Under the supervision of the Egyptian Sailing and Water Ski Federation (ESWF) and Royal Dream Tours, in cooperation with the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA), Egypt won the right to host the African Continental Kite Course Racing Championship for the next three years. The championship will be held every year in Hurghada, Egypt, starting from this year, 2013, to 2015. It will take place from 24-29 March. Total prize money worth €20,000 euros will be on hand every year. According to the IKA points system, the event will be graded as a 100-point event for the IKA course racing world rankings which serves as a qualifier for the 2013 World Championships. ESWF board member Mahmoud Rafea told Al-Ahram Weekly, “Sailing changes so rapidly because technology has a big effect on it. Kiteboarding has a chance to be among the 2020 Olympic Games. It's cheaper than laser standard or windsurf boat. The board and kite cost only LE9,000 while the laser boat is LE50,000. “Kiteboarding is very popular in Egypt. It's much easier than windsurfing which needs a high level of concentration, physical fitness, patience, tactics, speed and planning. Many sailors train for it but don't belong to the ESWF.” This year, Egypt will host the African Continental Kite Course Racing Championship in 7Bft Kite House in Soma Bay, a coastal resort on the Red Sea in Egypt, 45km south of Hurghada International Airport. 7Bft Kite House is one of the best spots in the world for kite surfing. It offers fantastic flat water conditions and pristine sandy beaches, coupled with perfect side shore winds that range from 4 to 8 Bft (Beaufort international wind scale used in weather reporting) all year round. ESWF President Medhat Khalil said the championship, while newly born in Egypt, “is the second most important world kitesurfing race after the World Championships. And ESWF is planning to establish a new kiteboarders team.” The event includes course racing for men and women. Participating countries are Spain, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Denmark, Austria, South Africa and host Egypt. Until now 95 riders worldwide have confirmed their participation. Among them are the world's top kitesurfers, Americans Adam Koch and Brian Kender, Pedro Garcia of Spain and Italian Micro Casale. Chief Operating Officer of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America in the International Sailing Federation (ISF) John Atkin will run the race competitions and head the jury committee to arbitrate the championship. “There has been an ongoing training camp in kiteboarding in Ras Sudr for more than a month,” director of the technical committee in ESWF Ahmed Abbas said. Sixteen sailors joined. Egypt will participate with four riders: Omar Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed Magdi, Karim Shawqi and Hisham Samir. “Egypt has the best place and water surfaces to host championships like this in Sharm El-Sheikh, Soma Bay, Hurghada, and Zafarana,” added Abbas. Due to the importance of the championship, ESWF has agreed with Icarus Sailing Media, a sports management, marketing and media company focusing on top international sailing events to develop its own specialised technology and manage media production, post-production and distribution in-house. This way, the company can satisfy sailing fans, the general audience, the media and sponsors by tailoring its products and services.
