2016 British Land Board Freestyle Pro Champion

September 18, 2016

2016 British Land Board Freestyle Pro Champion

Raw Kite British Championships Westward Ho! The Final.

Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th September was the last event of the year. So we started the day at three O'clock Thursday morning, to start the long drive down to the epic beach of Westward Ho! in Devon. We planed to get there a day early for a free ride, but unfortunately the weather forecast was not looking good when we left home.

On arrival at the beach there was a light breeze, as other riders and friends were turning up, we decided it was definatly worth a ride. After having to get up for the early drive, it was awesome to just get out of the van and head to the beach with a kite regardless of the conditions. So I grabbed my Trampa board and 17m Fury which was just perfect for a low wind handle pass session.

On the Friday

Friday was competition day and I was checking wind forecast every 5 minutes before I left the hotel that morning. It said 20 knots gusting 25, and I was getting exited to ride the competition, for those that don’t know me, I like it windy! Im not going to lie, a fully powered 9m Escape v5 is my favourite kite, always wanted a competition to have big winds.

We headed to the beach for the riders briefing and after doing the normal wind check, I chose to take my 11m and 9m. After testing both kites, the 9m was not enough so I chose the 11m. My first round was on the 11m, what a round! I managed to get the tricks I was after, back roll kite loops, spins to blind, invert combinations and even a board off through the legs.

With Will Rose and I close on championship points for freestyle, things where very interesting after Will went through against Floyd (James Tideswell) Leading to the final, where Will was against me! I knew what I had to do, keeping my tricks smooth and variated, it made me feel good about the round, but had I done enough? We had to wait until Saturday for prize giving, not going to lie, it felt like a very long time indeed.

On the Saturday

Riders briefing was at 10:30, where it was discussed how they would run the land board amateurs, buggy heats and land board racing. Land board racing was last on the events schedule, so I had a bit of spare time for a free ride, where Lewis Wilby and I headed out to get some photos.

Once the racing started it was amazing as there were 3 races to run. It was pretty close and I mostly remember the last race, where Will Rose, Sam Wyard and I where so close that all our kite where touching wing tips. I have to hand it to Sam, he really made it hard for me by blocking my every attempt at passing him. Racing is a fun way to start that competitive bug, all you need to do is to be able to ride up wind or down wind. So next year it would be awesome to see you all at a competition!

Now, the BIG news….

I am so happy and it feels great to say that I managed to get a 1st place in freestyle land board pro at this event, which means I am now the 2016 Freestyle British Champion! I also got 2nd place in the land board racing, giving me 2nd in the race Championships. I have to say, it was an amazing weekend.

In 2009 I dreamed of becoming the freestyle land board Pro British Champion and it feels amazing to finally reach that ultimate goal. With a huge amount of hours spent at the beach, with the right gear anything is possible.

A huge thank you to everyone that has helped me along the way and now I will be dreaming the next ultimate goal.