My Beach: Estonia

What are your first recollections of the beach and kitesurfing?

Martin: I live about 10 minutes from the beach, but also have a river basically on my doorstep, so I started wakeboarding when I was six years old. I was on the water every day so it became a big part of my life. When I turned nine I started sailing in Optimist dinghies and very quickly got really good at it and won the Estonian title multiple times. In the end I won the world championships in the Zoom8 class. As for kiting, I would watch my Dad kiting sometimes and I always wanted to kite too, but I was too light to start with. When I finished third grade my Dad surprised me and took me to the beach to get a kite lesson and I immediately fell in love. I was also doing the sailing then and at one point I had to choose which one I liked the most. I really enjoy swimming too, so I have been around water basically my whole life.

Kaimar: I grew up in a small village and the closest beach was a two-and-a-half hour drive away. When I was 20 years old I moved to the Estonian capital Tallinn which is near the sea and this was the point when I started to kite more. The first time ever we saw a kite flying in the sky was in 2006 and my dad told me I had to try this sport. There were just a few kiters in Estonia back then and it was pretty difficult to get any gear and was very, very expensive. My dad saved money for a pretty long time to buy me the gear (it cost around 42,000 Estonian krone which was a seven-month salary at the time). I am really, really grateful to my dad who dragged me into this amazing sport, although he’s unfortunately not with us anymore. When we finally got all the gear we went straight to the beach and tried to fly the kite. After two hours of playing with the kite I was able to try body dragging in the water and also took the board with me. On the second attempt I stood up and started to cruise downwind (the wind direction was side-on). This was my first try with the kite and I was super stoked! I forgot about everything else and enjoyed the moment to the fullest… until my back leg started to feel tired and I found myself around three kilometers away from the shore! I started to think about how I should turn around and go back to the shore because of course I had no idea, it being my first time. I just slowed down and dropped myself into the water, but unfortunately I could not get back on the board. Luckily my dad had a motorboat with us and he was there after a 10-minute cruise to pick me up. Basically with that one tack I learned edging and understood how to fly the kite. 

Who else do you ride there with?

Martin: At my local spot there are many kiters, but I mostly go kiting with my friends Karl and Kaur. When it’s proper windy we go chase storms around Estonia.

Kaimar: When I started first kiting I would go with two friends from the village I grew up in. I am now the only one who is still riding from my village. Now that I live next to the sea I kite basically with any wind and the community here is big. We have a few surf clubs, one of the biggest being “No Work Surf Club”. If there are good conditions we meet up together at the same spots. I ride together with Martin only if there is a really good forecast at our favorite island Saaremaa and we then chase storms together. Tallinn where I live is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Martin’s place so we don’t meet up often, only if the wind is pumping!

Has the set up at the beach changed over the years?

Kaimar: No, only that the community is growing and spots are getting more crowded.

What would be your perfect day kiting in Estonia?

Martin: I’d say when it’s at least 35 knots with waves in Vääna-Jõesuu.

Kaimar: Yes I agree, strong wind in Vääna-Jõesuu with proper kickers, but this is pretty rare. It normally only happens once or twice a year.