Not long now...
17th September 2008
The wind is on it's way back!! Forecast is for E/NE by the end of the week, which means Ryde sessions - flat water, and little kickers and a nice long sandy beach :-) I can't wait - so badly need to get out kiting again, I start to feel seriously ill and a bit daze and confused when I haven't been kiting for a few days - there's worse things to be addicted too right? It will be windy this weekend but I'm going to Amsterdam tomorrow with work until Monday, working on the iShares Cup www.isharescup.com) so I will have to wait 'patiently' until then! Should be able to take some time off work to kite next week though - just gotta hope and pray the wind stays! Next comp is in 9 days at Littlehampton (Sept 26-28th) so gotta hit it hard next week and man-up :-D Hope this weekend goes quick! just gotta try and not party too hard out there! Hope you guys all have a wicked weekend kiting and I'll catch up with you next week! :-)
Time to hit the gym...
11th September 2008
So it looks like we might not have wind for a few days now - and when this happens, I hit the gym instead! And at the same time, think about and visualise what I'm going to do next time I'm on the water :-)
Emma and I had a good session at Witterings on Sunday but since then, no kiting, which has been pretty tough! A few of us went down to Yaverland yesterday evening to check it out but the wind died. We all pumped up, and Dave, Ben and Stu went out but headed straight downwind, and working their kites hard. It didn't look like a lot of fun, just a lot of hard work keeping the kite up! but better than staying on the beach! When Ben launched my kite it bearly stayed in the sky...so we decided to land our kites and wait to see if the wind filled in...it didn't but we have a good chat and laugh on the beach...for two hours...and then we all headed home! No kiting but good to catch up sometimes!
At the moment, there doesn't look like there will any wind until next Weds, which is FIVE days away!!! noooooooo!!! but then N/NW winds are forecasted which will mean a Ryde/Seaview session...and flat water :-) raley time...and kiteloops too.
I have quite a lot to nail before the next comp in two weeks. When I next hit the water, I will hit it harder than ever! Man-up time :-)
Got some pix from Tony today (http://www.kiteboarder.co.uk), of the Aberdeen comp. Check out my photo section! Thanks Tony!! xx
No complaints :-) ...
6th September 2008
...from me about the weather but if it stopped raining it would be wicked :-) We've had such wicked wind lately, just hope it carries on. We had a wicked session on Monday at Yaverland after work. The wind was sweet. It was quite a short session as the nights are closing in on us so much earlier now (rubbish!) but tried a few unhooked ralies and landed one which felt really wicked, keeping my kite low. I just have to keep doing them and stop doing stuff I know I can land. I've promised myself I would try ralies everytime I get out kiting and get out of the habit of doing the usual stuff I know I can do. I've said this a lot to myself in the pat few months but now with only 3 weeks til the next comp I really have to learn some new tricks - I'm on a raley and kiteloop mission!
On Thursday, it was a mission trying to find anyone to go kiting with as everyone was at the Bestival, swimming in mud and probably wishing they were kiting instead :-) Luckily I managed to persuade my brothers, Tom and Ben, to come to the beach and watch me. We went to Brook and I was the only one out. It was another short session but wicked and worth every minute, and I kited until dark! :-)
2nd win at Aberdeeeen :-)
6th September 2008
Round 5, BKSA Freestyle Tour: Aberdeen, Scotland (22nd-24th Aug)
Another wicked weekend! Such a mission journey up there - 13 hours journey from the island - but so so worth it :-) As you drive in to Scotland and even before and you pass the Lake District, the landscape starts to change and you start driving through some awesome valleys and you can see mountains in the distance, it's so wicked. Definitely planning on coming up here for some snowboarding action at some point.
We arrived at the hotel late Friday night and had a cheeky glass of vino tinto :-) meant to be good for you, thins your blood or something...! Got up early Sat morning, had a good hearty Scottish brekky and then hit the beach for registration, well actually, in the field where all the vans were. There are huge sand dunes next to beach so everyone was parked up in the field just behind the dunes. It was wicked seeing everyone again! We had the briefing and then I went to climb up the sand dunes to check out the beach. The beach was amaaaazing and never ending! huuuge sandy beach with no groynes or rocks or anything, just beach and lots of it :-) It was wicked, so so pretty. I wish I could kite here all the time. While I was standing up there I could see a few people walking through the sand dunes with their kites so I went back to the car to grab my kites and board. The wind was looking good and the comp was gonna start as soon as the guys had sorted out the heats and set up everything, so I put my wetsuit on so I was nearly ready to rock and took everything to the beach and started pumping up my kites.
