STAFF REVIEW: LANDBOARDING AND POWERKITING EXPERIENCE IN CAMBER

All this beautiful sunny weather is enough to make any office worker jealous, but lucky for Gemma and I, we were up bright and early on the morning of July 19^th, ready to head down to Camber Sands Beach!

The drive from Brighton to Camber was fairly easy with little to no traffic and just a few small, sweet villages to travel through. I don’t know about you, but I love the old rustic feel of a seaside village, so I was more than happy to have a nose as we drove by!

As the strong, sea-salted air began to fill the car, I instantly recognised that we were approaching Camber beach. The Kitesurf Centre was soon in sight, and before we knew it, we were all parked up and ready for the fun-filled day to begin.

When approaching the centre, a young man greeted us, and took us into the main building for a quick discussion about what the day would involve. After signing our consent forms, we were taken to meet our instructor, Paul. Paul was extremely easy to get on with, and made the activity great fun for our whole group to enjoy.

Once we had gathered our helmets and become familiarised with the equipment, we were set for a short walk down to the sandy beach. Be careful to follow in the steps of your instructor and not get too close to the shallow watery areas – they might look perfect for paddling, but they’re actually more akin to quicksand! Whilst congregating away from this zone of the beach, we came across a long, flat, stretch of sand - perfect for landboarding!

Our session began with an informative talk from Paul on how to prepare and use the power kites safely. We then moved on to how to control your kite, and give it the power to twist and turn gracefully in the sky. Here’s an interesting fact: You would think steering would control the kite, yet it’s actually the push and pull of the grip.

It was then time to move on to the landboards! I was quite afraid of this part, but with Gemma and Paul’s reassurance (and the sand serving as a super soft landing) the nerves began to settle. As I set my kite off into the sky (after about 1592 tries…), I nervously stood on to the board as it gently pulled me across the sand. Although it took a bit of time to get to grip with the new sensation, I was finally being drawn across the beach by a powerkite – an amazing effort from me!

It was then that Gemma and I completed our session, made our way obliviously through the sinking sand (instant regret!), and back towards the centre.

On behalf of Gemma and I, thank you so much to The Kitesurf Centre for having us, and to Paul for being a brilliant instructor.