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

I arrived at lunch time on Friday after a 3 hour drive over from the North East, it was a nice day with a bit of a chill in the air, but very little in the way of wind. A group of school children were booked in for some powerkite tasters and it was a real struggle to even get the kites in the air - they seemed to have a fun time though. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting with the other competitors, organisers and exhibitors. A meeting was also called by the BKSA race crew, and we discussed the events next year and looking at increasing future participation. The evening was spent in the usual fashion after dinner was served courtesy of the BKSA then we sank a few beers with plenty of banter, whilst listening to some vocalists on the open mic event and a very good 5-piece band. We were all very aware of the extreme conditions forecast for Sunday, and the excitement and anticipation was clearly building.

Saturday started with lovely warm sunshine and a light onshore breeze which lasted all day. I took the opportunity to get the turbine pumped up to continue the tradition of being first on the water. I borrowed a free-race board from Mike Birt and had a great time razzing up and down, whilst working on my strap to strap gybes in glorious sunshine. After a long break for lunch I hit the water again on the race board, but also got a few minutes on an 18m strutless kite - a real eye opener with crazy power once you build up some apparent wind - a little too much in fact!
The evening was kicked off with an amazing curry courtesy of the BKSA - it really hit the spot! It was a little more subdued than the previous night with a lot of the competitors wanting to save themselves for the big winds and high seas forecast for the following day. I expect the non-competitors had a great time though!

By early morning it was very clear that the conditions were going to be extreme - torrential rain was pinging off the van, which was being further rocked by punchy gusts. I poked my head out at 7am to see some very keen windsurfers already out on the water, making the most of the cross-shore conditions for some impressive bump and jump riding in the waves. Ant Baker was the first to head out on a kite, and came back in with tales of super harsh conditions and brutal gusts... we knew the competition was going to be a tough battle between ourselves, but more importantly with the elements.

The morning brief was held at 9:30, and we were told that the first possible start was going to be in an hour, and that the ordering was going to be am's followed by ladies followed by pro men. I opted to pump up my 5.5 Stormchaser and 7m Hadlow, and went out for a quick free-ride on the 5.5m to gauge the conditions. It was definitely very harsh, with wide variations in the wind strength - it was definitely doable on the 5.5 - but doing anything technical in those conditions was another question completely.

The am. men were first up, and we all watched with keen anticipation. Young Eoghan who had been promoted from the Youths, was way overpowered and got blown straight out of the zone and was unable to make it back again. Daniel was pulling off some nice boosts and back-loops, but Craig Smith really put the hammer down with some big airs, one footers, kite-loops and some attempts at unhooking.
We were next up, and hit the water with excitement and some trepidation. Pete Whiteley went huge from the off with a big deadman down-loop which got even the windsurfers cheering! but paid for it with a sketchy landing sending his kite down and his board off in the opposite direction. JP was clearly way overpowered on his 7m and struggled to stay in the zone. I managed to keep things under control with some boosts, 1 footers, my signature invert front-roll grab, tantrum, blind ride and raley. I tried going for a handle-pass but the conditions had the better of me. Whiteley managed to recover his gear mid-way through the heat and continued to go big to impress the judges.
As we left the water all the spectators commented on how much fun it was to watch, it was a great fun and really challenging.

We then had 2 more rounds of am's and seniors; Craig continued to show his dominance in the am's, landing a couple of airpasses and Daniel put up a good consistent performance; Eoghan retired due to the ferocity of the conditions. The ferocity of the first heat took its toll on the seniors, and the second was a little more subdued; Pete continued to wow the crowds with some big airtime and JP performed well too. I struggled to get consistency, missing a 313 and although I managed a Blind Judge, it all fell to pieces with a crash on landing. 
In the third heat the intensity was raised again everyone started by going big and I knew I had to land something technical to clinch it - after three crashed railey to blind attempts - getting ripped off the water on landing, I finally landed my fourth and knew I was in with a decent chance.
We all came off the water and shook each others hands and all shared the buzz of hard fought battle in extreme conditions.

Next up, was the turn of the Pro Ladies, who struggled at first with the gnarly conditions, but as the heats progressed and the wind moderated somewhat, their A-games really started to shine. They all performed really well, but Hannah Whiteley in particular started to land some really impressive moves. Before long, the final was upon us, and Hannah, Rosanna and Holly knuckled down to competition. They all put on a great show, Hannah struggled to land the moves she was taking with ease in the previous heats and Rosanna Jury picked up where she left off with Holly really committing hard to her moves.

The action up to now left us all very excited to watch the pro men. The first heat was Kevin Matthey against Robin Snuggs, which was a HUGE spectacle - Robin hit some huge megaloops right from the off which was received with whooping and hollering from the beach. He kept on going bigger, until he bounced out of a sketchy landing which damaged his ribs, causing an early retirement :( Kevin kept pushing showing some good variety until the buzzer went. In the other heats George Dufty hit some incredible form and landed almost everything with ease, Jon Bleiker landed a great mix of technical moves and some big loops, Richy Flindall was on form, but was tricking well out to sea making it quite difficult to appreciate and Morgan Tinsley impressed with huge power and big distances traveled between take-off and landing.
The final was a match-up between Richy Flindall, Jon Bleiker and George Dufty. Jon crashed and inverted his kite a couple of times, but recovered and got some impressive moves out in double-quick time. Richy continued in similar form to the previous heats, but had to retire early. George continued to be utterly clinical, landing pretty much everything he attempted, picking up mobes and airpasses with ease and there was little doubt who would be the winner.

