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Something a little different.... Enjoy :)

The forecast for the weekend was looking pretty marginal, with only a small window of wind early on the Saturday morning. I started the long journey down from the North East on Friday morning, and arrived in Hunstanton mid-afternoon, hoping for a pre-competition session. 
Sadly the wind wasn't quite playing ball, so we spent the afternoon chatting to fellow competitors as they arrived in the comfort of the sailing club.

The evening's events revolved around the BKSA annual general meeting, which was a first for me and very interesting to get some insight into the running of our national governing body. There was a great deal of passion expressed throughout the meeting, and whilst there were some heated debates it was clear that there are a lot of people willing to help in pushing things forward in order to improve matters for everyone.
A 7am briefing had been planned for the following day, and registration immediately followed the AGM, after which most people took an early night to be ready for action the next day.

The competition had been relocated to the nearby beach at Heacham which allowed competition to run in the high tide conditions. There was a solid 20mph breeze blowing to start the day, and after the briefing the beach was covered with kites of all shapes and sizes.
Due to the decreasing forecast, the Pro's were the first to take to the water, followed by the masters then am's. The music was cranked up, and Richard Flindall was in fine voice doing the commentary.
As is quite often the case, kite size was a key decision in every heat. The wind was clean, but varying from one minute to the next, and there were quite a few heats in which the competitors had chosen significantly different sizes. The high tide chop reflecting off the beach made conditions incredibly challenging, and the early heats were very tentative but as the tide dropped the conditions improved a little and the riders started to get their repertoires nicely dialed.

As the wind dropped further and the water became shallower, the decision was made to move the event back to the sailing club in Hunstanton. We all packed up and made our way over in the hope of enough wind to complete the rest of the event; but sadly this wasn't to be the case. The competition was called off later in the day, and we all enjoyed the sunshine and chilled out on the beach and outside the sailing club.

As the afternoon drew to a close the prize giving was held, and it was announced that competition would not continue tomorrow due to the poor forecast, meaning that the full championship results would be announced and there would be no holding back on the drinking! 
The day's pro results were first up, with Rosanna Jury taking the victory over Sukie Robertson and Danielle Durrant, meaning Rosanna secured an incredible 3rd Pro championship win. 
In the men's competition it was announced that Richard Flindall had triumphed over Sean Murphy and Craig Smith, with the overall championship being awarded to Sean Murphy, followed by Richard Flindall and Oli Sweeney.
The other categories remained as they were at the end of the previous event, with Dynamic Duo - Dan and Lucie Turner taking the title for the amateur classes, Kevin Matthey taking the masters crown, and Harry Way being one to watch for the future taking the Juniors championship. 
One very nice touch to the event was the raffling off of all the amateur prizes which weren't awarded due to lack of wind; everyone got something ranging from kite apparel up to a board or harness. It was nice to see that nobody went away empty handed.

The evening then started to wind up with some simply awesome food courtesy of the Hunstanton sailing club crew. The burgers were simply mouth-watering, and very well appreciated by the ravenous competitors. Most people had started the drinking early, and things were in full swing as the sun slowly went down over the horizon. The tunes were then pumped up and plenty took to the dance floor to strut their stuff until the early hours.

The 2015 Championships were a great reboot of the awesome times we've had on the tour in recent years. There had been problems along the way but they'ed all been worked though, thanks to some brave decisions from the organisers, a small army of helpers from the local clubs which hosted the events, and a great positive attitude from everyone concerned.
There are a lot of people who deserve a whole heap of credit for making the year the success it was : Rou, Jim, Mary, Danielle and their teams for all the organisation and great effort at every event; The clubs who stepped up to host each one and went to great efforts to make it happen; The kite industry who supported come rain and shine and all attendees for their support and co-operation.
Its always sad when the competitive year ends, but it does so with a great deal of hope that this could be the start of something... 

The beach itself was shelving with a road behind, and marker buoys were to be placed in the water inside which no tricks would be scored for safety reasons. These buoys would soon become a challenge for many riders and the source of great controversy later in the weekend. It wasn't the original intended location for the competition, and hence the timing of the event with the tides proved to become an issue, especially on the Sunday. The shingle main beach led to a 100m wide section of inhospitable cockles, mussels and oyster shells, which shredded any unprotected feet given half an opportunity; making coming on and off the water very difficult and didn't help with communication between the organizers and riders.

