Essex Kitefest

Essex “Kitefest”
Location Sponsors – Essex Kite Park
Tour Sponsors – Best , Mutiny, King of Watersports, Ion , Palmera Local
Dates – June 15th-17th
Location – Essex Kite Park  http://www.essexkitepark.co.uk/
Disciplines – Freestyle Kitelandboard and Kitebuggy

The forecast for the weekend was looking wet and windy and there was almost a hint of cancelling the event as rain and grass make for a bad commination!

However the forecast improved and the riders  with great British spirit wanted to bust there moves in the wilds of Essex – so it was on. Essex Kitepark is just outside of Southend a 15 min drive – in the middle of the countryside  and can accommodate any wind direction.

Competitors started to arrive on Thursday night and had a great Freeride on the Friday.

Saturday

Registration was early next morning with riders coming as far from Germany and France to compete Due to the rain the Friday evening it was agreed to delay the start till 12pm to allow the field to dry out. Unfourtunatly the wind had now got up to almost 30 knots and competitors decided to postpone the Freestyle until the Sunday.

There was still some fun to be had and it was decided to run a short track buggy race and then a landboard boarder cross round the same circuit however including the ramps and kickers. It was great fun and lots of spills and spins in the gusty strong wind. Most riders took it easy with a few beers and a BBQ ready to do battle on the Sunday

Sunday

Sunday dawned with still quite a fresh breeze however it was forecast to drop. Lewis Wilby was on hand as Head Judge to run proceedings together with competitors from each discipline who alternated. Competition kicked off with the Amateur men who were run in a round robin format meaning every competitor rode against each other getting .7 for a win and 2 points for a loose. Each competitor hence had 3 heats; they all rode well in the area also using the sliders and kickers whoever it was German Pascal Smidt who showed great form to take the win – a name to look out for in the coming years.

Next up was the Pro Men which proved to have a very high standard with lots of spins, board offs, rallies and a few handle passes mixed in. Local Essex boy Jack Elston and 2011 Champ did not make it into the final however and it was a 3 continent final. Ash Garwood gave it his best show to come in 3rd ahead of Frenchman Laurent Guyot in 2nd and Germanys Emmanuel Norman who had some lofty jumps and sweet landings.

Finally the Buggy’s hit the comp zone with 10 heats as there were 8 riders – a great turnout. Each rider had thechance to progress and had a second chance in a reporcharge system . Big crashes came from Phil Revill on his 14m and Josh Hough who ended in the stingers in a ditch – OUCH !! In the semis it was 2011 Am winner Josh Hough who was up against Graham Read – Josh had a great repertoire of tricks to take the win.

The Final was last up with Richard Dent against Adam Toms. Richard did some great jumps and amused the crowds bending his newly fitted back axle once again – there were some great jumps off the kicker right in front of the gathered crowd . However it was Adam Toms who went really large to secure the win with great height and technical ability.

Big thanks to all that came , filmed and special thanks to jay and Steve from Essex Kitepark for Hosting the event

Prize giving was at 2pm

More pictures on Facebook

Results

Buggy Race
1 Josh Hough
2 Steve Dilley
3 Nigel Hough

Boardercross
1 Emmanuel Norman
2 Carl Kirton
3 Will Rose

Am Men Landboard
1 Pascal Smidt
2 Chris Walker
3 Carl Kirton

Am Buggy
1 Adam Toms
2 Richard Dent
3 Josh Hough

Pro Men Landboard
1 Emmanuel Norman
2 Laurent Guyot
3 Ash Garwood