October 2007 Diaries

Date: 26^th October 2007

Location: Newborough

Mission: It’s def winter ;-(

After my session at Rhosy at the weekend where I managed to do backloops to toe side I really wanted to show off today so was dead keen to get to the beach this morning.  I even got there before zoe which is usually unheard of!  It was windy, 8.5 weather, yippee ;-).  I pumped up the 8.5 and put myself on the water, it was choppy and gusty but it still felt good to be out.  I tried again and again to do backloops to toe side and it just wasn’t working today, I either didn’t rotate far enough or went too far L.  In the end I got fed up and decided that I’d had enough, but not before zoe had to rescue my board for me again.  I looked up at my lines and that nightmare twizzle thing on the back lines was all twizzled up, so I decided that it was time I learnt to do back loops in the other direction in a bid to untwizzle them!  Well it took me a while to talk myself into it…. But I did…. I rotated too far for my first attempt and did a double (maybe tried a bit too hard!) but after that I landed most.  I kept going until I had completely untwizzled my lines ;-). 

It’s suddenly gone cold tho, I had to stop because I couldn’t feel my feet anymore, I couldn’t even tell if my feet were on my board, and couldn’t feel the waves at all!  I kept totaling myself because of it, so have decided that it’s booty temperature now (but not quite gimp hood yet!).

Well done to zoe who seems the be nailing those transitions think I should stop being a coward and give them a go…..

Date: 11 October 2007

Mission: Rediscover Kiting

Location: West Shore, Llandudno

What a session! I had a day off work and surprisingly it was windy! YIPPEE. I met Zoe down the beach and it was just us two for the first hour or so and it was soooo nice to be finally out on the water again, with good consistent wind.  I went out to start with on my 10.5 which was prob the best kite for the conditions, but i have a new 8.5 which just had to come out and play so swapped after about an hour.  I have been trying to do transitions recently, and front loops, and not getting anywhere fast :-(.  I realised today tho that when i do frontloops i put the kite in the wrong bit of the sky, so really tried to do it properly today and have been slightly more successful ;-), I actually landed a couple!  But what really made the day were our attempts at unhooked back loops (def running before we can walk but it seemed like a fun thing to try at the time ;-)).  With Zoe cheering me on i tried one which wasn’t too bad, but i wiped out after rotating too much, n then i landed a couple before falling on my face and ditching the kite ;-).  Hmmm harder than they look?  I gave zo the 8.5 and she had a good couple of attempts too which weren’t too successful, but quite amusing! We swapped over again n off i went.  Not sure quite how i did it but unhooked, backlooped, n then hooked back in n rode off.  I was so so stoked couldn’t believe i’d done it.  Had to do another couple just to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, then zo went off to play again.  Zoe did a couple of good unhooked loops too!  We were so so pleased with our efforts, just a shame we had run out of energy and time.... Our unhooked backloops are no where near perfect by any stretch, but we all have to start some where.... and i think this was a bloody good start ;-)! Again again again......

Just a quickie.... Well done Helen T on the riding... Both Ways ;-)

Shez xox

Date: 30^th September 2007

Mission: hanging on

Location: Rhosneiger, Anglesey

With a good forecast i headed off to rhosy as i fancied something different.  I’ve only ever riden at rhosy once before and really loved it so wasn’t sure why i hadn’t gone back till now.  The wind was strong, the waves good and clean and the swell big.  And there were lots of kiters there from all over, travelled from black pool n manchester cause of the good forecast.  I had a ball but was really hanging on to my 10.5 most of the time, It was probably all right but with the rocks at rhosy i wasn’t confident enough to really enjoy the session being that powered, and was ever so slighty under powered on my 6. :-(  So after an OK sess, i have decided that i must have an 8.5 to add to my arsenal!............ no-one told me i’d need three kites when i took this sport up, lol

Sheryl xox

Date: 14^th, 15^th, 16^th September 2007

Mission:  BKSA

Location: Littlehampton

After the mammoth drive down i was pleased that the morning started slow with no wind forecast till the afternoon, and was more than happy to chill out and make bacon sandwiches while we waited for the wind to arrive.  It was great when it did, the comp got underway with jo n helen giving it their all, and the pro men pulling off some fantastic tricks, but the pull of the sea was too much and i had to go play.  Was out for a bit before Marizu found me trying to pop (hmmm running theme here).  But he was fantastic, explained pop in a completely new way and i think i’m closer to getting it now than ever (but still a long way away :-(...).  I had just about had enough when Jo and a few of the pros sailed past.  Marizu shouted to follow so we did.  I finally caught jo up n asked her where we were off to.... Worthing! a seven mile down wind trip! I was committed by this point, (I didn’t fancy the 4 mile trip back up wind) but was absolutely bricking it.  Kept thinking to myself don’t lose board, don’t drop kite..... Eventually got to Worthing just as the wind dropped and my kite fell out of the sky.... Think i will plan any down wind trips a little better next time ;-)

Sat had no wind, but a fab party with lots of Cobra, and then the wind returned with gusto on Sunday.  The pro’s finished their comp and the ams got on with theirs.  I enjoyed it much more this time (came last) but at least i’m getting the hang of this competition lark, and working out just how those damn flags work ;-).  I’ve decided that i really want to compete prop next year, so need to spend the winter learning lots of new trick.