The Pro's opened proceedings, and put on a great show for everyone on the beach; the variable conditions were clearly making things difficult though, and it was a battle at times to get into the right location to be able to score.

Sunday proved to be very different to the day before. A 9am briefing was called with an early start for the juniors and amateur ladies as the wind was forecast to increase throughout the day. The sunshine had been replaced with continuous rain, but the wind was now onshore which would cause issues for everyone needing to stay upwind of the inner buoys in order to score. 
The juniors, ladies and then am's all took to the water and put on a good show whilst everyone on the beach hunkered down behind any cover they could find. It was massively appreciated when Mike Birt erected his giant Airush tent, which became a very popular spot to dodge the elements. There was no such luxury for the volunteer marshals and organizers though - props to them for toughing it out!

Before long it was my turn to take to the water for my round 2 heat against Doug Lloyd and Rob Woodford. Rob didn't make it onto the water for whatever reason, and Doug struggled to get upwind into the box in order to score. I landed a raley to blind early on and just piled on the points from there, so left the water with a degree of confidence that I'd progress.
After a couple more heats, it was semi-final time, and I was drawn up against George Treadwell who had progressed over me in round 1; I knew I'd have to perform at my best in order to ensure victory. I started with a comfortable raley to blind in the low tide flat water, and followed up with a back to wrapped, and then a huge blind judge, cheered on by Craig Smith who was standing in the water. I then bagged a nice S to Blind, and as confidence was high, went for a powered 313 which I duly crashed. I saw George land a very nice kiteloop to blind, but I knew that when I came off the water I'd done everything I could, so would be happy whether I progressed to the final or not.

After a little while, word got around that I'd done enough to get to the final against Kevin Matthey who had won the previous event and had also made his way to the final despite losing his first round. 
It was due to happen shortly, but the event was put on hold for a couple of hours as the tide was too low and water too shallow to run any competitions. This gave us all a good break to have some lunch and to get our gear ready for the increased winds forecast for the afternoon.

Shortly after the restart it was time for our final; the wind had picked up since the morning so opted for my trusty 11m Razor. The heat started well, and landed a Blind Judge quick smart and a nice clean 313 on the return tack. I then went for a Back Mobe, and when I hit the water I knew instantly that something was wrong. I was being continuously dragged toward my looping kite, and it was only after about 10 seconds when the kite settled that I managed to get my bearings and inspect my bar and lines. The Bar was facing toward me rather than parallel, and I could see that my leash had clipped around one of my steering lines. It was a bit of a struggle to unclip it, after which I proceeded to try to unravel my lines, but they were in too much of a mess to have any hope of continuing. I had to settle for the fact that my final was over, so I pulled the 'Oh Sh*t' handle on the end of the bar, as I knew the main safety was too tangled to be effective and made my way ashore.
I looked back and saw Kevin Matthey continuing to trick, and whilst this was painful to see, I knew I knew I'd bagged 2 good scoring tricks which I sometimes wouldn't land in a full heat. It was also really nice of Nathan Cullingford to trudge out through all the underfoot debris to come and help me bring my gear back ashore.

That was a wrap for my competition, so packed up whilst watching the action from the later heats. Richard Flindall was on top form on the mic, calling out each trick and adding plenty of witty banter in between. One of the highlights of the day for me were Nathan's sick double backloop kiteloops which looked so much like he was on the brink of disaster but somehow seemed to always ride out of!

Competition for the day reached its climax with the much awaited Pro Men's final between George Dufty, Tom Bridge and Sean Murphy. They were all a little late on the water, and the heat had started before most had gotten upwind of the safety buoys. 
When the green Brazilian flag had gone up they all started tricking. It was a great display from all riders, but Tom's riding was really shining through with his double half cab's and a some really nice 540's mobes.
Midway through the final, Richard Flindall (on the mic) noticed that George Treadwell was running around like mad man trying to attract the attention of his team-mate George Dufty, and it soon became apparent that the vast majority of the tricks landed up to that point were not being scored by the judges due to being on the wrong side of the safety buoys.
There was then a frantic rush upwind in the closing minute or two of the final to attempt to get a scoring trick, but time was up before they all could do so.

