Lucky me I was able to go out for another adventure just a couple days after the previous one.. The forecast was looking good for kitefoiling, 14-17 knots sideshore forecast for a place recently becoming known as Foil Beach up north in Qatar!
I have been kitefoiling for a while now, at least I own the equipment since end of October last year. I have been kitesurfing since 2010, and absolutely love that sport. The feeling of freedom on the water is just amazing. Now imagine kitefoiling, easily double the fun!! I became inspired first through Youtube I suppose, and then found out the KiteFoil WorldCup was taking place here in Qatar. Now the forecast for that event was 5-8 knots almost every day so I didn't think it would go through... Well there were races every day! The Foil just enables to surf with so much less drag that it feels like you don't need any wind at all..
But first you need to learn how to control it.. The board with the foil attached behaves completely different in the water, so much so that even regular water dragging with the board becomes almost impossible. Dragging around was all I could manage for the first session. By today I was up to session number 6.. and I am managing to get the foil flying short whiles in a controlled manner now! I am planning to post a video diary of my kitefoiling progression. I hope I'll have time for that soon. For today here's an update with some of the best photos of the session. Enjoy and see you soon... Like if you like - It's at the bottom!!
- The Ultimate Freggle
So I recently figured, after reading some other inspiring stories, it is time to share my adventures with the world! Maybe just so I can revisit them myself, or maybe even to entertain or inspire some others. I have a few sports that I am crazy about and writing about them will be a great opportunity to relive those exciting moments again!
The sports that have always intrigued me are all related to the elements of the world we live in. Meaning basically wind (air) and water.. I love flying and almost anything that flies. Kitesurfing and Kitefoiling, Paragliding and Paramotoring and drone flying are top of my list. They are all sports that I have been wanting to get good at since I was about 5. Really, ask my wife and she will confirm that for you!
I am lucky enough to be able to travel relatively easy at limited cost, so I should be (and already have been) able to enjoy all these sports at some amazing locations around the globe..
Now I am really keen to edit some epic videos of my adventures and show them to the world on Youtube or Vimeo. But I have to be realistic at the same time and admit that editing a good video will only be possible once in a while. Writing a piece for my blog is so much quicker and still really fun! For sure do expect in the future to find some epic videos in the mix here as well..
So today I will start off with an impression of an awesome day of paragliding at my 'local' spot, half an hour from where I live, in the desert sand dunes of Qatar.
To be honest I have a unique location here that offers flyable conditions very often. Whenever the wind is forecast to be light, it will practically always turn to be of easterly direction at some point during the day, and stay like that until sunset. Yesterday, friday the 20th January was such a day. Initially the forecast predicted wind strength enough for kitefoiling ( I need about 10 knots at my current proficiency level to start actually enjoying the kitefoiling practice). But when arriving at the scene it had dropped down to a calm 4- 5 knots... much more like perfect paragliding conditions! Today was an odd day as the wind was very southerly in direction, with the dune needing a bit more of an easterly element. After having some snacks, the wind did what it does almost every light day and turned more easterly so I could fly. I was lucky enough to have a camera team in the form of Jolynn and Yosha on site to record some of the proceedings!!
I hope you'll enjoy this first post and send me some feedback or subscribe if you feel like it!
See you soon and fly high,
The Ultimate Freggle, more commonly known as Reinier.
Lucky me I was able to go out for another adventure just a couple days after the previous one.. The forecast was looking good for kitefoiling, 14-17 knots sideshore forecast for a place recently becoming known as Foil Beach up north in Qatar!
