When you enter the GIN Kiteboarding House in La Neuveville, you immediately feel welcome. Opened last year, the surf shop also serves as the company’s headquarters, warehouse, showroom, and event location. The wooden floor made of recycled Euro pallets testifies to the brand’s closeness to nature and sustainability. In addition to kites and boards, the company also offers various accessories such as bags, pillows, and wallets – all made from recycled kites. And if you want to test out your new equipment straight away after shopping, you have the opportunity do so at one of the country’s best kitesurfing spots – since this unique meeting place for both veteran kitesurfers and newbies is just a few metres away from the north coast of Lake Biel. “The perfect sport for clearing your mind. The speed, the variety, and the feeling of relaxation.” Jonas Hiller, Swiss goaltender of the EHC Biel, isn’t raving about ice hockey here.

The former first-choice goaltender of the Swiss national ice hockey team recharges his batteries while kitesurfing. And in the meantime, he has also made this hobby his profession. As the owner of the Swiss kitesurfing and snowkite brand GIN Kiteboarding, he is aiming to further promote the sport on both water and snow. GIN Kiteboarding stands for authenticity, quality, reliability, and innovation – values that are reflected by the shop, the team, and the product range in every detail. GIN Kiteboarding has released over 20 different tube and foil kites to date. One of its unique products is the Eco Board, which is manufactured 100 per cent in Switzerland and with a focus on sustainability. It is made of Bernese poplar and walnut wood and meticulously handcrafted from natural fibres.
A total of only 100 boards from this edition have been produced, each one a genuinely unique piece. And word gets around about Swiss quality: GIN Kiteboarding is already selling its kites and boards all over the world, for example in Madagascar. Fabienne Kaufmann, CEO of GIN Kiteboarding, was an avid paraglider when she discovered kitesurfing on Lake Neuchâtel in 2000. After climbing onto the board for the first time, she has never missed an opportunity to glide with her kite over the water or snow. Just three years later, she became world champion in snowkiting. In 2007, she founded GIN Kiteboarding and has since been the heart and soul of the company.

Kiteboarding spirit
“Behind our brand is a team of eleven people,” she explains. “We all share the same passion. And our customers feel this too. With us you get more than just kites and boards. We advise each customer individually and pass on our experience and enthusiasm for the sport.” Jonas Hiller joins in: “Particularly in Switzerland, the westerly wind and the Bise wind are ideal for kitesurfing, and there are fantastic places, Swiss lakes and mountains, that offer unique experiences. The nature, the water, the speed – the sport offers so much and is truly thrilling for both beginners and experienced kitesurfers.” This echoes the ice hockey pro’s own experience. “To provide balance in my profession as a goaltender, where I am always reacting, I was looking for a sport that allows me to act and be creative myself. I have always been interested in water sports. But with sailing or windsurfing, I missed that sense of playfulness. With kitesurfing I found the perfect combination of action and relaxation.” In 2012, the ice hockey pro purchased his first equipment at GIN Kiteboarding. He felt an instant connection to the brand values, got to know Fabienne, and from then on followed the development of the Swiss label. In 2015, he decided to invest in the company. Sensing the athlete’s enthusiasm when he talks about kitesurfing, you wonder whether he might even trade in his ice skates for the board. “No, I love ice hockey. But thank fully I don’t have to choose between the two.” Because that would be difficult. Here, Fabienne and Jonas are unanimous: “Whoever has once sped over the snow or the water with a kite is no longer capable of stopping and wants to keep doing it again and again.” ·

Innovation
Just recently GIN Kiteboarding launched a product innovation: the Marabou. It is the first single-surface kite on the market specifically designed for use on water. A kite that is light and small like no other while still generating extraordinary power and stability. With this hybrid construction combining single-surface and closed cell, GIN Kiteboarding has found the solution to a problem: Soft kites quickly fill up with water. Not the Marabou, though. In this way kite surfers can easily restart after contact with the water. It is transported in a handy bag and weighs just 1.7 kilograms with a surface of 12 square metres. ginkites.com