Hi Ladies,

Sorry for the disappointing news ladies...Looks like the 2012 Kite Jam in September at Sauble has been cancelled this year.  We may all have to head to New York that weekend???

May the windz be with you this summer!  Happy kiting!

Cheers

Jeanette :)

Members of the Charleston KB4girls chapter, plus a few new ladies, joined us for our annual Hatteras retreat last week.  When we arrived - Susan Grossman, head of the KB4girls Hatteras Chapter, welcomed us - thank you Susan for your hospitality!  What follows is a little story about learning.  J

Typically, to go on one of our retreats, we require attendees must at least be riding on the board or more, but this year marked our first trip were we incorporated non experienced kiters into the mix.  Excitingly, we had 6 girls learning and 4 girls kiting!!!

As we kicked off the event, I happily agreed to head up the pod of newbie gals and we quickly became a hit on the water.  That evening the topic was whether we were to be deemed caterpillars or ducks…after much discussion…caterpillars won.

How did this name come about?  Well, earlier that day gusty winds from the North kicked up and we worked with a 7M kite, and together all 5 of us bodydragged as a whole unit.  I was deeply impressed by the girl’s enthusiasm and their willingness to take on whatever role they could during the learning process.  I will remember their sweet smiles as they patiently struggled to get their bearings with the kite and grasp the challenging nuances of the sport.   Perseverance continued to reign after day three, when we shadowed the learning crew on a bodydrag downy.  At the end, I found two beaming girls despite the fact their kite had spent 99% of the time in the water pulling them downwind.  They cheerfully expressed “we’re not giving up.”

It reminded me that I see so many new kiters who have hopes dashed by expecting too much too soon.  Kiting requires patience, practice, and resolve.  Understanding the learning process and setting realistic expectations is so critical to keeping your path to kite bliss strong and your self-esteem in tack.

During the rest of the week, the girls stayed in, “the messy middle,” a term I like to borrow from author SARK.   This place contradicts our need for immediate glorious results, and is typically a frustrating landscape to navigate.  But with kiting, many messy middle experiences must take place before we can reach the final goal of riding purposefully and continuous on our boards.

It’s an important reminder to accept this messy place; and understand it’s the only space where change can take hold.  Over the next year I look forward to watching all the catapillars progress and eventually, like all others before them, they will transform and learn to fly!

PS.  Thank you Dan Casey for capturing the caterpillar in progress!

Welcome to one of many hidden gems of New Zealand, Penzance Bay, in the Marlborough Sounds. Wind is our love, but we are blessed with endless destinations & activities we can enjoy on the calm days! 7 Girls joined in the weekend of SUPing, relaxing & socializing.

2 of the Chicks were first timers to our group - Cherie & Yohanna. Cherie moved to Nelson a couple months ago & Johanna joined us from a neighboring city, Blenheim. This is one of the things I treasure most about this sport & our club, the people we meet along the way. KB4Girls is the ultimate link connecting us around the world.

Our first evening paddle was picture perfect (albeit I forgot to charge my camera so I have no proof!) & I am pretty sure I found my SUPing paradise. Glassy water & breathtaking scenery made gliding along completely effortless. The following morning we were greeted with an overcast sky & ever so slightly choppy water, but nothing unmanageable & we were still rewarded with some sheltered flat areas. Apart from some Stingrays, I swear we had the entire Sounds to navigate alone!

I will update our calendar soon, but you can save the date for our next event - Yin Hot Yoga class @ Hot Yoga Nelson! It is the most gentle of the yoga classes so if you are a newbie to yoga, no worries. The heat & yoga works wonders to keep our body in shape for our kiting season! Sunday June 3rd @ 4:30pm. See you then!

We've been watching the wind forecast for Sunday like a hawk this week and it seems to be changing daily :( As it stands we currently have a light SW forecast so fingers crossed it a) stays SW and b) is strong enough to get out on the water! The last few days have seen offshore winds forecast so we will have to keep a close watch... 

If the wind doesn't play ball, then we have an alternative activity planned! We will head over to Hove Lagoon for around 11am (will confirm nearer the weekend if need be) where they have kindly said they will give us free use of their SUPs (stand up paddle boards) :) Then we can have lunch together (either BYO or they do food at the cafe at Hove Lagoon itself). After lunch the cable opens at 2pm. For those of you that don't know what cable is - it is essentially wakeboarding without a boat! You are towed along a fixed 'cable' (with adjustable speed). See the link below:

http://www.lagoon.co.uk/wakeboarding

Cable is a great way to improve your kiting, be it practising boardstarts, riding toeside, trying some load n pop or jumps, or maybe even pushing to try raileys, loops or hitting the box! 

