Kite Boarding in Turkey; part 3, Bosporus

Instead of continuing at Burc Beach we went on a 'school' trip..

The organizers set up a venue along the Bosporus and invited us all to go and do some 'show' kiting there. It was a fun day. There's were snowboarders, freestyle jumps, course racing and even a guy balancing in water jets:

The snowboard ramp. The guys would accelerate down and then did their jumps after a smaller uphill ramp, landing in the water. They were picked up by a rubber-boat and started all over again.

 Traffic on the Bosporus, from small to huge tankers and container vessels. This is 'push' tugboat.

 

Our VIP-tent. Free drink and food with an elevated view on the Bosporus

The launching area was concrete/asfalt - not very good for kites - and very small. But the riders managed and with the help of others managed to launch and land their 18m2 kites.

 Brian Lake with his biggest kite weaving between passenger boats and other traffic on the Bosporus.

The passengers - and the crew - must have thought those kiters were mad. Coming so close to their boats. But there were no collisions or entanglements. All riders showed their amazing skills in maneuvering between boats and obstructions.

The water-jets are powered by a jet-ski and this guy balanced on four of them (two below his feet and two on his hands) several meters above the water. He could also jump like a dolphin out of the water. Amazing. If a kiter came too close he blasted them with a water spray.

Like I said, a fun day.
Today we're back at the beach hoping the wind will pick up a little more so we can back to our courses. Five races in, three more to go. Should be possible. For tomorrow Wind-guru predicts 20 knots.
J.