After 5 days in a row of some quality surf, the wind is now on its way back starting with a race board session later on and fingers crossed some good wave riding conditions on sunday and monday although will probably have the photographers curse as supersaturated tv are coming down to film for their UK Wave vid.
Been riding my new Resin8 5'11 sam egan every day and super impressed with its surf performance in waves from 3-5ft. looking foreward to kiting on it now as im sure it will fly when its small.
Fingers crossed for some epic conditions so we can really show how good kitesurfing in cornwall can be to the world.
will post pics next week.
happy holidays
lee
 
 
Well after around 3 weeks of constant wind and surf, it has finally gone flat here in sunny cornwall.
Time to work now and hit the gym in hope that the wind will come back for next weeks BKSA comp at Watergate.
some pics of the last day when it was smaller at Gwithian thanks to http://joecockle.blogspot.com/
and how good is the Evo 7! try one now
 
 
Picture
Will 1st, Sillsy 2nd, me 3rd
Monday 28th Sept- I left St Ives at 6.45am and drove to St Mawgan to pick up Will B via Doms to pick up the camera. After loading Wills kit, we set off on the long drive to Scotland driving nonstop for 14 hours stopping in Inverness for food and a kip at 9pm.

Tuesday 29th Sept- Will started driving at 5.30am whilst I stayed in the back asleep. We stopped for Sunrise around 7 and were in Thurso checking the surf at the other end of the country, only 24 hours after leaving Cornwall! After checking Brimms and munching a quick bit of brekkie we watched one guy grab a few overhead waves at Thurso East so started getting in the wetties. As the guy got out wearing gloves we both looked at each other thinking ‘it must be bloody cold if a locals got gloves on’ so grab gloves and hats and ran down the reef. As the wind dropped off and the surf got better we were soon both cooking in our new 5/4 West suits and decided to grab a drink and loose some rubber so we could best make the most of waves which were getting better all the time. Fed and minus the hats and gloves we were back on it, 4ft clean and sunny with 4 other guys out. We surfed until we couldn’t paddle any more. Sweet!

We were then back in the van and checking out John ‘o Groats, with the accustomed picture and postcards and off to Fraserburgh. 41/2 long hours, most of which we could see our destination on the other side of the Moray Firth and we were in the hostel having a beer with Mogsy.

Wednesday 30th Sept- Registration at 9.30 and then we were straight down to the beach and the best spot on the day, The Waters of Phillorth. Cross on wind from the left and about 2 foot of mushy waves. Not my favourite conditions!

The seniors kicked off proceedings with the wind a bit up and down. We ran the first round then women and then the men. Dodgy wind which was up and down and a bit weak waves which were crumbling and not good for backside riding meant I went for a bigger kite, to be able to ride frontside. I took the 11 Rebel and went powered grabbing a couple of small ones but not doing enough to take the win placing 2nd behind Genty who progressed straight to round 3 where as I was in to round 2 against Richie Sills on his forehand, who somehow also placed 2nd in his first heat?

After another round of seniors we were back on and the wind had picked up a shed loads so now we were all powered on 7s. With only 2 waves to count and it being really setty I opted to try and grab the bigger ones and ride in my regular stance on my backhand, knowing fore well, Sillsy has a killer frontside snap. I managed to grab 2 good ones but in the end I lost by .5 of a point so ended up the first day a disappointing 6th. Both Will and Sillsy then won their round 3 heats to progress straight to the final, while Genty went through against Elmo from the losers final. With the wind now honking and the waves coming through more and more in sets, it was really a case of who got the best waves and be able to beat Sillsy's fins out hacks. Will just managed to pull it off, grabbing the biggest waves of the day and took 1st ahead of Sillsy and Genty. Celebratory beers with Will and then early to bed for the forecasted jump in swell in the morning!

Thursday 1st Oct- Meeting at 9 the wind was real light but we could hear the waves pounding the beach just over the road. The spot for the day was Burgh or Town End as the wind was more NW which gave cross off conditions and the swell was pumping at around 4-5ft and clean. With everyone looking out thinking it was a bit dodgy, I was keen to get on it as it looked much more my conditions and straight away pumped up the 11. We were up first as the seniors seemed to think it was too big and too light?

