2025 is (almost) over – Reflections on this year
While the yacht is at sea for the New Year’s Kite Safari, I’m home reflecting on this year. I have to admit that I’m a bit bored of being home, and while I would love to be out at sea, at the same time I need to be home cause my dog doesn’t like New Year’s Eve. At all. So, five minutes to think about this year: what we accomplished, what we didn’t, what went well, and what didn’t. Those kinds of things.
WHAT WE DID
We ran a lot of kite cruises. Flights have been super cheap to Egypt, the wind conditions have been great for the last three years, and word is spreading – kite safaris have never been so popular. And we did a lot of them. I’d say we did a good job: of course, we aim for perfection and not every kite safari was absolutely perfect, but they were fun and blessed with plenty of wind.
We also trained a ridiculous number of kiters. We were busy.
WHAT WE DIDN’T
As last year, we didn’t train intermediates as much as we wanted. Some weeks were great, with video analysis and small-group coaching. Other weeks we were so overwhelmed with beginners that we had little time to take care of everyone. Of course, beginners are not independent in the water yet, so for them to have fun, they need us. Intermediates can enjoy themselves on their own. I wish we had taken better care of them.
What else?
WHAT WENT WELL
Pretty much every kiter that joined us had a good time, that’s why many kiters are coming back to us. Great energy on board, lots of smiles, and lots of kiting. The wind helped – when it’s windy, everything usually goes smoothly. And the yacht helped too: we had good yachts this year, so even on the occasional no-wind days, everyone still enjoyed it.
No more complaints about our kite gear, which means I finally chose the right amount of kites this year. I need to admit it was a bit expensive, but now I’ve around 100 kites, 30 bars and 30 boards – that I feel is enough (for now).
The Sick Dog Kiting team was great too – without them, I would be in real trouble. And a quick mention to our chef on Heaven Liberty, our personal hero.
Personally, I had a very good time on board. I don’t go on all kite safaris, but on the ones I joined I made great connections, and I think I did a good job. It also helps that I’ve been running kite safaris for 10 (!) years, so I know what I’m doing, most of the times. 10 years. Crazy.
WHAT WENT WRONG
If I really need to point out something I messed up, I was a bit disorganized before some kite safaris, and I made a few mistakes right before trips that complicated things for the team and for the kiters. A few times our departure from the marina was delayed. A few other times the yacht was not perfectly ready when everyone was on board.
If you have been on one of my kite safari and you feel that something went wrong, I would appreciate if you can contact me and let me know. If I know, I can fix it.
GOALS FOR 2026
My only personal goal for next year is to try to do better than 2025. That’s it I feel.
