Pro riders on a kite safari? Yes or no – but more importantly, why?

Several yachts host kitesurfing pro riders on board during a kite safari week, and I’ve found myself wondering about the reasons behind this. As usual, let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

WHY YES

Of course, if I bring Rita Arnaus on board, she’ll create amazing content for my Instagram and bring a great vibe. It would definitely generate a lot of buzz around my kite safari, and eventually would also increase trust in me and my brand – I’m already pretty trustworthy, but a little extra can’t hurt.

It’s always a great show to have a top level rider on the water. Just riding alongside someone like that pushes everyone to do their best.

Every year, we organize a kite camp with Youri Zoon for a small group of riders. For them, having Youri on board is essential for their progression. It’s truly a once in a lifetime experience.

WHY NO

Someone has to pay the pro rider (because I doubt any of them moves for less than €4000), so the kite safari will definitely end up being more expensive for you guys. But does it really make sense for me to ask my kiters to pay more just to have a professional rider on board, especially when most of the time they’re not even teaching?

Wouldn’t it be wiser for everyone to spend less and bring an experienced advanced instructor instead? Maybe someone with a less flashy name, but who costs less and actually focuses on helping riders improve?

The answer is Yes, it would be wiser. And that’s what I do. Apart from Youri Zoon and Jeremy Burlando (who comes with his own kiters from his kite school), we never have any pro riders on board. We have currently Kasia Jaworska and Alex Vinova as our advanced Rider for our Kite safari camps – This year, we’re aiming to always have at least one of them on board so our intermediate and advanced guests get proper, focused training.

We’ve also added a brand-new projector on board, and we’re committed to stepping up the quality of our training sessions. I know I may have disappointed some kiters in the past, but I’m making it a priority to do better going forward.