As the riders came off the water there was a big controversy about whether the vast majority of the tricks would actually score or not, and we wondered whether the riders had been told that they could trick inside the buoys for the final. 
It seemed that there was no such rule change and would have huge ramifications on who the victor would be. We all packed up the beach and made way to the pub for the results.

I'd heard a lot of things about kitefoiling/foilboarding over the past few months; and being someone who is always up for trying something new was excited to give it a go.
My foilboard arrived on Friday, and when I saw the 9-13mph forecast for Saturday I knew there was a good chance of giving it a go straight away.

I opted for my 18m vantage, but the wind was much gustier than forecast, probably in the range of 8-20mph, but I knew it would cope with this without any issues.

Maneuvering the foil on the water is one of the biggest issues you first encounter - it's best to keep the board close to you with your hand on the top rail pulling the foil out to the water away from you. In this position you can make good progress upwind once you get the balance of things right.
Getting on the board was easier than I was expecting - providing you're quick - get the feet in position (close to the windward rail) and dive the kite before the foil sinks. The foil and the board both give resistance and its not too difficult to get yourself upright.
However, this was where the problems started :)
Initially, I found that once upright the board would do what ever it could to squirm out from under me - kind of like a board with no fins, but even worse. After a few failed attempts I tried keeping the board more angled toward me, and this paid dividends and I managed to get my first few runs on the surface for a short distance.

At this point the foil was still well and truly submerged and providing no noticeable lift and it was just a matter of getting used to riding the board on the surface. But before long my submerged friend had to join the party and all of a sudden the whole board would lift totally unexpectedly - chucking me into the drink and mocking my progress. 
This became the modus operandi for the next dozen or so attempts - ride along, feel somewhat comfortable, then get chucked off abruptly :)
It was only after I could start to predict this pattern that I made further progress - as my board speed picked up I learned to creep my feet forward and lean more to counteract the increased lift; and although it was still like a bucking bronco ride which I only lasted for 5-10 seconds, it was a definite improvement on before.

Once I managed to wrestle a tiny bit of control, the feeling was awesome; It's truly is like what I'd imagine riding the hover-board out of Back to the Future II would be, yet with much less control of the outcome! The lift you get is surreal when you don't expect it, but I can see why everyone who has foiled before raves about it so much :)

From there onward the trend continued - I was starting to travel a bit faster whilst learning to anticipate what the foil would do, and doing my best to counteract it. 
The strangest feeling is when you're riding along in comfort then all of a sudden the board just rises out of the water as if its possessed by some rival kite manufacturer - I'm sure when you try it you'll know where i'm coming from - trust me ;-) 

Here's a quick video from some of the footage I gathered, plenty of wipe-outs and a few runs which have been carefully edited to look like I know what I'm doing :)

I set off early Friday morning in hope of scoring a pre-competition session down at Lancing, and drove through almost 7 solid hours of driving rain before finally arriving on the south coast.
It was raining in Lancing when I arrived too but the sun soon came out with a moderate cross-shore breeze. I opted for my trusty old 18m as I knew it would keep me going through the lulls, and had a short but refreshing session after such a long drive. 
The evening was spent eating fish and chips, sinking a few beers and chatting to people as they arrived. There was a lot of excitement about the forecast and the prospect of some solid kitesurfing conditions.

By this time all the brands had covered the beach and nearby grass with tents, feather flags and gear galore, which was an awesome sight to behold and hopefully a vision which will be repeated with events to come. 
After everyone had gotten changed and sorted their equipment, competition started with the juniors on kites ranging from 7 to 10.5m. The tide was dropping, leaving nice flat spots between the small waves and it was a pleasure to sit down and watch the action.
Competition rattled on, and the Juniors and am ladies were soon completed, before moving onto the pro classes and masters.

My first heat was fast approaching; I'd been drawn up against old friends and rivals and Dave Wilde and Kev Matthey. We were all excited about the match-up, and conditions were improving further as the tide dropped, leaving flatter water between the small kickers.

