Passion: kite surfing
Waking up the senses
Being thrown through the air at great speeds does not sound like most people’s idea of fun. But for two Nicosia men, kit surfing is an addiction
If you’ve ever travelled the coastal road from Larnaca to Zygi on a lazy summer’s afternoon, you may well have already seen seven’s latest interviewees because among those below those spiraling rainbow kites reeling on the sea’s horizon will be Rami Kawash and Christos Pouros, two dedicated thrill-seekers who thrive on the adrenalin rush of one of the fastest growing sports in the world: kite surfing.
Also known as kite boarding, this is a relatively new sport. Pioneered in the late 70s, the first experiments combined kites with snow skis, ice skates and occasionally canoes – not always with great success. In 1984, the Legaignoux brothers patented the first inflatable kite design and by the 90s, Bill and Carl Koeseler had developed the ‘kite ski’ system, which eventually evolved from a two ski design into the single board, similar to a surfboard, and kiting was born.
These days, standard kiting equipment consists of the board, harness, bar and lines, and kites, all of which vary in design, make and size, according to level of proficiency.
“When you begin, a kite with less surface area is easier; and lessons are essential,” says Christos, who was previously an instructor himself. But how did he start?
“We were out of university and out of work. Mike, a crazy friend of ours, had seen a kiting DVD, bought all the equipment and decided to use me as his guinea pig. We set up the kite at the wrong angle, there wasn’t enough wind and despite the fact that Mike had had a few lessons, we had no idea what we were doing. I was yanked two metres into the air and crashed headfirst into the waves. I was hooked!”
“Don’t try this alone,” Rami interjects. “Even an expert needs a ‘wingman’, someone to help launch your kite and keep an eye on you for safety.” Christos is more voluble about his passion: “Kiting is a lifestyle. You’re always watching the wind, even when you’re not at the beach. You kite for five hours at a time, cruising for a while, and then doing all sorts of tricks. Kiters are exhibitionists at heart. You’ll never see a kiter doing tricks out at sea – it’s always near the shore, where you can be seen,” he laughs.
But both clearly have a passion for kite surfing. “I started about two years ago. Christos taught me; he’d been kiting for about a year and a half before that,” says Rami. “Last year we went kiting at Capo Verde. It was amazing! You feel so free, so alive when you’re kiting. It wakes up your senses.”
Asked about the apr?s kite, the two share a furtive glance. There seems to be an unspoken agreement here, but Christos opens up a little. “At the end of the day, you’re exhausted but there’s no feeling like it. If we’re kiting in Pervolia we head to Kypros O Psaras – he does great fresh fish – and eat like pigs. Oh, and drink like crazy.”
“We meet a lot of new, er, people,” Rami elaborates, tactfully.
“Yeah, we try to be free spirits,” Christos agrees, enforcing my mental picture of him as a kiting Bodhi from Point Break. “We listen to rock, rembetika, house – one of the other kiters, Alex, is a mad DJ, so we have a lot of wild beach parties.”
And when they’re not by the sea?
“Everything is organised from here,” says Rami. “The shop is our base,” he continues, referring to Get Out, the shop for outdoor enthusiasts that the two co-own with rock climbing specialist Marios Hadjipetris. The constant through flow of gorgeous young men who look like they’ve come straight off a Hawaiian beach is testament to that. With just half an hour of daylight left the two are constantly fielding a stream of enthusiasts who are off to the sea. “It’s an addiction,” says Christos. Rami is checking out the Pervolia wind speed on their website, www.kitemed.com.
So it’s either the shop or one of the beaches, usually Pervolia, Paramali, Kourion or Ladies Mile. “Yeah, I went to Starbucks once,” says Rami, with a grimace. “But I got my coffee to go.”
These are men who clearly don’t sit down a lot. Christos, who represents the kiting side of things at Get Out, works, surprisingly, at the Ministry of Finance during the week. Rami, as well as being an expert kite surfer, is a qualified diving instructor who has travelled the world.
“It’s the kiting that’s growing the fastest though,” says Christos, while Rami points out various pieces of Takoon equipment, the world-renowned kiting brand that they import.
“We get strangers wandering in off the street and saying: ‘Dude, I wanna kite!’ They never look back – out there, you bond with each other,” says Christos, gazing into the distance. “You live for the adrenalin, the addiction, the freedom.”
Any regrets? “Never. Kiting is what keeps us alive.”
