Last weekend we drove out to Germany for one of the biggest kite landboard competitions in recent years. Lewis was the clear favourite but you can never be too sure at these events. Everyone was excited to see riders turn up from other countries to strut their stuff. Lewis has done a full write up of the event. Read it here: Lewis Wilby – German KLB Masters.
After solid rain all Friday night and Saturday morning there was no option but to postpone the event till Sunday. Unfortunately the Sunday morning sun was not really there to dry up the course. Efforts were made to bed in the jumps but the mud just stuck to the truck and quad wheels. After a quick discussion the decision was made to cancel the event and rerun the competition before the mountainboarding film festival at Bugsboarding on the 2nd Octoberr.
On the upside a World Freestyle Powerslide Competition OF THE WORLD 2010 was held. This is an event which will probably run only once every 10 years or so. The rulebook is extensive and the judges demanding.
Here are some photos from the weekend courtesy of Paul Taylor.
Fresh from his winter down under Joe headed down to Knockhill in the MBS love bus. This is the first event he has entered this year due to a combination of traveling and an ankle injury. His experience and skill obviously paid off as he managed to win the event by doing a lot of moves in switch and busting 7s off the jumps. Well done Joe!
The 1st stage of the Open Dutch Kitelandboarding Tour took place on the Beach of Ijmuiderslag in the north of the Netherlands, on Friday a fun and practice session was held in 15-20 knots. On Saturday the official part of the competition took place with clear skies and winds ranging between 10-15 knots.
With participants from France, Poland, Holland and Belgium, the participants field was very all-round. Forest7 who organized the event put up a nice show with lots of room for the competitors to show their tricks in a 10 minute time frame.
Judging was on overall performance and style, combining new-school and old-school tricks. Unfortunately the wind died during the start of the 2nd block of heats.
There for a tie was created, meaning 3 ex-equal 1st places.
Results in the men’s division:
Jelmer van der Kist (Flysurfer/MBS)
Yusca Balogh (Flysurfer/MBS)
Jouke Reiffers
Results in the masters division:
Kris Wils (Peter Lynn)
The 2nd stage of the 2010 Open Dutch Kitelandboarding Championships will take place on 25th and 26th of September, also on the beaches of Ijmuiderslag, the Netherlands.
Dan Wilson from Remolition (who also did the graphics for the new MBS Pro 100 mountainboard) came to visit us the other week when we were down at Windsor Race Course for the British Leisure Show. Despite the very wet weather for the first couple of days the sun did eventually come out and some sweet riding could occur. Dan has put together a nice gallery of images from the event. Photographs are all by Dan Wilson himself. There are some pretty funny ones including one of potentially the worse boyband ever and another showing Tom Kirkman flying over a giant panda.
In the evening we built some jib features out of the hire and ride ramp and there are some great shots from that too!
The British Leisure Show was not blessed with the best weather however it was the first ramp event of the year and the riders were happy to be riding together again. We had Tom Kirkman, Tuai Lovejoy, Tom Read, Jamie Johnstone and Matt Brind riding for the weekend. The landing ramp had been recently expanded by two foot on either side allowing the riders to go bigger and try more progressive tricks in a safer environment. After the Friday and Saturday being pretty much washed out, the sun came out on Sunday. Some riders were now riding their shiny new MBS Pro 100 – Tom Kirkman Pro Model boards.
There was a lot of jibbing going on between demos too – a real show of skill. Whilst packing down we built some sort of jib obstacle using the hire and ride ramps and later adding a rail.
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.
