05.03.2024

Game of Chicken in Hermanus: Ruben, Kevin and Lasse in Hermanus

Since 2005 Kevin and I have both spent the majority of our Dutch winters in Cape Town. Not only because it’s summer and the sun is shining but of course because of the incredible wind and waves.

More and more people seem to realise that Cape Town has got it all. I mean, it’s not for everyone as the water is quite cold and some people are just too scared of sharks. It also gets quite busy on the water during December and January so not ideal. The amount of close calls with people landing on each other has been increasing and this is definitely something that we have to be aware of.



A good tip when riding at busy spots is to always have great spatial awareness by looking before turning. Not only looking back to check if there’s someone behind you but also looking upwind and in the air before moving your kite up and turning around. Many times it happens that someone is in the air and if you don’t look properly and turn this can result in some serious scary situations. Not jumping when someone is downwind of you is the rule but there are moments when it can get tricky, so be mindful and give yourself and others some space.

This is not what this video is about but it came up and I thought it would be good to share. In this video I am picking up my cousin Kevin Langeree and we’re grabbing some of his latest Reedin gear to have a blast with.

Hermanus is a two hour drive from where we stay in Blouberg and just works better when the wind comes from the right. It has a big lagoon with flat water, some fun channels and of course an amazing ocean to play with. The Hypermodel kite on 24m lines, and a 135cm Space Agency were the toys handed to me for the session.

The channel was quite small and shallow so we only did a few jumps there before heading out to the ocean. Kevin and Lasse rode far out on the ocean last year and encountered some whales. So we decided to play a game of chicken, whoever turns around first is a chicken. In search of some sharks and whales we headed out. The wind wasn’t super stable and secure that day so it felt a bit tricky. Don’t try this at home! :-P

The next day the wind was good at Hermanus and I was up for some more fun on the Hypermodel. This time I rode the 9m and this kite feels very nice in this size. Some great floaty jumps, nice height, easy downloops and kiteloops. Although I didn’t land my kiteloop boardoff I had fun playing around and felt very comfortable on this kite. Hopefully next time I ride it in overpowered conditions to really get some biggies in.