Hunstanton Freestyle 2010

Hunstanton Freestyle – 8^th-10^th July 2010

Lifestyles Festival

Sponsor- Centrica

Sub Sponsors- West Norfolk District Council

Tour Sponsors- Red Bull, Deadman, Ion, Flexifoil, King of Watersports

Event Sub Sponsors-  Dakine / Slingshot / SurfSales / Hunstanton Watersports / KiteKit / Azzams

Five times world kitesurfing champion Aaron Hadlow was a welcome guest at the BKSA Hunstanton National Freestyle event, which took place at the weekend.

Even Hadlow could not influence Friday’s weather on the north coast of Norfolk though, as the strong sunshine and still conditions meant no wind, but the day wasn’t a total write-off, as the competitors watched the BMX and skateboarders going off

Many of the athletes have a skateboarding or BMX background, so an enjoyable day was had by all, despite the unsuitable climatic conditions.

Saturday dawned with more competitors registering for the event, taking the total to 50. The wind was light form the South West however slowly built which enabled the juniors and Amateur Ladies to be run.

Blue Peter were on hand with a 5 strong film crew for there second day of filming the Bridge boys compete with presenter Andy on hand. All the moves were being thrown down to impress the cameras – Tom coming in first ahead of brother guy and Callum Asquith in 3^rd.

We just got the Amateur Ladies heat re-run after the wind died once all ready – the standard here has soared as did the temperatures to almost 35 degrees as the wind totally switched off ! The evening was finished off with a setting sun and some great bands playing on the Hunstanton seafront.

Sunday began very windy much to everyone’s surprise and it was a 9.30 start for the Pro Men’s which was fierce – early standouts were Luke Whiteside and Ned Taylor – however it was a consistent Lewis Wilby who made it into the final with Ned and Oli Sweeney . The conditions were choppy and Oli stomped home most of his tricks to take the lead over the other two in the final to take the win.

Next up were the ladies- British  #1 Hannah Whiteley showed her dominance of the field again taking the win ahead of the much improved Nicky Rudd and Holly Kennedy – think it will be a close season this year.

The Amateur men were next up with a mixture of ages from 20 – 35. and local riders Simon Light and Jordan Smith were showing good form on their local patch however it was new boy Xan Woods who took the win.

Last up was a mixture of heats in the Seniors and Youths however the wind was starting to die off as it switched to the West and kept coming and going – this left the final results in both fleets as 1^st equals for the top 4 riders.

Prize giving was held at 6pm and then everyone said there goodbyes and headed home except for a few who stayed to watch the World Cup Finals!

Results

Pro Men-
1-     Oli Sweeney
2-     Ned Taylor
3-     Lewis Wilby

Pro Ladies
1-     Hannah Whiteley
2-     Nicky Rudd
3-     Holly Kennedy

Am Men
1-     Xan Woods
2-     Jordan Smith
3-     Simon Light

Am Ladies
1-     Chloe Durrant
2-     Polly Crathorn
3-     Danielle Durrant

Seniors
1= Richard Jones, Daniel Vaughn, Peter Whiteley, Joe Hockley

Youth
1= Sam Bull, Will Makinson, Jack Daykin, Ollie Bridge

Juniors
1-Tom Bridge
2- Guy Bridge
3- Callum Asquith

King of the Air

Hannah Whiteley with a Railey to Blind both regular and switch

Pictures courtesy of Steph Bridge – www.edgewatersports.com

Richard Boughton  www.jn-kites.co.uk