Congrats to Jo and Hannah, who won the ladies pros and ams, and have probably sewn up the titles now ;-)

Sheryl xox  

Date:23rd September 2007

Mission: Fighting

Location: West Shore

Whilst having my morning coffee I did my usual xc check, it was showing a nice 17knts as to the 30knts forcast, I loaded up the car and though it was best to put the 12.5 in just incase!!  Usually on arriving to the beach you are convincing yourself there are pleanty of white caps, today I was more looking for the water as it seemed totally covered in white caps!  I struggled to catch my breath as I walked from the car to check out the beach, yep, it was windy-very windy, definatly not 17knts or 12.5m weather!  Johara arrived, only half an hour late, not too bad for her J the conversation kind of went like this “yep, its windy, shall we go get a coffee or the 3m Atom? Or both!?” we headed off for a coffee and to round up a few more nutters to join us on our crazy mission.  We recruited one, Lukas, no suprise really, hes a high wind lunatic, who insists everyday is 10.5m Ion2 weather! Surely not today! I was relieved to see he had a 9m kite to test out today, until he launched it, the kite must have been excited about playing in the high wind as it was certanly clapping enough! He did two runs on it till it turned inside out and crashed into the water, I was glad to land it and get him out on my 8.5 Ion2 instead.  Jo n I took turns on the 6m Ion2 so that there was always one of us on the beach keeping an eye on things.  I cant say it was a good session, it was ridiciously gusty, I couldnt allow myself to pick up any speed at all or I just lost control n wiped out in the gusts.  It was more like fighting with the wind than enjoying it!  I had a very short session, did a couple of backloops and felt I had been brave enough just doing that.

In my last diary I said that I had started to do inverts, I really thought I had until I looked at the pictures Debs had took.  I was gutted, I have got my legs straight but my body is curled up.  Its strange how different some things feel when you are doing them, like when you first start to jump, your sure you are boosting so high when really youre only a few foot off the water, then when you get used to jumping it feels like youre hardly leaving the floor until you see a picture and your a good 15ft or so.  I will keep trying the inverts, but I will learn them on the 12.5m as it keeps me in the air longer reducing my changes of landing on my head!!!  

Zoe

Date: Mid September

Mission: Weeks like this!

Location: West Shore

I love weeks like this, when you can plan your life around kiting as it windy every day!!!  You can do a couple of quality hours and come off the water when you get tired and before you start doing everything wrong.  I picked Marcus up from school Tuesday and Wednesday and we headed to West Shore.  I had a good session both nights, Wednesday was Kite club night and a lot of people turned up for that, even Degsy aged 64, was spotted getting up on his board! 

Jo and I had planned to venture over to Rhossy for the day on Thursday but we just couldn’t drive passed our beloved West Shore when the wind was blowing there, Jo’s Mum asked the crystal where we should go and it said ‘West Shore’ (not literally) and yet again it was right, we had an epic session!!  It was just Jo and I, she had one side of the lagoon and I had the other, we kept meeting in the middle and stopping for a chat to say how awesome it was and discuss what trick to try!  The water was so flat, the sun was shining and we were both well powered on our 8.5 Ion2’s!  I was going to try an unhooked back loop, I unhooked and the kite just got ripped out my hands! Hmm, maybe a lighter wind day for that then, so then Jo said try back loop transitions, I tried lots of times but I couldn’t do them, Im just not redirecting the kite and have sunk before I have got it over to the other side.  The wind was building and building so it was time to start doing some big airs, amazing! We were then joined by 4 windsurfers who were ripping around, really fast; it looks cool when they do what looks like an equivalent to a back loop, the noise they make when they are riding along by you scares me to death though.  Jo knew one of them, they had met in Future-small world hey!!  It has been a fantastic week on the water and we still have a good forecast ahead!  This is the first time I have ever been glad summer is over, last year was my first winter on the water and I hope this one is a mild and as windy!!

Date: 16^th September 2007 

Mission: Inverts

Location: Newbrough

What an amazing weekend on the water! I had a sunny West Shore session on the 12.5 Ion2 on Saturday, Marcus was out with me and it seemed like ages since we sessioned together now he’s back in school.  He was doing some really cool backloop grabs so I copied him and although I’m not grabbing the board for very long I have started to put grabs into my backloops.  I saw Hanna Whitley doing a invert at the last event and thought it looked cool so I tried those today, the 12.5 Ion2 holds you in the air for so long I had plenty of time to dangle there upside down, it was really cool, I didn’t have the bottle to let go of the bar though, maybe next time.  We had a BBQ on the beach to celebrate Rob Hills 40^th and to say goodbye to Katie who has emigrated to Auz!  I was up at 6a.m Sunday morning and headed over to Newbrough with Lukas, surprisingly Marcus passed on the early morning session-typical teenager! The 30knt fresh wind certainly blew the cobwebs off!  It was a great session with friendly little 3ft waves, which made fun little ramps!  The wind steadily built and I stayed out until I started to loose my edge and skip out a few times which told me it was time to come off the water. 

Zoe

Xx

Date: 14^th September 2007 

Mission: Good Start

Location: West Shore

I’ve had two pretty windless weeks apart from one session on Monday, which has got to go down as my worst ever!  The wind was anywhere between 10 to 25knts, up n down like a Yo-Yo!  I had to body drag in with my board as I didn’t have enough power to get up and ride on one run and was fully depowered and hanging on the next run-crazy and very annoying.  I wouldn’t have bothered but there had been no wind all week and there was nothing forecast until Friday.  Friday took a long time to come this week but it was well worth the wait, I had a real fun session.  Add was on the water, it’s the first time I’ve kited with him in a long time, I didn’t used to like kiting with Add as you could always guarantee if you were going to do something wrong Add would see you and he’d tell you off for it!  But today was different, it made me smile to see him back on the water, although I did have to wag my finger at him a little as he wasn’t quite what I would call taking it easy!  Debs has also made a good recovery and was back on the beach with her camera happily clicking away.  I think today is a good start to what is going to be an awesome weekend!

