KLB Open 2011 report from Tempelhof Berlin

When we received word that the new German KLB (Kite Land Boading) association had plans to throw their KLB Open 2011 event at Berlin Tempelhof we didn’t waste any time to jump in and help out with sponsorship because even though windconditions usually suck at this place it still is a unique, not to mention historic location.  (did you know that we could not pitch the Peter Lynn tent because it is dangerous to put stakes in the ground because of the risk of unexploded WWII ordinance?) Bound to get a lot of spectators, (thinking back to the opening of the airfield as a recreational area last year, 200000(!) visitors in one weekend). Something that we’d wish for all events we go to but in reality hardly ever happens, at most events we’d be thrilled with just one percent of that.

Anyways, I packed the Peter Lynn van Friday early morning, had a cup of coffee, prepped some food for the drive and went on my way for a 700Km drive to KLB open Berlin. Normally 700 Km  isn’t real shocking but if you count the numerous roadworks and consequential trafficjams it quickly becomes a long and tedious journey, thank heavens for MP3 I did the drive in about 9 hrs and arrived in Berlin to find Peter Lynn teamrider Florian Giehl (who lives in Berlin and works for the local kiteshop ´Flying colors´) still at work preparing for the event. (Flying colors being one of the other big sponsors of the event) so without a guide to the city I decided to turn in early so I´d be energized for the days to come.

KLB Open on Saturday, two words; hot & busy!

Its October but it was 25 degrees easy, sun shining and almost no wind, so I had my biggest kites out, crazy stuff to be handing the 13m Peter Lynn Vapor to absolute beginners just to have them flying something and get a feel for the sport. As for the event, I’d have to give props to the organization, spaces for the different brands, sponsors and other participants were well organized and Peter Lynn had the best spot of them all, anyone who entered the main event area had to pass by us first, sweet!

As Berlin Tempelhof is a recreational area now, an airfield turned into a park, it is always busy with skate/longboarders, inline skaters (the runways are perfect for that), families and people looking to get away from the city for a bit and it meant that we had about (not exaggerating) 10000 people coming to see what we all were doing, a big part of the main runway being occupied by tents, banners,  kites, boards and boarders.

Obviously with this many people passing through there was no shortage of people wanting to try some Peter Lynn kites so me and Flo were busy almost the whole day with explaining the sport and how kites work. In the evening some of the riders, helpers and people from the organisation met at a local pub to enjoy the evening, some food and drinks.

KLB Open Sunday brings light winds

Sunday, again temperatures in the mid twenties, a bit more wind in the afternoon but not enough for the competition but thankfully just enough to do taster sessions with the people that came through. I chose the Peter Lynn Twister IIR 4.1 & 5.6 as my main teaching kites because even in light winds the Twister still generates some power and it always cool to see the reactions of the folks who have never flown a powerkite before, a mixture of disbelief and amazement, the disbelief coming from the power they feel, and the amazement coming from how easy it really is to get power out of a kite.

Jeroen Pigmans was flying the 24m Peter Lynn Charger just to show that the PL kites DO have low end performance and it was quite cool to see that huge kite flying at this place.

KLB Open monday… Hippyjumping!

Monday, this was probably the  craziest day as it was a German National holiday there were lots & lots of people looking for some relaxed entertainment, and the wind was finally blowing (10 knots on average I’d say). We had so many people wanting to get an introduction lesson or try one of our kites we were running all day to get as many people kiting as possible. Throughout the day we had two landboard races and Florian would have done very good but another rider crashed his kite through Flo’s lines. Still Flo managed to fight back to a second place.

Because there was not enough wind for the freestyle competition the decision was made to do a ‘hippyjump’ contest which was a pretty cool alternative, Joey made the highest jump and took home a set of brand new hubs for his landboard.

KLB Open Tuesday… finally some wind

On Tuesday there was wind in the forecast so Joey, Flo and me decided to close the weekend with a morning session, and being able to use the runway to build speed and power we could finally do what we came here to do, get some air!

All in all the event was a huge success and even though we couldn’t run most competitions we have made a lot of people aware of the sport.

Plus, Berlin is an awesome city, so if you ever get the chance to go there bring kites and fly at this awesome location.

Were you there? Let us know what you thought about the event below in the comments! Don’t forget to tag yourself on the Facebook KLB Gallery ;)

Cheers!