After the KBO it was straight home and onto Beach Break Live.. This is a huge student festival, which also has extreme sports competition. Kiting, Snowboarding and Wakeboarding competitions are all held in the festival.
I got there on Thursday and it was just rain rain and more rain, which isnt ideal when you pitched in tents alongside 20000 students. But spirits were high as the acts started to play. Some big names such as Tiny Tempa, Magnetic Man, Katy B, London Elektricity, Nero, Subfocus were all playing, so each night we were in for some banging parties.

On the Saturday the weather cleared up and the wind was howling. It was the perfect day for the SKA (student kitesurfing association) comp. The event was run as a rider judged event on a jam session.. Everyone went out and rode for a few hours, then judged on who should get into the 8 person final, then the final would run for 20mins, and people would judge again. 
When i first rode it was perfect wind for my 10m RPM and Ian Edmonson from Expix photography was in the water putting his life on the line to get some awesome action shots.  By the time the final arrived, i was completely overpowered on the 10 and could barely hold an edge. I changed down to my 8m for the final. It was perfect condtions. Maxed on my 8m, blue sky, flat water inbetween the waves. I went out and just put on the best show i could for the crowds. I did some megaloops, and big board offs along with some big grabbed s-blind, and some nice mobes..
This was enough for me to win which i am stoked with.

Big thanks to Expix photography for the pics once again, and check out www.expix.co.uk for the full event write up and the wakeboarding and snowboarding pics .

Last week i had a call from Ian @ Expix Extreme Photography asking if myself and Hannah Whitely wanted to go to the KBO event in holland. It sounded like a good event so i was straight onboard.

We set off at 3am on Thursday morning to catch a 7am ferry in dover and then drive up to Holland straight away. We were straight away given a really warm welcome by the event organisers and we immediately felt at home. On Friday the event site was being set up. It was incredible how quickly a group of volunteers could set up the whole site, all within a few hours.

Unfortunately the wind on Friday was light so we didnt get to play, but just chilled out on the beach in the Expix tent.
Saturday and Sunday were the first 2 days of the event. The weather started of abit evil, but then quickly cleared up and the wind tried to pull through but not quite enough. They started to run the rookie event, but only managed to run up untill the final before the wind died. I managed to get a fun little sesh on my 12m Slingshot RPM. The kickers were nice so it was perfect for doing flat spins, and I was also trying to get my mobe 5s, which is proving difficults

Sunday night was the big party night with Ruben Lenten throwing down on the decks. It was an awesome night with plenty of dancing.
Monday was when the real wind pulled through.. The morning was very unpromising with light rain and offshore winds, but at about 2pm the wind swung, picked up and the sun came out. Again i was out on my 12m, but completely overpowered... It was great fun hitting the kickers. I had a couple of awesome 540s, and even threw in a few cheeky board offs to please the crowds.

All in all, the KBO was a really well organised event, and the hospitality we received was incredible. Thanks very much for all the guys who organised the KBO, and also Expix for making the long drive to the event. and getting the awesome pictures as usual :P

For the full event right up, check out www.expix.co.uk and check out http://kiteboardopen.com for more event info.

No I'm back in england, I'm driving straight up to south wales, for Beach Break Live, a student festival of 20000 people, where the SKA are holding a kitesurfing competition.. Bring on the wind, waves, beer and music....

piece out....

With some awesome South Westerly forcasts, exams finished, and a definate urge for kiting, it was time for session. Alex Parker and i cruised up to one of our local secret spots and it was firing. Perfect 8m weather, flat water, and nobody but ourselves there. Check out the picsss... Thanks to keeno for sitting and taking pics even though he had an exam the next morning... THATS KEEN

The day after was forecast more wind, but also more sun.. Another session was definatly on the cards. Unfortunatly Ian Expix was held up in traffic so couldn't make the session, but alex took a few shots. It was full on 8m weather, so boosting was the aim of the day.

The forecast wind for the BKSA event in Barrow was looking awesom with 25-30knts for the whole weekend. Unfortunatly due to a university exam i missed out on the Pro mens competition on the friday which was won by Ned Taylor.. None the less, i headed up to the event to get some riding in and to judge the rest of the fleet.
On Saturday morning the wind was pumping, and whilst the Ams were registering and getting ready for the day, i went out for a cheeky session on my 8m Slingy RPM. It was an awesom session as i was really powered so just going as big as possible.
At about 1130am the competition kicked off and we had an awesom day of judging the ams. They were all really going for it in the strong winds, and pushing themselves to the max even in the shallow water, which made for some great wipeout but thankfully no injuries.
After the comp was complete, i went out for another quick session with Ian @ Expix We had about 30mins of dropping wind before the sun went behind the clouds, but we got some pretty sweet shots.
On sunday morning, myself, Dave Williams, Hannah Whiteley and Gaz Powell drove to a beach 20mins down the road to hit up some speed sailing. It was an early 7am start to get the tides right but the conditions were awesome. I borrowed a speed board and a GPS and gave it ago. After an hour or so, i started to get the hang of it, and managed to clock a speed of 41.8knts over 100m. This was only 0.3knts slower than UK Speed record holder Dave Williams, so im pretty stoked with that for a first attempt.

