Team Riders

Team Solo Paddlesurf

Kalani Cook
SOLOPaddlesurf Team Rider

Kalani Cook, 18 years old, is a born waterman - having surfed since he was 4 years old, and kiting for the past 9 years. Kalani’s home turf is Catalina Island, where aside from surfing and kiting at his favorite gnarly ( and sharky) off shore islands secret spots, he can be found lifeguarding, watching the waves and helping people out. He can also be found kiting at his favorite spots - Santa Cruz, Cape Hatteras, Delta and Lake Mojave.

Nick names: big air, k dogg

Contest results:
2nd place Rell Sun Menehunes
3rd place Rell Sun Menehunes
15th place Am Mens  Waddell classic
1st place Outer Banks Jr Mens
9th place King of the Bay
Sponsors: SoloPaddlesurf, Caution Kites, Ultra Nectar,

Kinsley Wong
SOLOPaddlesurf Team Rider

Kinsley started surfing in 1985 and never stopped since then. Kinsley is a waterman with diverse talents and is currently an Advanced International Kiteboarding Instructor, a Scuba Dive Master, Advanced Tandem Paragliding Instructor, as well as Chief Technology Officer for FIT Financial.

Kinsley’s home turf is Shell Beach, where on any given day depending on wind and wave conditions, you will see Kinsley and just killing it in the waves.

Kinsley is also the founder of XtremeBigAir, which originally offered paragliding instruction and worldwide adventure expeditions to exotic places. It has treansformed itself over the years to be one of the pioneering and biggest kiteboarding shop in the West Coast .

Sponsors: SoloPaddlesurf, Silverfish Sunglasses, Underground Kiteboard, Newind Kiteboard, Jay Factory and BEST kiteboarding.

Luis Banto
SOLOPaddlesurf Team Rider

“It’s been more than year since I started SUP, and since then I hardly do any other water sports. I still own a quiver for windsurfing, kiting and surfing, but 90% of my water time is spent on a SUP. I would never have thought SUP would be this much fun…It makes everyday in the water a fun day, no matter what the conditions are!

- Luis

Luis brings his love of the water and his varied background to bear in his favorite new sport of SUP. A waterman with a long, diverse and expert background, Luis is a perfect addition to the Solo Paddlesurf team.

Luis learned to windsurf on his parent’s lakehouse in Chile when he was 8, fell in love with it and started competing the year after. At 13, Luis went to his first world championship in Spain, where he was the youngest competitor amongst some of the legendary greats like Robby Naish, Pete Cabrinha, Ken Winner etc.

From there, Luis went on to become Chilean champion in different divisions from Olympic Class to Wave riding, and won a couple South American titles on DIV II class and One Design.

At 20, Luis got bitten by the surfing bug while staying in South Africa. Luis eventually moved to Maui where he continued with his love for surfing. About 9 yrs. ago, Luis started kiting, although he still windsurfed when condition where good, and surfed almost daily. What a great life!

Recently, Luis and family moved to Seal Beach , CA where Luis continues to paddlesurf almost daily in Seal and Bolsa Chica.

Favorite playground: Kanaha, Maui.
Best surfing place: Bali, Indonesia
Best windsurfing and Kiting spot: Roca Cuadrada, Chile
Favorite trip: South Africa

Sponsors: Solo Paddlesurf

Diane J. Wenzel
SOLOPaddlesurf Team Rider

Diane fell in love with surfing in college where she competed regularly in NSSA competitions making nationals in both Explorer and Collegiate divisions. Sailing became another passion in school and after graduation, Diane established Westwind Sailing to provide Community Sailing programs for kids and adults.

Water sports continue to dominate her life and she has traveled the world to pursue her passions in Surfing, Kitesurfing, Sailing, Distance paddling, SUP surfing, Springboard diving, SCUBA and Windsurfing. Her latest passion is SUP.

‘I saw the potential in a business sense, so I incorporated SUP instructional programs in my sailing school. If I was gonna teach it, I had to learn it!

Diane competed in the first ‘Rainbow Battle of the Paddle’ placing 4th out of 50 in the women’s open division and beating half of the 250 men who entered. Next was the Catalina Challenge where Diane and her teammate Amanda paddled the 40 mile course in gnarly headwinds. ‘Our escort boat broke down around mile 25 so we had to abort – but I’ll finish next year’. Most recent was the Rainbow King and Queen of Dogpatch SUP surf contest. ‘I had only been SUP surfing for about 4 months but I thought it would be fun to compete.’ So she entered the intermediate division and won!

Diane joined Team Solo Paddlesurf directly after the Dogpatch event. ‘SUP surfing was fun but a lot of work to maneuver a big, heavy board. And I missed the feeling of shortboard surfing. After my first wave on a 9’ Solo, I was hooked! The board is stable and floaty but light and it turns on a dime . It handles the mush and the steep stuff – and I truly feel like I’m shortboarding! I love my SOLO!!!’

Sponsors and Partners: SoloPaddlesurf, Quickblade Paddles, Team Ohana, Liquid Force Kiteboarding, DaKine