A second Windsurf Beauties camp for ladies who want to improve their windsurf skills took place in Dahab, Egypt at “Five Square center” in March. 23 brave girls were again coached by Olya Raskina and Sveta Martynova, filmed by Svetoslav Bolgarchuk and taken photos of by Olga Novikova. For those who think that sailing in Dahab is too easy, I have to say it can be different. The day when the girls arrived, we had 2m waves breaking right on the beach with 30 knots onshore wind. Me and Sveta went sailing while the girls were watching on the beach. The camp had to start the next morning. It was such a beautiful day with this unexpected strong onshore wind and fun wave sailing, that our girls got very inspired. One of them, Elena, took a 120-liter JP X-cite Ride with a 4,2m Fly and went straight into the 2-meter shore break. On the way she got stopped by the center manager, who was, probably, afraid for the equipment. Anyway, the next day the wind changed to normal north direction, it got flat and, with such strong desire to learn, the girls spent all day on the water learning first tacks, first water starts and first planning.
This camp we focused on windsurfing as much as on the off-the-water program that was healthy and fun. Many people take warming-up and stretching after sailing for granted, but it is an important issue in learning fast and feeling full of power every day. Before sailing we had different warming up sessions on the beach, in the pool and a special hip hop stretching from one of our girls. After sailing we had yoga lessons from one of the best yoga teachers in Russia. In the evening girls were watching their sailing on big screen and listened to our comments and corrections. Audi-visual effect is also a necessary part of our camp. And, of course, we had sick parties! One of the best was an 80s style Retro party when everyone came in funky dresses and danced all night to good old songs. During these 2 weeks we also had a few birthday parties, including my own, so full power sailing and full power partying were happily combined together. We also went to a few exciting trips to see life in Dahab and enjoy the beautiful mountains of South Sinai. We rode camels in Wadi Gunai, went mountain hiking and enjoyed a simple beduin dinner. To see the sunset, we went on top of one of the closest mountains and enjoyed the magnificent panorama of Dahab. Before the wind started we went snorkeling at a dive spot called Islands where you can find a fantastic coral reef.
Few days there wasn’t much wind, so we focused on light-wind freestyle. There are always so many great old school moves to learn. Girls of all-levels of sailing were the whole day on the water doing reverse duck jibes, sail body 360s, cf heli tacks, push tacks and many other funky moves. They loved it so much that at the end of the week we did a light-wind freestyle competition for them and it was almost impossible to choose the winner. They were all very good making one move after the other. Happily we had many different prices from JP-Australia, NeilPryde, NPX and Five Square windsurf center.
A special present for every girl was a photo session with a professional photographer Olga Novikova. Apart from taking action photos, she found a unique style for every girl in the camp. At the end, they all took home a CD with high rez photos and video of the camp. You can have a look at our videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPsuAxguqII and here:http://vimeo.com/10528302. And visit our website to check the photos here:www.windsurfbeauties.com.
The next camp will take place in Dahab from 6 until 20 of June powered by JP-Australia and NeilPryde. As always, the age and windsurf skills are not important as soon as you really want to learn how to windsurf. We teach in English and in Russian. For further information write to Olya: windsurf.beauties@gmail.com.
