| Kiteboarders crowned at the 2010 Kiteival Blackpool |
| Tuesday, 19 October 2010 11:39 |
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Back to Blackpool for the second year in a row – this time on the Northern Beaches, at Bispham. It was the final event of the season and it was everything to play for in many of the fleets especially the Kitesurfing Freestyle. Hannah Whiteley and Sam Light have been crowned. On Thursday, the Pro Riders arrived and registered – the wind forecast was for no wind – so the heats were drawn and riders spent the day tuning the kit for the forecasted winds of Friday. Friday, all the other fleets arrived to register and the race crew got ready for the days proceedings. There was a mixture of rain showers early on however these went away to leave the strengthen North West wind. Kitesurfing Freestyle The competition got started at 10 am and most riders were on 9 or 12 meter kites – the sea got progressively rougher during the day with a few nice lagoons forming however the race crew only had till 4pm due to the high tide to complete all fleets – a mean feat! Heat times and Transition times were reduced and every fleet got a result. Particularly tight heats were the Pro Men’s where Sam Light (2009 champ) decided to enter and take the win giving Ned Taylor and Luke Whiteside a fight for 2nd and 3rd. Ned went bigger and put in more tricks ahead of Luke’s higher risk higher scoring moves – however Luke just crashed once too many times. The Am Ladies, Am Men, Youths and Seniors Fleets were all up for grabs and it was great to watch them all in the difficult conditions. Kitelandboard and Kitebuggy Freestyle This was one of the best beaches for the discipline however due to unseasonable Easterlies the three weeks prior to event the sand was to soft to perform so the riders went up to another beach to get all the heats done. Dave Roberts managed to beat Craig Sparkes run of 1sts in the final event in the buggies with some great tricks. In the other two categories of Men and Junior Kitelandboard it was no surprise with the current leaders Jack Elston and Greg Chilton putting in sound performances to take the podium places once again ahead of the rest of the field. Kitesurfing Course Race With a great wind the 11 racers managed to get in 7 races on the Friday using 9 -12 m kites. Current leader Callum Edge was absent and it was Steph Bridge and Denzil Williams battling it out in the top of the fleet, Denzil ripping his fin out whilst getting a bit of involuntary “air time”. Next battle was Lee Harvey and new boy Ben Todd who surprised everyone with a couple of 2nds and flying off the wind – one to watch next year. Friday night saw the Red Bull BBQ and luckily the wind died off for this! Saturday Dawned with a light building North Westerly. There was enough wind to run some Ladies Kitebuggy and Nicola Hammond put up a great show to win the heat against Sukie Robertson. There was then an Expression session for the Landboard and Buggy guys to show the crowds what it was all about with some great tricks in the light wind - Dan Smith 1st Jack Elston 2nd and Ash Garwood 3rd. The Racers managed to getthree more races in - Steph did enough to take the win – again showing the boys how to race! The wind then switched offshore just after lunch however enough to run Powerkite sessions all day courtesy of Flexifoil. It was all off to the Venue at Cleveleys for the prizegiving and a big night out in Blackpool. Full Results Freestyle Kitesurfing Juniors Youth Am Ladies Am Men Seniors Pro Ladies Pro Men’s Junior Landboard Men’s Landboard Men’s Buggy Ladies Buggy Open Race
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