We have over the years, due to our location in Swindon, had a number of customers from the Army, RAF and Navy as regulars as we are surrounded in Gloucester and Wiltshire with large military bases and communities. We have long helped them out with special military discount where we could and have a good number of friends and customers in the armed forces. The UK military have always recognised sport as an important element of relaxing and exercise for their staff and support the extreme sports, Snowboard, Kitesurfing and Powerkiting elements with inter-services competitions to build teamwork and a bit of friendly rivalry between the different services. The main focus of the competitions serves the discipline of freestyle kiteboarding offering competitors the opportunity to show off their agility and manoeuvrability during aerial tricks while throwing in spins, grabs and handle passes.
We had always heard great things about the snow camps and kitesurfing events so when we heard from some customers that the inter-services Kitesurfing event was happening down in Devon we had to pop along to the beach and have a look for ourselves! We couldn’t officially support the event with prizes etc at this late date as sponsors had already been secured but thought it would be nice to meet up, have a look and do some pics and a bit of a report on the event for ourselves!
It was early morning when I received the go-ahead to embark on my journey to Tri Service Festival of Kiting, all the kit was packed and ready to go, all that was left was to shed a quick prayer that the van would make the three hour journey there and back. The Tri Service event was meant to have taken place at Westward Ho, however due to offshore winds this pushed the competition and myself to journey down to Exmouth which was blowing direct onshore winds.
Before my arrival, the day was showing to be glum, cloudy and producing little signs of wind, which was not looking good. However with perseverance accompanied by multiple cups of coffee my arrival was imminent, the tree’s where moving, the tide was low and the beach was flooded with kites while the road side over encumbered with Volkswagen transporters and camper vans, a truly beautiful sight to behold. On the water a variation between blue and red rash vests warming up for the upcoming heats; the red for the British Army and the blue for Royal Air Force. One of the first things I noticed about this event was the social divide between the teams, all remained in their own teams and had close to separate launch and land zones allocated on the beach by branded flags. I begun to look deeper, although both teams kept some sort of distance, both teams kept on the relentless support for their riders; If ever a kite was to crash you could be sure you’ll see the rest of the team double timing it up the beach moments later to get that kite back up in the air, cheering and chanting as the rider finishes off the remainder of their heat.
The team members competed in an area marked by two flags on the beach to which judges observe what contestants throw down and mark them on the trick they do, how big they go, how smoothly they land it and whether they land it! Marking a near sixteen a team, it was truly awesome seeing the amount of people who participated in the event both on and off the water, showing true teamwork to one another and making the event a 60+ person turnout!
A huge variety of kite brands showed the true diversity of the military kite industry, everything from Best, Epic and F-One to Naish, Wainman and Crazy Fly where being ridden, however by far the most popular and most represented during the event was North and Ozone, typically the Vegas and the Zephyr to which by the near end of the event was a saviour after a gradual drop in the wind. Despite the drop however I witnessed some pretty slick moves out on the water (Unfortunately my camera lens wasn’t quite the length I needed) with some throwing double back rolls while others set the bar by sending loops and managed some unhooking before the wind begun to drop down!
First up was the Novices who took lead in showing off their riding followed by the Open Freestyle rounds to where the teams competed in a series of heats. Once the final rounds of the competition set in, strategies where being put in place as to the shortage of Zephyr’s during the heat intervals due to the wind drop, however moral remained at an all time high with everyone putting in to do their bit to help push through. Again noting on the teamwork that took place during the event is un matching, if something went wrong everyone did what they could to contribute. A wonderful example was when two kites during a heat, one from each team, wrapped and begun death-rolling and crashing into the waves followed by the mass of seaweed that consumed the bar and lines (see picture). I believe the situation was solved and both kites were up in the air after a matter of minutes with the help of everyone on the beach!
Competition Winners:
Coming first in the Kitesurf Freestyle was Bob Bowman (RN) followed by James Goddard (RN) in second and Chris Roberts (RAF) in third place.
For Ladies Freestyle; Charlie Davies (RAF) in first place followed by Anna Irwin (RAF) in second and Rachael Lee (RAF) in third place.
And lastly for the veterans Freestyle Kev Main (Army) came at number one with Trev Calvert (RN) in second and Simon Taylor (RAF).
Overall awesome effort put in by all and congratulations to the competitors and of course the the champions of the day! I think it goes without saying that I and everyone else who attended the event look forward to the next kiting season!
