Events

2004 AIRVENTS

Mar 6 - 8 - Blackrock Sands (North West Wales) - See past events for photos and review.

May 29-30 Bank Holiday - The Gower (South Wales) - See below for photos and review.

Aug 27-30 (Bank Holiday) - Anglesey, Rhosneigr (North Wales) - See below for photos and review.

Oct 30 - Nov 6 - Perranporth (Cornwall) I have booked a 5 star cottage just outside Padstow for this AirVent. Padstow is on the North Coast of Cornwall 7 miles from Fistral Beach, so we're close to all the good beaches. The cost for this event is £90 per person, it is our first week long event, and week long bookings will take priority over short stays. The Cottage sleeps 12, and therefore (taking Gary and I into account) there are 10 spaces available for this event, so first come first served. There are loads of things to do if the weather isn't in our favour, so it would make a great break for kiting, relaxing or exploring. Not only have we got a fab Cottage (with snooker room, log burners and arga), near to all the good beaches, but the Final of the British Kitesurfing Championships are being held from the 4th Nov - 7th Nov at Watergate Bay. So you'll get to see some ripping kitesurfing action from the UK top riders, maybe including World Champion Aaron Hadlow. Plus the Cottage is in the grounds of Crealy Adventure Park (voted best Cornish tourist attraction), and you get free admission !!!!! So if you want to be apart of the crew and have a full on kiting week in Cornwall, then pop in or give me a call on 0870 321 2130 before the 15th October.

The New Year event has been postponed to January due to cost implications.

If you want to be a part of the crew click on the e-mail link on the right of this screen and we'll add you to the list. We insist you have 3rd Party Insurance when attending our events. Please contact us for a BBC Insurance Form.

The Gower - May 2004

We arrived just before the campsite closed due to it being so full at 11.30. We found the Airboss crew and joined them for a couple of beers before setting up the tents in the dark. The next morning we woke to find that the campsite was almost on the beach and luckily the sun was shinning and we had 10mph wind, we set ourselves up with a lovely unhealthy breakfast before heading down to check it out. The beach was about 2 miles long with clean hard flat sand. We set up base camp the other side of the stream, using two 19m Naish LEI's as shelter for the day. Bird Bones, Gary and myself were using around 5m kites whilst the rest of the party were landboarding with 6m and above. The wind was cross - onshore and not gusty at all, allowing us to use a fair amount of the beach, it was easy to pick up speed nicely.

Gary decided it was perfect weather to try out the 13m Geurilla that we had on loan. It sat at the top of the window and was really stable. He went out in the buggy and easily achieved a 28mph run down the beach on his first go. It wasn't long before Bird Bones challenged him to a race down to the end of the beach and back. Off they went, Gary on the Geurilla and Bird on the 5.5 Bullet, it was dead level until public started walking towards them, Gary came in first after a close run. Neil, Tom, Roger, Wez, Steve, Mark and Charlotte were all flying down the beach on their Landboards. Neil and Wez were pulling off some sweet slides and jumps using a 10m Voodoo and 9.5 Frenzy.

That night we decided to have a few beers and a BBQ on the beach, which was expertly cooked by Mark. We were all glowing from the sun and felt very chilled and relaxed. After the food fest we needed to work it off and most of us were up for a bit of night flying. Conditions were great, and we were all ripping it up. It started to get a bit too dark so we headed back to the tents for more beer and a chat in the glow dome.

The next day the wind was a little slow to pick up and by lunch everyone was pretty sleepy, what could be better than having a chilled sleep on the beach. Around 2ish the wind had picked up, and was completely onshore, but the tide that had gone out left us with some huge potholes nearer the waters edge, so it was a bit of a shock when flying down the beach to land in one of them!!! Bird decided to explore more of the beach but on his way back the tide was coming in quicker than he realised, he got wiped out by a big wave, he wondered back to camp resembling a sand monster. Beginners Dee and Keeley were enjoying flying the 2.6 Flexifoil Blade 9next event we'll have them flying down the beach in a buggy). I was enjoying testing the Peter Lynn 5m Rebble, which was great in the Buggy, very stable with a lot of pull, I would definitely have to test this out in land to see if it was as stable.

That evening we went to the Greyhound Inn for food, which was sloooowww but tasted great when it came. We had decided to go back to camp and have the free beers there, but most of us were pretty tired and ended up going to bed about 12ish.

Monday came and so did a South Easterly which came over the downs which made it really gusty and as soon as we got down to the beach is started to rain, bummer!!! Charlotte decided to try the 6.6 Blade (get some overpowered experience in) but after a huge jump and major power slides she found that it was a little too much in the gusts, she couldn't stay on the ground.

We sat around in the shelter for about an hour or so to see if the rain would clear up, but it started to get worse and gustier. So we decided to pack up and head back to camp. After a wet pack up we were ready to go, but food was required to set us up for the long journey home, so we headed off to the pub again to finish the weekend off.