With all the competition over, both the riders and judges were keen to hit the water again, and we all had great fun boosting as high as we could, whilst trying to dodge the windsurfers! Ali Barrett was going particularly huge and landing cleanly every time - props to him! Afterwards we all packed up and got ourselves ready for the prize giving.

Am's were first up - Craig Smith taking a well deserved win, with Daniel and Eoghan in second and third respectively. These results were mirrored in the championship standings.
Seniors were up next - JP taking third, Pete Whiteley second, leaving me delighted to have taken the win and the overall championship for 2013.
Next was the Pro Ladies - Rosanna over the moon to have taken the win and the championship, with Holly and Hannah following closely behind.
And finally the Pro Men - George Dufty stealing the show with incredible performances all day long, Jon Bleiker taking a highly creditable second and Richy Flindall in third place.

All that was left was to say our goodbyes and prepare for the journey home. The windfest crew and BKSA had put on another incredible event and I'm sure we'll all look forward to doing it all over again next time!

I set off on the road to Barrow straight after work on Thursday evening. It's a drive I've made several times, but never in quite such clammy conditions.
When I finally arrived at the beach I was greeted with a light sea-breeze, and said quick hello's to everyone who had already arrived.
It was pretty marginal, but really needed a dip in the sea, so got my trusty Turbine out and had wonderfully refreshing ride for an hour or so.
The rest of the night was spent catching up with competitors and sinking a cheeky beer or two.

Friday morning was again very warm, and after the morning brief and chinwag with the new arrivals we had to go for another swim to cool down. Winds at this point were pretty light, but theoretically it was perfect sea breeze conditions, so we chilled for a few hours with our fingers crossed.
By mid afternoon, the wind had swung onshore and despite it being pretty marginal, it was decided that we'd have a slopestyle contest. The format was 3 downwind runs each - with a trick on both tacks, and the best combination taking the win. We were split into 3 categories: Ladies, Am Men&Seniors, and Pros.
It was pretty clear that I had to go for my 17m SS Turbine, which gave me a significant advantage over people which didn't have such a large kite; but i was amazed by the level of difficulty of tricks that Robin Snuggs and Richy Flindal were going for on their 12m kites - great to watch, and it drew quite a crowd of spectators on the waterfront.
During my runs I landed a Railey to Blind on the way out and a Shifty to Wrapped and a toeside 3 on the way in - I was hopeful that I had a resonable chance of placing.
After we'd all had our three runs and we'd all keenly watched the action, it was clear that there was going to be insufficient wind to run the main competition. We had a short freeride, then packed up and got ready for a very tasty carvery, drinks and merriment at a local pub :)

Saturday started with a decent offshore breeze and continuation of the hot weather - it was forecast to drop off through the day, and pick up again the evening. 
The results from the previous day's competition were announced at the morning briefing, and was over the moon to hear that I'd done enough to take the win, with fellow flexi riders Craig Smith and Steve Mews in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The day was spent with a few people going out wake-boarding courtesy of Gary Powell and lots of socializing on the beach and around the vans. As evening approached the wind slowly started to fill in, and I took the opportunity to take the 13m Hadlow to the water in the offshore conditions - a pretty nice session - flat water and some good power at times. After this I hooked up with all the others and some local riders for the evening BBQ; sank a few ciders and listened to Gary Powell's guitar and vocal talents in the marquee. Some of the pro's decided to make the most of the increasing winds and drove around the coast a little to score a sweet evening session too.

Sunday started cooler and cloudy, and had a similar offshore forecast to the previous day but a little stronger on the wind front. We were hopeful that some competitions could be run. Ali, Robin and Kitemare Pete were sent out to test the conditions as the tide dropped, and it was decided that we'd run another slope-style comp in the hope that by the time it had ended, the wind would have picked up sufficiently to run the main event.
The format was a little different to Fridays competition, only one run but 4 trick attempts, with only the best one counting. The groups were split up as before, with Pro's, Am's and Ladies.
After watching a few people have their turn, it was my go. The second I hit the water there was no wind, so crawled out to sea working the kite all the way, and crawled back in again. As I went back out again, I was scouring the water for signs of a gust to trick in, and just after I passed the safety boat quite some distance out to sea, one appeared. I decided it was now or never, so fishpoled the bar for a kiteloop 3, and got a nice bit of wang from the Hadlow Pro as I was launched into the air. As the kite started to climb again I started the rotation for the 3, and was super relieved to feel my hand back on the bar before coming in for landing. I was happy with that, so rode in, and continued to watch the action to the end. It was decided that the conditions were unsuitable to run the main event as everyone was struggling to stay upwind.

The prize giving was just an hour away, and a few of us tried to free ride but the wind dropped off further and we all called it a day. We all got changed and walked up to the marquee for the ceremony delivered by Mark Ward and guest judge James Boulding. 
As the results of the Best Trick Comp. were read out it was great to hear that newcomer Daniel Oyston had scored 3rd place, that returning master Pete Whiteley claimed second, and that my kiteloop 3 had been enough to secure top spot. Holly claimed the honors in the ladies competition with Sukie and Jemima coming close behind, and it was great to see that ripper Joe Hockley had mixed it up with the pro's and claimed 2nd place with George Dufty taking top spot and Jon Bleiker taking a solid 3rd. 

It was soon time to say our goodbyes again, it was great to see everyone after a long winter and good to see the return of Mark Ward and Glen "PUMP YER KITES" Foley, and also nice to hook up with Jo Wilson and James Boulding.
I've been to many an event over the years, and I've come to recognize that in the end it doesn't matter if there's wind or not, a good time and lots of laughter is assured, with friends old and new. Big respect to the BKSA team and the efforts of Gary Powell - you guys nailed it once again! Roll on Troon in September!