LAUSANNE/LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO, June, 23rd 2010: Sherman Island proved itself as the perfect location for a KB4girls event when 35 female kiteboarders put it to the test this past weekend. Located on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta the island is known for water sports.
With 20 knots, sunshine and a perfectly ebbing tide the conditions on Saturday turned out to be perfect. Thanks to the amazing kiteboarding school Kitopia and the Sherman Island Lake Marina the participants plus all the assistants were shuttled up to an easy launching and learning spot reserved only for the girls.
World Champion Kristin Boese and Pro Rider Sandy Parker opened the clinic with an IKO safety briefing followed by a demonstration of tricks on the water. Then they walked the girls through the maneuver specific key points before finally sending everybody out on the water to try these new moves themselves.
Sandy Parker, owner of Kitopia says: “We held the KB4girls event at our schools teaching spot and usually there are no more than 3 kites on the water up there. So for sure my most memorable experience of the event was standing on the beach looking upwind and seeing almost 40 kites on the water with the girls all in their blue rash guards riding them. It was so amazing to see and to be a part of it and I can not wait to do this event again next year.”
Courtney Lischke, one of the participating girls said: “The KB4girls event at Sherman Island exceeded my expectations! Not only did I get to meet many other female kiteboarding enthusiasts, but I also received private instructions from World Champion Kristin Boese and pro rider Sandy Parker – a once in a lifetime opportunity! Sandy taught me to jump twice as high and Kristin taught me how to do a backroll immediately! Plus, Kristin demoed a variety of tricks that I look forward to practicing for the remainder of the season. I highly recommend KB4girls to any female kiter who wants to enhance their kiting skills and meet some incredible, inspirational women!”
After such an successful day there was no stopping the girls at the party on Saturday evening in which Josh Anons pictures and Slawek Krauzes video of the day were as much of a highlight as the absolutely marvelous dinner beautifully prepared by Leann Green.
“At this event here at Sherman Island it was amazing for me to see what a tight kite community can put together if everyone cooperates with each other. Everything was just completely over the top – from the big pontoon boat that the Sherman Island Lake Marina shuttled us to the islands to the most incredible food and the party… I really need to thank Sandy and Donny Parker from Kitopia for pulling all the strings, getting everybody together and for making this event possible,” says Kristin Boese.
On Sunday it was only due to luck that the wind took a break since as many of the girls were a bit spent from the exercises the day before and sending them out on the windy water would not have been the safest thing to do. The day was used for on-land-demonstrations and video-coaching before the event concluded with the award-commemoration on Sunday afternoon.
Congratulations go to Michelle Gabriel and Jannicke Stav who both impressed the jury with their big and stylish tricks as well as Sandra Bostjancic who won the first prize for becoming the most improved rider of the camp by learning unhooked front rolls and unhooked kiteloops and was awarded a brand new “Kristin Boese Pro” board from Best Kiteboarding.
A very special thanks goes to the sponsors and partners of the event: Kitopia, Sherman Island Lake Marina, Boardsports school, Josh Anon, Linda Argila, Leann Greene, Lori Sebastian, Just Kite It, Slawek Krauze, Clark and Kevin, Bill Tai as well as DaKine, Best Kiteboarding and Kiehl’s.
Upcoming KB4girls events:
Fischland, Germany / August 20th – 22nd, 2010
Malmo, Sweden / August 28th – 29th, 2010
Hood River, USA / September 4th, 2010
Montauk/NY, USA / September 24th – 26th, 2010
Lancing, UK / October 8th – 10th, 2010
Ole Takai