As our heat began I was glad to land a nice clean 313 on the way in, to which Kev and Dave replied to with Blind Judges. I landed a few more smaller tricks on the way out to sea, but repeatedly failed to land a low mobe on the way in. After 3 failures I considered forgetting it, but as time ran out gave it one last try and stomped it with a rather sketchy landing. I wasn't sure how the judges would compare this to Dave and Kev's heats, and we all anxiously awaited the results.
I later found out that I'd done enough to secure first place, progressing me straight through to a place in the third round. Dave and Kev needed to go through the second round to progress, which they proceeded to do so, leaving Kev as my competition again in round 3!

After the BBQ was well and truly consumed and some well deserved beers were sank, we were all gathered to hear the results of the day for the juniors, am and pro ladies and amateur men classes. 
It was great to see the reactions on the faces of people who had done far better than they expected they could; and awesome to see the industry supporting the competition with some very tidy prizes too!
The Juniors was won by Harry Way, men's and ladies amateurs won by the dynamic duo Dan and Lucie Turner, and pro Ladies by Rosanna Jury.

Early Sunday morning most competitors were awoken by torrential rain as their vans and tents were swayed by the strong winds. An early briefing had been called for 9:30am which was attended by a handful of riders. It was announced that competition would start asap due to the dropping wind forecast.
The wind and sea state hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone - winds well in excess of 30mph and big shore dump - it was clear the conditions were going to be a real game changer.

As the results came in, I saw Kev had pipped me in the horrendous conditions and all props to him for doing so. It gave me the chance to sit back and watch the rest of the competition; the highlight for me was the semi-final between Lewis Crathern and Oli Sweeney. Oli totally shone in the gloomy conditions, as if handle-passing in 6 foot shore dump was routine for him, landing everything he attempted with a real swagger - tricking through the waves with ease as if they weren't there at all. 

The pro and masters final were very entertaining; the masters particularly so with Kev and Dave Wilde going for new school handle-passes; contrasting against Kevin Maguire's repertoire of hooked in loops, blinds and transitions. It all seemed very close between the three until Kevin Matthey hit a kite-loop just before the buzzer.

This rounded off the weekends action, and everyone packed up and headed to the pub to hear the results from Rou and Jim. It was announced that Olly Bridge had done enough to win the Pro men's title, followed by Oli Sweeney and Sean Murphy. Kevin Matthey had just done enough to push Kevin Maguire into second place for the masters, with Dave Wilde coming third.

It was a great start to the UK championships and there was a great feeling of mutual appreciation from everyone involved; whether it be it organisers, competitors, volunteers or supporters from the kite industry. 
It was an epic weekend and a hugely promising start for the championship season, and left everyone looking forward to more... Roll on the Essex event on the 25th July!

Cape Verde has been on my list of places to go for some time - with near perfect wind statistics over the winter months and straight-forward flights from main UK airports.
We booked the 8am Monday flight from Manchester, and arrived ahead of schedule shortly after 1am local time. After the usual wait for passport control and luggage we were swiftly onto the bus and whisked away 5 whole minutes down the road to the Riu Karamboa.
We checked into the hotel in double quick time, with plenty of daylight left for a cheeky arrival day session down at the beach.

I hooked up with Thomas and the crew down at SurfVista so I could have my gear all beach-side and benefit from their local knowledge and rescue cover.
Despite being only a 14 knot forecast the wind was blowing hard, so took to the water for a couple of hours. The wind was cross-offshore, quite gusty close in, cleaning and increasing a little further out, with some solid 6 ft waves rolling in with acres of room in between - not at all like the mushy wind chop we frequently encounter at home! It was great fun to get in amongst it in a rash vest and shorts after the long winter at home.

Dinner time was quickly catching up with me, so packed down for the night, and went to sample the all-inclusive food and drinks back at the hotel, making ready for the active week ahead!
The following morning was spent on a 4x4 tour of the south of the island, visiting some picturesque deserted beaches, dropping by the capital of Sal Rei and ending up at the awesome beach bar 'Morabeza'
A great place to have a beer and also to kite from, with its adjoining kite centre. After having a drink here its was time to catch the 4x4 back to the hotel, ready to get back out on the water for a session.