Anglesey - August 2004 This takes me back to a year ago in April, when a small party of us visited Anglesey where it threw it down with rain and exceeded 28mph wind, after a few hours of being damp and battered, we called it a day, it made me very reluctant to go back and face the extreme conditions of Anglesey again, but after we heard the news of the Pendine ban, and looking for beaches on a August Bank Holiday, I had no choice but to look in that direction again. Gary and I have visited Rhosneigr in Anglesey a few times with the BKSA and each time the wind had blown and it was a successful competition, so I knew the bay was great for Kitesurfing and Windsurfing, but anyone who's been would possibly note that the beach is not brilliant for boarding or buggying….. WRONG!!! The beach was fantastic, not massive, around ¾ of a mile but excellent for boards and buggies with its hard sand and prevailing SW (onshore) wind, plus the estuary stops a lot of the general public getting over to the almost deserted beach!
We arrived Friday lunchtime, and managed to get down to the beach by 3pm to explore, luckily we bumped into Andy Jones and the Flexifoil testing crew (trying the new Bullets out). Unfortunately they hadn't bought the new de-powerable "Sabre" down to the beach otherwise, Charlotte would have snapped their hand off to have a go! But as a alternative he tweaked Charlottes 6.6m stretched Bridal, which made up for it. We eventually got back to campsite (Bodfan Farm), which was just in walking distance from the beach, with clean facilities, and laid back manner. We stayed there that evening for a BBQ and drank plenty of beer, enough to start the ball or should I say war games off.
	The next morning came, the sun shone and the wind blew, we got down around 11am and settled in for a long day on the beach with about 15mph wind blowing on shore. Wes and Charlotte were the first two out on their kites. With the rest of us taking in the scenery, Tom went out on his 7.3m Frenzy. Neil went for his Voodoo, Gary plucked for the 15m Phantom (of course), we had a couple of beginners, Becky and Trine; Becky had a play on the 2m Slingshot Wasp, whilst Mark had the 6.6 Blade out. Wes by this time was starting to pull off some very styli railie grabs and board wheelies, so feeling inspired I decided I would try and dabble again in the world of boarding; weapon of choice 9m Phantom (if your gonna go for it, I say GO FOR IT), I was feeling very pleased with myself as I was managing to go back and forward (not very controlled) but never the less going. I started to pick up a bit of speed, and a bit more, I wasn't enjoying the feeling too much, so I decided to bail……… hummmmm, perhaps not such a good idea! As I pulled out the straps, I managed to trip and fall landing on my hips then my head! After that it was all a blurrrrr apart from the image of the Phantom slamming into the beach powered up on top of the group. Luckily everyone was ok and after a spot of lunch, Dee got out on the buggy with her 2.5m Bullet, soon she was blasting up the beach after Mark. That evening we went to the pub Tafarn Y Mor for a meal and drinks, and to celebrate Mark and Dee's Wedding on the Thursday before, we celebrated in style with Champagne for all! We got back to the glow dome for some x-rated trivial pursuit, hosted by our resident Doctor Meadley (sorry Minal), by which time most of us were absolutely knackered and were ready for bed.
The next day (Sunday) we woke again to sunshine and plenty of wind, the tide wasn't going out until 12noon so we had a leisurely breakfast morning. Most of us had really gone for it the day before, so it felt more chilled and relaxed. The wind was pretty strong so Blake decided to opt for the 1.5 Bullet and a buggy and was happily zipping around whilst Charlotte was on the 4.9m Blade going for some good slides and jumps. Tom and Neil both tried the Phantom with mixed impressions, but in general liking the stability. Neil decided to get out on the water for a session; he said the waves were the best he's ever been out in. Helen was going toeside on her board with a 2m Buster, whilst Nick went out on his 5m Slingshot caning a toe to frontside switch. Gary was buggying with the 9m Phantom and was exploring the other bay. Neil and I decided to join him as the wind really started to kick in and we stopped for a bit at the top end of the bay, I was touring the rocks for a bit, looked out into the distance……. And all I saw was this huge black cloud coming directly towards us, fast…… I shouted to Gary "look behind youuuuuuuu, as we shot of back down to the group just in front of the wind front, I got back to see Wes nearly being catapulted over the dunes and was being held down by Charlotte and Tom holding onto his 15m Phantom completely de-powered. We were packing away when the rain came! That evening we had a cook your own pasta meal and bring it to the table.
	Monday arrived and it was blowing a gale in the wrong direction, completely cross-shore. We decided to look further a field and try Prestatyn which was on the way home, by the time we got their after being stopped by the police for our reg plate!!!!!!!! it was about 3pm, most of us felt that we had had 2/3 days of really good weather and kiting, so we ended up in our usual place - a pub, where we had a good meal and a few beers before facing the bank holiday traffic.