The “Red Sea Zone” had invited me to come to El Gouna for their kite event called “Kite Jamboree” and as I really like El Gouna as a kite destination I did not think much and started planning my trip straight away. So I found myself sitting on the balcony of my room in the kiters hotel “Captains Inn” on may 11th , overlooking the stunning marina and anticipating the next days at the Kite Jamboree Event.
Even though due to the US national race championships I had missed the first 3 days of the event and some of the competitions, I showed up in time for the first Egyptian championships! The Egyptian boys (no girls kiting in Egypt yet) battled it out on the water and were obviously having so much fun doing that that I was reminded of the days when I started competing – no idea, but lots of fun! 😉 I was surprised by how smart some of them were riding though and was happy to congratulate Imad to the first place in the end. If these guys keep kiting as much they might actually be competing in the world tour one day!
The next day was the day of my free girls workshop and with 11 girls showing up we had a great group of girls come together. After a meet&greet on the beach where we all got to know each other and talked about moves and tricks, it was then time to go all kite together to show some girls power. On the water I was very surprised about the high level of riding as all the girls started jumping left and right of me! Standing in the shallow water the girls took turns riding in front of me and with the pointers I gave them they all started working on some new moves. It worked great and (as always when girls come together to kite) the motivation was super high and everybody went for it. A first time landed raley to blind was the move of the day but many chop hops, backrolls and grabs were just as great to watch for me and I really enjoyed to see everyone so happy!
However, the craziest thing for me was still to come… the free kids workshop the day after! 8 kids, age 5 to 9, had showed up in their yellow school uniforms and were super keen on flying the kite and getting to know everything about this funky looking sport that people come to their home town for. To keep them all in a bunch and snatch their attention it worked out great to hand out pizza and ask them about their families. As it turned out all their parents moved to El Gouna from all over the world because of the good working opportunities in this new build town. They all seemed to very much enjoy their new home and with such a perfect place to kite it was only about time that they get into the sport by flying a trainer kite. They all did a great job flying the kite and had even more fun doing it! In the end a few parents had to buy a trainer kite and I am sure when I come back next year the first young talents will already be ON the water!
While we still had wind the next day (which we used for video and photo shootings..) the wind then left us and we got a chance to discover the no wind alternatives. We went wakesurfing behind the Master Craft of Orange Concept and skimboarding in the skimboard competition. But the highlight of the week was still to come: the big closing party on Sunday evening! The great program, an awesome DJ, a huge fire show and a funny fashion show (in which I represented the Best clothes…) got everyone in party mood and so we danced in the sand and into the next day…
All in all Kite Jamboree was a super fun, well organized and intimate event this year and has some great potential for the future! I hope I can come back next year! Bye for now El Gouna and Red Sea Zone!
Kb4girls Blog 