Sunday afternoon a Big air expression session was held with all the classes getting involved. This was really fun and i was pretty powered on my 8m RPM again so could go pretty big. Check out the BKSA vid by bluejuicemultimedia to see some hangtime :P

Thanks very much to http://www.expix.co.uk for coming up and getting some great shots once again and i look foreward to competiting at the next event

event vid 

ix experienced members of Southampton University Kitesurfing Society aim to be the first group of kitesurfers to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight.

Zac Andrews, Ali Barrett, James Calver, Matt Desmond, Alex Parker and Ali Shepherd are all experienced kitesurfers, and have a total of 30 years kiting experience behind them. They have all served on the committee of SUKS for two or more years, apart from Ali B; although he's competed on the BKSA tour a few times so we'll let him off.

We aim to attempt the route within two windows of opportunity; from the 6th-8th and 22nd-30th of June. The requirements for the trip are simple. A solid 20+ knot S-SW breeze which is set to last all day, and either a low, or high tide at around 8am. 

We are attempting to raise £1,000 for Surfers against Sewage in the process of completing the circumnavigation, and have chose this organisation for a number of reasons. We share SAS's views on beach cleanliness and support their actions to clean up Britain's beaches. 

http://www.justgiving.com/SUKS/

Why should you donate to SAS? 

Well if you're reading this, then there's a large chance that you're involved in a watersport. There's also a large chance that you pursue that sport on one of the UK's beaches. There's a high probability that SAS have made efforts to keep that beach clean over the past few years and are still making efforts to do so. Without the help of fundraising through activities such as this, SAS would not have the resources to continue making sure that our beaches are clean enough to enjoy taking part in the sports that we love.

http://www.justgiving.com/SUKS/

So what's so hard about kitesurfing around the Isle of Wight? Why should that warrant a donation?!

The circumference of the Isle of Wight is around 60-65 miles. If you take into account the distance travelled offshore, the fact that we're leaving and arriving at Calshot, and the distance covered by tacking upwind, then the realistic distance to be travelled stands at around 85-90 miles. That's like driving from Southampton to London, or crossing the channel just over four times. On something the size of a small door, powered by a kite. Taking into account tides, and the odd wind shift, the route should take around 7-9 hours non stop. Each rider will be completing the whole distance; there will be no relays or tag teams.

http://www.justgiving.com/SUKS/

We would like to extend a special thanks to the sponsors of the event; Southampton University, Flexifoil and Mystic. The watersports department at the university are providing safety cover for the event in the form of two ribs, and Mystic are providing the safety accessories required for a challenge of this calibre. Finally, Flexifoil are very kindly subsidising the safety boat fuel costs and are donating a full quiver of kites to each rider for the event. Without all of these guys, there would be no event!

If you think that our cause is worthy enough, and that the challenge is difficult enough, then head to http://www.justgiving.com/SUKS/ to donate. It doesn't need to be a lot; it all counts.

To view SAS's website, just click your way here: http://www.sas.org.uk/

If you have any enquiries about this challenge, please email alexparker89@hotmail.co.uk or ali@alibarrett.co.uk

The weekend just gone was the first round of the British champs for the 2011 season. I cruised up on the thursday night in the hope that the friday would be windy for the pros to run.  After a long drive and a brief sleep, nd morning and registration rolled around. It was good to catch up with all the other guys who had been abroad over the winter and also to meet up with Ian Edmondson, chief photographer from Expix who have just started sponsoring me. 
The wind was light and offshore but due to build throughout the day. Unfortunatly it didnt build enough, and just teased the whole day. Some of the courseracers managed to get going on their large boards and 18m kites, but when i tried on my 12m RPM and twintip,, it just wasnt to be.
Instead of wasting the whole day, I went off with Ian and fellow Expix rider Hannah Whiteley to do some lifestyle shots, and also some video reports for www.expix.co.uk before coming back for a chilled out BBQ on the beach. We managed to get some awesom shots in the sun set infront of the massive power stations in the area.
Saturday was alot busier with all the ams and land guys joining us. Again we thought the wind was going to build throughout the day with a promising breeze in the morning. Everybody set up their kites and it was great to see so many kites on the beach. The Juniors and Ams were set to ride first, so i headed to the judging tower to do the judging with Richie Flindal and JP. After a frustrating day of trying, the wind jus didnt fill in so the competition was called of for the day being as their was a better forcast for sunday.
Sunday rolled around, and there was a strong breaze but still bang offshore. We started by running the juniors, with the plan on doing the Youths, Ams, and then Pros at the end of the day. The wind ended up being too up and down though. During the course of a 7 min heat, the wind would go from 5-10knts, right up to 30-35knts. It was deemed too dangerous and unreliable wind, so unfortunatly the competition was officially called off. 
Not the best start wind wise to the competition season, but hopefully all the other events will get wind.

