Head for Playa Famara on the island’s rugged North West coast from July 9th to 14th to take in the Lanzarote leg of the Spanish Kite surf Championship. As some of the best riders from around the country compete for the top prizes in spectacular style.

All of the action will be taking place on the main beach in Famara – which is already a popular hot spot with local exponents of this fast growing sport. And this year’s event features various different classes for competitors in the two main disciplines of Freestyle and Waves. With males entered in Senior, Junior and Infantil classes whilst the women will be competing in the Senior class only.

Kitesurfing first started to really take off in the late 1990’s when the Legaignoux brothers from France created their ground breaking Wipika site design, which made use of preformed inflatable tubes to allow riders to re-launch themselves in the water. They had been developing various kite designs since the 1970’s but this creation spawned a new generation which in turn helped to give birth to the first modern kite surf contest in Hawaii in 1998. And within a decade there were an estimated 250,000 people actively kitesurfing around the world.

As a result the sport has since developed a framework of national and international competitions and Lanzarote will be the focal point for Spanish riders from Tuesday 10th to Saturday the 14th of July. The contest gets underway on the 10th at 09.30 as the Junior and Infantil male classes take to the waves, with action taking place throughout the day until 17.30 (with a two hour break for lunch from 13.00 to 15.00). The Senior male riders then make their first appearance on the 11th and the event culminates on the 14th with the trophy presentation at 18.30.