Last weekend at Redcar, Teeside, the final round of the BKSA ran land based kiting championships was held. MBS Pro Team rider Lewis Wilby came first overall. Another MBS rider AJ Philipsen came second. Unfortunately there was no wind on Thursday, Friday or Saturday so the comp could not be run. Results were made from previous rounds. Saturday night saw everyone don their formal/smart casual gear to attend the end of year prize giving presentation. The buffet included some interesting concoctions such as a glow in the dark mint chicken. The trophies were all handed out and the party got underway and went on late.
The wind finally blew on Sunday letting the riders strut their stuff. It just kept picking up allowing the riders to show off a whole range of tricks.
Matt Brind took first in the boardercross and also the freestyle last weekend at the second round of the British mountainboard championships. Joe Dickson took second and Josh Maddocks took third. Despite being eligible to compete in the under 14s, Mick Kirkman competed in the elite category and placed 6th!
The freestyle competition is pretty heated now between defending British champ Joe, and Matt. The final round will be held at Haredown mountainboard centre on the 10th – 11th of October.
After weeks of preparation and work getting the centre up to scratch, the riders registered and a huge goody bag of prizes, we were ready for the event to get underway. Saturday morning came, and the weather played ball. Finally a Mountainboard World Freestyle Championship with good weather. Unlike previous years we decided to run the competition during the daytime, and take full advantage of the sunshine. The dry conditions meant the jumps were running really well and after the last minute grooming done throughout the last week let the riders go huge.
A good number of riders entered, and the level of riding was higher than ever. There was international representation again showing the event can still pull in the riders.
MBS team riders were on top form again this year and claimed the vast majority of the podium places. Tom Kirkman returned to form after a year of injuries and took the top spot. It was an MBS Pro Team podium with Tom Kirkman in first, Tom Read in second, and Joe Dickson in third. The Under 18s category was also an all MBS podium with Tuai Lovejoy in first, Ben Rye in second, and Kynan Goggin in third. Mick Kirkman won the Under 14s, and Diego Anderson won the Masters.
Saturday night saw some heavy partying and a lot of catching up.
A fun slalom event was run on the Sunday too. We cant wait for next year after the success of this years event. We are also looking for new sponsors.
The MBS Pro Kite team did well at the weekend at the BKSA’s second major land event of the year. Lewis Wilby claimed first place and is now on track to win the series. Mark Berry entered his first competition in a while and proved he still had what it takes by claiming the second spot on the podium as well as winning the best trick prize. The winning trick was a unhooked 720 kiteloop transition.
The event took place on Walney Island, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria. As with last year, the wind was blowing letting the competition get under way. MBS Pro Team rider won the mens landboarding competition whilst wearing a wetsuit seeing as he also entered the amateur mens kitesurf competition, which he also won! You can read a full report on the event at the new BKSA Kiteival website > Barrow goes off
This weekend was the CLA Game Fair 2009 at Belvoir Castle. The MBS Pro team were there with the MBS Pro Ramp which was sponsored by ATB Shop for the weekend – Thank you guys! We did 4 shows a day.
On top of that the Hire and Ride team, supported by the ATBA-UK taught over 250 children (and the odd adult) how to mountainboard. Belvoir was pretty flat but thanks to a bit of scaffolding and some wood a temporary hill was built allowing us to spread the joys of mountainboarding to the masses. Top riders such as Tom Kirkman and Joe Dickson also helped teach.
Like last years Game Fair which was held at Blenheim Palace, it was a great event for us. We look forward to next years event at Ragley Hall.
Unfortunately the first round of the 2009 mountainboard series had to be canceled on Friday due to extreme weather conditions. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.
Mark Berry and Tom Beaton road tripped it up for a weekend in France at the Slingshot Party 2009. The event was held in the Le Touquet which according to wikipedia has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians, with many luxury hotels.
The Saturday unfortunately was neither windy nor all that sunny. We did get to see some friendly faces however. We met up with Florent and co from Avenue De La Glisse which was nice. French kite team riders Claudine Podvin and Olivier Garret were there – with a 10 day old baby! We spent our time longboarding along the amazingly smooth promenade and checking out the town.
Sunday was hot. Really hot. The wind however was still absent. Again we spent our time chatting, skating and checking out the local cafes before heading back to the UK. Le Touquet is a great venue for a kite event. The beach looked flat and smooth when the tide was out, and the vibe at the event was great. Hopefully they will get some wind next year!
The first of 3 events this year put on by the BFC team went down at Knockhill near Hailsham. The event was a total success.
Rhys’ summary of the competition:
“The standard of riding was epic and boundaries were certainly pushed throughout the day. The 1st zone consisted of a drop off or rail into a wallride and barrel jib feature, highlights included Gary Crowhursts switch backside 720 off of the drop as well as his wallride to backflip attempt. The 2nd zone was literally littered with rails and riders once again pushed the standard of rail riding at knockhill with Simon Andrews and Dave Compton sliding, grinding and jibbing everything in sight. The 3rd zone included quarter pipes and a crazy, original wallride feature with coping along the top and a kicker onto it which was shut down by the mad skills and skate style tricks of riders like Ryan Roberts. The final zone was a more traditional type of competition feature; a dirt tabletop jump. Riders put on a spectacular freestyle show which included backflips, frontflips, rodeos, switch flips, 540s and 720s from the likes of Matt Brind.”
Tom Kirkman was approached by the Eden Project to put on a mountainboard display at the popular tourist attraction down in Cornwall. Together with fellow MBS Team riders Jamie Johnstone, Mick Kirkman, Matt Brind and a couple of other friends the event was organised. Mountainboard photographer extraordinaire Paul Taylor was on hand to capture some of the action.
This event was a total success and great publicity for the sport of mountainboarding. Rumour has it there may well be more mountainboard demos at the Eden Project in the near future.
Mark Berry and Tom Beaton road tripped it up for a weekend in France at the Slingshot Party 2009. The event was held in the Le Touquet which according to wikipedia has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians, with many luxury hotels.