Zoe XX

Date: 20^th-27^th August 2007

Mission: Follow The Wind Tour

Location:  Scotland

The forecast at home looked poor so I decided to join the other Angels on the Follow The Wind Tour.  Marcus and I jumped into the Bongo to start what turned out to be a fantastic week visiting several beautiful beaches throughout Scotland.  We spent our first night camped at the road side by the ferry port in Greenock awaiting the first morning ferry across to Dunnoon, we then had 45 mins to catch the next ferry which gave us absolutely no time for error, with one wrong turn ending up in us loosing 3 mins we pulled up as the ferry departed!  22 hours after leaving home we arrived at Kintyre, a place I was so excited about visiting, my Dad, a big Beatles fan, very kindly phoned me after a few drinks to sing ‘Mull of Kintyre’ We met up with the others on the tour at Macharnish beach, by the Mull of Kintyre, where we had a beach fire and BBQ and watched a beautiful sunset.  Some of the tour did a down winder but unfortunately I opted to wait for the wind to pick up, which it didn’t, so I didn’t kite Kintyre but am glad I’ve been there.  McCartney wasn’t there so I didn’t call for a brew but the mist rolled in off the sea that morning. 

We then travelled through some breath taking places, Marcus commenting on the upside down mountains!  The reflections of the mountains in the beautiful clear lochs.  Eight and a half hours later we arrived in Balmedie, near Aberdeen.  Another beautiful beach with a small wreck, which we decided was the Black Pearl!   There was no wind the following day so I decided to have a go at surfing, it was good fun but I was useless, Sheryl managed to stand up on the board once though!  The Friday brought wind so the BKSA ran the Pro competition, Jo didn’t win this time but it was a great competition to watch. Marcus and I had a fun session in the sunshine that afternoon; he’s doing so well now.  I had a play then went on a rescue mission as I had seen Helen Browns kite down for some time and she was pretty far away from everyone else but I picked up too much speed riding down wind, fell off my board, ditched my kite and spent so long sorting myself out that she was back on shore before me!

 The wind was blowing well on Sunday but it was off shore so we travelled to Fraseburgh.  When we arrived it was 6m weather, which made Sheryl happy as she says she is at home in those conditions, which was a bonus as she was competing in the Ladies Ams.  No sooner had we set the 6 up it had dropped to 8.5m weather, then 10.5m weather then 12.5m weather then back to 8.5m weather!!!!  It was crazy wind, all over the place so I got a 10min session and sacked it off.  Sheryl did well in her first comp though so it was a good day.  We made some bacon butties to set ourselves up for the trek home and left at 6pm.  I drove till I got too tired then Jo took over till she got too tired, we made it to Blackpool at 02.30am and decided it was safer to park up and sleep.  We finally made it home at 1 o’clock Monday afternoon.  Yet again kitesurfing has taken me to some beautiful places and I have met some great new people! 

Date: 20^th August – 23^rd August

Mission: Follow The Wind

Location: Scotland

The Turbulence Angels and Marcus (poor boy) set off in convoy Monday afternoon to join the Scottish follow the wind tour.  A quick pit stop in Blackpool to pick up turbulence team rider Ali and his friend Andy meant that Marcus wasn’t outnumbered, and we were off.  3 Angels, 3 men, 3 dogs and two vans ;-).  Good job the boys bought a tent!  We were heading to the Mull of Kintyre and ended up camping at the ferry port as there were no crossings at mid night… strange that!  The first ferry in the morning was 7.20 and we managed to be up and ready to hop on that before racing across the island to catch the second ferry to Mull.  We arrived at the port just as the gates were closing and the ferry left without us!  We blamed Andy for his minor navigational error ;-) but made the most of our enforced break to get breakfast.  We managed to get on the second ferry and found the wind followers at a local beach. Unfortunately the wind was light so only the biggest boards and kites were able to do a 3 mile down wind trip.  Jo went off on her skim board and 12.5 while me and zo waited for the wind to pick up.  Unfortunately we waited in vain as it didn’t happen L, and zoe ended up getting lost on her trip to rescue jo from the pub she had ended up in.  We made up for the lack of wind with a beach fire and BBQ, and went to bed praying for wind to come

Day three and still no wind so the followers went to play in a water park and we decided that we would make the trek across Scotland to Aberdeen as a little birdie told us there was wind there.  The drive was good, nice scenery and sunshine, but long.  We were really disappointed that the wind had gone by the time we arrived, but the boys did good, kicking everyone else out of the kitchen and made dinner for 6 on less than 3 pound!  Zoe and I went surfing the next day, we had a quick lesson on the beach from Andy before we were let out to make fools of ourselves on the waves.  It’s so much fun but so so hard.  I reckon you need to be so fit to be a surfer ;-).  All in all a great trip, good fun and great to be around lots of other kiters, but would have been better with a little more wind tho! ;-)

Sheryl xox

Date: 24^th August – 26^th August

Mission: BKSA round 5

Location: Aberdeen

Another day with a no wind forecast meant that we were all a bit slow to sort ourselves out this morning but at mid day a surprise session kicked in with good 10.5 wind, sunshine and small waves.  Ideal for the pros to get out and show off.  The trek down to the beach was fun, a good mile through the sand dunes, but worth the walk when you got there.  I was desperate to get out and prove to myself that I could do backloops on a big kite, but really wanted to watch the comp as well.  I thought that I would try to squeeze a quick 15 mins in before Jo’s round so got changed, pumped my kite up and set up the lines.  Was just getting my boardies on when Jo came running over… apparently it was perfect 10.5 weather and could she borrow mine!  So I launched her and watched as she had a quick practice before her heat.  I thought she did really well but she came second to Helen, it must have been close tho.  At the end of the comp I got out on Jo’s 12.5 and had a wicked time, landing my backloops again on a really big kite and even trying the occasional front loop.  I was so stoked at the end of the day that I couldn’t wait to compete!

