La Ventana Dog Show

Fundraiser for the Baja Paws, sponsored by Baja Joe´s, Playa Central and Baja Boardriders. Raised $800 for the "Stop the Littering" Campaign.

On March 7th, 2011, more than 37 dogs were in costume and enrolled in the Dog Show at Playa Cental. It brought the community together for an entertaining event and a good cause. Enrollment cost 50 pesos per dog, and there were La Ventana Dog Show T-Shirts for sale at the door. The categories were Obedience, Best Looking, Best Baby Picture, Agility, Best Costume, Most Toy Crazy, Best Senior and Best in Show.

The LV Paws spades and neuters dozens of dogs each year, and will spade any dog for FREE. LV Paws also rescues puppies and dogs in needs of homes, giving them de-worm treatments and vaccinations. This year we raised 800 dollars for the LV Paws, and hope to double it next year.

We had some very impressive dogs compeeting for the title of Best in Show. Some of the exhibitors dressed up with their dog and got extra points for the Costume Contest.

The La Ventana Dog Show 2011 Committee.

Bobbie Garner, Kent & Cynthia from Baja Boardriders, Claire Donahue, Joe and Angie Cheek from Baja Joe´s, Leon Garner and Jessica Withington from Playa Central. We had a great committee this year , especially sine Angie was the leader! Thanks Angie :)

Our panel of five judges were Larry Russ, Leon Gardner, Sarah Wilson, XX and Rick Shields . We had great announcers, Kent from Baja Boardriders and Shannon Gromley, a special thanks to them. Britney Todd and Krissy Arsens were the greeters at the show and the head volunteers for the LV Paws.

Krissy Arsens showing one of the LV Paws puppies she is fostering for the Best in Costume.

Britney Todd playing with one of the La Ventana rescue puppies at Playa Central.

Dan and Michelle Koff with Lucy Furr, what a great show she put on.

It was great to see that many of the dogs compeeting in the show were once Baja Rescues that were fostered by the LV Paws, and found wonderful homes here in La Ventana.

A special thanks to the Baja Boardriders for sponsoring the event, and to

Cynthia Brown for designing the awesome Flyer & T-Shirts for the Dog Show.

Tucker was the dog that blew the crowd away, especially since the crowd was mainly kiteboarder!! Give it up for the Best in Show winner, Tucker! Here is a video of Tucker, courtesey of Paula Sonnenberg.

Playa Central was proud to be a part of this event and will be hosting this annually. We are aware that the La Ventana Paws makes La Ventana a better place Baja in general is a dog friendly place to travel to. If you are comming to La Ventana, bring your pets, or come and adopt one here!

You can buy a La Ventana Dog Show T-Shirt at Baja Joe´s or at Playa Central. If you would like

to make a donation to the La Ventana Paws, please e-mail Angie at bajajoe@yahoo.com

Playa Central, the New Event Site

If event organizers could design their ideal place to hold kiteboarding tournaments, their picture perfect venue wouldn´t be far from what a painting of Playa Central would look like.

Mural in the Playa Central Kiteshop, in La Ventana, BCS, Mexico. Artist: Gilberto Fernandez, from Culiacan, Sinaloa. Inspired by aerial photo taken from a chopper by Adam Koch.

In December 2010 the Mexican Asociation of Kitesurfing, (AMK), held a national tournament at Playa Central, where all of it´s main characteristics like being in a cumfy and windy bay, on a wide sandy beache, with a grassy hill and rigging lawn , a big warehouse, food & lodging services, efficient and friendly staff and personel, were apparently essential for the execution of the event.

National anthem, inaguration ceremony on the front lawn. Photo by Adam Koch, 2010.

For the Copa Playa Central, Torneo Nacional 2010, Playa Central arranged lodging for competitors and spectators. Spectators and organizers had the bakery and pizzeria at their disposal during the event so they remained comfortably onsite; merchandise, beer and softdrinks were stored in the warehouse after event hours; competitors were able to leave their gear onsite during the 4 days; we had a meetting room for the skippers, a judges´ tower and coordination room with internet, printers and fax; and we held all creremonies and parties onsite. Being able to catter to all these needs was an important tool the coordinators were able to use to keep spectators at the event site, offer the competitos close lodging thus being able to remain near the competition area for the parties and ceremonies, and easy social media updates for the coordinators and press.

Group photo on the Playa Central lawn, photo by Rockstar.

La Ventana´s thermal wind is above all the most valuable contributor to Playa Central´s success as an event site. Sponsors, organizers, competitors and spectators can count on the wind and are very likely to support and attend the events. La Ventana also has two international airports, one in Los Cabos and one in La Paz, both within 2 hrs. La Paz has a ferri to mainland Mexico, where kiters from Guadalajara, Culiacan, Colima and other cities can cross over with plenty of kite gear. Highway 1, from San Diego is scenic and also key for kite expos or demos, since kite companies can travel in vans and RVs with kites, baords, other merchandise and shade tents.

Thermal wind, channeled inbetween the island and the bay. Playa Central is located at the star *

Map of airports from La Ventana and photo on highway 1, 2011.

