My journey with learning Kitesurfing in India
How it all began
I saw a post of the Redbull King of the Air 2018 and it had me hooked. For those of you who don't know what that is, the Redbull King of the Air is a kitesurfing competition where riders are judged based on the height of their jumps and variety of tricks and style. If you are someone who gets their blood pumping with some crazy adrenaline raising tricks go watch this year's competition after reading about my experience.
Let's get back to how my journey with Kitesurfing began. I started researching kitesurfing and found out that sri lanka has been really popular. That means the kitesurfing spots would be crowded with hundreds of kiters on the water. I normally seek places which offer some solace & personalised training. Some one on one time with the kitesurfing instructor and not having to worry about finding myself tangled in someone else's kite. I found a few articles that said there was a kitesurfing school in India pretty close to the peninsula that juts out towards Sri Lanka. This was a surprise because I never thought the sport had made it to our country. The west coast had a few kitesurfing centers that taught the sport but the wind forecast was only for a few weeks per year which meant I would not get enough time with the kite & possibly a lot of waiting. On the east coast I found a beautiful place on an island Rameshwaram which is really close to Sri Lanka, about 27 kms to be exact from Danushkodi. This would mean similar conditions & more time to practice.
Geography of Rameshwaram
The island of Rameshwaram is situated such that it receives 5 months of winds from the north east and 6 months of wind from the south west. Why? Because of the prevailing trade winds. Which is great for kitesurfers and windsurfers.
Quest Adventure Sports Academy
When I first heard about this place i didn't think much of it. I imagined a completely different picture. Once I saw some pictures of the place I realised it was much more than what I had imagined. Beautiful, sustainable and best of all peaceful. Reaching Quest Adventure Sports Academy is not a hassle and easy from major cities in india. The closest international airport is about 2 hours away in Madurai and the drive from the airport is very scenic. If you're taking a bus it stops right outside the village and there are auto rikshwas to help you get to their facility.
Seeing the academy for real changed everything for me. It was beautiful! Jehan Driver (who owns the place is also the kitesurfing instructor) has lived here for about 7 years. Jehan along with his wife Upasna have planted more than 6000 saplings from forest trees to mangoes, chiku & even tomatoes! This place is almost self sufficient. The people here are super friendly and helpful. Always joking about pulling each other's legs, respectfully.
The home stay is out of this world. I had booked myself a cottage. And what I got was a pretty little cottage with a hammock and wooden fencing. The inside was cozy and comfortable with the thatch providing perfect cooling. It had an open bathroom where you could see the stars while you were having a shower after your exhausting day of sport. I was a bit worried about there being no air conditioning (I am used to sleeping with air conditioning at night) but to my surprise the architecture of the cottage kept it really cool & the ceiling fan was very comfortable.
Things i really liked about the academy & home-stay Kathadi North
Built sustainably with local materials
Private fenced courtyard around each cottage
Big open spaces & plenty of trees
Interesting kitchen garden
Waste water to grey water system for the trees
No plastic bottles! They have filtered water pots & coolers in different places on the property
Solar powered water heater & electricity for common areas
Friendly staff from the village through their upskill training program
They have an ongoing artificial reef program
Every Sunday they teach village kids swimming & sports for free! In exchange for a beach cleanup
Every Monday they have a team of women who are employed to clean the beach
They have trained fishermen in their village to be lifeguards & lifesavers!
Well organised equipment room & an excellent library
Complimentary tea & coffee station in the academy to make your own cuppa
They get you involved in the sport your learning so the progression is much faster with all the hands on equipment experience
The Kitesurfing course
The kitesurfing lessons at Quest Adventure Sports Academy are very organised & personalised. I really enjoyed the pace & felt that it was perfectly matched for my skill level. I signed up for a Kitesurfing bootcamp which covers Level 1 & 2 for most, if I were to progress faster they would carry on teaching for the amount of hours I had paid for. You have to select the number of hours for your course - I spoke to the instructor on phone before booking my bootcamp & he helped customise it for me. From my memory the kitesurfing course had the following flow:
Introduction to the instructor, academy & facilities
Brief about the region & biodiversity
Orientation of the beach
Kitesurfing theory covering wind, weather, tide, currents, clouds & other important factors that I would need to know before planning a kitesurfing session. Theres an acronym called the S.E.A analysis. There is some terminology to learn to make it easier on the beach.
