It looks like the dates for the 2014 Homer Kite Festival have been decided. June 6, 7 and 8 at Mariner’s Park at the base of the Homer Spit. Tom, from Alaska Kite Adventures, and Homer resident Kiter George said the tides work best for low tide during the day in Homer that weekend.
Official announcement from Alaska Kite Adventures.
A little more from Kiter George:
Hey kiters – here’s some info about Homer Kitefest 2014. June 6-7-8 at Mariner Park at the base of the spit. We’ve got low tides in the afternoon and so the spit will be open and safe for doing downwinders, it will also be a good weekend for riding Anchor Point for intermediate and advanced riders if the wind/wave combo ends up being good up there.
Alaska Kite Adventures and Kitesurf Alaska will be doing a series of clinics from beginner to advanced. If you have friends who have expressed interest in kiting we’ll start them with trainers, go on to safety, rigging, maintenance and gear buying guide. Hooked in 4-line kite flying and getting in the water are not something that we are offering beginners as part of the kitefest, but we are going to be doing one on one lessons when possible.
Our goal is to give beginners a good window into the sport and AK kite community for cheap and to get them thinking about safety and self-sufficiency. Paying for 6 hours of lessons only scratches the surface on becoming a well-rounded kiter so we want to make safety, weather, self-rescue and gear maintenance and buying a relaxed discussion.
For intermediate and advanced riders, we’ll have demos of Ozone, HQ, Ocean Rodeo and Crazyfly kites. The Crazyfly Cruze and the Ocean Rodeo Flite are two really hot light wind specific kites that are going to be available for demo, also we’ll have one of the first Crazyfly Tangos to get shipped to the US. We’ll also have a new Crazyfly Shox available for demo.
Bring or send any used kites, wetsuits and boards that you want to sell at the gear swap. Beginners should definitely bring the 2005 C-kites they bought on e-bay so that we can help you dispose of them safely and permanently and get you into safe gear.
We’ll be doing the ever valuable self rescue clinics which everyone should try to attend since every kiter will be self-rescuing at some point.
What else? There will be some music, some food, we’ll have a bonfire and give some stuff away. This year has had really good wind and we’ll be keeping an eye on it as we get closer and give an honest assessment about the riding.
– George
If you are in Southcentral Alaska and kite you should be there. Its a great time with fellow kiters of all skill levels. You should especially go if you are a beginner or are just curious about kiting. Folks usually bring their tents and/or RVs and camp in the park right on the beach. The first time I attended I was questioning whether I wanted to continue in the sport after having taken a couple of beginner lessons. I entered the festival’s raffle and won a very nice HyperFlex Amp wetsuit. After that I decided it was fated and went ahead and became serious about taking lessons. Who would have guessed … now I teach and have my own students.