I stayed in an amazing 4 star hotel called Breakers right on the waters edge. It was German based but with a fair few Brits too. The food was the shizzle excluding one compulsory enforced day off the water to combat the gypy belly – im sure it was down to the Turkey, but I should have known because when do you ever see a Turkey in Egypt? And generally im of the belief if you dont see it in the country you dont eat it! I’ll swiftly move passed the fact that the enforced day off was the best day of wind in the first week! Im not bitter about that at all!!? Anyhow the first week was forecasted for no wind but it turns out that a week of no wind in Soma Bay isn’t quite the week of no wind that we know and don’t love in the UK. Granted it was 45 degrees during the day, but the wind blew on 6 days out of the 7 for at least two – three hours.
I had a real mix of conditions from 12m weather all the way up to a 35+ knots sandstorm day where the 6m came out to play to throw down some big hooked jumps kite loops and the occasional unhooked move! Could have done with a pair of camel lashes, but I survived nonetheless and managed to nail some blind judges, new grabs, back to blinds nearly air pass, but not quite dam it! I spent nearly all my time on my 10m and new 2011 Naish Thorn! Ive sized down this year and gone with a 130 but found it really lush to ride, easy on the chop and great for pop and for landings! I also have the 2011 Momentum, but didn’t get much time to try it out.
On week two 9 people rocked up from the UK for my coaching clinic week. 3 were not on the course itself, but hit it hard on the water/by the pool. The other 6 were all on my course and man did they get a phenomenal week of wind! We couldn’t have asked for better if we had ordered it. From the crack of dawn the wind blew 25knots and stayed with us until sunset. Exactly mid way through the week the wind took a day off and so we were able to have a guilt free rest day of sunbathing and snorkelling. On the windy days most of the crew were on 9m’s, but a few 7ms also.
They were super good fun and on a hige mission to learn new tricks testing my skills to coach anything from jumping and rotations through to kite loops, blind, unhooked moves and surface handle passes! They were split in to two groups so that I could coach one group for 1.5 hrs and then the other for 1.5hrs. In the afternoon there would be a second coaching session for each to. All 6 of them cained it on the water and left with holes in hands, aches in backs and various other places to, but also took home a number of new moves to unleash on the water this weekend!
James Winstanley took home the speed record for Soma Bay maxing out at 74kph and Chris Lincoln took 2nd place with 55kph. Kate O’Beirne took home the Willy One Foot Wonder award for 1min 28 seconds of riding one footed on her board in 25+ knots!
Next up Im heading to Morocco to compete in Essouira on the PKRA World Cup. Im just doing it as a one off event to keep on eye on what tricks the girls are pulling out and also to bust a few tricks out myself. The aim is to have fun, ride hard and up the motivation to learn the latest tricks and take some bigger wipeouts! I’ll be taking my new Naish boards and 2010 Torches, so wish me luck!
Look out for the article on Egypt in Kiteworld as Jim the editor was out there enjoying the kitesurfing and taking lots of pics! Soma Bay is definitely a spot to pick for a quick week away. Thank you to Nick Wber at www.i-c-u.net for the great pics and waveriders for managing the bookings! Happy kititng!
2 comments:
Have you got a link to that hotel Jo? I've worked in Soma Bay and the hotel at the top off the bay is by far the best place to kite, it'd be good to know their website.
Sweet picks!
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