When I had set up my F-One Bandits (6.5m, 9m, 11m) I went out for a kite. I hadn't been out as much as I would have liked to in the few weeks leading up to the event, a bit because of work and also because the wind doesn't always play ball as we all know! so I was really keen to get out and have a good kite. It's quite cool before the heats when we're all out on the water warming up and practising. I wish I could kite with everyone more often but we're all from all over and before the comps is often the only time we kite together. At events I sometimes forget I'm there to compete cause I'm just having a good time being there and hanging out with everyone :-)
Four girls entered the amateur ladies comp at Aberdeen- Me, Holly Kennedy, Sheryl Confue and Kierra Alwood. I was in a heat with Holly. I call her lil'Kennedy/lil'dude - she's only 18 and a bit like a little sis to me! It's a bit weird sometimes competing against your mates but you get used to it, and whether we win or lose, we're happy for each other. The guys who run the event sometimes comment on how we're such good mates and there's a whole lotta love between us! I think it's quite funny. The other guys are the same but I think with the girls, we all hardly ever kite with other girls so that is why we probably love each other a lot more :)
I won my heat against Holly, and Kierra beat Sheryl, so Kierra and I went through to the final and Sheryl and Holly were in the losers final to decide who would join us in the final.
There were over 40 kiters competing so loads of heats before our final so Sheryl and I went to get a hot chocolate at her van and a good old chin-wag :-) Then we went back to the beach and watched the other heats and chatted to everyone. It's good to talk...and I think I do a lot of it, and I have a feeling a few might agree that :-)
During the day, we all went out for a kite. I only got my new board, F-One Acid 130, a few weeks before the comp and still was getting used to it, so I was pretty keen to get out on it as much as I could, I just tried to make sure I didn't tire myself out. Luckily I had a pot of my Grasshopper Porridge earlier in the day and I kept a bag of jelly babies in my kite bag, which I like to eat during a day at the beach kiting. I love'em :-)
The wind picked up during the day and as it got closer to my final I couldn't decide whether to take my 6.5 or 9, so I went out on both beforehand to see how they felt. I was underpowered on the 6.5 but a bit overpowered at times on my 9, although the wind was a bit on and off so sometimes it wasn't so bad on my 9m, so I decided to go with my 9.
Just before the final I went out and just as the previous heat finished I heard Glenn (our very nice Scottish Beach Marshall!) shout to me 'JOOOORRSIE YOU'RE UP' so I kited in to the box. When the green flag went up to signal the start of the heat, we all kicked in to action! The water was super choppy and quite hard to get nice take-offs so it's hard not to feel frustrated but when it's like that, you've just got to remember it's the same for everyone. Kierra's kite went down quite early on in the final and she didn't manage to get it back up again and drifted downwind, which was a massive shame for her. So me Holly and I carried on doing our thing.
Since the last comp at Skegness, I hadn't learnt any new tricks really as I hadn't had a lot of time on the water, well I have been trying stuff but nothing I felt confident that I could land, so I just did my usual tricks and did as many as I could. Actually, I did do something new for me in a comp and did a downloop toeside turn. It's not a difficult move but something I only tried a couple of months ago so I was happy to have done it in a comp. It was quite a random thought, wasn't planning on doing it, just decided to at the last minute. I did it towards the end of the heat cause I know it takes me downwind which isn't ideal in a comp as you have to get back upwind again to stay in the box, either on the water or on land, but both use up time. The final went so quick and when we got off the water, I had no idea what the results would be. I actually saw Holly doing some cool grabs and stuff. My mate James landed me and then later on I found out I won. I couldn't believe it when I saw it on the board, took a little while to sink in! It took a day to sink in actually, it was only the next day on the way home I realised what was going on and that I had won. I was so happy :-D
Anyway, after our final we watched some of the other finals, and the pro ladies and men were doing some wicked megaloops...(luckily Nicky one of the ladies survived one of her attempts, it was pretty impressive!!)
Holly and I decided that we would have to learn kite/megaloops for the next comp and Sir Snug-Z was giving us a brief breakdown on the simple steps to doing a megaloop so hopefully for Littlehampton the amateur ladies will be going kiteloop krazy :-)
Anyway, somehow Holly and I and a few others were the last people to pack up - could be something to do with how much we talk?! who knows...! so by the time me and the little Kennedy had left the beach it was about 7pm and the BBQ was due to start at 8pm so Holly and Nicky came back and showered at our hotel, and then we went to the party, which was wicked :-)
The next day the prizegiving was held early at 11am so people who needed to start their journey could get going earlier. I was so gutted to leave but was good to be able to hit the road and start the trek down South.
It was such a wicked weekend and such an amazing place to be, I just wish I could have stayed up there longer...Scotland is an awesome place to kite and just really beautiful and full of potential adventures and wicked road trips. I'm definitely planning on going back up to Scotland soon...and if you haven't been up there you've gotta go, you'll love it :-)
My new toy...
30th July 2008
My new board has arrived!! F-one Acid, 130x39cm. It is such a weapon! I can't wait to take it out!! It looks soooo sweet! It's gonna change my life! :-) some people think that's a slight exaggeration but I don't think so :-) Seriously though I'm hoping it will transform my kiting!! It is a bit bigger than my old board (127x37.5cm) so hopefully my new board will help me land and nail some new tricks! The wind is looking light for the next two days but Friday is looking amazing, and I can't WAIT to go out on my new BEAST!!! a nice beast though :-)
Check out the latest photo for a pic of my new board and to find out more, check out this link: http://www.session1.com/fone-acid-2008-kiteboard-p-4606.html?p=product
