Kiteboarding Australia and Kiteboarding NSW presents:

2015 NATIONAL FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS

for all Intermediate to Advanced riders.

It is on our doorstep at Kurnell Beach so we expect a large turnout of NSW kiters to enter this event and hopefully take home the TOP Awards and some UP & COMING Awards.

Entries from other States are on the rise, so come on SYDNEY – WE WANT YOU! – ENTER NOW! The event will be held over 4 days at Kurnell beach from MARCH 12 -15 with predicted winds around 15-20 knots but we recommend you bring kites of all sizes, as that time of year can bring some howling wind mixed with breezes.

Note- that the Juniors are broken up into Under 16 and Under 18, so here is a great chance for the New Comers to take home an Award and/or a great Prize!

Exult Kitewear are designing the Event Tee which is going to be a sort after item which each entrant will receive on arrival. Bravo Pumps are on board with some powered pumps and other items to give away and DEMO on the beach Mystic have given us some harnesses and the BIG KITE BRANDS are all there to lend support. Kitemag will be covering the event, so you may end up as an article in the NEXT MAG!

Last year we saw Newcomers pick up sponsorship deals – this could be YOU this year! ALL WELCOME – The “2015 NATIONAL KITEBOARDING CHAMPION” could be YOU!

All Divisions OPEN to: Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents
Entry Fee: $90 includes a quality TEE ! Entry Fee also Includes: Food BBQ Sizzle / Drinks / Water / No Wind Activities / Access all Areas etc Presentation Sunday 4pm – Awards and Prizes (Extra award/prizes for Encouragement and Expression riders.)
Divisions: Junior – 16 & Under as of 1st JulyYouth – 18 & Under as of 1st July Open Mens – Any age Open Womens – Any age Master – 35 & Over as of 1st July Allstar Event – Non Citizen Expression Session. (Fun Extra Event if Wind and Time permit!)

Yes this is a 4 man Double Elimination round robin, you don’t get knocked out in first round! Heat Time: TBA – depending on wind. Example: 20 min session – Continuous Start, wind dependant. We have some of the finest Judges to score you at this event – Intermediates are most welcome.

Thanks to our FANTASTIC SPONSORS: OZONE / CABRINHA / NORTH / BEST / EXULT Kitewear / Bravo Pumps / Mystic and our favourite Mag ; KITEMAG . Also a big thanks to KITEPOWER who are also sponsoring the event with lots of prizes and help!

Register and pay here: https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=15376


Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kiteboardnationals LIKE IT !

KITEBOARD FREESTYLE TITLES – Register Now

www.registernow.com.au

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Whilst this map may fill you with excitement for getting out there please remember the following! Snow Kiting is f-ing dangerous! The top of a mountain can/will kill you if you are not prepared! it’s cold, the weather / visibility can change in the blink of an eye, winds are GUSTY, they are usually either light or stupendously windy, you can travel a LONG way without realising so you need to be prepared to walk (with skins on skis or snow shoes) if the wind dies or you pop a kite. The rule here is never kite further than you are prepared to walk! Remember, if you hurt yourself and can’t get down someone else has to, it either screws up everyone elses day or costs a shit load in chopper fees, oh and mobiles don’t work so well up there!

That said, it’s awesome fun and we’ll be up there as much as possible! If you are going up, let someone know when you should be down and where you were intending to be.

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We were down at kurnell yesterday and did a little trip over to Towra, it was really nice over there but it didn’t last for too long after the wind started to gusty up to the point I got ripped off the water on a 9. Its been a long time since I’ve been totally spanked by a kite. I took this as a sign that it was probably time to switch to a smaller kite so we headed back knowing that the forecast was for a big westerly switch.

When back at the carpark I was about to whip the 7 out and took a look up at the sky, a BIG rolling fast moving bank of cloud heading in from the west. Hmm maybe its coming. Theae clouds when overhead looked like nothing I’d seen in a while, and as a rule if clouds look funky then something funky is going on up there. Big troughs of flat bottomed cloud banks that I really must look up.

