This summer, Mad Max Tullet joined the Duotone crew for the Young Blood camp in the warm turquoise waters of El Gouna, Egypt. Learn more about how the Duotone team is supporting the future pro riders of kiteboarding with this exciting program. In this exclusive feature, Max tells us all about a trip he won't be forgetting anytime soon!

This summer, Duotone Kiteboarding revived the Young Blood program, a fresh take on a project that first began in 2006. The first-ever Young Blood camp hosted riders like Reno Romeu, Tom Court and Airton Cozzolino and helped launch their professional careers into what they are today! 

Eleven riders were invited to attend the modern-day edition of Young Blood, including Andrea Principi, Beto Gomez, Edgar Ulrich, Camille Losserand, Davi Ribiero, Lorenzo Casati, Guilherme Costa, Keanu Mertens, Adrian Emmerz, Nathalie Lambrecht, and myself: Max Tullett. Along with the Young Bloods, there was a massive crew of photographers, videographers, and fitness and yoga trainers, as well as Team Manager Craig Cunningham and Philipp Becker and Lukas Sallomon from the Marketing & Communications team. We also had two pro riders along for the adventure, Aaron Hadlow and Young Blood alumni, Reno Romeu. 

Everyone headed to the camp location of Makani Beach Club in El Gouna, Egypt, an ideal location with excellent kitesurfing conditions and great chilling, learning, fitness, food and drink facilities. Despite the global travel chaos, everyone arrived safely. However, team manager Craig did have to rescue Davi and Guilherme, Duotone's freestyle Young Bloods, from customs at Lisbon airport -and Aaron lost his bags!

I travelled with my dad, and we arrived in Egypt a couple of days before the camp started, so we checked into the Three Corners Rihana Resort, where all the riders and crew would be staying. Unfortunately, it was late, and after two days of travelling with a stopover in Germany and a quick tour of Cologne, we only had enough energy left to go straight to our room to get some rest.

We woke up with a full day to ourselves before the camp started, had breakfast and jumped straight on the daily scheduled transport to Makani Beach Club with all our gear. We received a warm welcome from the staff at reception, who gave us a tour of their extensive facilities. Once we'd seen the club, we unpacked our kit and headed to the water, where I kitesurfed all day. Thirty-five degrees and turquoise water! I had never been anywhere like it! Finally, we returned to the hotel for a swim, dinner, and an early night before the camp kicked off.

Day one of the Young Blood camp didn't officially start until the afternoon, as some riders hadn't arrived yet. However, the riders and crew there took the opportunity to hit the water for a pre-camp session. We had three sessions that day, one for shooting video with Charles Parker, one for video and photo with Toby Bromwich and Julien Leleu, and the last with professional coach Fabio Ingrosso. 

First, the camera crew briefed us on the different types of cameras and lenses they were using before we went out; I had never shot with professionals before, and it was a great learning experience. Next, we stopped for lunch in the lounge area at Makani, which the club had reserved for our crew; it was the perfect place to relax, catch up, debrief, and sneak a bit of sleep for those who had been travelling. Although falling asleep there was risky, as you were likely to get pranked! 

After lunch on day one, we debriefed with the crew and looked through the photos and videos captured so far to help us understand more about the camera equipment and where to position ourselves on the water. Fabio had also filmed on the water to help explain different concepts during and after his coaching sessions. Then, we took a quick break in the lounge before returning to the water until sunset, repeating a similar format as the morning, but with much more knowledge!

Day two was the last of the good wind for a few days, so we had a busy schedule. It was a 7 am start for Yoga with Lucia, which was a first for many of us. It was hard to believe we were promising athletes, but many of us still struggled with the basics! Yoga was on the schedule every morning, so we had plenty of opportunities to improve. Breakfast was at 8 am, and we all had to be ready at 9 am for transport to Makani. 

Once we arrived at the kite spot, we hit the water with approximately 20 knots of breeze and headed to Bayout Sandbank, a turquoise water paradise about 2km out to sea. The session was super fun, and I enjoyed jumping over the boat with the camera crew! Kitesurfing across the deep blue water was a crazy experience for me, as, before this trip, I had a few concerns about sharks. Luckily, the water started to get shallower as we approached the sandbank, where we saw dolphins! We all had a great session and performed tricks for the cameras. The spot was incredible; I was one of the last to leave the sandbank and had a super kite back with Aaron! 

The next few days had lighter winds in the forecast, which wasn't a problem as we were there not just to be on the water but to learn what it takes to become professional kiteboarders. We had a nice air-conditioned conference room at the hotel where we went to a social media workshop and attended classes on the brand and the new products for 2023. We also had fitness training with Kuki, which I really enjoyed, especially training with Lorenzo and Andrea!

Some of the older Young Bloods did presentations on themselves and their projects, and we were stoked to receive gifts from brands that sponsored the camp, such as SunGod sunglasses, GoPro and Himaya Skincare. We travelled to Makani for lunch every day and spent the afternoons there listening to advice from Aaron and Reno. We still managed to get on the water on these lighter days using larger kites and the D/LAB gear, and I was excited to have the chance to fly a Porsche logo kite and board for some photos!

The last day will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. We travelled by coach to Hurghada Marina and boarded an 88ft/27m motor boat. Along with all our kite gear, we motored out into the middle of the Red Sea to the most insane location, a reef surrounded by shallow water and a white sandy bottom. As soon as the crew dropped the anchors, most of us jumped off the top of the 3-storey yacht into the sea! 

This day wasn't super windy, but I had plenty of power on a 13m kite and twin tip. A few of our group joined Toby and Julien on a small boat to take some pictures whilst the rest kited off the back of the yacht. After shooting, we kited back to the boat, where I saw Lorenzo using his kite to jump off the top of the boat. I had to try it too, and it was so much fun, I definitely had to do it more than once! 

After the session, the yacht crew lit a barbecue on the bathing platform and prepared some food. When we finished, Edgar prepared a rope approximately 100m long and explained the tow-up, where we could work our way up into the air by riding side to side against the rope tied to the anchored boat. Watching Edgar do it first was insane, and he made some crazy moves, including a 360 loop of the kite around him and against the wind from around 30m up in the air! We were all eager to try, and 5 of us got up in the air and successfully looped down before the breeze dropped off. 

We went snorkelling over a beautiful reef before motoring back to finish the day. On the boat journey back, the whole Young Blood team met on the top deck to watch the sun go down; what a way to wrap up our final day in Egypt! This last sunset was the perfect end to a magnificent trip. Thanks to everyone who helped me get there, and hopefully see you all again soon!

Videos

DUOTONE YOUNG BLOOD
By Max Tullett

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