The first KB4girls 2010 World Tour kite-boarding clinic was held this weekend Jan. 8-10 at Augusta/ Western Australia and was a soaring success with a full house. There were 30 participants in attendance coming from Australia, USA, UK, Sweden, France and even Germany.
Kristin Boese: "I am really happy to say that our very first KB4girls event turned out to be a great success! The girls were so motivated and eager to learn new things that it was a real joy to teach them on and off the water. The vibe was just great and even during the periods when the wind was not blowing there was plenty going on and it was great to see how the group was bonding together during the event!"
Friday the girls gathered and enjoyed a free-ride session with everyone on the water in the light but steady wind until 6 pm. They began learning their first new tricks and had a beautiful afternoon. In the evening everyone gathered for the official opening BBQ at Turner Caravan Park.
Saturday morning got going with the skippers meeting at the beach at 10am followed by an equipment clinic and a Surfrider talk on the beach. The group then moved on to a detailed demonstration where the girls stood in knee-deep water as Boese demonstrated various trick progressions before them as co-trainer Fiona Wedenig explained the technique of each move shown.
The group all enjoyed the sponsors’ contributions like the Kiehl's lip balm #1, the DaKine tour lycras and the Best Kiteboarding demo kites and boards. The Surfrider Foundation supplied some very interesting educational material, which helped the group realize the importance of being more conscious about how they use their water and how they dispose of waste.
The group took a break for lunch at the Color Patch café and then resumed kiting in the afternoon but the wind was quite gusty, making the conditions challenging. Although it wasn’t suitable for the less experienced riders, they were happy to observe and learn from the more experienced. Most of the girls actually ended up enjoying the fact that it was not windy all the time as this gave them a much better possibility to bond with the others. For many of them it was very special to get to meet girls that share the same interest of kite-boarding and many of them will go kite together in the future.
Saturday evening a dinner was held for everyone at the Augusta Hotel.
Sunday got started with a 9.30AM skippers meeting at Color Patch Cafe to take a group shot with Carol, the owner of the café, and to say thanks for the great support, then a 10.00 am group picture on the beach with our IGA Supermarket sponsor. While the wind was slowly picking up, the time from 11am till 1pm was used for intensive technique training on land to mentally prepare for the following kite session. At 2pm the wind finally became strong enough and a 3-hour long kite session made for a perfect ending. The clinic started concluding later in the afternoon as the attendees began leaving to slowly head back home.
Elisha Caulfield, participant said: "It was really great to see Kristin doing all of the tricks that I've never seen before. It was broken down in such a simple way that it suddenly all seemed achievable! “
“I really enjoyed kiting with so many girls on the water. It was also great to get to know everyone because it was such a lovely group of girls. I'll definitely come again next year!" she said.
Nicolea Paul, WACK network coordinator said: "What a fantastic weekend! Hanging out with 30 women kiters, learning new skills with Kristin and Fiona and knowing all the girls are there to support you on and off the water was just an awesome experience - not something we usually get to experience as a women kiter. Thanks to everyone who was there to add their own special something to the weekend."
Jaqueline Lawson, WACK member: "I felt really inspired to push my kiting to new limits."
The Augusta clinic was a great start to the KB4girls 2010 World Tour and ended on a high note. Next stop is Melbourne February 10-11 with registration closing January 31st and there are only 25 places open, so hurry and sign up now!
Initial schedule for the KB4girls Tour:
Melbourne, VIC Australia 10-11 February 2010
Kahului, Hawaii, USA April 2010
El Gouna, Egypt May 2010
Cornwall, UK June 2010
Fischland, Germany July 2010
Malmo, Sweden July 2010
Hood River, Oregon USA TBD
Bay Area, California USA TBD
Spain, TBD
ExplorerGirls.com Partners with KB4Girls for Online Media Coverage!
KB4girls has teamed up with an expansive equipe of media sponsors that help to spread the word about the tour and its sponsors and will be covering the events around the globe.
Online media sponsors will be helping to spread the word through the internet on all continents and regions, announcing events and keeping everyone up to date on the developments of the KB4girls events on their own channels. These following internet platforms have partnered with the non-profit girls tour to help support females in the sport of kiteboarding:
ExplorerGirls.com, flickamag.com, funsporting.de, hanglos.net, kitemovement.com, ladiesonboard.pl, oase.com, riders.dk, seabreeze.com.au, surfertoday.com, surferworld.it, windfinder.com, womensportreport.com, 01Kitesurf.com
"Getting the world out through the internet is especially important for us to let girls know about the upcoming events. I am so happy to have such a great range of online platforms on board as this will really help us to spread the word wide and to get out news and information instantly,' says Kristin.
Kristin also wants to thank her partners: "I really appreciate the support of each and every one of our sponsors and partners. Their help and dedication will not only make organizing and running the KB4girls events much easier and pleasant for me but also shows the female kiteboarders around the world that they are playing an important role in the sport. Thanks so much to everyone and I am sure I can say that in the name of all the participants also."
Kb4girls has set up a well-rounded information platform for promoting the sport, spreading awareness and scouting new talent. Check out her newest video on the KB4girls TouR!
Posted on 12 January 2010 - 5:43pm
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