It seems that being centrally located in London, always ready to go where the wind blows is the best strategy for getting a lot of water time. My spring on the South coast brought a lot less sessions than expected, unfortunately due to wrong wind directions, lack of wind and poor mobility to get to other spots than my local beaches.
A few sessions found their way into my relaxed coastal lifestyle before I locked my belongings into my London warehouse and set off on an Adriatic road trip. Trying spots in Croatia and Montenegro was great fun, and my autumn in Sweden also brought a lot of varied conditions, both good and bad – but all sessions count towards experience and happiness when it comes to kitesurfing. It’s weird that way, this sport.
The final part of the year I saw myself back in London. Not my ideal city any more, but when you’re in London with fellow kitesurfers there’s always a reason to escape London for the weekend, and that we did more than once. In my first years of kitesurfing it was all about the progression in the sport, but in recent years the social aspect has become more and more important, and these weekends of kitesurfing and socialising by the English seaside are as good as it gets.
On that note, I guess I hardly picked up any new tricks this year, and have no great expectations for 2018. If I get to keep doing my UK weekends, see progression in Laura’s riding and make a trip or two I’m pretty happy. I want to see Global Kite Spots grow, and I’m hoping all my readers are pleased with the new design and direction I’m taking.
2017 hard facts:
Days on the water: 36
Most used kite: 10m Nitro closely followed by 15m Element
Countries surfed: 5 (England, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Sweden)