Eamon Armstrong Pro Kiteboarder

Held at Nyali Beach, Kenya by Prosurf Extreme Kenya…

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Epic Epic Epic!

Seriously amazing time was had out in Kenya. Super cool event, super cool people, and i’ll be back next year for sure!

I spent 2 weeks out there and had wind every day bar two. Spend the first week tryin to ride off the winder blues and get back to usual form. Few days on 11m and most of the time on 9m, could have done with a 7m a few days too especially for the freestyle event but managed with out. The prosurf centre ran by Fleur on the beach was a great place to chill in the morning until the wind kicked in. Ice cold Tusker beer for lunch break and then ride till dark. The conditions were challenging as it was quiet a choppy spot but it makes you work for it. I met up with the rest of the Ireland crew who had already spent 2 weeks out there. A big group of us headed out for pork chops the first night there, followed by many drinks in Just Drinks. We also hit the casino one night where i lost €20 on god dam roulette. I think i was the only one to lose it all too! So much for my beginners luck!

So much great times were had that only photos can really show! 2 highlights of the trip were a trip to a magical paradise miles of the coast of Kenya, and the comp after party! And i guess also having half my head shaved to raise a bit of extra cash for MEAK.

For the island paradise we got up at 6 in the morning and I grabbed a lift with Adam (or Bundy as he’s more commonly called!) and we drove about 2 hours south of Nyali beach followed by the rest of the crew Keenan, Dave, Dee, Emma, Steve, Jenny, Darren, and James. Once we arrived we bought our tickets for Access to the nature reserve, then piled all our gear into a Dhow (this big wooden boat) and set off for Casidi Island (Dont quote me name of it!) which is located in Wasidi Nature Reserve. On the way we were greeted by some dolphins and half the crew just went mad and gabbed snorkling masks and jumped into the water to swim with them. After checking out the dolphins we progressed on for about a half hour and soon arrived at the island. We moored the dhow off the island and swam all our gear in to the beach which was a sand bank that shows up at low tide. We set up while the wind was building and hit the water once it was strong enough. I spend the day lit on my 9m and had an epic session blazing about the place and buzzing the boat. After about 3 hours riding we packed up and set off motoring back to land. On the way back the crew decided to throw up the sail as the swell was making motoring hard, rocky and uncomfortable. The sail went up and had a few issues unwrapping and began flapping everywhere with ropes trying to take out eyes. The non sailors in the group were starting to get a bit uncomfortable and after a botched recovery attempt the sail got caught on the bow and tore so down it can and that was the end of that. We stopped off for seafood dinner on an island resturant which was included in the dhow trip. The lobster was great! Then it was home time and after a quick walk through the island village we hoped into the most unseaworthy boat i’ve ever been in and we were brought out to our dhow that was anchored offshore. Then once on dry land again we hit the road in the dark for an interesting drive home!

