EP 14 | Sarah Sadek - big air kitesurfing, sustainability & competition

Sarah Sadek is the first and only female Egyptian professional kitesurfer (for now), a Harlem Kite team rider, GKA Big Air competitor, and the woman who went kitesurfing on the morning of her own wedding — in Dahab, where she lives and trains year-round. Half Egyptian, half German, she competes under the Egyptian flag by choice, and that choice says something important about who she is.

This episode covers a lot of ground. It opens with sustainability — Sarah had just come from a beach cleanup when the recording started — and digs into why kitesurfing has a much worse relationship with sustainability than surfing, what brands like Harlem are doing right, and why chasing the wind means an industry full of flights, plastic packaging and kites replaced before they're worn out.

From there they go into the Egyptian kite scene — the Cairo weekenders who go to Ras Sudr, the Bedouin kiters of Dahab and why there are no Bedouin women among them, and Sarah's half-serious dream of starting a women's only kite camp for the girls on the beach who think she's slightly mad for being in the sun all day.

Warm, funny, thoughtful and full of unexpected turns. 🌊

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction01:10 Welcome Sarah — straight from a beach cleanup in Dahab02:34 Sustainability in Egypt — education, trash and the Sustainable Network Egypt05:31 Sustainability and kitesurfing — flying, plastic packaging and gear cycles08:06 What Harlem is doing right and what the industry still needs to change12:08 Making kitesurfing a more global sport — the GKA tour's Eurocentrism15:05 Sustainability hacks that depend on where you live20:17 Could sustainability become part of Sarah's career?21:44 The Egyptian kite scene — Cairo, Ras Sudr and where the locals actually go26:27 The Bedouin kiters of Dahab — and why there are no Bedouin women28:00 A dream: a women's only kite camp for Bedouin girls37:41 Could Leilani's Rise with the Wind model work in Egypt?40:01 The wedding — sneaking out at 6am, forgetting the pump, arriving late46:49 Why going kiting was important before the wedding49:48 The honeymoon kite tour — Greece, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia53:41 What Sarah loves about Estonia (and why Egypt has 120 million people)56:42 Dual identity — German punctuality at an Egyptian wedding59:03 Why she always competes under the Egyptian flag1:00:30 The case for diversifying kitesurfing beyond Europe1:05:24 Algorithms, sponsorship and the visibility gap for non-European riders1:08:05 Wings of Sinai — the first women's division, and competing against the guys1:11:24 What changes mentally when you compete against men vs women1:15:41 Closing thoughts and what competition Sarah is most looking forward to