‘It’s paradise’: Kite World Tour finds welcoming home in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: If you had driven by some of Abu Dhabi’s more serene beaches in recent years, you would have spotted kite surfers above the Gulf’s blue waters. Kite Beach has long been a destination for the city’s watersports lovers.

And now, official endorsement has arrived. From Saturday, Oct. 25, until Sunday, Nov. 2, the Fahid Island Watersports Festival in Abu Dhabi hosts five disciplines in five official tour competitions.

Inaugurated on Thursday by Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan, president of the UAE’s Sailing and Rowing Federation, the GKA Kite World Tour event is set to showcase the Hydrofoil Big Air World Cup for the duration of the festival.

In addition, the GKA Freestyle World Cup Abu Dhabi season opener takes place from Oct. 25-Nov. 2; the GWA Wingfoil World Tour is center stage from Oct. 28-Nov. 2; the SFT Surf Foil World Tour will crown its champions during the SFT E-Foil competition over Oct. 25-26; and the SFT Wake Foil will take place from Nov. 1-2.

For some, these disciplines will be familiar, but for many whose interest in watersports is only just being piqued, Tom Hartmann, GKA Kite World Tour’s manager, is keen to explain the different skills, and conditions, required. In short, freestyle and wingfoil require wind, while other disciplines can be mechanically driven.

He said: “At the moment, on the Kite Tour, we are really focusing on running the ‘Formula One’ level of the sport. So, it’s focused towards the top athletes. You need to qualify to be able to compete in the World Cup on the Kite Tour. We’re also running youth world championships that are more open. We just did one in Tarifa (Spain), where we see there is a big demand and a lot of people getting into it.

“On the other