IF YOU ARE BOOKED ON THIS EVENT...please can you let us know asap if you would be interested in coming to Hove Lagoon with us as a no-wind activity, and please state if you would like to have a go on the cable - then we will book an hour slot for just us girls. Hove Lagoon are offering its use to us at a discounted rate :) 

But fingers crossed for wind, we shall be doing daily wind dances!

xXx

Wakeboarding - Lagoon Water Sports

www.lagoon.co.uk

Lagoon Wake Park is home to the southcoasts first cable wakeboarding park based on Hove Lagoon, Brighton. 01273 42 48 42 ext 2

Hello Girls,
1° event KB4Girls Rome, is delayed for kite permission issue on the roman coast.
we are waiting for the new "summer permission law" that should be ready next week 

stay tuned and we will let you know soon about next date on the capital event
good wind 

Hiya girls!

Kicking off at 2.30pm, for £25 you get 3 hours of taster sessions (SUPing, wakeboarding and windsurfing), as well as a BBQ, indo-board demo's, and a fun competition at the end to win some awesome prizes! (Including kite lessons with the BKA!)

 

 

Hola Chicas! (english version below)

Soy Chelu Guardati, instructora de Kitesurf IKO y AAK (Asociación Argentina de Kite) hace más de 2 años y fundadora de KITE SISTERS TRIP, un proyecto que busca incentivar el Kitesurf entre mujeres de Latinoamérica y donde organizamos Kite & Yoga Trips para chicas en diferentes spots del mundo.

Quería contarles de los eventos que estaremos realizando la próxima temporada de KB4Girls & KITE SISTERS!

KB4Girls me ha seleccionado como Embajadora para la región de Sudamérica (países de habla española) y la próxima temporada 2012/2013 estaremos en diferentes spots de ARGENTINA, CHILE, URUGUAY y PERU organizando eventos sólo para chicas, para todos los niveles!! Así que no importa que no experiencia alguna en el deporte o que ya navegues y saltes; la idea es encontrarse, conocernos y generar una comunidad de mujeres en nuestra región, reunir a las HERMANAS LATINOAMERICANAS a través de una pasión en común: el Kitesurf! :)

Estaremos contándoles los spots y fechas durante el año.... comenzando en Noviembre en Paracas, Perú y continuando el resto de la temporada en Argentina (Rosario, Córdoba, Costa Atlántica), Uruguay y Chile!

Si te gustaría que organizemos un evento KB4Girls & Kite Sisters en tu spot, las posibilidades están siempre abiertas, así que escribinos a This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it para poder organizarlo juntas!

Buenas olas y viento y nos vemos en el agua!!!!!

Chelu

KS Crew

Hi Girls!

I´m Chelu Guardati, IKO Instructor and AAK (Asociacion Argentina de Kite) for more than 2 years and founder of KITE SISTERS TRIPS, a project that encourage LatinAmerican women to kitesurf. We organize Kite & Yoga Trips for girls in different kite spots of the world.

I just wanted to introduce myself and the incredible events that we will be launching next season with KITE KB4Girls & SISTERS!

KB4Girls´ve selected me as Ambassador for the South America (Spanish speaking countries) so we will be organizing the forthcoming season 2012/2013 Girls event in different spots of ARGENTINA, CHILE, PERU and URUGUAY... GIRLS ONLY and FOR ALL LEVELS OF RIDING! So, it doesn´t matter if you are a complete begginer with no experience or an already advanced rider because the idea is to get together, have fun and build a community of women in our region, bringing together Latin American Sisters through the same passion: Kitesurf! :)

During the year, we will be announcing the spots and dates... starting in November in Paracas, Peru and continuing the rest of the season in Argentina (Rosario, Córdoba, Costa Atlántica), Uruguay and Chile!!

If you would like a KB4Girls & Kite Sisters in your spot in one of this countries, is always possible, so please write me to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we can organice it together!

Good waves & wind and see u in the water!!

Chelu

KS Crew

The May KB4girls Cabarete gathering will be:

Hosted by Calin from Kite Club Cafe

Saturday May 12th starting at 12pm

On Kite Beach, at Kite Club/Kite Club Cafe

Join the female kiteboarding community for a civilized ladies luncheon featuring delicious food from Kite Club Cafe

10% off your meal and FREE Iced Tea

After lunch: kiting if it's windy or cocktails/mocktails and more girl time on the beach

RSVP to Calin by email: calin (at) kiteclubcafe (dotcom) or by phone 1-829-644-8404

ready for the first KB4Girls event in Rome!!! 13 May in the Rambla beach, Maccarese

girls we wait for you :)

Hello All,

A very happy day for all of us kitesurfers, the International Sailing Federation announced on today (May 5th) that the kite will be part of the program of Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

"It was wonderful news. Very surprised everyone because it was a very tight vote. The most important thing is that now the kite has everything to grow and become popular in Brazil" Nayara Licarião said, third place in the World Cup held last year in Sylt, Germany and #1 in Brazil.