Taking my inner advice that things were probably about to all get ‘messy’ our little group decided that watching the impending carnage with a few beers could be better. I actually launched someone on a bws 8 and pointed him at the clouds and said you better watch that fella, he actually decided to take our advice and drop his kite again. I’m sure he’s happy he did  So off we pop to the bottle shop for 5 mins, on our return we notice a change in things, the trees are sideways, cats are airborne and the water! Fark! 45 knot squalls do something to water, it makes it separate from itself and turn into walls of spray. After a few holy shit moments we spot a kite loose about 200 meters out blowing downwind towards the oil pipe pier, we make a quick call to the cops to say there is a kite free, we find the owner on the beach and let the cops know not to panic as others will prob call in. This didn’t stop the boat, westpac chopper and 2 cop cars turning up tho!

That’s the graphs from yesterday. It was WILD! BUT it was forecast and it was visible that it was coming. This is why it pays to be prepared, know the skys, read and understand what’s going on. You don’t need to be a weatherman but question change. Why is that big bank of cloud coming? Why is it lined up different from the current wind direction? Why did it just get cold or warmer. I feel this is something missing from a lot of todays kiters who get out of an office chair and go kiting because its ‘extreme’ the main emphasis is on the kiting, not the wind. Sure http://www.seabreeze.com.au  helps and we have more tools at our disposal that ever before. Learn the weather and become a true sailor! It takes time, I’m fortunate enough to have the background but even I’m rusty. In the next few weeks I’ll find some good basic weather stuff and throw it up and talk about the common local Sydney things that catch out people.

Anyway, when things settled it turned into an incredible sunset. Here are some pics and one of me taking a piss. Thanks Jess Digs. I think?

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Kitesurfing.com.au’s Pete was proud to be asked to head down as a coach again this time around and once again, this event has been a cracker!

Culburra is a near perfect location for running this type of event,

There is almost enough of everything to suit every skill level, there are waves and sea for the more advanced girls, flat shallow water for teaching and when the water levels are right a large lake that can cater for all sorts of riding and teaching. Couple this with perfect beaches, good coffee shops and a brilliant pad for everyone to crash in you can’t really go wrong. There is also a raft of other activities that can be had close by.

The event this year has been taken over by Maja, new to organising kitechicks but not new to attending she had put a lot of work into organising everything and it paid off, this had to be the most relaxed and enjoyable kitechicks I’ve been involved in.

Saturday

Saturday morning started with a mad panic of surfing, most of the girls attending this year have a passion for surfing I’d not seen before on this scale. Culburra has a few sneaky little surf breaks around. Reasonable small waves were had before breakfast and with a 9am deadline for Yoga the surf cleared out for the first kitechicks yoga session. Instructors and students alike got all bendy on the grass (and bitten by sand flies)

Introductions and formalities of a team event came next with Maja introducing everyone and the instructors to their groups. With a changeable forecast for wind and a real requirement to keep people sane the girls split up into groups for other activities like SUP’ing and surfing. Thanks to WindSurfNSnow Watersports we had the use of 3 SUP’s that proved fantastic entertainment on the flat water of the river.

A small building Nor-East breeze at about 1pm caused a sudden flurry of activity with girls and instructors dashing for kites. Mel made the most of it with a brief 15 minute session on the flat protected waters of the river before a thunderstorm and rain really screwed things up by killing all the wind! Things were looking pretty bleak for Saturday from this point but a small semi-forecast southerly came through in the mid arvo that once again got everyone moving and heading down to various locations to commence the kiting.

I took my group (the wave and surfboard riding girls) out to the main beach opposite the lagoon to check it out. There was enough wind to kite but its a little cross-off. I explained and pointed out the obvious dangers to the girls who were keen to get stuck into it. Things didn’t go so well with the wind, currents and waves proving a little too hard (I had a go and it really was a struggle) so we moved into the almost empty and VERY murky lagoon to practice a few things on twintips that the girls wanted to learn. Whilst this was going on there were trainer kites and girls getting there first feel for flying kites! Smiles everywhere! The beach at the lagoon offers an incredibly large area for teaching!

This fun continued until the light ran out. This got everyone back to the accommodation for a well deserved shower and onto dinner. I have to hand to the organisation here, with everyone chipping into helping out and a well laid food plan we were served up a real treat. I’m not sure if there are any photos but with super healthy fish and other healthy bits my tummy hasn’t seen in a long time everyone was getting stuck in!