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The comp after party was held again on a Dhow though slightly modified with a bitchin’ sound system and bar! Before setting off we got a complimentary drink also called a Dhow. Double vodka with sugar and honey and limes in it that you crushed up with a stick. Tasty and dangerous! After 2 of these most people were on the way to party land! Having nly got on the boat at 7, we had 2 or 3 dhows and then looked at the blurred watch to find out it was only 8.15! Then most people decided to pace themselves, i.e. me!, and watered them down with a few tuskers and the odd dhow here and there for good measure! We toured around the Mombasa rivers late into the night! The great thing about a party boat is that no one can get off But after a while they did stop back and let some of the older crew off so the kiteboarders could reak havoc into the wee hours of the morning! The event prize giving was held on the boat as well as a raffle where we were forced to by tickets from the lovely Jess and Fleur! Carnage followed the prize giving with Justin climbing the boats rigging Jack Sparrow style and a few going for a bit of a swim of the back of the boat and finding upon returning that there were crocodiles and sharks and all sorts of stuff in the water! Needless to say they didnt go in again isnt that right Andy?! Everyone was wearing their kukoys (like a light towel or scarf worn to cover ones decency.) and most wearing shorts of some degree underneath them. A group of people who will remain nameless decided that I was cheating and that i shouldnt be wearing shorts, so will someone holding me down and two shameless ladies de-panting me i was left in my boxers and had to grab my kukoy and wear it supa tight. Dave then robbed my shorts and hung them up and proceeded to fill the pockets with beer so wearing them again was out of the question! cheers Dave man! So the partying continued for another crazy dhow fueled hours. Again at some point (this stage super blurry) my kukoy was gone and i was left rolling around the floor in my boxers again! Thankfully my shorts had dried out so i threw them on but sadly my kukoy was never to be seen again! Trying to seek revenge it turned out certain people had tied themselves securely into it and there was no hope of gettin it off (we also later found out she had to be almost cut out of it at bed time ahahahah). General craziness and the compulsarary breakdancing session was had then it was time to go back to the hotel for the nightclub (whos idea was that?!). We didnt remember how we got home the next day but andy was thankfull on hand with photographic evidence to refresh our minds! The crew then all started to turn up at the hotel and started to jump off the terrace area into the swimming pool with the security guards standing by shouting but not being able to stop 12 or so people continuously jumping! Finally we hit the nightclub with half the people being refushed for having bare feet or no top on. For the select few that made it in we had the dancefloor to ourselves but it was too quiet and everyone was fading! So after one more beer, it was bed time! Fleur and Johara i’ll get my sweet revenge! EPIC NIGHT!!!

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For the Event itself we had a Race, Kicker, Big Air, Best Trick (piss take event haha) and finally the Freestyle. The results are listed below. To raise a bit more cash for the charity I was sponsor to shave half my head. So I went around for teh duration of the competition making a lot of people smile! The result for the comp are below. Thanks to every who made the event happen and to all the great people I met there! You all know who you are! Also special tanks to the Irish kitesurfing community for donating to a worthy cause to help with heart and eye operations throughout Kenya.

Thanks to:

LSD Kiteboarding, Anne Reidy, Marion Reidy, Paul Rennick, Phil Kealy, Denis Thorton, Marie Martin, Sean, Louis, Medbh, and Eva Martin, David Martin, May Martin, The Gillard family, Kieran Sammon, Conor Heelan, Bartek Splawski, Vinny McDonnell, John Power, Dave Wyer, Rory Stoney, Paul Goldsmith, Tony Humphreys, Alex Bondareva, Kasia Yeates, Colin McCracken, and Dominika Kupciw.

In total we raised €500 from the Irish Community which was a hell of a lot!  In addition I raised €100 for shaving half my head which was a good price to pay for having look like an idiot for a few days! And next year we hope to get a few of you out there to help and join in the competition and the awesome craic that goes along with it!

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I also managed to score a few cheeky pictures in the Kenian Newspaper the Saturday Nation.

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Photos from the Comp and mayhem that went on are available HERE

More photos will be added over the next few weeks when people get around to uploading them!

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Results:

6th February	1st	2nd	3rd
Race Day
	Luke Whiteside	Riccardo Fortunato	Carl Coombes
	UK	Italy	Watergate Bay UK
7th February 2009	1st	2nd	3rd
Kicker Event
	Dave Ibbertson	Eamon Armstrong	Luke Whiteside
	Former UK BKSA No1	Irish No 1 2008	UK
Big Air	1st	2nd	3rd
	Dave Ibbertson (Ibby)	Eamon Armstrong	Lindsay Kennaway
	Former UK BKSA No 1	Irish No 1 2008	Kenya
8th February 2009
Free Style Event	1st	2nd	3rd
Amateurs	Tim West	Kevin Lochead	John Koyiet
	UK	UK	Kenya
Girls	Johara Sykes-Davis	Lindsay Kennaway	Cheryl Confue
	UK Turbulance Angels	UK	UK Turbulance Angels
	BKSA Womens No 1 2008
Pro’s	Dave Ibbertson (Ibby)	Luke Whiteside	Eamon Armstrong