But sat dawned with no wind L and we spent the day lazing around in the sunshine hoping for a sea breeze, but none came.  This meant that my comp would be postponed to the Sunday so I got an early night (yeah right!!!)…. The BKSA party was good, the highlight being a red Frisbee fight. Everyone was given a foldable red Frisbee as a memento, and I think the staff fully expected us to put them in our pockets and take them home.  But No, within seconds there were 80 or so red Frisbees souring through the club.  Was great until the manager came out and stopped us all from playing ;-(

We had to race around like headless chickens packing up team turbulence as the comp was being moved about 45mins up the coast!  When we got there the wind was strong, good for my six so I quickly pumped up, but after 10 mins I had to come in for a bigger board as the wind was dropping, and after about 30 mins I thought I really needed my bigger kite.  I had to rush back through the sand dunes and only just managed to pump it up in time to get out on my heat.  I really really enjoyed it but wiped out in the first min and then nearly drowned in the waves but was determined to do some backloops before the buzzer sounded.  I managed to sneak a couple in but didn’t manage anything else.  I lost my heat but am def going to do another comp, and was really impressed with the other girls in the ams, they are all great kiters and really friendly, it would be great if there were more

Love Sheryl xox

Date: 19^th August 2007

Location: Llandonna

Mission: It’s six weather!

I had a really pants session on Friday, my head just wasn’t with it and I couldn’t even keep the kite in the sky let alone try any tricks! I was really annoyed as the session before I had just about got backloops and wanted to make sure I could remember how to do them L. So when Zoe got me out of bed this morning telling me that I had 40 mins to get to the shop cause we were off to a secret spot I couldn’t get ready quick enough, threw some coffee down my neck and some clothes on and leapt in Robs van and joined the convoy of turbulence vans heading down the expressway!  But the advance party decided that the secret spot wasn’t working so we were re-directed to Llandonna which turned out to be an epic session.  I was a little nervous launching my kite in the strong winds and for the first 10mins felt the adrenalin pumping through my body, my legs quivering and my heart racing as I crashed over the waves but once I relaxed I really started enjoying carving in and around the monster waves.  And when I got bored with that I realised there was a nice little flatish section to try some back loops…. Well they are sooo easy in strong winds with my little kite that sometimes I even had enough time to spin twice!! Double back loops wey hey!  And how cool are they.  You get this funny whooshy feeling in your stomach as you go round for the second time, I didn’t think any one was watching but as I landed and rode off rob whooped at me…they are even more fun when some one sees ;-).  And when I got off the water Marcus came over to steal my kite and to tell me he saw my double backloops too!  I was so pre occupied with having a good time today that I didn’t really see what everyone else was up to J.  A full English breakfast on the way home summed up a fantastic day….. bring on more six meter weather!

Love Sheryl xox

Date: Friday 3^rd August

Location: Newborough

Mission: Cast Off

I managed to convince my consultant that my wrist was ok to come out of plaster and now have a plastic splint instead… which can get wet ;-) yippee! So as murphy’s law states it didn’t get windy for another three days, good for my wrist but my kites had spent far too long in my van and needed to get out.  With my wrist fixed I had to go back to work and have been camping at newborough for the last week with 8 teenagers!  So when Fri dawned with wind whistling through the tents I couldn’t wait to get out and quickly sent the happy campers off climbing with another instructor.  I got down the beach as soon as I could and went out to play on my shiny new jimmy lewis board and my six.  I love my six so much and am more confident using that in high winds than I am on my bigger kite in light winds (which is a bit random I know), and my new board rides like a dream.  Zoe had borrowd my little one so had to go out on my big one but it feels so good that the size is hardly noticeable.  I learnt a new trick today, popping to toe side and then back to heel side and off the backs of waves.  It’s so easy and so much fun I can’t believe that I haven’t tried it before.  I had a good couple of hours out before zoe arrived.  She bought my little board with her…… and the rain L.  The plan was to kite all eve and camp over but with the rain no-one wanted to stay.  So they all left me with the kids, …….. and had a party at my house without me! ;-).  So so unfair!

Date: Saturday 4^th August

Location: West Shore

Mission: Backloops (again!)

The forecast is fantastic for the next few days yippee! Not to be outdone by mother and son I am determined to nail back loops this week.  As soon as I got on the water I tried my first one watched eagerly by zoe.  And I easily floated round, landed properly and rode off…… except I could only do it once, all the other ones resulted in a bit of a splash but I’m not giving up!  Had fun on my little board today but spent so much time spinning round in circles and drinking the contents of west shore that I was properly wasted after a couple of hours and decided that enough was enough.  I headed home for a bath before everyone turned up at Hotel Sheryl for another sat eve BBQ ;-) lol.  
 
