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Downwind in Dahab
18/05/2006 4:23PM
Fat Face teamed up with “Active Holiday Experts” Neilson in May as part of the Fat Face Academy for a weeks trip to the new club in Dahab, Egypt.
The aim of the week was to introduce guests and some lucky competition winners to different sports available at the Neilson Club using the instructors supported by Fat Face Team Riders and get them to a level where they could compete against each other by the end of the week.
The lucky Team Riders who went out for an arduous week in the sun were; John Hibbard (Windsurfing), Hugh Styles (Dinghy Sailing), Neal Gent (Kitesurfing) and James Heraty (Mountain Biking). They were straight into coaching on day 1 taking some absolute beginners through their paces in tough conditions of 30 knots of breeze!!
During the week ability levels soared as the coaching was open to everyone at the club (including staff and other guests) not just those in the Downwind in Dahab competition. It was great to get feedback from guests saying that they would never have tried all the sports had it not been for the competition and the positive yet light hearted way the Team Riders coached them through.
On competition day (Saturday) 4 teams of 4 lead by each of the Team Riders went head to head for the Downwind in Dahab title. As the name suggests all the legs were downwind (except the mountain biking which was upwind as well).
We started with kitesurfing where the competitors had to body drag down the lagoon having been given a “crash course by Neal Gent (this was supposed to be in the water!!).
The next leg was windsurfing across the bay – quite a feat for beginners (as James Heraty found out). It was all about team work so no tricks like this one from John on the way across.
Next up was supposed to be sailing but due to the strong wind we switched to mountain biking on an oval rough track in the heat of the desert so the riders had to go into the wind as well as get an easy ride with it. This was done as a relay with each team having to complete 6 laps but every team member taking part.
The last event of the day was the dinghy sailing. Again this took a relay format with 3 team members onboard at a time racing Dart 16’s downwind round a buoy and back to the beach. This was the event where Hugh Styles team was expected to dominate and they didn’t disappoint.
All in all it was a great week for the guests, competitors, staff and Team Riders and a massive thanks goes to Neilson manager Toby and his team at the club and of course to Neilson for hosting what we hope will be the first of many such Academy weeks.