The Mexican National tournament, named "Copa Playa Central, 2010", had a total of 57 competitors and attracted world champions Adam Koch, Sean Farley Gomez, and Mexican champions Adam Withington, Fernando de La Torre, Raquel Arroyo, Diego Tron, Warenka Smutney, Paco Chan and Daniel Koeing.

Group photo after awards party at Playa Central.




President of the AMK, Andres Santacruz, and Playa Central manager, Jessica Withington, worked together as event organizers and chose the format, judges, disciplines and scheduled the competition days. A local kite asociation from CozumelKiteboarding.com came to sanction the event, along with Joe Cool as Race Advisor from San Francisco, CA.

Baja Boardriders sponsored the event with their killer buoys, a special thanks to you guys.

The freestyle results were men: 1. Daniel Koeing, 2. Sean Farley Gomez, 3. Paco Chan, women: 1. Warenka Smutney, 2. Shannon Gromley, 3. Cythia Brown. Results for Downwinder race men: 1. Andrew Koch, 2. Adam Koch, 3. Joey Pasquali; women: 1. Cynthia Brown, 2. Shannon Gromley, 3. Warenka Smutney.

Great photo of Andres Santacruz during Copa Playa Central, president of the AMK. Phto by Adam Koch.

Jessica Withington, manager of Playa Central and event coordinator, with event judges Vicente Cardenas, Kenji Jones and Dave Tyburski.




A special thanks to Litewave Dave, Kenj Jones, Dave Tyburski and Vicente Cardenas for being the judges. Thanks you to Litewave Designs and Liquid Force for sponsoring two boards as prizes. A special thank you to Joe Cool and the Koch brothers for advising on the race, and thank you to Cozumel Kiteboarding for their assistance. A thank you to Adam Koch for photographing the event. An extra special thanks to Joe Cool for making this short video on the event:

Youtube Video of Copa Playa Central:
http://www.youtube.com/user/JessicaWithington?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/u1pFyD1F49E

Playa Central is located on the best launching beach in the bay.

If you are an event organizer, please contact Jessica Withington for information on having Playa Central host your next kiteboarding event.

Open Mic Night on Wednesdays

In La Ventana, an outstanding kitespot in Baja California, there happens to be an incredible music scene happening at the Playa Central restaurant, a local favorite. Most kiteboarders in La Ventana are people who are here because of the lifestyle people can create while here. We all value spending time on the water and taking advantage of the almost daily sideshore thermal wind and fill the rest of our day with leisure activities, friends and families, passions, and personal hobbies. Luckily there are lots of people who share music as their hobby and are very talented musicians who have time to jam together, practice, and put on a great show for the rest of us.

Playa Central is the yellow building with the rigging and launching lawn. Photo by

Adam Koch, December, 2010.

Look at this picture and check out all the kiters on the water in La Ventana, where do they all go at night? Well, on Wednesday Nights, you can find them gathered at Playa Central.

The famous Open Mic Night on Wednesdays at Playa Central have been very successful and attracted great talent and fun audiences every week this season. We get Blue Grass, Country, Rock'n Roll, Opera, Melodies, Classic Guitar, pop, you name it. Playa Central's lounge room has the perfect acoustics for the concert, with no need for mics or speakers! (it's amazing).

Two local kiters jam on stage during Open Mic Night with a room full of friends and musicians. Photo by Adam Koch, Feb, 2011.

If you come to La Ventana, make sure that you check out Open Mic Night. Playa Central is a great venue to host concerts and the food and drinks are great. If you are planning a trip to La Ventana, bring your instrument and be ready to jam. Walk Ins are welcome, and there are always people who will get up there and jam with you on your first day at Open Mic. It is a great time to show off your talents (or guts :) and have your friends and family in the audience.

When you come you will get to try our wood burning oven pizza, home made pasta and desserts of the night, as well as our famous Mojitos and Margaritas. Musicians are welcome to come up to Playa Central Bakery and sign up during the day, and usually begin setting up at 5:00 pm while the audience shows up for drinks and dinner. The show begins at about 6:00, and is often hosted by two of the most famous local musicians, (both in La Ventana and Hood River), Thomas Corlett and Larry Russ. A special thanks to both of them for sharing their talents and helping the music community in La Ventana grow together.

Movie Premier of ¨Present Tense¨ produced by Nathan Appel Hosted by Liquid Force and Playa Central

On Tuesday Jan 18th, Liquid Force was setting up for a movie premier, produced by one of their team riders and LF media contributor, Nate Appel, who happens to be in La Ventana right now to document this upcoming kite tournament. The video, ¨Present Tense¨is a collection of some of the biggest American kite events during 2010, as well as some free riding that Nate documented and edited.

The video was projected on a silver screan that is painted on Playa Central´s wall, which is great for events like this. People gathered all over the lawn, ordered pizzas, beer, margaritas, and wine as they watched the 30 min video (Good job Nate with the soundtrack :).

After Present Tense, we watched a Joe Cool raw footage of the Lord of the Wind Showdown (Jan 16-19th), which included course race starts (my favorite), bikini contests, skipper meetings, and parties. Thank you Joe. We also watched Jason Noorwick´s video of La Ventana winter kiteboarding, most filmed infront of Playa Central. Thank you Jason!