This time round I didn’t have any problems and caught a bomb right on the buzzer and advanced straight to round 3 where for the first time in competition I met Will. With the waves picking up and now double overhead, my 11 Rebel was performing brilliantly and allowed me to scoot back upwind to get the next set. I won advancing to the final, while Will placed 2nd and went into the losers final where he defeated Genty allowing me my 2nd crack at beating him.

The final was now set and all strapless. Me on my 6’3 Resin8, Will on his 6’1 Santa Cruz and Sillsy on a 6’0 JP. I grabbed a cracker right on the buzzer and milked it all the way to the beach getting about 5 turns and a nice floater. I could now wait around for the next good set knowing I only needed a back up score. After a long wait I eventually found it and again nailed some nice turns riding all the way to the beach to take the win ahead of Will in 2nd and Sillsy 3rd. Ye Ha!

A lovely treat was fish & chips for lunch supplied by Richard W who was also competing in the seniors.

We then tried to run the seniors but they just complained it was not windy enough, even though it was exactly the same as it had been all day and going off.

With no wind forecast for Friday, the organisers laid on a quiz night in the pub and we all had a nice few cheeky ones!

Friday 2nd Oct- With a lie in and a slight head, we met up at 10.30 and did some interviews for Scottish TV, The Outdoor Show and then went for brekkie at Tesco’s. As the wind swung more offshore we went back to The Waters of Phillorth and found some nice 3ft surf. We then tried some Haggis for lunch before returning to the hostel for a shower and then off out for some ten pin bowling all laid on by the organisers. I drove so as to keep a clear head for the forecasted gales the next day, which lead to great amusement for me as everyone got progressively more drunk and worse at bowling. Genty showed he bowls a lot and almost got a full run of strikes.

Saturday 3rd Oct- We woke up to it howling but not too windy and went back for the 3rd time to The Waters of Phillorth to find small waves and around 30knts of breeze. We went straight in to the seniors and women’s 2nd day of competition and managed to get though quite a few heats before even a 5m kite was too big and it was blowing around 50knts. We finished for the day and headed off to check out the wind near the lighthouse and take some pics. For the evening there was food laid on at the Tufted Duck pub which was all very nice. I drove again keen to keep a clear head with it forecast to be pumping again early.

Sunday 4th Oct- The final day and I rose early to check out several different spots on the way to the 9am meeting. After a bit of disagreement from the organisers we drove to a spot called the Boneyard, which I had already checked only to see for themselves that it wasn’t working before we drove back to Burgh where it was pumping up to triple overhead on some sets and 6m weather. I was straight out pumping up and urging everyone on so that we could get started and finished before the wind dropped as it was forecast to by 1pm. Eventually the seniors got ready and we ran the last of their heats before a round of women and then us.

For my first heat it was still blowing nicely and I was powered on the 6, grabbing a sick wave to start and finishing with a floater onto almost dry sand. I progressed straight to round 3 where I met up with Will and Genty again. By now the wind was dropping fast and I had to go on the 9 Rebel to have enough power. The heat started with a cracking set coming through and I took the first one with Will on the 2nd. Will then found it hard to get back upwind while the Rebel just flew and I was right back in the peak ready for the next set. The next one was even better than the first and I rode it all the way beating will for the 3rd time and progressing to the Final.

Will was then against Ibby in the losers final who was on fire on his 10 Vegas and loving the speed and power of the waves on the new North Kontact. Ibby got a couple of corkers and knocked Will out leaving me, Sillsy and Ibby in the final. With the wind dropping still I wished I had my 11 ready but had no time so had to go with the 9 knowing that I couldn’t win the overall but could still do it for Cornwall and beat Sillsy who had to win to take the 2009 title from Will.