Hi girls,

I am happy  to announce that KB4girls has now also reached Mui Ne Bay!

As some of you might know, Mui Ne has a tendency to steal peoples heart. But what is it that attracts people? Well, it is not only the town, food and people that make people want to stay but also the nice winds that come through the coast of Mui Ne. Which means great kiting times and from this year onwards KB4girls activities!

This brings me to announce the date for the first chapter activity. The opening chapter ill take place at C2Sky Kitecenter, on the 27th and 28th of October 2012, the last weekend of that month with as theme name: KB4girls kite 'together for charity'

The activity will be divited in 2 days;

 The first day will be all about getting to know eachother, thoughts about kiting, how to fly a trainerkite, how to set up a kitesurf kite and ofcourse how to fly a inflatable kitesurf kite on land. The second day we would like to take everyone in the morning on a little field trip to‘Together for charity’, anEnglish School  for Vietnamese kids located in the heart of Mui Ne.

The English school of Mui Ne is a non-profit organization committed to supporting the young, ambitious and less fortunate children of Mui Ne village.

Once we have returned back to C2Sky we will have a briefing and continue our kite session with some more land flying and ready for bodydragging in the water.

The 2 day course will be taught by qualified IKO instructors and directed to girls living in the area or any one passing by. You can either sign up on the day or contact us in advance by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

And remember this 2 day Taster course is free of charge, but of course a small donation to  ‘together for charity- English School of Mui Ne’ would be much appreciated!

October is the start of our kiting season thus it will be a great time to begin our KB4girls chapter but of course we are planning  one minimum  for each month there after, so please keep posted by checking up on the KB4girls chapter calender. We hope to not dissapoint you girls, as we have other ideas in mind for the following months like 25 km downwinders, exclusive tours, bbq’s and you name it.

So keep posted and let me know when  you are planning to come to Vietnam. I would be happy to answer any of your questions and get some kiting in!  

Many thanks,

Liz

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.c2skykitecenter.com

www.togetherforcharity.com

TAMPA/SAN FRANCISCO/BERLIN, April 30^th, 2012: This past weekend 29 women came together for the 4^th annual KB4girls global event in Alameda and San Mateo, a womens only kiteboarding event to empower and motivate women to overcome fears and challenges and make new friends along the way.

While 7 complete beginners joined the group and showed courage by taking up a very addictive new sport the more advanced girls had to push themselves and each other to new limits and try new tricks that they had not attempted before. KB4girls founder and 9x World Champion Kristin Boese as well as Pro-Kiteboarder and Bay Area Super Star Sandy Parker from Kitopia first demonstrated each trick in detail on the water and on land and then took each of the females out for a spin once the wind kicked in on Sunday afternoon.

Boardsports’ local host and shop/school owner Jane Cormier, who did an incredible job organizing and hosting the event, says: “I am so thrilled to be a part of this amazing and inspirational event. Our KB4Girls women gather with the hope of improving their kiteboarding skills. They leave with huge smiles, new learned skills, new friends, a new community of women to ride with, and tremendous satisfaction from raising funds for such a wonderful local charity. The most satisfaction and joy for me personally comes from knowing that Kristin Boese, Sandy Parker, our Boardports Team, our participants, and all of our volunteers make a huge difference through our event’s charitable fundraising for Girls Inc of the Island City. We raised over $6,000 and are proud to support a cause that is such a perfect match for the spirit for the KB4Girls Events.”

All participating women pledged to raise funds for Girls Inc. of the Island City, the charity of choice for the clinic. Girls Inc., is a nation wide non-profit organization that encourages girls to be strong, smart and bold. The local affiliated Girls Inc. of the Island City was founded 47 years ago and has done an amazing job working for and with girls of Alameda ever since.

Already in 2011 Girls Inc. of the Island City was the chosen charity for the KB4girls global event in the Bay Area and $7000 were raised. This year well over $6000 have been raised to date through personal fundraising pages of the participating females the personal fundraising pages there of the participating girls as well as a silent auctions with many amazing prices from female owned business in the Bay Area. The fundraising pages will stay active until Mai 15, 2012 and all female kiters are hoping for more donations from their family and friends to be able to match or top last years donation to Girls Inc.

Many congrats go out to the fundraising queen Kristina Kind, the Best Trick winners; Sylvia Keller (most tricks tried and wettest kite, she held nothing back); Jennifer Cambell (for landing tons of her first ever back spins; and the Most Bold Beginner winner Judith Kline for catching some seriously awesome air while body dragging in the water.

