Gday

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ray Bethell is coming to Australia on the 12th March, he will stay in Sydney for 10 days before travelling to Adelaide to perform at the Adelaide International Kite Festival from the 23rd to the 25th March.

While Ray is in Sydney he will be flying his 3 kites at once at various spots, including Coogee, Maroubra, Wanda and Dolls Point. If anyone, even from another business wants Ray to visit their area let me know. I will be available to drive Ray to different spots so he can fly and entertain people.

If you don't know who Ray is and why he is famous read about him on his website,
www.raybethell.com/

Or watch a flim clip of him in action.
This one is my favourite, it shows a bit more about Ray, than just his flying, amazing guy!
www.vfs.com/gallery.php?id=3&...project_id=675

This one gets 160,000 downloads a month, and is still growing in popularity!!!
kitelife.com/2012/03/07/ray-bethell/

The important thing to remember is that Ray is deaf, so how he flies so well to music is a complete mystery, he is also in his early 80's, but his exact age is a secret between him and the maker, as he puts it.

He always signs his emails with "When you listen to the Wind, remember me"
__________________
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve McCormack

quote:

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Originally posted by Kitepower Australia
Or watch a flim clip of him in action.
This one is my favourite, it shows a bit more about Ray, than just his flying, amazing guy!
http://www.vfs.com/gallery.php?id=3&...project_id=675

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That link again:
www.vfs.com/gallery.php?id=3&category_id=25&project_id=675

That was awsome. As already mentioned, it is a shame he is not doing a larger circuit of Australia.

It's just as well for Ray that he IS bloody deaf!! I had to share a room with him in NZ a few years back and S**T can he snore!!!

He's a funny bugger too. In Malaysia, we were all lined up in the outdoor heat of the official Kite Festival Opening and listening to a mumbling ranting speech in Malay from the Sultan of Johore. Meanwhile, just behind us, Ray was muttering....... "and I'd like to thank my best friend Ray for coming all the way from Canada......he's the best bloke I've ever met........" The rest of us had our hands over our faces trying not to burst out laughing!

The man is a legend. At international kite festivals ALL the other kitefliers stop to watch him. He was over 60 when he started flying multiple stunt kites.

He is one of few men alive worthy of a kiting event in his honour

new respect! awesome stuff (beyond good)

I think the best spot for stunt kite flying on the beaches would have to be the dog exercise area at longy, it would work in any seabreeze.

Its shown on the picture below, its the area just under the . before the com.au.



Or even walk out to the end of the reef, that would make for realy cool footage if you had a boat filming.

Hope I have that much co-ordination at 80 years of age. Fkn awesome

Canberra!!

Just watched the vids again - beautiful flying and quite inspiring. Thanks for putting it up.

quote:

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Originally posted by Kitepower Australia

Ok, spent the day showing Ray around. The Southern Courier newspaper called and wants to interview him at Coogee Beach tomorrow at 3pm, so thats the first place Ray will be flying in Sydney, officially.

We might go over to Dolls later tonight to tune up his kites, he is very precise about tuning them, and he wants to check them before tomorrow, because he last flew them in quite strong winds in Guam several days ago.

Wind tomorrow will be a light SE, perfect for Coogee and what Ray does.

Afterwards we will head up to the Beach Palace for a beer and probably hang around for a meal the the Fed restaurant there.
Everyone is wellcome!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

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Thanks Steve. The vids are great but I always wanted to see Ray's kite flying live. See you there.

Any idea of if/when Ray might be flying his kites at Longy?

Got to see Ray down at Coogee this arvo and he is awesome to watch. Well worth a trip to see him in action if you can. Quite a character too!

Ensure you see this bloke ' live ' in action if you can. Saw him at Coogee yesterday and could not believe how spectacular it is to see him flying those kites. How he keeps them in formation then sends them in all directions without crashing is amazing. The middle kite is connected to his waist, yet he makes it fly as if he has a third arm. Its bloody incredible.

If you think you've seen kitelooping before, then go and see Ray in action. He puts the kite into wild spins just centimetres from the ground then shoots it vertical to lock in place with the other two kites as if the things are connected by magnets. Its truely hypnotic. I watched him for over four hours and couldn't get enough. The bloke is a legend.
cheers
col

G'day

Due to lack of suitable winds today, Ray will not be flying. I intend to do a bit of sightseeing with him and his partner.
I will post a schedule of where he will be flying over the next few days later tonight or early tomorrow morning.
The Southern Courier Newspaper interview yesterday went well at Coogee. We plan to have Ray fly again at Coogee next Wednesday.
After Weds Ray will fly to Adelaide and then the following Tuesday he returns home to Canada.

I'm taking video footage of his flying exploits while he is here in Oz and intend to make a short DVD that he can use to raise some funds for himself. Will post details of when that is ready. Anyone experienced with video editing who would like to help me out please contact me.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve
__________________
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve McCormack
www.kitepower.com.au/

PS - Not saying Perth is impossible, we just need to see if he is willing and if his tickets back to Canada can be changed. Would need to raise a few$$ to get him and his partner to Perth and back to Sydney??

We did have a fly at Dolls Point last night, Ray wanted to do some more fine tuning of his kites and we intend to fly there again today, as soon as the wind picks up again.

Tomorrow we will most likely go to Wanda.

Next Wednesday is a definite for Coogee Beach.

Will try to confirm some more places we can go to. Ray and Dolores are not big fans of sitting in the van for hours to get to a place.

Good news for those in Perth WA, who have been asking about Ray. The Red Bull Air Show Pylon Racing spectacular, organisers, have invited Ray to Perth this year.

I would really like to speak to one of the logistics people about Rays special needs though. If I cannot make them understand that Ray has basically one simple request (regarding his air travel to and from Perth/Australia), then Ray will not come.
Ray wants to have control over his travel arrangements, he wants to say when he leaves or arrives in Perth, basically because he wants to have a look around, and fly in different locations, especially where people can see him for free.

Let me know if anyone has contacts with Red Bull?

Ray would much prefer to stay with other kiters, in their homes, so send me your details if you are interested.
He is very agile still, (beleive me he has a grip of steel!!) but it is good if someone can just be on standby when he is flying, in case he trips and falls or something, help him pack up etc.





Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve McCormack
www.kitepower.com.au/