Zero 2 Hero 2013

Golly gosh, that was a big one! The 2013 Zero2Hero event tore up all the record books and has cemented its place in history as the largest Student Kitesurfing Association (SKA) Beginners Weekend ever hosted. The weather gods smiled on us with sun and wind squeezing a whole weekend rain into a short convenient half an hour slot.

Friday night saw 80 of our finest guests arrive in style and after they signed their souls over to our sport it didn’t take them long to find the bar! As we hit the hay ready for a huge Saturday something went bump in the night! Some sneaky thieves from Exeter tried to steal a bunk bed with a sleeping beauty already in it, the weekend was off and running!

SATURDAY

Whilst the 7.30am wake up call was not well appreciated some fresh Welsh air and a bacon role revived the masses. At the beach we were greeted by our second consignment of guests making 150 including 76 beginners who arrived to find tunes pumping and the wind picking up, it almost seemed too good to be true.

After a graceful introduction by our SKA President, in which everyone’s names was pronounced flawlessly,

the first set of beginners were sent off with instructors to get their teeth into our sport. They all jumped straight on the foils and really cracked on with learning how to control the kites, all groups in both morning and afternoon sessions made excellent progress.

Whilst the wind was low we hosted the return of Super Sporty Board-sports and Water-sports Sports Day! This year everyone really brought their A-game and there was no mercy in competition between Bawbags, Shreddies, BUKS and BUKS.2! Friendships were broken and people may never talk again after the fierce rivalry during the games; but after some tears and a lot of laughter BUKS.2 managed to bring it home for the win.

In the afternoon the wind picked up, the sun came out and almost all of our free riders were out shredding up the waves until the beach was nearly all gone and it was time pack up…

SATURDAY NIGHT

The section that comes before part B, the infamous Zero2Hero PartA!

The warriors all turned out in force with Ninjas, Cowboys & Indians, Gladiators, Pirates, Cavemen and a certain Barbie girl! With Rube Boy, Mr. Sim and DJ Moon banging out the tracks the party kicked off. Goytre Valley’s Bargain Beverages and fantastic decoration by Flexifoil and Supersaturated, this night was going to be one to try and remember! Check out the pictures on Facebook to get the full story…

SUNDAY

So it turns out the section after PartA (part B) is a horrific headache, but there is only really one cure for that, and that is to get in the water! The wind was perfect but for many it took some real effort to pump those kites and get stuck in!

The beginners had their second lot of 3 hour lessons, however, the wind was too strong to put any LEI’s in the air so they played games on the foils and were taught how to rig the LEI’s ready to jump into the water next time!

Our free riders were out in some of the best conditions we have seen in a while with team riders from Flexifoil showing us how its done. Everyone was smashing it showing off their skills and having some fantastic bails!

A big thank you to everyone that came for making last weekend so fantastic, all of us here at SKA HQ had a cracking time and we are pretty sure you did too! Once again thanks again to our supporters Flexifoil, Supersaturated, The BKSA, Blast Kiteboarding, DJLee Events and JWGmedia for making this event possible!

COMING UP NEXT – GO HIGH OR GO HO!ME

Keep up to date with all our information about the next event, SKA nationals on the 22-24th November at Westward Ho! in our newsletters and on Facebook.

Last year this was the biggest freestyle competition in the UK with categories for everyone who can ride; Intermediates for those who can ride up-wind and are making their first hooked in jumps, be it popping off waves or back-rolling – Advanced for those who are unhooking and Pro for those making handle passes and who are generally too cool for school! There will also be cheaper spectator tickets for those not competing but want to see some sick kiting! Can anyone topple the 2012 winners Exeter? With some fresh blood into the clubs it’s certainly going to be very close.

We hope to see you all there!

Tom Shaw President, SKA