Kiteboarding Soars at Bitter End Yacht Club: Popular watersports craze takes off at active, Caribbean resort in the BVI

June 28, 2004 -- Carib Kiteboarding, a Professional Air Sports Association kiteboarding center, is launching a comprehensive activity center at Bitter End where resort guests and day visitors can take kiteboarding lessons, tours and day packages for all skill levels – beginner through advanced riders. Bitter End guests can learn from the best, including two professional kiteboarders, Hamish MacDonald, Xrated Team Rider, and Justin Souter, Slingshot Kiteboarding Team Rider.

"By teaming with Carib Kiteboarding's certified instructors and learning center, Bitter End offers guests an amazing opportunity to try this exhilarating new sport," said Gordo Overing, watersports director for Bitter End. "And because of Bitter End's secluded location, steady trade winds, crystal clear water and year-round warm weather, it's one of the best environments in the world for kiteboarding."

Kiteboarding is gaining popularity among watersports enthusiasts because it's easy to pick up and go – strong winds, as with windsurfing, or large waves, as with regular surfing, are not required. John Kerry, Democratic presidential candidate, Richard Branson, president of Virgin Records, and Grammy-award winner Peter Gabriel are among the celebrities who've been spotted getting major airtime with their kites.

The basics of kiteboarding are simple. With a huge kite, similar to a parachute that ranges anywhere from five meters to 15 meters long and a board that resembles a thinner, shorter surfboard, kiteboarders glide across the surface of the water, and with only a few twists and turns, can launch themselves up to 30 or 40 feet in the air. Kiteboarders are attached to the kite by a waist harness, and their feet are buckled onto the board. Riders maneuver themselves by controlling a two-foot-long bar that controls the direction of the kite flying more than 90 feet above.

Carib Kiteboarding at Bitter End stocks a complete line of kiteboarding equipment and accessories for rent or sale. All lessons include use of gear and range from $150 for the basic class to $2,200 for an all-inclusive Learn-to-Kiteboard Adventure that includes a complete set of gear to take home. For more information on kiteboarding at Bitter End visit www.beyc.com.

Stretching along a mile of beach and expansive marina waterfront on the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands, Bitter End Yacht Club is the ultimate Caribbean base camp for the water sport enthusiast. Reachable only by sea, the North Sound – one of the largest, most protected noncommercial harbors in the Caribbean – is a must-visit destination for sailors, experts and novices alike. Bitter End's calm, clear waters and steady, yearlong trade winds distinguish it from other resorts in the BVI and worldwide. Originally made up of a shorefront pub and five rustic cottages, Bitter End was purchased by Chicago's Hokin family in 1973 and retains the spirit of a family retreat. Transformed by three generations of the Hokin family, Bitter End is a rollicking nautical village. The resort includes more than 77 beachfront guest rooms, the world's largest complimentary fleet of more than 100 watercraft, 70 moorings and 20 slips, an onsite sailing school, regularly scheduled snorkeling excursions, two restaurants, an onsite bakery, Emporium, shops, freshwater pool and several private beaches.

Bitter End Yacht Club is consistently recognized by leading travel publications as a top Caribbean vacation destination. Recent accolades include Travel & Leisure's 2004 "Top 500 Great Hotels in the World," Outside magazine's 2004 "Caribbean A-list," and Departures' 2003 Reader Survey "Top Ten Atlantic/Caribbean Resorts." For more information or to make reservations, call toll-free at 800-872-2392, direct at (305) 468-0168 or e-mail at binfo@beyc.com. Cruise the Web site at www.beyc.com.





This article courtesy of http://yachtsandcruiselines.com/.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Submit Your Article