Just thought some of you guys (Sydney siders) may be interested on a quick update from my travels.

Egypt:

My stay in Egypt was great. I stayed in Safaga, which tends to be the windiest area in Egypt. The water is clear and super flat. The lagune in Abu Soma is big and has lots of space for people to launch. The wind normally starts very early in the morning and on a bad wind day drops to around 10-12 knots around 2pm. But on most days it blows all the way into the night.

A great alternative is to do a kitesafari on a special boat. It takes up to 10 kiters and sails to amazing places. From a kiting perspective, it's fantastic as most of the rides are big downwinders.

The water is 28-30 degrees, so no wet suits required...

Morocco:

The place to go is called Essaouira. It's windy from the morning to the evenings. The wind is generally over 25 knots and in some days even gets above 40 for a couple of hours. The water unfortunately is cold (20-22 degrees in the summer), which appears much cooler as the air tends to be quite hot. The most common kites used are 10m and under.

Further north of Essaouira there are quite a few places with amazing waves. They are big, and pushy. Great wave riding, but again, cold water.

Cape Verde:

I've arrived 2 days ago in Sal. The wind is great and the waves are superb. The water is warm. I've been out today on the 8m and 10m Switchblade 3. It were my first two days on the new Cabrinha. It's a bit too early to make a full assessment, but the kite feels great. It has a lot of similarities to the SB2, but with some major improvements. The manufacturing of the kites seems to be one of the main focusses of the new range. In addition the kites appear to turn a bit tighther and the feel is even more direct than before. I'll probably put a review in the review section a bit later in the week when I've had the chance to test the kite a bit more.

It's nice to see that Cabrinha has ventured in a bit more diverse designs in their kite range. Some of the colours are not quite cup of tea, but the kite just flies very nice.

I will attach some photos of my trips later (Egypt, Morocco, etc.).

M