The Story Behind: The Butterfly Effect Tarifa

The Story Behind: The Butterfly Effect Tarifa

KiteSista is partnering with The Butterfly Effect – Tarifa, so now seems a like the perfect time to introduce you to Tatiana Howard the creator of the concept and the girls helping to bring the event to Tarifa.

This August the KiteSista team will be travelling down to the south of Spain as we support and partner The Butterfly Effect – Tarifa event. The Butterfly Effect has been around for quite a while however, doing good for the girls in the beach orientated communities around the world and giving something back to our sports. 

So now seems a like the perfect time to introduce you to Tatiana Howard the creator of the concept and Gemma and Maria Malo with whom she has collaborated to bring the event to Tarifa.

KSm: Hi Girls, could you please introduce yourself to our readers (who you are, what you do for living, where do you live.)

Tatiana: Aloha! I’m Tatiana Howard, professional water woman from Maui, Hawaii and founder of The Butterfly Effect event. I travel the world with The Butterfly Effect event to inspire, empower, and bring the “Aloha” spirit worldwide.

Tatianna

Gemma: My name is Gemma and at the moment I am based in Tarifa Spain, with my two little boys Teiva and Kai. I work on a variety of projects and events www.gemsita.com which is a online store for all womens waterwear and accessories. I also run www.kiteboardingcamps.com where I organise coaching weeks around the world with riders such as Youri Zoon, Alex Pastor and Kari Schibevaag. The rest of my time is spend with my two little men, who are just starting to get really into windsurfing and surfing, so encouraging them and helping them enjoy the Ocean takes up a lot of time at the moment!

Gemma

Maria: My name is Maria Malo and I am the founder of the fashion brand Mala Mujer. I arrived in Tarifa after finishing my studies in environmental studies 13 years ago. I have lived here ever since, enjoying my work and a healthy lifestyle focused on yoga, the ocean, and good friends.

maria

KSm: Tatiana, we know that the BE is an event that you have been running couple of years now… could you tell us how it all came about and the motivation behind it and the continued growth.

Tatiana: I created the event in 2007 on Maui. It was small with about a dozen girls windsurfing, kitesurfing, and stand up paddling from Ho’okipa to Kanaha beach park. It was a 3 mile downwind and non-competitive, all women and all for fun! We had so much fun and decided to make it an international event. It has now been to Brazil, Sweden, Italy, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, France, Fiji, Switzerland, Israel, Morocco, and around the USA with thousands of women participating from around the globe. As the event grew, it was nice to have a give back portion tied to the event either it be a beach clean up, inspirational speaker, free yoga class, native tree planting, health awareness, or fundraising for charities. It has continued to grow like an actual “butterfly effect”, starting from something small and expanding into a phenomenon.

BE

KSm: Maria, Gemma what’s about you girls? How did you get involved with Tatiana in bringing this event to Tarifa?

Maria: I got connected with Tatiana through Gemma, and I instantly connected with the Butterfly Effects philosophy.

The chance to bring the event to Tarifa is a challenge, and a great opportunity. Perhaps next year we will do the event in one of the quieter months to make the organisation a little bit easier!

Gemma: I first heard about the Butterfly Effect several years ago when I was visiting Maui.. I loved the whole idea of it and it stayed in my mind… At the time, I was living in Dakhla Morocco, so we organised The Butterfly Effect Dakhla last year, in 2013, which although we were unlucky with the wind, we still had a really fun event with some really lovely girls. Once I moved back to Tarifa, I really wanted to see the event grow and Tarifa is the ideal place for that. The windsurf and kite surf capital of Europe, I knew that the BE had to come here! There are so many girls on the water here, and each year it becomes more and more. Im so looking forward to Hosting the butterfly effect here this year!

Tatianna-2

KSm: How has it been working together for the three of you?

Maria: Working with women like Tatiana and Gemma is always motivating and rewarding. Im excited and grateful to form part of this team.

Gemma: Its been great! We are each working on different elements of the event… and Im confident that it will all come together beautifully!

Tatiana: Gemma and I worked together on the BE Morocco trip last year and it was great success and fun, so I am excited to bring it to Tarifa for a one day event. I have always heard about Tarifa being the mecca for windsports so I think The BUtterfly Effect will be great there.

BE Tarifa

KSm: What are you hoping will come from this event and are you planning more future collaborations?

Tatiana: I am hoping for a really fun, “aloha” vibe, unique and successful event in Tarifa with a bunch of water women getting together to celebrate sport, health, and fitness. It would be great to have BE Tarifa become a major stop on The Butterfly Effect World Tour, but I’m just excited to focus on this year first and see what happens !

Gemma: I would really like to see the BE Tarifa grow more and more each year.. and eventually be like the Maui event which had over 450 participants! We have a lot of motivation and beautiful ideas, so we hope to see a good evolution, and an event that can always be repeated! We really love the concept of incorporating yoga and fitness, and being able to share good moments with our friends in the Ocean, and show the world what a beautiful spot Tarifa is!

If you would like to join us and the girls at the event then head over to The Butterfly Effect site for more information and the REGISTER.

BE Tarifa



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