Zoe's kiting background - In the beginning 

In November 2003 I was driving down the Orm in Llandudno, North Wales when I spotted a man jumping high, no VERY high into the air attached to a kite.  I drove over to the beach and sat and watched him rippin along on the sea.  When he returned to his car I asked him where to start, he gave me a card for Turbulence and told me to contact them (Thanks Thompson).  I called into the shop and had a chat about what I wanted to do, I was told that 1^s base is to just have to fly a land kite, so I booked a lesson.

The lesson:

The lesson was so much fun, it was a cold, dull Decembers day on West Shore in Llandudno but hey, it was windy and I soon forgot everything else as I was having so much fun playing with this 1.5 Bullet, not only that but I did have a hunky guy giving me his undivided attention, bonus!!!  I was told all about safety, along with things you would think very simple, like packing your kite away, but these are things I would not have known and would have had a nightmare with all those tangled lines if I’d not been shown how to do it.

First kite:

After the lesson I bought a 1.5 Flexifoil Bullet and had a great time just getting used to flying.  I had decided that seeing it was winter I would stay on the land but was ready for my next step, I decided to get a buggy.  I loved it, just cruising along the beach on a go-cart type thing, what a buzz!!!

Bloody Body Dragging:

I stayed on the land for two years then it was time to try the water.  Even with two years kiteing experience I would not have moved to the water without further lessons, there are a lot of things you really need to know particularly regarding your safety, after all you are attaching yourself to a powerful kite and going in the sea.  I dint like the first few lessons, safety pack down, body dragging and more body dragging BUT it is an essential and there has occasions when I’ve realised just how important it is, I didn’t realise it at the time but I was also improving my kite skills.

On the board:
It was time to get a board on my feet~Whoo!! I was SO excited, Lukas told me not to even think I would be riding up and down and he didn’t want me to be disappointed if I got launched off the board a few times BUT I was up and away first time!! The beach was busy with some of my friends and they all cheered, my smile was further than ear to ear!!

Highs and lows of being a beginner:
The first few months were like a rollercoaster, some days I seemed to just get it right and was really buzzing and thinking ‘yes! thats it Ive cracked it’ but other days I just couldnt get off the beach, nothing seemed to be going right and it felt like I was doing a lot of swimming more than anything else!! Those days I went home moody and frustrated BUT something made me want more.  My first waking thought was weather it was windy, I was at my bedroom window before my eyes were open looking for signs of movement in trees, which had now become wind meters.  If there is wind Id rush round like a lunatic to get to the beach as quick as I could, there is no chance if anyone is expecting to see me when its windy, chores will wait, priority’s-what are they? I erased that word from my vocabulary. 

Now:
I now enjoy most sessions.  I enjoy anything from light wind sessions, when the suns reflection on the ripples in the water creates a path for me to follow and I have the beautiful mountains around me, I just cruse along singing a song and enjoy my surroundings to the other side of things when I get a real adrenalin rush if the wind is strong and there are waves, I love it when Im jumping or carveing the waves and Im rippin along on the sea, just being out there what ever the weather, so long as there’s wind, Im happy.