Introduction of the equipment & safety gear with a checklist to follow- I was asked to be independent right from the beginning this really helped me get used to it by routine
I was encouraged to choose & organise the gear provided at the beginning of my session everyday- this was great! Now I can make informed decisions & gain some confidence.
I had to setup up my kite on my own under the supervision of the instructor
The kite we used for training had really short lines, (I think 5 meters only) this reduced the power on the kite considerably giving me a lot of confidence & avoiding a lot of out of control situations
Brief on land training to understand the safety systems & build up skills on how to control- a lot of sheet in - sheet out - turn - turn & let go! I was advised to be patient as these are the stepping stones to safe kitesurfing, no objections on that.
The location was fantastic, the water was so blue & pretty flat with steady side shore wind. There was a shallow sand bar where we could stand up & practice with a deeper section where we did deep water training as well.
Body dragging & body dragging upwind. This is where I drank a lot of salt water till I was able to correct my body position. I found this part important as you learn how to move with the power of the kite without your board & learn how to come back to the beach. Something I did not think about in the beginning.
The waterstart or how to drink salt water - (I'm kidding) but I did end up drinking a lot of salt water through my nose, eyes & ears during this stage of the course. Once you get it right, there's no looking back!
One thing that you definitely learn at some point from kiteboarding is learn to let go. I can still hear Jehan speaking to me on the wireless helmet saying “let go". The natural tendency for a person being pulled by the kite is to resist by pulling back. But to be able to kite you must get rid of this habit. Different people learn at different paces and this is true for any sport. Doesn't mean you are bad. It just means that it takes your body more time to understand what is happening. I took a really long time to learn & develop my skills. But my instructor was really patient even though i kept making the same mistakes over and over again.
The instructor could always tell if I was improving, even if I couldn't see it. Finally he said “today is the day” and that was it. I turned the bar, let the kite dip a little and sheeted out, that was it! I was riding. I definitely didn't look as sexy as the guys did at “king of the air”. I was a sloppy rider but I was still riding. All that hard work, drinking salt water, all worth it. The simple rush that my body was feeling was splendid and I forgot about everything. Including my instructor. Oh man! I really did. How far away am i? Will I be able to make it back? All these questions began to race through my head. And I crashed. But i didn't care. In my head that was the coolest crash ever. I turned back to see how far I had come, and man! I was far. I composed myself. Brought the kite back up to 12. Pull the kite back and dip it to the other side, I felt my body leave the water but my board didn't move, I came off the board & drank some salt water again. Trying not to be disappointed I tried again, this time with all my focus. And it worked. I was riding back. I was screaming, my heart was racing, it felt like a racehorse. Once I got back I gave it a few more tries and nailed it everytime. No more salt water drinking! No looking back from here.
Way back home
This was my last day at Quest Academy & I wish I had a few more days to enjoy the riding but I will be back for sure. And my next challenge is to learn how to turn and be able to ride back without stopping. Points I can share for other aspiring kitesurfers in India
Be patient - it will happen - you will ride
It's all about skill development & not strength
Focus on the step not the outcome
Take lessons & sign up for a course it's important
Enjoy the progression! You will be learning new things that will stay with you for life.
About kitesurfing in India
I saw a post of the Redbull King of the Air 2018 and it had me hooked. For those of you who don't know what that is, the Redbull King of the Air is a kitesurfing competition where riders are judged based on the height of their jumps and variety of tricks and style.