Date: Sunday 5^th August

Location: West Shore

Mission: backloops (again)

Well I seem to be doing them properly now…. Yippee only hope I can do it again next time I go out.  And just to put a spanner in the works I suppose I should try them going in the other direction too ;-).  Seems competition in the Burgess household is hotting up with zoe landing frontloops as well today yippee can’t wait for the rest of the week it’s gonna be so much fun J

Date: 06^th August 2007

Location: West Shore

Mission:  6-Hour Session

Another fun West Shore session today.  Got to use my 12.5m again, the tide is ripping so hard at the moment that its killing so much power, I was even struggling to get up wind sometimes and could feel myself being pushed down wind by the water, even though I was well powered.   There were quite a few people out today, it was more like a weekend session.  Helen T came out and I saw her up and riding for a while, which is excellent.  It was great to see Hoggy back in full working order, I swear he’s got even smoother and he can pop higher than most can jump! someone’s individual style can make a move look so much better than when another person does the same move, Hoggy makes every move look smooth and fluid, I want to concentrate on fewer moves and make those moves look stylish.  I did my first front loops today!  I was surprised how easy I found them and wasn’t expecting to be able to do them straight away, the first two I did I put too much pressure on my back hand so when I landed the kite was over the other side like I was going to do a transition so I went in and got some advice, I was told to take my back hand off the bar whilst doing the loop, that sounded way to scary so I kept hold of it but concentrated on not putting any pressure on it at all and it worked!  I prefer backloops though as I didn’t get the wweeeeee! factor from the front loops.  I still kept bottling the doubles though, even though Marcus was going for double frontloops today!  I got my bigger board and decided to try and kite with my daughter on my back, our first attempt wasn’t too successful with me going blue as she almost strangled me and soon as I stood up she fell off!  But our second attempt worked J I had a good run with her on my back but it was really hard work, she enjoyed it though.  She can’t wait to kitesurf now.   I had some bad news when I got off the water, Debs, our photographer took a fall at home and has broken her arm ‘get well soon Chicka!’ Xx

Date: Friday 03^{rd& 04th} August  

Location: Newbrough/West Shore

Mission:  Everyone’s looping

The beginning of the week actually felt like it was summer but there were only light sea breezes around so I made the most of catching up on chores.  I was really looking forward to Friday morning as my 12.5m Ion2 was due to be delivered and there was wind forecast for a good few days.  The 12.5 arrived and sure enough it was 6m weather!  Not that I minded too much I was just glad it was windy.  So I went over to Newbrough and had a fun 6m session playing on the waves.

Marcus has been away for a week on an activity course and was dropped off at West Shore Saturday lunch time, he quickly got changed into his wet suit and we went and set up his new 8.5 Ion2.  He asked me how to do a backloop, I said just pop and look over your shoulder, not realising he was actually considering trying one.  I was chatting on the beach and setting up my new 12.5m Ion2, even though I could have gone out on the 8.5m but I just wanted to play with it, when Marcus shouted to me” did you see my backloops?”  I said no and told him to do it again and I would watch, he did a couple and I was thinking something just didn’t look right, then it clicked, he wasn’t doing backloops, he was doing frontloops!!!  I couldn’t believe it; I was so stoked with/for him.  He came in with a BIG smile “did you see Mum?”  I told him he was doing fronts and told him to try backloops too, so off he went and sure enough he just did it and came back in saying backloops were easier but front loops felt more natural!!  So, I’ve grounded him for the whole of the summer holidays and he’s not allowed to kite anymore!!!  J  Just kidding, I’m amazed, on his last session he was only just starting to jump now he can do more tricks than me-kids!!!  I had an amazing session on my 12.5m, I was really powered and it felt great,  I was going for double backloops but kept bottling out and I really wanted to try a front as I was kiting along watching Marcus doing both but haven’t built confidence up for that yet-maybe one quieter day next week.  I think Marcus made everyone push themselves today as I saw Sheryl land her first proper backloop, Justin did his first backloop, Britters doing some awesome powered doubles,  Katie was getting round and almost landing, Aurthur was getting some good high backloops in and a few others were stood on the beach saying they must start trying to do tricks!  Another awesome day at West Shore was had by all.

Date: Last week of July

Mission: Confidence

Location: West Shore

What a week its been!  Ive had a lot of time on the water this week.  It makes so much difference to your riding when you get out several days consecutively on the same beach, I think its something to do with confidence as the more times I do something the more confident I become with it and the easier it becomes.  When I was first trying to do backloops, I would loose my bottle quite regularly when I wanted to try and do one and back out!  Now I can do them I don’t find it scary at all, I love the feeling of rotating though the air.  I think confidence is a huge factor in this sport, which makes it difficult as my confidence increases the more I do something and get it right, building the confidence to try new things is the difficult bit.  I cant believe that only a couple of weeks ago I was feeling so bad about my riding, I have read a few articles recently which say it is pretty common for people to go through these stages of regression then progression, Mark Shinns ‘Mark my words’ article says go back to basics when your having difficulty with things, he’s spot on with that advice.

Zoe

xx 

Date: 20^th July

Location: Afon Ddu Gorge

Mission: Broken bones

Well i’ve gone and done it, seems i don’t bounce as well as i used to :-(.  Fell over at work and have broken a small bone in my wrist, which means a cast on my hand for a while :-(.  No kiting for sheryl :-(.  Will try to be a good girl and let it get better but am so so bored already n it’s only day two!  For a girl with ADHD this is gonna be a nightmare!

Date: 14^th July

Location: West shore

Mission: Summer is here! (well for a day at least!)

