Lewis Crathern Kitesurfer June Update

IKSURF Coverage

IKSURF Magazine featured a nice 15 page article on the Kite Founders Club trip I went on end of May. The full article talks about the event but there is also a lot on the spot at El Gouna. I have been to Egypt quite a few times (6 or 7) and this was the first time I visited here. If your into kitesurfing and looking for a great destination I can’t recommend El Gouna enough. It blew nearly every day and the center is right on the beach. All the staff really helpful and hotel where we stayed was superb (Movenpick) One of the things I liked the best is that its a very short ride from the airport, something like 30/35 minutes! enjoy the article…..

Lagoon WakePark

My local Wake Park (http://www.lagoon.co.uk/wakeboarding) has been getting better and better. Each time I go away something else is added, they now have 3 lines in there with all sorts of different obstacles to hit. I could never of dreamed a few years ago that there would be somewhere I could go in 20 minutes to practise my Wake Style riding. One of the new features they have is called a “Step Up” or “Step Down” rail where once you get going on the rail you need to jump up (or down depending on which way you came) to the next section of the rail. It really takes a while to get used to and if you get the wrong line it can throw you straight off at any time! Some photos attached of me getting the hang of it.

The Big Charity Downwinder Gathering Pace

Wahey! We just hit 250 kitesurfers signed up for the Big Charity Downwinder! That means if everyone shows up we set a new World Record – registrations are open until the end of August if you are still thinking about joining us to make kitesurfing history! The event is really growing momentum now and we have yet another practise run set up in the next couple of days. Over the last few months I have been attending regular meetings with all sorts of people within the industry. Prior to my meeting at 2XS with Simon I had a great session in strong wind. I’ve also attached a photo of our recent trip to the new Forest to visit the boat support team (Solent Rib Charter) There is so much planning going into this when it finally takes place its going amazing. Remember this is an amazing opportunity to set the world record of the largest parade of Kitesurfers in a mile and also raise money for charity. It would mean so much if you could donate anything on my page is here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=LewisCrathern I’m also planning an auction of some really special gear (some equipment I used for the Pier jumps) to boost my contribution.

More info here :   http://www.snow-camp.org.uk/events/big-charity-kitesurfing-downwinder

Kite Ride BONAIRE

During the last few weeks of June I was invited to an event in the Caribbean- ‘Kite Ride Bonaire’ – http://www.kiteridebonaire.com/ The small island of Bonaire was the host. It really was an incredible event set up to promote Kitesurfing on the island and it’s amazing values. Local kids got involved to build the obstacles and the whole local community joined in on the main event. I really consider myself lucky to be part of an event like this as it was all about Kitesurfing not pro riders and prize money. The Bonaire kitesurfing community came together with the invited riders and we really had some super days, one of my favourites was where all the invited riders got to perform a coaching session with the local riders then we put them all out on the water for 20 minutes so they could show what they had learnt! I must also add that Bonaire was the most consistently windy place I have ever been, it blew every minute the whole time I was there day and night.

Small clip of me riding here – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=472895866127267&l=8737329171409097569
Event video here which really is special – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDwaogMVK-4

Commentating KTE Germany

Round 2 of the Mini Kite Tour Europe took place in Sylt North Germany. I’m really enjoying my role as the European Kitesurf Tour Commentator. Germany gave me a nice platform to practise my language skills, I know a bit of German so really loved being able to connect with the local people. The weather was amazing and there were thousands of people on the beach. Sylt is quite a special place, it’s an Island not far from Denmark but you can only access it by train (and plane of course) all the cars people drive have to first get on the train to get over. I’m told its one of the number one places for German people to go on holiday in there country and you could certainly feel that when you looked down the coast. In the end there was not quite enough wind to finish the freestyle but the racing was a huge success yet again. See me in action on the first days video here – http://vimeo.com/69706896

PKRA Germany

The second world tour event that I would compete in this season was in St Peter Ording in Germany. Over from Canada my team mate Sam Medysky joined me on the road trip from the UK. We had such a good time. The main event was a real challenge the record number of competitors turned up (around 70) all looking for a spot in the main event where there’s only 12 or so slots left. I managed to finish around half way in the rankings which I was reasonably happy with. I’m really learning on the competition side of things my forte is Strong wind and I’ll look to enter more events which blow crazy. Germany 4 years ago blew 40 knots, not the same this time but we had full support from our Kiteboarding sponsor Best Kiteboarding. They really showed up in style at the event with the biggest Marquee and all there team there. It’s a really unique event in St Peter Ording as everyone can drive there vehicles on the sand and enjoy the kite village set up on the beach

Lastly I’ll leave you with this video which covers what I get up to when its not windy, its a very amusing video of all our best and worst Diving board moves at the local pool! Speak soon everyone Take it easy, Lew
http://www.facebook.com/LewisCrathernKitesurf

“What do we do when its not windy?” https://www.vimeo.com/69874137