It soon became pretty clear to me over the following days that I was wasting my time trying to practice any wakestyle here - the offshore gusty wind coupled with big waves were no place to be trying handle-passes in; and whilst I must admit to being a little disappointed at first, it lead to me really focusing on the surf for the rest of the week which I ended up really enjoying and progressing with. I did try the neighboring saltwater lagoon, but whilst the water was flat and shallow, the wind was all the more eratic.

It was nice to frequently come across the sea turtles duck diving within the breaking waves and also great that the island was mosquito free at that time of year (although the temperatures were below the usual average, which may explain this).
The winds generally came in well above forecast in the week I was there, a 14 knot forecast was frequently 20+ mid afternoon, yet the day with the strongest forecast ended up actually having the lightest winds of the whole week. High tide is best to avoid as the surf dumps and gets reflected by the beach coupled with the gusty winds close in; mid to low tide brings the most comfortable surf conditions.

On Saturday night we returned to the Morabeza beach bar for some sunset drinks, a meal and some of the local 'grog'.
After dark a bonfire was lit and we were treated to a tribal drum and dance display with some fire eating thrown in!
The awesome daytime setting just gets better at night, watching the sun go down chilling with a beer or two, overlooking the ocean.

On our final day, the waves really came through in impressive fashion.
Big sets of twelve to fifteen waves at a time came rolling through, which were easily double overhead in size. I opted to take on the smaller ones, but Thomas and the boys from SurfVista tackled the big ones with relish.
It was great being out there, but a big step up from what I'd been used to during the rest of the week - I could hit a couple of timid turns on them, but preferred the more manageable smaller waves on which I had more confidence. Seemed silly to risk a good holiday on them, when there's no hospital on the island, should anything go wrong!  

It was a great holiday in general, the wind was nailed on pretty much every day, there was never more than half a dozen people on the water and there was surf every day. Whilst the wakestyle conditions I was hoping for weren't there, it was a welcome change and  very enjoyable to explore a side of the sport I've only really dabbled with in the past.

Is a dog truely man's best friend? perhaps there's something else which you can truly be inseparable from...

After a long journey down from the North East, we finally arrived on the shores of Hunstanton, and popped into the sailing club to see who was about. We were greeted by the Race Crew - Pete Shaw, Ali Barrett, Richard Flindall and Sukie Robertson. After saying our hello's it was clear that everyone was making preparations for the event, so we set off to get the keys for our caravan and hook up with Aaron and Sally, who had made the journey down from the North East also.
We were to be joined later by another of our friends; Andrew; whose birthday was today, so we set off to the supermarket to make preparations for a birthday BBQ, complete my gaudy pink 'Happy Birthday' sashes and a 'My Little Princess' birthday cake, all to be washed down with a bottle of Jaegermeister!
Andrew had set off much later and got caught up in traffic on the way down. Our BBQ plan also proved not to be such a good one, as it was now chucking it down with rain, but we got it lit, sheltered under the awning and proceeded to cook by torchlight. Andrew also had the job of putting his tent up in the pouring rain - not the best start to his birthday evening!
The night was spent sinking our fair share of alcohol, whilst exchanging plenty of banter about the competition to follow, we were all looking forward for what was to come, and bets were being placed upon who would come out on top!

Saturday started with an early briefing, which was complimented nicely by bacon sarnies at the sailing club. We were informed that it was unlikely that any competition would run today, except for a SUP race and the possibility of running the juniors if the wind became strong enough.
By mid-morning the wind was starting to pick up, and we decided to get our light-wind kites out on the water, hoping that it would increase further from there. 
The SUP race had started by the time we got down to the water, and whilst it was just about possible to keep up wind, doing any tricks was a different matter entirely!
The juniors however did have enough to get out on the water, and competition began. After a few stop and start heats they managed to battle through to get a result. They also tried to run the am ladies too, but there clearly wasn't sufficient wind for them so competition was halted for the day.
The rest of the day was spent watching the Parkour, BMX, Scooter and Inline displays, whilst catching up with everyone on the tour who we hadn't seen for the past year. It was clear that everyone was very excited for the conditions forecast for Sunday - wind all day! and I think most took it easy that night in preparation for an early start.

