Vinson Massif - the highest peak in Antarctica so we're all thinking of you guys down there on the ice. Be safe and have fun!
Until then. Aloha - Steve and Gus
BV Team News
Sandow Birk
Currently working in LA to complete his movie based on Dante's 'Inferno' Sandow also has an exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art in California called "Sandow Birk's Divine Comedy" which has been attracting positive attention. "The show runs until January 8th, and we're planning on premiering the movie there with a party to tie it into the art show before it goes to film festivals. After that the same art show will go up near L.A. at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, California."
Cindy Mosey
Cindy has been busy planning the inaugural Cindy Mosey - Balance Vector Island Odyssey, the first women's only international kitesurfing event set to run in 2006. The event will combine competition, adventure and exploration with the stunning backdrop of the New Caledonian island archipelago. The women will race on kitesurfers from island to island each day and will stay on a fleet of charter catamarans which will provide a mobile headquarters for the event. With a significant prize pool, Cindy aims to attract the world's top female kitesurfers to race in a professional division, with other women being encouraged to participate in a recreational division. "We're also going to run clinics, a wave event and a speed record attempt. But the real objective is to encourage women to have a real adventure in this beautiful environment. Thanks to Steve the event is really starting to get some momentum."
Nathan Fa'avae
The adventure racing season has just wrapped up and Team Balance Vector have come through to win the Adventure Racing World Championships on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island . Before this final race the Team had experienced a tough year with health problems plaguing some of the Team but they still managed to win 3 of their 6 races this season and headed into the World Champs as hot favourites. Just before the event Nathan noted "Our focus on the race will be very team focused, working together, supporting each other, putting the team first while all the time - racing hard." Well guys you did it! Awesome result. Check www.teambalancevector.com for more info.
Kit DesLauriers
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| Kit training in Jackson Hole |
Having just departed on a ski expedition to Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica, Kit is continuing to push the boundaries of women's ski mountaineering. Featured in a November 18 profile in USA Today, (click hereto see profile), Kit is also in event-planning mode, adding a second location to her successful Turn It Up Women's Ski Camps with a February camp in Sugarbowl, California. "There seems to be a lot of women who want to challenge their perception of limitations and I'm loving helping them on their path - at least in the realm of skiing."
pc munoz
pc released his latest CD, 'Twenty Haiku' in October. A sharp departure from his songwriting work in the funk/pop vein, 'Twenty Haiku'features pc reciting his original haiku, with improvised accompaniment by established and underground musicians. Guest musicians include jazz drumming great Scott Amendola, electronic music wiz bLevin bLectum, and legendary blues keyboardist Ira Kamin. An extensive website, twentyhaiku.com, features information on the origin of the project, bios and photos of all the participating musicians, and exclusive artwork to go with each haiku, by established visual artists from around the world. In addition, pc recently covered Flesh for Lulu's 1987 goth-pop hit "I Go Crazy", for HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, a tribute CD which features today's top indie artists covering songs from the great teen movies of the 80s. Last but not least, pc and the amen corner are slowly recording a series of singles for release in 2006, and in his capacity as producer for Talking House, pc has been busy producing and playing on a number of projects.
Shaun Murphy
Shaun's 'Coolfuel Roadtrip' TV series is currently on air on the Viacom/UPN network across America (Check www.coolfuelroadtip.com for station listings and times) and the feedback on the series has been excellent. It looks as if the series will also air on Discovery Channel in 2006 and Shaun is currently working on securing other international sales. "It's been an amazing project - a lot of hard work but also an incredible adventure and I guess with the huge hike in oil prices over the last year the timing couldn't be better to broadcast a whacky fun travel adventure show about a roadtrip around America without using gas!"
Gus Roxburgh
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| Gus about to go gliding over the Southern Alps filming for 'Wicked Weather' |
Gus has been working with Shaun editing 5 new episodes of his 'Coolfuel' series for Viacom/UPN. He's also completing filming on a new series called 'The Human Potential' - a six-part documentary looking at the human potential relating to a range of subjects; speed, strength, endurance, agility, aquatics and the mind. "It's been a great project and in the course of filming I've been hypnotised, CAT-scanned, gone fire walking, been thrown off Auckland's Sky Tower, been freediving in Sardinia, skiing in the Qatar desert and any number of other crazy things." Gus' 3-part series on extreme weather is currently on air on Television One (New Zealand's main network) and has rated highly in its prime time slot.
