Mambo 2007_Entry

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THE 27th ANNUAL
MAMBO!
KITESURFING/WINDSURFING PARTYFEST!
2007
29 November-2 December
(HEAPS OF PHOTOS BELOW AND EVEN MORE IN THE GALLERIES)

"HURRY MATE,LAUNCH ME! LAUNCH ME!
GOTTA GO PRACTICE MY MOBES!"

Am I just getting old,
or are Mambo kiters getting younger every year?

MERIMBULA, NSW AUSTRALIA

Photos by Rob Smallwood, Lorenzo Costanza, Katja Lurchman,
Page content copyright Rob Smallwood 2007

Well, 2007 wasn't the windest Mambo ever, but at least there was enough wind to put a kite up now and again. And, most importantly, it seemed everybod had fun, as usual. The forecast in the week leading into Mambo was absolutely dreadful -- weather guys were calling for 0-5 knots for all four days. So, it just speaks to the great times we've all had in past years that anyone turned up at all. But despite the forecast, more than 250 of the Mambo faithful packed up the truck, the kites, the dog, the obliging S.O. and anything else that would fit and made the trek to Merimbula.

I didn't take an official tally but from just the group that came down with us, we had representation from New Zealand, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Denmark, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, France, USA, Canada, England, Norway, Sweden, (and probably a few others...) and even Australia!

Like every other year, Mambo is cool because it's just different from all the other comps: The rules are -- well, you don't know what the rules are. There are at least six beaches where the judging happens but there's no offical spot where the contest takes place; no one knows who the judges are; no one knows what judging criteria is; yet, somehow, on Sunday night winners are announced and no one ever knows why anyone won and no one disputes the results. Mambo is about fun. And, everyone's cool with that.

Well, the wind didn't exactly howl but there was enough of it to get out on the water and have some fun every day of the four days and as usual, John, Glen, Henry, Trish, and Danny did a spectacular job of getting it all ready, organising and running the show for everyone. On Saturday they even organised a pod of Humpback whales breaching less than 100m off the beach! The waves were tiny but guys and chicks were still out rippin em up anyway. As always, there were heaps of parties, the usual debauchery, loads of BBQs -- and there were winners.

To read the compete event report, CLICK HERE.

Again, many, many thanks to all the sponsors http://www.acr.net.au/~msc/sponsors.htm who contributed more than $30,000 in prizes to the event and of course to all the riders who turned up to show their stuff.

Have a great summer -- if ya want higher resoultion copies of any of the photos on the site just email me at: web@kitesurfing.com.au and I'll organise it for ya.

See ya next year in Merimbula!

Cheers,

Rob

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PHOTO GALLERIES WITH ALL THE IMAGES!

(click any photo below for a full size image)