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!