I actually met these guys when I first started kiteboarding. They were the first real kite couple I’d seen at the time. They were a real inspiration to me to know that you could do what you love with the one you love.
Jessica for KSm: How did you meet?
Christian: We were both fortunate enough to be working on the same island off the coast of Venezuela during the millennium. Life was relatively simple, lots of fun, windsurfing, parties and enjoyable jobs. After meeting each other Karine took some convincing, a hefty amount of time and some very creative wooing on my behalf, even if I say so myself. The full tale is really quite amusing and romantic, but suffice to say we had our first kiss under a trimaran at one of the pearl islands on a devilishly well thought out trip, and a few years later got engaged when we returned there. Lesson here is, remember chaps, persistence pays!!
Jessica for KSm: Who is a better kitesurfer?
Christian: That’s an easy one, neither of us and both of us. Really depends on what we’re doing. As a gent I have the upper hand on passes, but Karine has good style, can reach the grabs and is the absolute Queen of blind whether hooked or unhooked. I suffer with long uncontrollable legs so need long shorts, whereas Karine probably looks better than me in a bikini. Add to this I have the most pained kite face, whereas Karine can pull off any move whilst still smiling into the camera
Jessica for KSm: In your opinion what things make you or them a better kiteboarder?
Christian: We both have our individual strengths and fortunately favour different sides, so on our clinics anything and everything can be demonstrated whatever the kit and whichever way. That said as a coach Karine can be more easily viewed as inspirational – male guests will believe that they can do it if she can, and female guests believe that it is possible if another lady can do it. As a guy people assume that you can do it because you’ve had a misspent life on the water, so unless you know how to communicate and develop skills in others you will not motivate them to the same degree.
So yes if it requires strength I’m at an advantage. If it should look good Karine wins hands down. That’s one set all then.
Jessica for KSm: Do you have a constant battle for the title?
Karine: Haha, no never, unless it’s ping pong! To be honest we’re both very motivated for the other person. As coaches it is within us anyway and as a couple you always (hopefully) want the best for your “amour”. We enjoy helping each other improve, we like working together as a team and this way it helps us evolve the way that we teach whilst benefiting our guests and our own kiting.
Jessica for KSm: What was the biggest challenge to being a world travelling professional couple?
Christian: To be fair we travel more as a business partnership rather than as kitesurfing pros, so we’re always together working with guests or shooting technique. Sharing the same responsibilities, deadlines and commitments makes things pretty straightforward – we have the same priorities and at the end of the day we earn our living together, which is one of the main reasons we choose what we do. For some couples 24/7 wouldn’t work, for us it’s our raison d’etre, we share the highs and the lows, enjoying great experiences together, and helping one another through the not so pleasant moments. As a working team injuries are the most challenging problem. Being self employed if you can’t work you can’t earn. But at least there is always the other one to yomp on through. A few years ago I suffered from a very bad back and last year in Brazil Karine destroyed her foot, but as a team we could still perform:)
Jessica for KSm: Who was sponsored first?
Karine: We got our first sponsorship together. A couple of years later we joined Cabrinha as a team and fortunately that’s still going strong.
Jessica for KSm: What year did you both start kiting in?
Karine: 2001 – can’t believe that it’s that long ago, when the 4 lines came out. We watched a friend, Chris Valentine, who was the pioneer in Margarita and Coche back then go through all the swimming and kitemares and then all of sudden on these new kites he was really jumping and made windsurf freestyle look slightly tame (to the untrained eye).
Jessica for KSm: What are your goals for the next 6 months?
Christian: Got a few months of clinics in the pipeline, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Brazil. Plus a bit of extra time for shooting magazine technique, along with our video Quick Tips for Cabrinha and NP. Have some distributor and dealer meetings to attend with Cabrinha for the 2015 launch and some coaching sessions at the National Watersports Festival in the UK during September.
Jessica for KSm: How has being a couple benefited you in the world of social media then being single?
Christian: We are very different people, male/female, anglo/franco and therefore have different ways of learning and communicating and this translates into our coaching. We’ll always say the same to guests, and that’s because we’ve been through the discussions to get the best out of ourselves and pass it on. A huge benefit is that we’ve always shot our own video and photos, so we’re self sufficient. We compliment each other, I admire Karine’s quick thinking and would quite literally be lost without her brilliant logistic and solution finding capabilities. We coach each other, that’s a bonus. We keep each other company and one of us is pleasing on the eye.
Jessica for KSm: What advise do you give to other potential kite couples out there.
Karine: Enjoy what you are doing, don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t set out to sell yourself as a couple. If you’ve got the chemistry, patience and discipline to work together it’ll be easy-ish:)
