BKSA round 1, Redcar.

The first round of the BKSA (British KiteSurf association) championships was held at Majubo beach, Redcar.

I arrived Thursday evening and met up with teamrider Carl the Bullit after chatting for a bit I decided it was time to turn in as it was going to be another hectic weekend. Just after I turned in I was found by our UK rep Chris Hill (guess being the only one with a Dutch licence plate kinda gave me away) and soon enough I was having some beers and having a few laughs with some of the landboarders that also arrived, good fun with banjo music to boot . Friday started early and we were informed about groups of schoolkids coming for taster lessons so we made ready the Impulses TR and soon enough we had smiling faces all around. Winds were offshore and too low really to hold the comps so we fooled around a bit with the 24m Charger, Dan Smith made some long floaty jumps with it but every now and then a gust came through so he was well overpowered at points.

Saturday we again had the impulses on the beach and BKSA instructors used them to give taster sessions throughout the day, it was great to have PL kites in the sky all day and even the kitesurfers had fun with them. Again the wind were offshore and gusty as heck so only a few of the competitions were run, Kiteboard course racing was done, pretty cool to see the riders with their biggest kites and their big raceboards go at it, and at times the winds dropped so they were fighting to keep their kites in the sky. In the evening the BKSA had arranged for a buffet for all the competitors, cool to have all these kiters in different disciplines together sharing laughs, drinks aplenty and it got pretty late before everyone headed to bed.

Sunday, last chance to get the comps going but unfortunately the wind didn’t play ball, straight offshore, and more gusty than ever. Pro landboarding was difficult on all riders but the guys made the most of it to come to a weekend result, after the pro’s were done the amateurs got their heats in as well as the juniors.

By 16:00 pricegiving was done and the winners announced.

For PL Carl the Bullit took first in the Ams, congrats!

After that everyone was packing up for the trip back home.

PL thanks the BKSA for organising another good one, the food and laughs, cheers to all the riders and we’ll see you soon at the next kiteival, Wallop Reloaded!