Thankfully though the event wasnt a complete waste of time. The photos taken by Expix are awesom, and we have some great plans in the pipeline for the rest of the year. They will be helping me out with the PR side of my riding, so hopefully more people will see me, Expix and my riding which im really stoked with.

Also a massive thanks to Southampton Solent Uni for supporting me for the event and Loaning me a nice new Renault Traffic van. It really made the journey up there a pleasure. Cheers

Pics curtesy of Ian@Expix

First event of the year was the SKA(student kitesurfing association) Wave Jam in Porth Cawl south wales. Wave riding is not exactly my fortay but the SKA events are always good fun, and the vibe is great with everyone there to have a good time. That, along with extreme sports photographers ExPix down to take some shots, it was set to be a good weekend of riding with 40knts and 4m swell forecast.

Everyone started to arrive on friday night, where the SKA had organised a great hostel for us all to stay the night in, jus 10mins from the event site. What a great way to start the weekend.

Saturday morning quickly came after a few beers, and a great england-wales rugby match being shown in the bar. We arrived at the beach, with the wind howling, the waves blowing and everything ready for riders briefing. The event was a jam style event, so everyone jus went out to ride and we all voted at the end. 
I went out early on my 6m fuel to check out conditions. I started on my 5'9 slingy wave board, but it was jus too big for the conditions combined with my fuel, so i ended up having to ride my twintip. As it happens i ended up doing plenty of freestlye as well as waveriding, because i get frustrated spending all my time on the water:P By lunch time everyone was on the water. Ali Reader and Jon Cook were shredding it up on small strapless surfboards, and it was awesom to watch.
After a great party saturday night, we all hit the beach again bright and early on sunday. Big thanks to the Cardiff uni guys for putting us up for the night It was very slightly less windy so i went on my 8m RPM and short lines, but it was still to much for the surfboard. After another great day of riding, we all voted on each other, and i ended up coming second in the strapped Catagory with Zac Andrews a deserved first place.

A great thanks to everyon at the SKA for putting on a truly awesom event. Fingers crossed the wind at the Student Freestyle Nationals in march will be so good.
All pics thanks to EXPIX
http://www.studentkitesurfing.co.uk
www.expix.co.uk
www.sskiteboarding.com
www.kiteitright.co.uk

So since the end of the competition season, i have been pretty busy with uni work, down in southampton and because of the cold cold period, we havent been riding to much. Ive had a few good sessions , but 5 deg air temp and 5 deg water temp, dont go to well together, and i hate the cold haha. 
Over christmas we even had some epic snow on the beach.

So the Final of the British Kitesurfing Champs was to be held in Blackpool this year and what an event it was set up to be. The whole year was resting on this final event for who was to get 1, 2, 3, and 4th.  I was sitting in 3rd place with Luke Whiteside in 2nd and  Ned Taylor in 1st with only 20 points between the 2 of them so everything was to play for. 
Pretty much everybody was up for this event, including raining British Champ Sam Light, who decided to make an appearance for the event and to stir things up abit.
Registration was on thursday morning, but the forecast was pretty bleak for the day, so we just chilled out and had an easy one, with a good forecast for Friday.


Friday morning the wind was in. All the ams and juniors had arrived as well so everything had to be run in one day with this being the only day forecast of wind.
My first heat was again the 2 Sams. Sam light and Sam Moore. They were both riding real well and unfortunately with the cold weather, my hand was playing up abit so i just didnt have the strength to hold on. Well deserved win for Sam L with Sam M coming second.
Watching the heats were awesome. Everyone was stepping up the game for the last event. One of the biggest heats of the event in my eyes was between Sam L and Luke Whiteside. In this heat, there was over 20 handlepasses between the 2 of them in 7 mins.. Epic heat and Luke just pipped Sam to the post.. Despite this, Sam made it back through the heats and joined Ned and Luke in the final.. This was it. Whoever finished highest out of Ned and Luke would become British Champ. From the beach you could see that the nerves were getting to them both which left the door open for Sam who didnt have the pressure. In the end, Sam won the final, with Ned in 2nd and Luke in 3rd place meaning that Ned Taylor is the new well deserved British Champ.
Thankfully i did enough at Blackpool to keep my 3rd Place overall which I'm stoked with, as its 1 place up from last year. 
On the Saturday night, we had the end of year prize giving which was a great laugh, and everybody got dressed up for the occation.. Well thats the  end of this year and im deffo looking foreward to next season.
All pics Craig@BlueJuiceMedia