Here is a link to Jason´s video:

http://www.kiteforum.tv/video/La_Ventana_Kook_Out.html?Itemid=0

Jessica and Marcela go to Los Barriles for the Showdown

Since Marcela is a yoga instructor at Playa Central and I am the general manager here, sometimes it is hard to find 100% fun time. We took advantage of the Lord of the Wind Showdown in Los Barriles and excused it as a business trip, and headed South for a three day kite vacay.

The event a

ttracted pro riders from all over the US, Canada and some international destinations. We got to see many pro riders, like Damien Leroy, Sean Farley, Adam Koch, Jon Van Malsen, Adam Withington and finally a girl!! Claire Lutz, from Liquid Force was one of the only pro girls there, and she is a sweetheart.

Now we are all in La Ventana, getting ready for the La Ventana Classic. All of the pro riders are here now training, people are flying in, and we are looking forward to the next week of kite partying.

Cinnamon Rolls

It is pretty common for the yoga students to stretch back up and walk off the yoga matt into the bakery for some fresh cinnamon rolls after their 8:00 am class with Marcela. Playa Central's cinnamon rolls are pulled out of the wood burning oven at 9:15 am, just at the same time the Ashtanga yoga class ends! One of the students kidded and said the only reason she came to yoga class in the morning was to excuse the cinnamon roll after class.

Some campers sip on La Choya coffee or hot teas served at Playa Central while they wait for Vivien to glaze the cinnamon rolls. It is also common to have kiters come in just before they gear up for a session and fuel up with some baked goods.

Come by Playa Central and buy a cinnamon roll right off the pan.

Bakery hours: 7 am - 7 pm.

Whole Grain and White Baguettes

At our bakery we bake whole grain bread with flax, sunflower and pepita seed, oats and whole flour. Our white baguettes are made with no oil, and sprinkled with sesame seeds, perfect for subs, toast, and quick snacks.
Avilable daily @ 9 am at Playa Central.

This picture: Vivien and Jessica, sisters and baking partners at Playa Central.

Potato Salad

Playa Central sells potato salad in To-Go containers, ideal for hungry kiters and family lunches.

4 servings for 55 pesos.

Summer Kiteboarding in La Ventana

Most wind-sport people who come to La Ventana only visit during October through April for the thermal wind season. This is the second summer in a row that I have been in La Ventana and usually spend my days in the garden, running my AC 24/7, and kiteboarding on the other side of this L shaped bay.

In this image, the red circle on the left (West) is Playa Central, which is gets the side shore Nortes and thermal from Oct-April. During the summer months it is a little different. Playa Central recieves a light onshore wind created from the thermal that comes in about 1-2pm and dies off with the sunset.

So, about two days a week, when the thermal wind is blowing about 16 kn, we take our car and with out using our 4x4 we get to the "Bufadora", which is about a 13 min drive. We kite on our 7m, 9m, and 11m, depending. Sometimes we do downwinders to Playa Central, which is great because we get to roll out kites up on the grass and rinse our gear off.

If you ever do come down to La Ventana in the summer, bring your kites!

Want to learn how to kitesurf? It's simple, go to school.

As equipment continues to improve in kitesurfing, the number of people who pick up the sport increases. After years of kiteboarding being taught around the world, there have been several general methods developed by instructors on how to learn through a safe and successful process.

As a friend of beginner kiters and a kitboarding enthusiast, I recommend above all things for people to take lessons with a professional kiteschool or at least an experienced instructor.


3 simple tips on how to start kiteboarding:

1. If consistent wind and beginner kite friendly beaches are not available in your home town, plan a 7-30 day vacation to a windy kitespot to get through the learning curve quickly.

2. Find a kitespot with professional kiteschools and make sure to check the calendar to assure you are going during the right season.

3. Once you learn to kiteboard with the kiteschool gear, you will have a better idea of what equipment you will want to buy for yourself. For safety and efficiency purposes, we recommend buying new kites and boards for your new venture.

Now Supplying to Local Stores

Playa Central Bakery's french bread is now available at Mini-super Oscaritos. We deliver fresh bread Monday-Saturday, by 1 PM.

Pie Pan Pizza

Pie Pan PIZZA $60 pesos

This will be quick kite fuel for the kiteboarders to load up on when they kite from up and down the beach and land at Playa Central for lunch. Daily pizza along with chalkboard menu pasta and seafood- open seven days a week.

French Baguette

Playa Central's bakery has this recipe nailed down. We love French bread, in our house in Cozumel we always would eat it with sandwiches, soups, PB&J, anything really. We think it will be a favorite staple for the kiters and windsurfers in La Ventana, yum.

This is a picture of 10 baguettes just before I sold them to a very friendly family that came into he bakery today.

Halleluja, make a joyful noise!

Today the floor in the 4,000 sq foot Playa Central warehouse is finally out! After six weeks of hammering this well plastered swimming pool floor out of out kiteshop and sail shed, we can take a deep breath.

A special thanks to my brother, Adam, for having worn earplugs and goggles and dedicated many hours of hard work to Playa Central.