It started off well and I got a sick one as did the others however. Sillsy was then left downwind and unable to get back while I had just enough power to stay upwind. On the next set I took off on possibly the biggest wave of the comp, cranking a nice top turn but hitting a funny bit of sideways chop off the bottom and falling. As I made my way back to try and grab the next wave Ibby powered past and turned onto the wave I needed and rode all the way to the beach. With no more set waves Ibby took the win and best wave prize ahead of me in 2nd and Sillsy 3rd which gave Will, his 3rd UK Wave Master Title in a row.

After prize giving where Will thanked everyone, we started the long drive home, stopping for a sleep in Carlisle before making the rest of the way south and to warm Cornwall where after dropping Will off I drove around the corner to people in shorts and bare tops. A bit of a difference to 3 jumpers, 2 pairs of trousers, woolly hats and coats we had on up there!

Big thanks goes to Mark and Maggie from Synergy, Richard for the fish supper, the BKSA and all the crew and everyone else who made it a cracking event. Especially the Scottish surfers who I found to be the friendliest I have come across anywhere in the world.

An even bigger thanks to my sponsors who have allowed me to have the best wave riding equipment you can get- North Kites, Resin8 surfboards, West wetsuits, Freeriders Surf Shop.

See you soon I hope

Lee ‘Pasty’ Harvey
 
 

Well i am pleased to announce i have now signed to Resin8 surfboards and am flying Eclipse Kites.
After testing out the new Tokoro boards over the past few months i have been blown away by the performance both for surfing and kitesurfing and am really pleased that they have asked me to join the team, now i can use the same boards to surf and kite with rather than having to travel with 5 or 6 boards now its 3, ye ha!
This last week or so has seen some pumping conditions and i feel with the new equipment i am riding better than ever. I leave with Will B sunday morning on the ferry to drive through France to Portugal. We are hoping Hossegor will produce a wave for us on the way down and it looks like we will get some pumping swell towards the end of next week in Santa Cruz, Portugal for the Ocean Spirit Festival. Fingers crossed for wind but with me entering the Portugese surf open and Will competing in the Longboard open we will have plenty going on even if the wind doesnt blow every day. be sure to keep up to date on the offical website http://www.kpwt-events.com/2009/portugal/index.html and i will try and update my blog as much as possible hopefully with some fottage using my new tachyon xc waterproof cameras.
Cheers and happy riding
Pasty

 
 

New video up in the video section of a recent test of the new Eclipse Kima and Resin8 Tokoro surfboard. Filmed by my bro on his first shoot ever the footage is a bit wonky but not too bad for a mediocre day in west cornwall! more to come and ive now got some tachyon waterproof cameras for onboard stuff!!!

more sharks and other wildlife around at sea today and the first sunfish of the year came flapping by for a look. what a life these guys have.

in a bit of a dilemma with germany for the KPWT. to go or not to go? forecast is pretty awfull and its expensive. if i dont go to sylt then i will prob be able to afford to go Brasil, but if go prob not and only portugal, morocco twice + sylt which will work with 2 discards this year for overall but it will be better conditions and nicer weather in Cumbuco so what do i do?

Sponsors needed, can you help?

 
 

well theres been a lot going on here lately.

the crabs have strated moving, the waters warming up and the basking sharks have turned up on mass! saw the biggest one ive ever seen yesterday, was over 20ft long and today had a huge one jump out of the water and roll over right next to us. was pretty good and wish i could of caught it on film as would of made front page press!!! thanks to surftwisted.com for these pics.

on the wave front been a bit flat but some good surf yesterday and occaisionly a bit of wind for a bit of freestyling but been almost a couple of weeks since wave kited. got a little vid almost finished which shows some new stuff.

Signed onto Resin8 surfboards and could be some other news in next few days but at the moment im getting ready for the KPWT in Sylt Germany. dusting off the race board and tweaking everything hoping its going to be windy. so stay tuned for big news to come.

keep it real!!!

 
 

Well the wind and swell is finally dying down after an epic 2 weeks. l with a memorable one last fri at Godrevy, backdooring mutant wedges on waht probably looked like closeouts from the beach and this fri at Leven with some epic rides and more barrels. photos are on the way