I was awoken early on Sunday to the sound of wind, and lots of it! It sounded like near gale force as the rain lashed the caravan. As I'd left my smallest kites at home I hoped that it would calm down a bit by the time the competition started.
At the briefing, we were informed that the running order would be seniors followed by amateurs, then all of the pros. I was drawn up against my good friend Dave Wilde in my first heat, which I was certain would be a tough one! Andrew and Aaron were drawn up against each other also, and it was clear that the talk of Friday night would soon be brought to the water!

As the first heat approached a tough call had to be made on which kite size to use. I opted to copy Dave and go for my 11m Airush Razor. As the heat began it became very clear we'd overestimated the wind, and we were both very soon struggling to stay in the competition area. I struggled to land anything significant except a tantrum, grabbed front roll and raley to blind; Dave landed a back to wrapped and a blind judge and hence progressed straight to the final. As I was waiting for the second round heat to begin, I'd heard that young Aaron had beaten Andrew in his heat and progressed straight to the final with a guaranteed podium.
The second round put me up against cable park master Dave Whiston and Mark Seager. The wind continued to be on the light side, and whilst I managed to get a raley to blind, a grabbed front and an underpowered f-16, I couldn't manage to stick a 313 despite several attempts. I was pleased to hear that I'd done enough to make the final against Dave Wilde and 5 times former champion Pete Whiteley.
The final started much better as the wind powered through, I knew I had to up my game from the earlier rounds, so went out straight from the off and hit a nice powered blind judge. I then looked to get the 313 in, and failed at the first attempt. Looking downwind I could see that Pete Whiteley's kite was tangled up and spinning on the 5th line, with daughter Hannah trying to get it under control. On my outward tack I managed to stick a front to blind, and finally got my 313 on the way in - I knew I had a good chance of winning now, but wanted to make sure and get some more tricks on the board.
By this time, Pete had miraculously got his kite untangled and was already back on the water - great skills! I went for a kiteloop 3, which wasn't as powered as I'd like, and whilst I did catch the bar in mid-air, I didn't stick the landing. I tacked back out again, and hoped to have time for another attempt, but by this time the heat was over and I just had to hope I'd done enough.

Now that it was all over we relished the opportunity of watching the insane action courtesy of the many pros which had entered, and it was great to watch such big names as Sam Light, World Junior Champion Tom Bridge, George Dufty, Jake Kelsick, Rosanna Jury and Hannah Whiteley to name but a few.
Tom was impressing by landing technical moves with ease and George's powerful style was great to watch whilst Sam Light just made it all look too easy, adding grabs in left right and centre. The other pro's also put on a great show and it was great to sit back and watch them as the heats progressed.
Before too long the finals were upon us. The ladies showed great grit and determination as the conditions proved to be more difficult as high tide approached - it was clear it was going to be a result which was hard to call between Rosanna Jury and Hannah Whiteley.
The men's final was a mouth-watering affair with Sam Light taking on Tom Bridge and George Dufty. Tom was going big and technical for someone of such a young age and was clearly a match for the other riders. George was firing on all cylinders with some big powered moves, but soon found himself at the downwind mark and continued to bang out his big moves down there, whilst Tom and Sam remained centre-stage in front of the judges. Sam continued to be the one to watch with his effortless Slim Chances and grabbed back mobe, but then Tom Bridge really put the cat amongst the pigeons with a clean 317. Sam replied immediately with a Blind Judge 5 which swiftly restored the damage before the finals came to a conclusion.

The tide by now was well on its way in, and everyone packed up in preparation for prize-giving and results. The juniors were announced first, with Young Tom Seager taking the title. Both amateur titles were taken by newcomers Joe and Holly Keenan, and I was very pleased to find out I had indeed done enough pipping Dave Wilde and Pete Whiteley to the Senior title.
I was super stoked to hear that the ladies pro title was awarded to Airush team-mate Rosanna Jury, and that Sam Light's flawless style, variety and power was enough to take the victory ahead of young ripper Tom Bridge and George Dufty. 

We knew it would soon be time to be saying our farewells for another year, and reflected on an epic day of competition. It was great to catch up again with the competitors both old and new. Roll on the 2015 Competition Season!

Logo'ed pics by EXPIX Extreme Action Photography