You'd never have picked it, but after Andy Yates few seasons off due to injury, he's back in the game. But not on his pro model board! 

He's instead been signed up to the Xenon team, and will soon be riding Ozone kites if rumour has it! Since he started back in the early 2000's, Andy has been riding on Slingshot gear exclusively. Whilst he spread his reputation and progressed as a kiter, Slingshot helped him along the way and even gave him his own pro model board, the Mayhem. Despite that, Andy appears to have left Slingshot in good standings, something which is nice to hear in such a small kiting community. Whilst it's rumoured that he made the switch to spend less time in the spotlight, others say Xenon offered him quite a hefty sum of cash to join the team. Only Andy knows though! But it's exciting to see what he'll be up to over the next year. 

It was actually the guys who released the Lighthouse to Leighton video earlier this month that let the cat out of the bag. Keen eyes would have noticed the Xenon T-Shirt that Andy was wearing when he was interviewed. It was then confirmed on his blog, Andy himself saying: 

"I am so stoked to announce that I have joined the XENON team for 2013!! I am looking forward to progressing my riding this year to a new level with the help of XENON’s amazing boards, products and great team. I’m loving the boards already so I can’t wait for an amazing year!! I’m currently riding the all new 2013 INFRA."

Adding fuel to the fire, is the rumours that he'll be riding the Ozone C4 for 2013. Not yet confirmed by Andy himself, there's several industry guys who are pretty sure he'll be joining the likes of Alex Lewis-Hughes, Torrin Bright and Jake Kelsick on the 2013 C4. Interesting, very interesting! What's to come for Andy Yates? Will he get back onto the podium for freestyle?

#News #Kitesurfing #Ozone #Slingshot