Emilie's favorite kitesurfing spots

by Emilie Marx
(Part 3/6)

Some people changed my life, changed me, they were figures of wisdom and humility and for these reasons, very often people that weren't on the public scene.
Ego surely is one of the most useless things ever invented by man...
I've watched amazing riders thinking a hell of a lot of themselves because of what they did and having the most disgraceful attitude once out of the water. It made it very hard for me to look up to them.

I've always found my inspiration through my friends and the fellow kitesurfer whom I happened to randomly share a session with. There are plenty of good riders out there to make one want to push it to the next step. I've always had heroes right in front of me, never needed to look for some or to have one in particular...

Bottom line is, I've never felt like a better person because I was landing a kiteloop and I've never looked up to someone who did...
There's what people do, there's what people are... So everything is relative!

Going back to the topic - my hero?
Yeah, Shrek! ;)

Favourite kite/surfing spots for you?

The fun is always best shared: my favorite kitesurfing spot is the one I kite at with a great bunch of mates...
Sometimes the spot doesn't matter, the mindset does it all.
I've had unforgettable sessions in average conditions, but the fun I was sharing made it all.
Kitesurfing is a selfish sport; I have a tendency to be a loner and I've had some epic sessions on my own... Still, I much more enjoy a session with some friends, it's nice to push each other, fool around, just have fun.
The hero of 'into the wild' wrote 'happiness is worth nothing if not shared'.
I very much agree with that...

Now, I do have spots I adore.
Back in Oz, Palm Beach for Sydney, and Umina, Norah Head and Shoalheaven Head up and down the coast. I loved Port Douglas in NQLD, but less for the spot than for the stingers, crocs and tiger sharks which brought the notion of "extreme sports" to another level, lol.

Over here, my favorite is Le Gallion, next door to my home, and I really like Prickly Pear in Anguilla. The surrounding islands offer an endless diversity of riding sites, we're so lucky over here. Doing the crossing over to Tintamarre is still on my to-do list, and I'm secretly hoping to manage to kite one day at Wilderness...

How long have you been doing this?

I started kitesurfing in Egypt over four years ago. And that's all I've been doing ever since...And truly all I've been doing.
I worked on the beach for the first three years and then took jobs that allowed me to ride. I would wake up at 5am to get a session in before work if I had to! I've been riding every single chance I got...
According to the amount of hours I?ve spent on the water since I started, my level is perfectly pathetic... And the truth is, I don't care!

Where have you kited/surfed in the world?

Egypt, Philippines, Fiji, Seychelles, Oz, Key West, BVI, SXM... I've never kited in Europe...

Why kitesurfing?

I fell into kitesurfing like someone falls in love. It was a crush I never expected.
I got hooked on a kite one day, and that was it. It changed my whole life around.

I unluckily got hurt during the first days of my training, getting a knee injury that still bothers me today.
Long story short - 30 knots, a 6m2 gone insane, an instructor who didn't think it was necessary to indicate to me where the quick release was - I went down like a rocket (or a skimming stone?) straight towards a boat, in shallow water and eventually smashed my knee on the bottom.
The safety system miraculously opened on its own when I was two meters from the boat. That was my introduction to kitesurfing... :)
I nearly became one of the people who quit the sport after a big mental block.
Sara Perlerup (a fantastic person, instructor and rider!) then patiently got me back on track, and when I realized the potential of the sport and all the fun to be had, I decided to become instructor, so none of my students would ever have to go through what I did. I started teaching fully out of dedication and it?s been the most rewarding job I've ever done.

But three years down the track, lower back problems obliged me to choose between the instructor and the kitesurfer, and I didn't really think about it twice...
I had to give my body a break but couldn't divorce from the industry, so I then worked for the national importer of two big kitesurfing brands.

Giving up my outdoor lifestyle was hard on me, I missed being on the beach, I missed the water. I wanted to get back to the lifestyle I loved and find again the happy family I had first found in kiting, away from any political issues and the business aspects.

I've quit the industry nine months ago not being sure of what would be coming next (it was a painful call; the kitesurfing industry was my home).

Read about Emilie's kitesurfing adventures and see more photos