Bryan Wiley
Bryan is currently preparing for his January photographic exhibition in Bahia, Brazil - a selection of incredible photos from his book 'In Search of the African Conitinuum'. To see more of Bryan 's work check out his website on www.bmanphotos.com . Bryan 's also doing a presentation of his book at the Everett Middle School in San Francisco . "I'm really excited about taking my work into schools like this and hope to do many more presentation in schools and universities around the globe."
Balance Vector Projects
The recent Balance Vector-sponsored Surf Aid International fundraiser was a huge success, raising more than $240,000 towards helping reduce malaria in Indonesia's Mentawi Islands and bring disaster relief to the Nias region struck in the New Year's tsunami. Here's the report from the Surf Aid website:
September 12, 2005
Second Annual Liquid Nation Ball Raises More Than $240,000 for Surf Aid International
LA JOLLA, CA The Second Annual Liquid Nation Ball was held this weekend in La Jolla benefiting Surf Aid International, the surf industry's premier humanitarian crusade. The event exceeded expectations and raised over $240,000 for Surf Aid, an organization dedicated to fighting malaria and other preventable diseases afflicting the people of the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, a popular surf destination. The evening also celebrated the significant accomplishments of SurfAid throughout the past year; specifically the group's effort to rebuild Indonesian communities following two recent disasters in this region-December's tsunami and the March 28th Nias earthquake.
Liquid Nation was conceptualized and created by Santiago Aguerre, co-founder of Reef, as a vehicle to generate greater awareness and support for humanitarian causes from the surf industry. Top industry pros, players, moguls and media demonstrated their spirit and support for the cause by attending the event. Funds raised on Saturday night through ticket sales, a surfboard auction, and a generous contribution by Steve Luczo, former CEO of Seagate Technologies and founder of Balance Vector, will help Surf Aid to meet the overwhelming needs of the people who are struggling to rebuild their lives throughout the disaster-affected areas and continue the group's ongoing heath and education programs in the Mentawais.
At the event, Dr. Dave Jenkins and Andrew Griffiths, the visionaries behind Surf Aid, presented the year's accomplishments for SurfAid. The presentation was followed by a live auction that included a trip for two to Tavarua, a trip for two to Jeffrey's Bay donated by Paul Naude from Billabong, a trophy from Eddie Aikau Quicksilver Surf Contest, and surf boards signed by the top surf pros including Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Rob Machado, Nick Fanning and many more. The interest in supporting this important cause was so strong that the auctioneer was asked to auction his pants! The Dolce & Gabbana pants were bought for $4000 forcing the auctioneer to walk onstage wearing only a tablecloth! Then, the auctioneer's shoes were bid on and sold for $2000.
In a surprise act of charity responding to the United States ' most recent crisis, Fernando Aguerre, co-founder of Reef and owner of the house where the Liquid Nation Ball took place, donated a paddle board from his personal collection for auction to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Due to the strong interest in this item, Fernando's brother Santiago Aguerre then donated, a Dale Velzy paddle board for auction. The items, bid on by Miekke Pierson Tyler Callaway, raised a total of $13,000 to be donated to help victims of the disaster.
Quite a list of notables from surfing's history came out in support of Surf Aid including former world champs Andy Irons, Peter Townend, Lisa Andersen, Sophia Mulonovich, Debbie Beacham along with top pros Rob Machado, Chris Ward, Brad Gerlach and others.
Santiago Aguerre said, "The surf industry as a whole - the businesspeople, vendors, retailers, pro riders, shapers and media that are the Industry - came here tonight to assert once again the importance of this new humanitarian chapter, the existence of SurfAid. I am proud of what we have grown to become - a group of surfers that are making a difference in the world that surrounds us, the world we live in and surf in."
SurfAid International is a non-profit organization founded in January 2000 by Dr. Dave Jenkins who coordinates the support of the global surf community to significantly improve the health and well-being of the people of the Mentawai Islands , Indonesia.