What a day I’ve had today, out first thing (well first thing for me anyway!) and out all day with a quick half hour for lunch.  Blue sky, sunshine and wind, so so cool, just what summer should be all about.  I spent today really really trying to sort my elusive popping out, seems to be a recurring theme here doesn’t it.  I am having so much trouble learning to do this, and am getting really really frustrated :-(. But today was such a great day that even not popping properly was fun.  Think i’m getting there now tho, something feels different, and i’m hoping that it is the difference between right and wrong.  A few more hours with advanced progression and friends yelling at me, and i might just have it!

It was such a good day, this is what summer and kiting should be about.  Last year we were spending so much time down the beach, chilling out in the sunshine even when it wasn’t windy, camping at nb, BBQ’s at west shore, this year has been so disappointing in comparison ;-(.  But today was fab, all my friends out on the water at some point or another (maybe too many out on the water at some points but not complaining!).  We  kited into late afternoon until the sea went away.  We had an evening BBQ down on the beach, a late celebration of jo’s birthday and helen B up n riding at her first home session.  We stayed down the beach till it turned into tomorrow, before heading home to bed completely and utterly exhausted.  Such a shame that the rain is set to return!

Date: 16^th July

Mission: Turbulent Trials

Location: Newbrough

What a beautiful start to the day, sun shining in a clear blue sky, drinking a nice coffee whilst looking at 18knts on XC!  I headed over to Turbulence HQ to meet up with Lukas and Jo and we went off to Newbrough to test some kites for the Turbulent Trials.  On our arrival to Newbrough it was apparent that there was nothing near the 18knts on xc, there was about 13knts which gave us just about enough to test the kites we had.  One of the kites was terrible, I probably wouldn’t have taken up kite surfing if that was the first kite I had flown-it was that bad!  I guess my reviews are a little harsh though, as Im used to flying Flexifoils Ion2, which nothing I have ever flown even comes close to.  I discovered I have a lot of work to do on the surf board, I can ride it up n down no problem but watching Jo rip on it I could see there is so much fun Im missing out on not putting the effort in to learn stuff on it, I know I will be stoked even when I learn to turn round without having to sit in the water and physically grab the board, turn it round n restart!!! 

Date: 18^th July

Mission: Surprise session

Location: West Shore

There was only 3knts showing on Xc, so I didn’t bother putting any of our kit in the car as Marcus and I headed over to Llandudno to meet up with Blake for the day.  Its NEVER a good idea not to take your kit with you when you go to the beach and sure enough it was blowing a nice 20knt, clear blue sky and the sun was shining!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  I had my 8.5 and my wet suit in the car so I gave them to Marcus and Rob lent him one of his boards, I watched Marcus ripping it up on my kit, in my fav spot-kids! Who’d have em!!!!  Emergency action was necessary, I couldn’t miss this session.  I called Jo and acquired a kite and board and Lukas lent me one of the school wet suits.  It was defo worth the effort, and I had an amazing session AGAIN!  Since I had my regression I have now had an accelerated progression!  Everything is feeling right, fluid and floaty!  The backloops are going really well, Im thinking on doubles now! I do seem to be leading round with my board and throwing my head and shoulders back to rotate the last half of the loop though, so I need to correct that, but Im loving doing them.  I went to see the new Harry Potter movie at the cinema, I really like the Harry Potter films but this wasn’t one of the best, still, what a day, great West Shore session and a movie! 

Date: 16^th July 2007

Location: Newborough and West Shore land kiting end

Mission 1: Test out kites and Zoë’s new surf board

Mission 2: Take Spanish and Italian teenage girls kiting on the Buzz and Stings

Zoë text me to get me up as she said it was 18 knots at Newborough. Excellent.  Don’t think there is anything else forecast all week so good there is something today!  Head over there with Zoë and Luke, spend half hour searching for dogs I immediately lost as we got there then headed out for a session.  It was looking really light but Luke had some new kites to try so off we went.  Some of them had some good points but my main reaction when I got back on my 12.5 Ion2 was thank goodness I can ride Flexi!  As the wind dropped more we tried Zoë’s new Cyclone surf board, it was excellent!  The fins have such a grip you can really chuck it round, so good!

Then headed back to meet my Spanish and Italian friends at West Shore.  They are here for a week’s holiday and are mainly climbing up mountains so thought kiting would be a nice change for them.  The wind was really Southerly for West Shore so was quite up and down and very light but we got the Buzzes out first and they made the most of it.  As the wind dropped further we got the 1.7 and 3.3 Stings out and they were flying in absolutely no wind!  The 3.3 still felt like it had power in when the others would not stay in the sky any more!  They all had a really good time so I said I’d take them again later in the week if there was a little more wind!

Jo

Date: Saturday 14^th July 2007

Location: Good old west shore 

Mission: Have a good session alongside all home buddies 

I was amazing down at the beach before Zoë and co.  It threw me a little and it crossed my mind everyone might have sneaked to another spot, but no, I was just early, strange!  I have a new ‘hulk’ 8.5m Ion2 which is a beautiful velvet green colour!  So of course, it had to be 8.5 weather!  The tide was coming in which is just how like it but it was very busy!  So I decided it wasn’t really a day for nailing new tricks because I always feel I need a large area for error! 

Adam was out taking photos for a while so I couldn’t land anything as usual!  I had one particularly nasty landing onto my board with my shin.  The impact was so hard that it made a hole in my wetsuit and in my leg!  It really made me laugh because as I was riding along their was a little fountain of water coming out of the new hole in the leg of my wetsuit which occasionally turned red!  When I later pealed up my wetsuit it wasn’t a big cut but it had a minging white thing stuck there vaguely resembling a maggot, Yuk! 