A huge thanks goes to Jane Cormier (host), Rebecca Geffert (host), Sandy Parker (host and instructor), Josh Anon (photographer), Mike Smitheman (instructor), Tim Waterman (Instructor), Michael MIrisciotta (Instructor), Chris Apicella (BBQ master), Gail Romano (BBQ Master), Tay Nelson (Coordinator), Loren Brock (Coordinator). Sontian M-Stionson (Coordinator), Vinnie Tieto (Kite Launcher), Eddie Dikitanan (photographer), Francois Jeanneau (kite launcher) Dan Fu (Kite Launcher), Ray Mond (BBQ Master), Diana Biondo (Food Shopping), Kristina Kind (Media Promotion), and Eric Patena of Crate Crafted Events (DJ spinnin’ great music for us at our BBQ). We could not have had such an awesome time without the help of all of hosts, instructors, and volunteers.

We also want to thank our generous Silent Auction and BBQ donation participants. These donors of local wellness businesses helped to raise an additional $685 for our event. They include the San Francisco Bay Club, The San Francisco Boardsailing Association, Rebuild Restore, Enliven Health, Absolute Chiropractic, Red Dragon Yoga, Adventurous.com, Mieze Steinberg Massage, and Jae Berman Nutrition.

The KB4girls foundation and their worldwide tour is supported by Best Kiteboarding, DaKine, Baby-G and Vitamizzer.

The 2012 KB4girls GLOBAL calendar reads as follows:

March 10 to 11, 2012                    Sydney, Australia

March 13 to 15, 2012                    KTA Pranburi, Thailand

April 28 to 29, 2012                       San Francisco, USA

June 15 to 17, 2012                      El Gouna, Egypt

July 27 to 29, 2012                        Lancing, Great Britain

September 21 to 23, 2012             Dream Extreme Montauk/NY, USA

About KB4girls

KB4girls is a foundations that empowers females through the sport of kiteboarding that was launched in November 2009 by 9x Kiteboarding World Champion Kristin Boese. While the international clinic events gives female athletes from around the world the chance to get together for a fun and female experience it also motivates them to push their kiteboarding skills to the next level and possibly start to compete in kiteboarding.

Another goal of the KB4girls events is to support local charities that reach out to females in need which is done through fundraising at the KB4girls events.

Us Nelson Chicks are a pretty resourceful bunch. We have SUPs from SUPSTAR & a bach (Kiwi word for Holiday home - I am defining this solely b/c I did not know what it meant when I moved here.) in the breathtaking Marlborough Sounds available to us courtesy of our very own, Bec Overton.

The plan is to depart Sat. afternoon (~3pm), May 12th, get in some SUP time on the glassy flat water before the sun sets, have a BBQ & chill out with an overnight stay @ the bach. We just got a lucky weekend with wind, but overall we have bid it farewell, so we should enjoy some bonding time together in a place that is blissfully void of internet & phone reception, plus we will be keeping up our fitness on the water to be beach babe ready for our tropical holiday.

If you plan on attending, please let me know in advance. If you have your own board, I am happy to transport yours on my trailer. It is approximately a 1.5hr drive from Nelson & would make the most sense to carpool in my American beast as it seats 7 & I have to tow the trailer anyway. We can chip in for petrol/groceries/drink & a small contribution to Bec for her costs.

We are proud to be part of KB4Girls with a dedicated Jericoacoara chapter! Thanks.

Jericoacoara is a great wind spot known internationally for one of the best places in the world to practice and enjoy watersports. The wind season generally blows from July to December, however during all other months we can be surprised with nice wind afternoons!

Our charm & picturesque fishermen village is glad to welcome all KB girls to have fun in our several different spots, check below map:

I will be posting updated news and tips for you to enjoy the most of Jeri!

The Annual General Meeting 2012 took place on April 19th, 2012 and was not only the very first online conference the foundation held, but also the first Annual General Meeting open to KB4girls members, ambassadors and the public due to the foundation having acquired 501 (c) 3 status just a little over a year ago.

With a lot of great feedback being given and directions being confirmed and decided the 2012 KB4girls AGM was a real success and the online conference room made it possible for the grassroots organization to hold the meeting at no cost. While only 2 guests followed the invitation to attend, the board of directors is excited about exploring the possibilities and learning proper non-profit processes that will hopefully encourage more engagement from members and ambassadors in the future.

Please find below the minutes of the 2012 AGM and the 2012 KB4girls Annual Report. The documents can also be downloaded here. If you are interested in a sound recording of the 2012 AGM please simple send us an e-mail.