Blackpool BKSA – The Finals

I seem to attract sketchy conditions these days! Thursday afternoon I’d booked the afternoon off work to travel up to Blackpool, but with all weather maps displaying red arrows & heavy rain, we didn’t much fancy sleeping in an unlined van in October! Andy Cartlidge and I decided it would therefore be perfect to take the 9m Peter Lynn Phantom 2 to the Nova for her maiden flight. Our arrival was met with smooth consistent wind; it was just the matter of the 46mph wind alert that stopped all plans as we headed back home & listened to the hail & thunderstorms from safely indoors!

Early Friday afternoon we headed to Blackpool for the final round in the British Freestyle Championships. This was my first year in the “Men’s” category after wining every round of the Women’s for the last 2 years. I was currently sat 3^rd in the overall leader board and needed Phil Revill (who was 2^nd) to drop at least 2 places if I was to take his place.

After the riders meet we were given a start time an hour away, but the beach was still covered in water! I could have cried when I put my wind meter up & it read 13-37mph of gustiness!! As the tide moved back it revealed a beach of craters & shingle, how on earth could we run a land comp from here? The wind seemed to keep dropping down & picking up all the time, so kite choice was critical. I opted for a 12m Peter Lynn Charger but needed help from Peter Lynn riders Carl Kirton & Dan Smith to get the kite launched & into my buggy. Andy meanwhile opted for a 15m Phantom 2 Proto on short lines, again with an assisted launch.

Round one of the comp & Andy knocked out the overall leader Josh. My heat was black flagged half way through after the wind picked up again & I ended up out of the competition zone with my kite in a ditch (you know me & ditches by now!) but once restarted, I managed to secure a place to the next round after beating Phil. Phil managed to win his next heat, then I won the finals (despite a cautious performance), after landing some nice aerial backloop transitions, inverts & sidewinders. Andy came second which made me very proud and also put enough points between myself & Phil for me to steal his 2^nd spot for the overall championships!

1^st & 2^nd for the Cartlidge’s & Peter Lynn – brilliant

BKSA landboarding

Next was the Pro Men’s landboard. Dan Smith was throwing down some mega technical tricks on his 12m Charger whilst most of the other men could ‘only” land massive kiteloops. Unfortunately after we all thought he was winning his heat against Champion Jack a snapped line took him out of the comp. Gutted!!

Carl meanwhile had been taking some hard knocks in practice, but a brave effort put him 3^rdin his comp, also on a 12m Charger) and another PL team rider on the podium!

I didn’t kite for the rest of the weekend, sometimes you know when you’re pushing things far enough!! Dan Smith put in a gutsy performance the next day in the kite surf twin tip race; it was great to see Chargers on the water at this event for once!

A brilliant weekend was had by all and a lot of sore heads following the end of year party! The sketchy conditions seemed to really bring the team together, we all seemed to spend the whole comp running round after each other through our own mini disasters, but I felt a massive sense of achievement and pride at the end of it for myself & my fellow riders.