Women get chance to go fly a kite

August 12, 2006

Kites can be seen soaring over the grassy field by the Marina all the time, and on most days one does not have to worry about being dive-bombed by them.

However, when you put a few dozen kiteboarders in training on the field with training kites, all bets are off.

About two dozen women and the occasional male showed up to learn how to kiteboard at a free clinic run by experienced women kiteboarders.

Everyone appeared to have fun with the training kites, in spite of, or in some cases, because of the crashes.

Every few minutes a kite would come slashing down and thud into the ground. Or a kite would become tangled in its lines and flutter to earth, leaving the instructors and pupils to try and figure out how to untangle the lines.

Despite that frustrating process, spirits remained high. “It’s really cool that they are out here doing this,” Karen Ford said, in reference to the experienced kiteboarders donating their time to help out the beginners.

Ford, a windsurfer, was at the clinic to learn how to kiteboard, so that she could launch from the same beach as her kiteboarding husband.

Laura Maher, a professional kiteboarder and one of the event’s organizers, felt good about the turnout despite the late notice of the event. “The stoke is still here for women to teach women to kiteboard,” she said.