Kuwait 2013

Al-Farsi Kite Festival - Kuwait 2013

The Al-Farsi Kite festival just keeps getting better.

Animals

During the pre-event, we went to the animal souk and to the aquarium:

This picture was taken in the aquarium, but sometimes we see these little guys scurrying around near the kite field after dark:

And Kathleen was always on the look out for the local street wildlife:

We were standing around, chatting with other flyers when this pigeon landed right next to us. Clearly tame and in excellent condition, we guess that it is a racing pigeon stopping for a rest.

Buggying

Andrew brought the latest lightweight Peter Lynn "Outlaw" buggy with a carbon fibre axel to the field and Chevron 2-line traction kite that he developed back around 1997. Depending upon the wind, we buggied with long lines or short lines, weaving in and out of the kites on the field. You can learn about the development of the Chevron on the contemporary web site. The light weight buggy with an "Italian" seat (it pinches your bum) inspires confidence when massively overpowered. I would much rather fly 2-line with a dead-man handle than 4-line with a harness, any day.

Hexacopter

This hexacopter turned up and shot a short video of the event.

The World's Largest Dhow

The world's largest wooden boat is not usually open to the public, as it it used for conferences, trade shows and weddings. However, Khaled negotiated access for us, whilst they were setting up an exhibition. The boat is built in the traditional manner and could be sailed but has no ballast and has never been put to sea. The workmanship is magnificent.

Flying folk

Dave and Greg Hoggan clearly come from the same mould. They wore crazy hats and have boundless energy

It is difficult to snap a picture of Jim Martin in anything other than a horizontal position.

Abdulrahman Al-Farsi

There was a display of Arabian dancing - two tows of men with swords, singing enthusiastically at each other. Little Rakan proudly joined in.

Paul and Natalie brought Spank the monkey.

From Finland, we had Simo, Marja, The Angry Birds and the real Santa Clause.

We had four VIPs on the field. Professionals that work for the family but who were also keen to pitch in and enjoy the full experience. A highlight of the event was when the wind died late on Friday afternoon and Kathleen brought the Ultralight Ray over and gave it to them to hand fly. The first image below shows Gloriana single handedly flying a Maxi Manta Ray.

When the wind died completely, Andrew landed the Manta in the middle of the carpeted dancing area:

Mubarak's children looked smart in their mini-uniforms:

Khaleed was proud to bring his children too:

All the way from Tasmania, we had Robert Brassington:

Jo, Ricky and Maggie from Australia ran the kite workshop and put on a display.

Gerrard Clement, the organiser of Berck-su-Mer came to represent France:

The Swiss contingent were three members of Burri family. Their illuminated star and moon kites were a hit in the night fly.

Group pictures

Craig and Simon from New Zealand brought some new stuff. The flower is native to Kuwait and designed and built by Abdulrahman Al-Farsi and Simon Chisnell. The Scorpion is a work in progress.