Apart from that I had a really good day.  I tried to go back out for another session after low tide late afternoon but my hands couldn’t hold the bar properly so I decided to call it a day!  We then settled on the beach for an evening BBQ and a catch up – perfect!!

Jo

Date: Sunday 1^st July to Monday 9^th July 2007

Location: Tarifa, Spain

Mission: To compete in a PKRA event for the first time as part of a BKSA team.

I love Tarifa.  I’ve been there for a week before on the way to Morocco but it was in the winter so I was really excited about going in the summer.  The BKSA had offered to support a group of us to compete in a couple of PKRA events so Tarifa was first on the list.  I really wanted to go along to see if I liked the international competitions and see what kind of standard everyone was at.  I went with Helen Thompson; we are at a vaguely similar level so this good, Sam Light and Robyn Snuggs with Phil Elborough and Richard Gowers to help us.  Robyn did one PKRA last year but it was the first PKRA for the rest of us. 

We all had such an amazing time.  The day we got there we had an awesome day on the water before the event started, all pushing each other and the boys trying to teach Helen and I new tricks.  The event was all a bit dazzling at first, Jo Wilson was really good in showing round and introducing us to everyone, and we got into the swing of it quickly.  We discovered the heats are judged in a slightly different way to the BKSA events we are used to so it was really good to learn all this at the first event.  We really got to know what we have to work on.

Next PKRA is Fueteventura at the end of July so I am heading out there for a second taster, then will go back to concentrating on the BKSA events for the end of the summer.  Tarifa was excellent motivation for me to know that I really want to compete internationally in the future!

Jo 

xx

Date: 14^th July 2006

Location: West Shore

Mission:  Perfect day

I had a wicked session today, I feel better about kiting than ever and its days like today which remind me why I love the sport so much!  I know its a bit mad but I have been trying to nail backloops going the opposite direction to which I jump etc and im pretty much there now, so I decided to try them in the direction I jump, which in my theory should now be easy for me as I learnt them the hard way first!  The first one I did really took me by surprise as I got a lot more height than I expected and rotated slower which  felt kind a like a kid on a roundabout.  I then spent the next hour doing backloops on every tack in both directions which was a lot of fun!  I got mixed up with which way I had to spin the bar back a couple of times which resulted in me grabbing the wrong side of the bar doing some nice unintended kiteloop bodydrags!  After a while I started to get a little to big for my boots and decided to send the kite so I could do a backloop jump, Im not quite sure what I did wrong, the jump and rotation felt cool and I got a great buzz but I fell hard out of the air into the water with my board still on my feet facing the right direction, from under the water I felt the lines go slack and as I was coming back up I could see the kite falling out of the sky-crash!!!  I relaunched the kite and started body dragging after my board which was caught in the rip on an outgoing tide, Ive lost a board here once before and there was no way I was loosing my new Jimmy Lewis, I love it far too much!  I suddenly felt myself being dragged downwind-the kite had come unhooked!  I didn’t think to depower it so struggled to hook it back in, by this time my board was out of site but I was determined not to loose it so had a  good 10 minutes body dragging but finally caught it up.  I was so wack after my 7 hour session and bodydragging experience that I had to call it a day and end my session.  Helen Brown was out for her first kiting in UK waters, she did really well getting up on the board for a good distance a number of times!  Jo, Sheryl, Katie, Helen B, Helen T and Dee were all at the beach today so we decided to have a beach BBQ which ended a perfect day nicely!

Date: Sat, Sun and Mon, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd july

Location: The Sea (occasionally the beach!)

Mission: Kill Myself

I had a real scare on Sunday when i went out at newborough.  I had been umm-ing and arr-ing all morning about whether i should drive across or not as the conditions were marginal.  I finally decided to stop umming and after a quick call to Zoe we were on our way to check it out for ourselves, and if the wind was no good at least we could walk the dogs.  When we got there tho the wind was good, if a little gusty, and the sun was out.  What a fab start to the sess.  However...... after being on the water for a whole 30 seconds i found myself high in the sky above the beach :-(  a very very bad place to be.  I kinda realised that landing was going to hurt lots, so tried to sort myself out to limit the damage.  I don’t know what i did but ended up planting headfirst into the sand. I pulled my quick release as soon as i could, and lay on the beach trying to work out if i’d done any serious damage.  A quick check of all limbs proved ok, but i had real trouble moving my neck.  I reckoned casualty was the best place for me so headed straight there.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Isla, for rushing to help, for looking after me, packing my kite, driving me to hospital and feeding me chocolate ;-).  It turned out after lots of head pictures that i just had whiplash, and have had a very lucky escape!

So the fantastic forecast and wind on Monday and Tuesday didn’t really have the same appeal as it should have, but i decided that i wanted to go out anyway (even tho i was having trouble looking from left to right!).  I thought about getting straight back on the horse and just went out to cruise up and down.  I was really really nervous on Monday, had to give myself a good talking too, but was much better on Tues, even trying one or two small jumps.  TY zoe for pestering me to go out when i was pretty reluctant ;-).

            So these last few days have been a small, (or maybe huge), reminder to me that we do participate in a dangerous sport and that the power of the wind can never be underestimated.  But I’m just about back to normal now, if a little more wary about my own capabilities.....which isn’t such a bad thing :-).

