Kristiin Oja is an Estonian kitesurfer who just with her huge enthusiasm and a lot of energy has changed her life for one that many of us can only dream about. She’s been traveling for the past five years, working as a kiteboard instructor and training herself for better results.
I met her in Tarifa, where I came to make some progress in kitesurfing while there’s still wintertime in Riga. She’s here for some training between two PKRA competitions. She just came back from PKRA stop in Dakhla (Africa, Western Sahara) where Kristiin competed in really tough conditions together with the world‘s top riders and was pretty happy getting seventh place. There’s still a lot to do. Next at the end of April Kristiin is going to France for the next round. And then back home to Estonia where she is organising an IKO instructor course in June. So much to do in such a short summer before she leaves for another winter where it’s warmer than in the Baltics to train.
Kristiin’s a really nice and friendly girl who suggested that she should make us the best cheese cake. And while making it, I interviewed her just to let others know how a girl from a small town in South Estonia Otepää got this far and why.
How did you start with kitesurfing?
It all started with snowboarding at a very young age. I come from a small town in South Estonia called Otepää, so it was a kind of natural choice for me. Though I didn’t have a hobby at summer. I tried skateboarding, but it seemed too difficult. When I was 18, I moved to Tallinn and was choosing between wakeboarding and kiting. So I ended up kiting, thanks to my friends who were kiting at that time. I bought my first kite, but I never had a proper lesson, so the basics I learned pretty much on my own. It wasn’t easy, but in the end I managed to get really motivated to continue. The winter came and I had a pretty bad injury – before a snowboarding competition I broke my back, so I decided to stop snowboarding and continue kiting. I was not on the level, but I was working really hard to have the level of riding. And then a really good thing happened to me – I got my first sponsor. I wasn’t riding well at all at that time, but the „Best“ Estonia dealer believed in me and gave me a chance. In spring 2009 I passed my instructor course, and in September I quit my marketing manager position to become an instructor in Egypt. There I started to progress and followed some international competitions. I noticed that girls‘ level was not as high as I thought it would be, except the top 3 of course. So I got really motivated to make more progress, with the goal to enter some international competitions. My first goal was to win some local competition in Estonia and then go further. I’ve been very competitive all my life in everything I do.
Why are you now riding with „North Kiteboarding“?
There was a point where the „Best“ dealer changed in Estonia and then I had no sponsor. I worked at Aloha Surf (Estonian North Kiteboarding dealer) as an instructor, and they found a way to sponsor me with „North“ which I was very happy about. My weapon of choice for freestyle is Vegas. I have four sizes of new Vegas. To ride in freestyle competitions, you have to have the perfect size, so I get to carry around a lot of stuff.
Have you ever had such a crash that you’re not sure if you want to continue kiting?
I dislocated one finger and recently I crushed another, but I never got to that point to reconsider kiting.
You’ve been traveling a lot for the past five years. Which are your favourite places where you’d like to return?
The best place for freestyle is definitely Brazil – you have wind every day and flat water. But it’s not good to practice only in flat water, and that’s why I’m now in Tarifa – when you enter competitions you’re gonna have cold weather, choppy water and strong wind, so you have to be prepared for that. Tarifa has different conditions and it’s good to train here. I think it’s really important to find the balance between good riding conditions, where you can improve your technical level, and hard conditions where you can prepare yourself for comps.
I also enjoyed kiting in Sardinia and the Philippines. But in general I think I haven’t been to a lot of places yet to know. I definitely want to go to South Africa next year, and to Perth.
Before this year I didn’t have enough sponsors to make my own choice where to go to train, I had to find a balance between good riding conditions and where I could find a job as an instructor. And that’s thanks to my sponsors such as Aloha Surf, KSA, Plaat Detail, North Kiteboarding, ION, Lip, Borealis Healthcare
As a kite instructor you work with a lot of people. As we know people are different – one can learn faster, the other not so fast. Is it easy to teach everyone to kitesurf, or are there any exceptions?
I think everybody can learn this sport. I’ve taught people of all ages. My oldest student was around 70 years old. The thing is that you really need to give yourself time, and that doesn’t concern only old people. Some learn faster, some slower, but what you really need is patience while learning.
How long approximately does it take for one person to take the whole course?
Most of the courses are split into three days, each day three hours, nine hours in total, and then a person can go and kite by himself.
Has there been a situation that you needed to teach more than three days?
Sure, some don’t feel confident enough, but that’s totally ok.
You must have friends in many countries. Since the moment I met you, you seem like a really nice and friendly person. Are all the other pro kiteboarders as friendly as you?
To be honest there’s a pretty good vibe at competitions. It gets harder at the end of the season, they get more competitive in fighting for places on the podium. But most are friendly.
Tell me more about PKRA.
It’s getting harder and harder to get in. The level of girls is increasing every year. From this year it’s even more difficult to enter, because you have to be in the PKRA ranking. Only 12 girls for the main event, 18 girls for trials. For guys it’s 48 for trials, 24 to the main event. It’s a big difference between guys and girls, the guys are riding with more power, going big and you hardly ever see them crashing. But also the girls are doing more airpasses, even in hard conditions. I think PKRA is the best organised tour, the judging system is really good, and the atmosphere is nice.
What other competitions have you been to?
Last year I won Kite Tour Asia. I won most of the stops and also overall. Last year I also competed in wakeboarding, and I got second place in the 1st stop of Estonian Championships. This year I’m focusing only on PKRA, and if I have enough time I’ll probably go to Kite Tour Europe or whatever cool events are on the way. We’ll see.
Where do you see yourself in, let’s say, five years? Do you have a goal or vision?
Now I’m really focused on this year, I really want to be in the top five in PKRA. Probably next year there’s also gonna be PKRA as my main focus. I would like to be on the podium. But I don’t plan my life for more than one year at a time.
How do you keep yourself in shape?
I had a personal trainer, Marit Riis, who helped me get stronger during my injury. I‘m really thankful to her, ‘cause she taught me a lot and now I can do my own training plans. Normally I go to the gym 2-3 times per week, I do some crossfit training, jogging, interval training, and of course kiting. I think it’s important to keep your body in good shape, even if there‘s no wind. Also I like to do other sports like wakeboarding and surfing, not to lose the motivation for kiting. Every week, I take one day off to rest my body. With nutrition, I try to eat healthily, which is not always working. I take magnesium and fish oil daily for a faster recovery process, and keeps the bones and joints good.
There must be many girls who are good kitesurfers but haven’t been discovered. Do you have any motivating or inspiring words for them?
Belief is the most important thing to start with. If you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything you want. And I believe in myself. If I feel that there’s no more progress, I don’t stop believing in myself. I just do something else for a while, and then come back fresh and ready to continue. It’s important to be patient, not to lose your motivation, and the most important thing – never forget that it should be fun. That’s what we sometimes forget in competitions.
And yes – if I have enough time this summer, I’d like to organize a Freestyle Clinic around the Baltics to increase the level over there.
Follow Kristiin Oja Kiteboarding on Facebook, and be the first to know about Kristiin and her achievements, plans and her Freestyle Clinic in the Baltics.
Cheese cake was also made by Dace Kurpniece and eaten with help of Valdis Klavins