Memories fade after dinner, I remember rum, I remember tequila, I remember a man in a bikini and playing ping pong with a SUP paddle! Happy days.

Sunday

A weary start for many on Sunday and a coffee run is always welcome. The weather is great and there is a real buzz of excitement in the house. This unfortunately comes to an end after the 9am Yoga as the house needs cleaning, but not before a killer breakfast! With everyone chipping into cleaning up the house it doesn’t take long and we are out at lunch. The wind forecast is rubbish which is a shame but everyone is keen to make the most of the weekend away and heads back to the beach for a surf. I’ve never seen so many women in the surf before and after speaking to a local, neither have they!

Supping and great warm waves are being had all round, for those that don’t surf great conversation and laughs on the beach.

With this thought of a long drive home many people started to pack their cars and head home. This turned out to be a small mistake! Even tho a small Nor-Easter had been building all day at 3pm the remainder of the people decided that was time to pack up. I decided to make the call tho – It’s ON! So whilst people are packing up, I’m pumping up! with a mostly sceptical response I pump up the new 2014 12m Cabrinha Siren (yes its PINK!) and I grab the surfboard. Oh it’s ON! After about 15mins of smashing back and forth and catching waves I look back to the shore to see a flurry of activity and kites getting pumped up!

With 2 of my 3 girls still remaining its back to coaching for me I lend the 12m to Tatiana who heads out to battle her fears after a few years out of the surf to see her slip back into a familiar old skool kiting style that is sadly missing in todays kiting. Maja heads out on her new North 5’10” whip. – a seriously good surfboard for kiting! – and start practicing her carves to toeside. With a good stiff breeze that would have seen me put up a 9m the rest soon followed and great wind was had until about 5pm at which point we had to call it a day and head back to Sydney! What a finish!

Overall, this has been the most enjoyable kitechicks I’ve attended, a real pleasure to help out! remembering this event is run by volunteers just makes it all the more special. It’s also great to see help from within the industry to back it. NSWKBA, WindSurfNSnow, Alliance Gear, Kitepower, Balance Water to name the ones I can remember. The tireless efforts of Maja, Lise and Lauren in organising everything. Giovani Genovali for being the kitelauncher and photographer for the weekend (he thought it was a hard job), All the coaches and instructors and everyone who attended and help make it possible.

More pictures to follow when we get them.

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This will probably be a little controversial but to keep up a good solid base of information about kite surfing in Sydney and NSW we’ve made a new locations guide google map! This should end up being a good reference to everyone and whilst it will never be complete and may ruffle a few feathers we believe its in everyone’s best interest to highlight the local dangers at some of these spots. (rocks, dangerous currents, power lines etc)

The guide is aimed at visitors to Sydney, learners and people looking to progress their skills and try out new spots. We’ll also post up some downwinder routes for the more macho kiter.

Some of this info is out in the web already but i doubt its being maintained and added to. So have fun and head on over to the new page!

or click here if the button isn’t showing

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Anyway, wind was good, weather was fine, company was outstanding. We also ran into Jen so there is a guest appearance from her.

Don’t complain about the bop bop music! Haha

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Super light conditions and its hard to stay upwind but its nice and sunny and quiet so I’m super happy. Found a good empty camp site for the night and was happy to pay the $20 for a quiet night and a hot shower.

Slow morning chilling and doing some reading and it’s back on the road again. Before I left I ran into these little fellas just chilling and wanting to say hi. It’s pretty hard going you know.

Heading south I’m taking the coast road and pulling off the freeway to check out some few spots. The road that goes via Bermagui along the coast is magic. Probably one of the best motorcycle roads I’ve found in the country if you are into that kind of thing. There is national park all along it so camping isn’t a problem and it crosses some really good flat water spots like (for the life of me I can’t find it again on the map. I’ll fill this in later but it looked great!!)

The original plan was to stop another day half way to Merimbula but then my phone starts bleeping with sms’s that the event starts on Thursday. Hmmmm, quick change of plans and I head all the way to Merimbula. There is a real lack of surf and wind so it wasn’t a real problem. I stopped at so many places and all I say was golden sand, clear blue sea and no waves..

Anyway. Not the best update in the world, I’m a day behind now. This really is a magic stretch of coast that I’ve never had the time to explore. I’ll be back I think to do more exploring!

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