The summer in Cape Town seems to be hanging around for as long as possible, keeping the wind and warm weather around, and keeping the smiles broadly pasted on our faces!
The last competition of the season for the South African Tour was held last this past Sunday at my favourite kiting spot, Shark Bay in Langebaan! It is a beautiful flat water spot which I always enjoy – I always learn new tricks when I am here! The timing was just right since the wind didn’t blow the day before of after, but perfectly strong on the day of the competition.
The first pro ladies heat was up quite early in the day and the wind was already quite strong so I decided to take my 5m out. The tide was starting to go out so we had to do some of our tricks in only a few inches of water which made me a bit hesitant to do certain tricks. The wind was a lot stronger than I thought so I was quite overpowered and in the end not so happy with my performance. By the time we had our second heat, the water was completely gone so we competed in the little channel of deep water. Of course this was about 300 meters or so from the beach so the judges had to walk down to the channel and sit in a beached boat in order to judge close enough! I managed to do a little better but still struggled in the strong wind.
All in all it was a good day at the beach and on the water. The vibe on the beach was really great, with awesome music, hilarious commentating, a food truck and shaded areas for us to relax in between heats. The vibe on the water was like no other competition I had been to before. The shallow water allowed the spectators to stand right next to the competitors while they were competing, making it possible for us to clearly hear all their cheers and encouragement during our heats!
I was happy in the end to get a 2nd place at the prize giving. And then while everyone went home I helped my husband set up so he could finally get a chance to kite himself and do a down-winder to the main beach. I took a slow drive back to the main beach to go and pick him at the end of his session. Admiring the beautiful blue water and tropical holiday feeling I get from this place, I hoped I would be able to go and kite there again before the season ends!
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