KiteSurfGibraltar With miles of beach within easy reach and two of the world’s most famous winds blowing through the Strait with amazing regularity Gibraltar is the perfect place to start to learn the addictive sport of kitesurfing. While the beaches of Gibraltar itself are not ideal for kitesurfing you have a mind boggling choice of beaches and conditions to choose from nearby, depending on which wind is blowing and what you’re into. Heading east you will find flatter waters and slightly calmer conditions or head west to pick up the mighty levante at Tarifa or carry on up to Caños for some of the best waves Europe has to offer. A town which has achieved world fame for its kitesurfing conditions is Tarifa, just 30 minutes drive from Gibraltar. Tarifa’s fame began when it was discovered as a ‘Mecca’ for windsurfers in the 1970s. Over the last eight years it has steadily transformed into a kiters’ playground without equal. With approximately 20 kite shops and 40 supporting businesses hustled into the two kilometre stretch of the main street, and with up to 1,000 kiters on the water on a summers’ afternoon — Tarifa is the worlds’ most popular kite surf location, and its just round the corner. Tarifa however is not the only place to learn to kitesurf. The nuclear winds that made it famous are a bit too strong for many beginners and the choppy conditions on the water make getting on the board difficult. That said... if you can do it there you can do it anywhere. There are plenty of other beaches, many closer to Gibraltar that offer much more pleasant conditions for beginners, Poniente and Levante beaches in La Linea being good examples. Gibraltar has two main prevailing winds. The Levante, which comes from the east and is the wind that has made this area famous. It blows anything up to a force eight and can last up to a month, day and night, even the keenest kite and wind surfers can find themselves wishing it would drop off just for a moment so they can hear their TV over the sound of the windows rattling. The Poniente wind comes from the west, and is generally the more pleasant wind, bringing about clear skies and constant winds. Poniente winds are usually between a force three or six; perfect for kite surfing! Kite surfers come in all shapes and sizes, and from an array of backgrounds, cultures, philosophies and walks of life. Look down any given beach and you will be struck by the diversity of people who kite surf, young, old, heavy, thin, fit and unfit. Kite surfing is one of those sports that offers everyone something. Due to its rapid learning curve and the fact that, at least initially, it doesn’t require too much physical fitness or strength, its appeal to the masses is huge. It is a sport you can push as hard as you want. Some people spend their entire kite surfing careers simply cruising the ocean, enjoying the feeling of absolute freedom. While the pros are dedicated athletes who train every day, all year round, across the world, and compete at the highest level. Ultimately, the pros are theones who create new insane benchmarks and manoeuvres that most mere mortals can only dream of. When the sport was first developed it seemed it was a sport for 25 to 35 year-olds with water sports backgrounds and a supporting bank balance. As the industry developed into one of the worlds’ fastest growing sports, the equipment became more accessible, safer and quite simply better. A second-hand market has been created, allowing equipment to become more affordable. Youngsters have taken the sport to a newer level with incredible tricks and plainly wild attitudes — there is little surprise that these better body-bouncing world champions and elite such as 14-year-old Women’s Champion, Gisela Pulido (Tarifa, Spain) and four times reigning Men’s World Champion Aaron Hadlow (19, UK) lead the way with other riders pushing hard behind. It’s very easy to generalise but most kite surfers are pretty chilled in their own crazy ways and are involved in the whole sport and culture. They all help each other launch and land the kites and in every spot in the world you will see the guys and girls chatting away on the beach, encouraging their mates, having a blast, and partying after a good day on the water. For most, it’s an obsession that gets into their blood and the better and more experienced they get the more the sport dominates their lives. Whether at work, on holiday, walking in the park or on the beach the wind-twitch psychology develops and, before you know it, everything in your life revolves around wind and looking for the next session. Kite surfers’ lives also revolve around looking for the best locations and best winds and they travel the world looking for a fix. It’s a drug and addiction that despite partners, families or employers complaints; refuses to be broken. Obviously, most people prefer to kite surf in the summer, for one thing the temperature is more bearable. Summer also brings some very reliable thermally driven winds (winds affected by the heating of the earth and sea). These winds are so constant in some places that for four or five months out of the year you can get out practically every day. During winter, kite surfers rely much more on low-pressure systems to bring the wind, though, this can be less reliable. That’s not to say that winter kite surfing is impossible, in fact, Gibraltar and the surrounding areas provide one of the worlds’ best winter kite surfing locations due to its reliable winds and comparably warm climate. The greatest danger associated with kite surfing is its ability to get under your skin and change your life forever. Such is the addiction that many people give up their 9 to 5 and head to find an alternative existence, an existence dominated by wind, water and an obsession with weather reports. Released from the pressures of the daily grind, life becomes a quest for ride time. These people are not the hippies and junkies that are stereotyped in films and novels but, instead, are people from all walks of life who have given it all up — exchanging flashy cars and expensive mortgages for quality of life, a beach, a board and often just enough money in their pocket to buy their next beer. Kite surfing can be a dangerous sport, but like anything it is the person on the end of the kite that is dangerous, not the kite itself. One thing to be absolutely sure of is you learn to kite surf, initially at least, with a qualified instructor. A qualified instructor will guide you safely through all the potential pitfalls and match your learning to your ability. Even when you are confident, kite surfing is a sport best practised with a mate. For one, it’s more fun, but accidents do happen and it’s good to have someone watching your back. It also means you can push each other on to master the latest trick and of course more importantly laugh at each others epic wipe outs. Equipment is a much stickier issue; a good bet would be to talk to your instructor or a local dealer. These guys will, more than likely, be kite surfers themselves and should be able to advise you on what will be best for you depending on your size, level of fitness, ability, your aims and what the conditions are like at your local spot. Most kite surfing dealers are quite scrupulous and will not try to fob you off with any old junk they are looking to get rid of. Most of them are enthusiasts who want you to get the same out of kite surfing as they have and, hence, will try to kit you up appropriately. It is a good idea to try out a few different styles of boards and kites before you buy and to ask yourself what you’d want to get out of kite surfing. Be honest with yourself! Kit is expensive and while buying one outfit does not limit you to one style of riding (in most cases), buying the wrong set-up can hold back your progress and seriously limit your enjoyment of the sport. Most shops run a hire service of some sort and some dealers will have test kites and boards just for this purpose. At the end of the day if you’re going to spend £1,000 on a new set-up you want it to be the right one. The best advice we could give to anyone starting out is don’t be afraid to ask people more experienced than yourself, kite surfers are generally a friendly bunch, and everyone down at the beach was a beginner once too! If you are interested in learning how to kite surf there is now a school teaching kitesurfing out of Gibraltar, Tantrum Kitesurf, www.tantrumkitesurf.com email: info@tantrumkitesurf. com or call Sam on 54029286 or 0034 622 250 412. They will pick you up and drop you off in Gibraltar so you don’t have to worry about finding your way to the beach. They also offer full instruction from International Kitesurfing Organisation (IKO) qualified instructors and teach on beaches local to Gibraltar so when you do progress to become an independent rider you know which beaches work in what conditions. They are also offering discounts on kit from their on-line shop when you book courses so it makes getting up and riding independently even easier, not to mention cheaper. The website has all the information about courses and links to other sites for all kinds of information.

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