Sheryl xox

Date: 06^th – 07^th July

Mission: 12.5 Ion2-ROCKS!!!

Location: West Shore, Llandudno

I picked Marcus up from school and headed over to Llandudno pretty sure the wind was still going to be too strong for us to get out as it had been gusting to 50knts all day.  The chance of a sunny West Shore evening session had urged many to finish work slightly earlier than usual so on my arrival to the beach there was an array of petrol, flames and Sambas. I went out on my 8.5 Ion2 and Marcus on his 9m Atom, we were only on the water for 15 minutes when the wind dropped and everyone was walking back down the beach.  I spotted Rich packing up his new 12.5 Ion2, a few hints later he offered me a go on it J!  Now, as I rule I don’t like kites any bigger than 9m but this kite is an exception, I was the only one able to get on the water and I wasn’t just cruising on it, I had plenty of power.  You fly with this kite, it picks you up and you have enough hang time to look around and take in the scenery from a birds eye view!  The wind picked up a bit and Marcus joined me on the water on a 10.5 Ion2, he was ripping along and riding toe side for the first time!  We stayed out until the sun started to set and hunger got the better of us.  I know people say that their kites have huge wind ranges and they do, but for me it’s the quality of a session that is important, spending a whole session underpowered just trying to keep upwind doesn’t do it for me, I was amazed at the quality of my session on the 12.5 Ion2 in such light wind, so Im getting one!

I stayed at Sheryl’s Saturday night, she lives a couple of minutes form the beach, from the bedroom window I could see blue sky with the odd white fluffy cloud passing by at a rate of about 15knts-no better start to a day!  The beach was busy but again the wind quickly dropped bringing the bigger guys in and again giving me the opportunity to ‘blag’ a 12.5m Ion2!  Phil had just picked a brand new one up from the shop, got about 10 minutes on the water on it when the wind dropped off, I took my experience of ‘kite blagging’ from the previous day and the same ‘subtle’ hints worked again!  The words “try this one if you want!” were music to my ears.  Poor Phil stood on the beach for hours with me ripping up n down giving him a smile as I cruised past on his brand new kite!  The wind picked up a little and I got the message play time was over when I saw Phil stood on the shore line with his board waving me in!  A few of us headed over to Degsys aka ‘Degsunbury’ for a few (too many) drinks a huge BBQ and a bonfire!  It was an awesome night-thank you Degsy and Janette Xxx.  We were all a little quite and slow Sunday morning with most of us actually glad there was no wind!!

Zoe Xx

Date: 1^st week in July

Mission: Enjoy learning

Location: North Wales

I had been having issues with my kiting, nothing seemed to be coming together for me anymore, I couldn’t do things I thought I had nailed and I was getting really downhearted, not even being excited looking at a good forecast-which really isn’t like me!  I was negative after a session, complaining about the wind or it being choppy or something-anything, sand, cold, dirty water-you name it!  Sunday came around and everyone was up for an early session at Newbrough, I hadn’t bothered, saying the wind would probably be gusty and Newbrough was a choppy mess these days.  Until I received a text off Angel Sheryl asking did I fancy going over with her and if it was no good we would just go for a walk or something.  So I went and boy Im glad I did!  I had the best session I have ever had, I decided to take things back to basics, not to pressure myself into trying to do anything, I just rode up and down for a hour or so and it was fantastic!  I got a new Jimmy Lewis board and its just a pleasure to ride, it feels like a hovercraft, its just so smooth and glides across the water, I was loving it and my stoke returned.  There was only Katie and I left on the water, both well powered on our 8.5 Ion2’s and both with ear-to-ear smiles.   I was watching Katie getting some nice height (she’s just started jumpingJ) and was finding it hard not to give in to temptation so I did a jump, and another and another.  I then thought I would go for a backloop, which I have been really struggling with and I did about 25! Landing and riding out of most with a couple of doubles and unintentional backloop kiteloops thrown in, which I didn’t anywhere near land but was laughing to myself as I was wiping out as I was having so much fun.  We were both so stoked when we came off the water, what a session it had been and most importantly my passion had returned!

I got a rush of excitement the following day when on checking the weather it showed a week of Westerly winds!  Perfect for my favourite spot-West Shore!  The wind was very up and down Monday, which was great as it gave me the chance to check out several different Jimmy Lewis boards so I could choose which light wind board I was going to get to go with the board I was on yesterday.  I tried a few new little tricks like starting off by jumping on to the board from standing position, which looks so much better than sitting down in the water and getting your board on your feet, its not as easy as it looks though!   Tuesday brought yet another epic session-two epic sessions in one week!!!  There was a strong Westerly wind blowing and lots of my friends were out on the water, all ripping on their Ion2’s.  Katie was doing good 15ft jumps, Gudger was over doing double backloops, Big Ian was pictured doing a huge jump, I swear if Lukas goes and higher hes going to clear the Orme!  I saw Phil popping over the waves getting his first airs!  Wednesday brought a hardcore 6m Ion2 sessions with strong gusty winds and heavy downpours of rain-excellent, it felt like winter again!  Its been a brilliant week and I feel that Im back on it again.  This week reminded me of how I felt when I first started kitesurfing, sometimes I got up on the board and ripped along, even if it was just one way with a poo stance, I still got the most amazing buzz and was in a great mood. Then there would be those days when I was back on the beach before I could even get my board on my feet and felt so bad driving home.  I persevered with it progressed to where I am today, I may not be able to do all the tricks I want to yet but am again looking forward to learning them and intend on enjoying every minute of it!