TAMPA/LONDON/PERTH:  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!