Daylight saving has come to an end, which almost makes it the end of the windy season here in Christchurch, temperatures are dropping and other pursuits are looking inviting.
I would like to say a big thank you to Decay Kiteboards, Slingshot (NZ), Dakine (NZ) and Mormaii (NZ) for sponsoring me over the summer.
I have had a successful summer in that Ive entered three local competitions and been to four kiting events around the country and a competition across the ditch in Cairns, Australia.
My summer started early with a two week break to Cairns in August. The first week was the Its Extreme Competition (
www.itsextreme.com), where I placed 2nd, which was flattering, as there were 11 women entered, four of whom I thought were very talented. The second week was spent getting my IKO Instructors ticket.
I arrived back in Christchurch to snow in the city and news that the boys had been out snow kiting on Hagley Park. The next event was the Clearwater Camp, organized by the CWA. I was prepared for snow and cold, but alas this year it was so hot some souls braved the water with only boardies on.
Then it was up to Auckland to go meet some of the lasses kiting up there and the Moose Meet (organized by Kiteworks.co.nz). It was a great experience kiting in and around Auckland, meeting all the people in the trade and then mixing with the kite buggying community. There are many areas close to Auckland thatd do well to hold kitesurfing competitions and theyd get support as there seems to be a vast number of people doing it up there. It was also good to hear that there are a number of women learning to kite in Auckland, which will hopefully increase the competition field size in the years to come.
Back to Christchurch for the Canterbury Champs in December, where I placed first. It was a rider judged freestyle competition, held at Lake Ellesmere.
January saw a small group of us head up to Lake Coleridge for the Decay Freeride. The water was a beautiful blue and the 3 hours of kiting over the whole weekend made the trip worth it. The weather had us hiding for times in tents, but being sociable is a big part of the fun.
Next came a trip up to Nelson for the annual Kite Festival up there. A marvelous site of masses of single line kites and traction kites met us as we drove into town on the Saturday. The wind picked up and we got water time, me on my 11m and well powered. There are some great flatwater spots up there, which explains why there are so many young talented freestylers coming out of Nelson. I had to head out early on the Sunday morning up to Tauranga to meet up with Bronwyn, from Kitesurfing NZ, and a British film crew, this was unfortunate, as it stayed windy in Nelson, but didnt become windy in Tauranga. However, it was great to see new kiting grounds and hear about young and upcoming talent.
February was crunch time with the Hyundai NZ Kitesurf Nationals 2005 looming. We were unsure if thered be enough women brave enough to enter, so I went ahead and entered the open division as well. The weekend turned out to be well selected for tides and the wind showed every afternoon. The Saturday afternoon the heats were run, with me getting though to the final of the Womens division. I did not make it through the elimination round of the open division, but was not surprised, as several of the men I know who are good, did not make it either. At prize giving on Sunday night I found out I had come first, which meant I was going to be zooming around in a Hyundai Terracan for a month. Thank you to Hyundai (
www.hyundai.co.nz) for sponsoring the event and to the organizers job well done, it was a great success.
I was lucky enough to be able to use my Terracan for a trip over to the West Coast to meet up with the Nelson Kite Club in Westport. Really comfy and economical vehicle, with room for all the toys in the back! The wind didnt show on Saturday, but Sunday had us out in a building Northerly. Cross-shore from the right with very nice clean West Coast swell. Decay Cutlass 132 and Slingshot Diesel 15m were the call, but towards the end of the session the 11m and katana would have been a better option. Really terrific group of people to catch up and swap stories with. Thanks for your hospitality Ted (
www.kites-rainbowflight.co.nz) and Crew.
March was time for the annual Kitesports Challenge. Theres always wind for every discipline over this weekend. Saturday was wonderfully windy, which meant it was water time and heaps of fun on my 7m Diesel. Sunday the wind had eased and meant we could run the down wind race and I also did the buggy and mountainboard time trials. Always a very fun social weekend for all the family. Thanks to Tim Stockman (
www.kitesports.co.nz) for organizing it and all the support hes given me over the last two years.
My time with the Hyundai Terracan has come to an end as the Season is, but who knows what the weather will hold.
Thanks again to all:
Decay kiteboards
www.decaykiteboards.co.nz
Slingshot (NZ)
www.sskiteboarding.co.nz
Dakine (NZ) Second Skin Ltd, Christchurch
Mormaii (NZ)
www.immersion.co.nz
Happy kiting!
Su Kay
23 March 2005
Coromandel 
Whangamata 
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