This weekend we had the Edge Cup in Exmouth which for 2014 is also the British Kiterace Nationals. 
Starting on Friday 13th  June we had amazing weather but unfortuanately a lack of wind, that was until about 5.30pm when a land breeze filled in from the North. After waiting all day with my 18m Dyno rigged on the beach, I hit the water with the GoPro to get a bit of footage for the BBC news before the first race. Not realising how quick the wind was  building I stuck with the 18 but ended up exploding around the top mark so retired and headed in for the 13m Dyno ready for race 2. With much better power I was flying and managed a nice 3rd closely behind Connor with Olly way out front.
For the next 3 races the wind was up and down and Jack was going really well just pipping me on the final downwinds using his lighter weight to great use.
Saturday and it was more of a waiting game, until there was just enough breeze around 4pm to tempt us all out but alas we all ended up getting rescued.
The evening due was yet again amazing and big thanks to Jeff from Pebblebed Vineyards for amazing food and wine.
Sunday and without much wind forecast we headed out early in very light wind with the hope of some seabreeze. With just about 6knts on the course at the start we got away with some power but by lap 2 I was struggling and ended up just behind Jack again, before the wind totally died and all but a few just made it back to the beach under our own steam.
Results-
1st and British Champion-Olly Bridge, 2nd Connor Bainbridge, 3rd Jack Galloway, 4th Lee Harvey, 5th and British Ladies Champion- Jade O,Connor 

Also well done and impressive kiting to Guy Bridge, British Kitefoil Race Champion.
Thanks to my sponsors, North & O'Neill for all the support, I will be training hard and back in the top 3 next year!

For the official write up see  
http://www.kitesurf-magazine.co.uk/edge-race-cup-2014/ 

I recently spent 2 weeks in Qatar training their National Kite Team to start riding race boards and the kiterace skills needed for them to compete in the 2014 IKA Asian Championships which is being held in Qatar this November and ultimately the Olympics in 2020.

This was my first time in the Middle East and it was a great experience. Qatar has some great kite spots for both freestyle and racing with consistent wind and lovely warm water with a great friendly bunch of people.
The coaching went really well and they have a great group of kiters who are really keen on racing as well as a few of them who are keen to progress into freestyle. Working with Nico and Pinar from Kite Academy who were coaching the freestylers, we had a busy schedule to determine who would concentrate on which discipline, giving each there own goals to work on over the coming months before the next training camp in Turkey in August.
During the camp we ran several Twin Tip races to get everyone into racing with their first taste of competitively riding around a course and being on a start line. During the few no wind days we covered all aspect of theory including rules and fitness training. 
By the end , all of the guys were happily riding freerace boards and had the knowledge and know how of what is needed to progress onto full race boards over the coming months, ready for full on race training in Turkey.

If any organisations or Countries are looking for a race coach or kitesurf coaching of any kind please contact me through my school Pasty Adventures

Stay tuned to my Facebook page for all of my latest news including upcoming Kitesurf Clinics in Cornwall.
Cheers
Lee 

Kitesurf racing 25-26 May 2013 at Marazion, Cornwall for the Pasty Cup. Round 1 of the British Kitesurfing race championships.
Organised by Pasty Adventures kitesurf school.
Sponsored by- National Marine Aquarium, Seiners Arms, Philps Pasties.
Supported by- Cornwall Tourism, Kiteworld, Hager-Vor, Lodeys, North, Freeriders

Music by Kernow Vibration- Ansum Day
Camera by Jacob Cockle

visit the website for more info www.pastyadventures.co.uk

Super pleased to finish 2nd at the Edge Cup, British Kitesurfing Racing Championships round 2, last weekend 15th - 16th June in Exmouth.
Run by 4 times world chmapion Steph Bridge the event was yet again a huge success with a great party at Pebblebed vineyard. 
Olly Bridge was flying scoring all 1st places out of the 9 races we managed to finish.
I was really happy with 5 2nds & 4 3rds beating Steph in race 2 before she took herself out with a huge crash in race 3.
The conditions were pretty full on on saturday with most racers on 7-9m kites, i choose to use the 10m North rebel and was perfect on the 2013 race 69.
Sunday was a different story with everyone on big kites although the wind piped right up just before the 1st race of the day race 7 meaning some changed down only for the wind to drop to nothing on the 2nd lap and all but Olly swiming in so meaning race abandoned.
After a quick sup team race the wind filled back in for 3 more races.
Check a bit more of a write up here http://www.kitesurf-magazine.co.uk/edge-cup-report/
Prizegiving was held on the beach as the sun came out with perfect kitesurfing conditions in the background.
Thanks to Steph & Edge watersports team for another great event.
Results:
1st Olly Bridge
2nd Lee Harvey
3rd Denzil Williams

For me that now makes 1st (waves), 3rd & 2nd (racing) at the comps so far this year ;)
Gotta be happy with that.Looking forward to the next event in Wales.
Thanks to my sponsors-
North kiteboarding, ION, Freeriders & Pasty Adventures

The country’s fastest kitesurfers came to Marazion over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend 25th – 26th May 2013 to compete for The Pasty Cup, round 1 of the British Kitesurf Racing Championships. Organised by local kitesurf school Pasty Adventures & sponsored by the National Marine Aquarium, The Seiners Arms & Philps Pasties.

The forecast for glorious sunshine with no wind, kept all but the top riders away, however the weather gods were with us and the warmest day of the year so far provided a perfect sea breeze to allow 4 races on the Saturday with 4 races on Sunday making a total of 8 races meaning the competitors had 2 discards to give their final score. Alongside all the action on the water, spectators were able to have a go at kite flying on the beach and all the competitors were well fed with Philps pasties in the day & a BBQ in the evening

Winning the Race Fleet and regaining the Pasty Cup for a 2nd year was 2012 Youth World Champion, Olly Bridge with mum Women’s World No. 1, Steph Bridge in 2nd (both Exmouth) and Lee Harvey in 3rd (Hayle). In the Open fleet Oliver Laurence from Shoreham took top honours winning the Cornwall Tourism Trophy.

Sadly two days after the event we lost our friend and official cameraman Jacob Cockle.
We will never forget you Bro xxx

Big thanks to all the sponsors, supporters & volunteers. For 2014 we are looking to add Stand Up Paddle racing alongside Kitesurf Racing giving much more for spectators to be involved with.

Full write up on the website http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/event-reports.html
pics by Lindy Loo

Have managed to gain a fair bit of exposure recently showcasing just how good Kitesurfing in Cornwall is. Here is the may issue of Kitesurf magazine where I have a full page kitesurfing in the waves at Praa Sands.
Yesterday I had a third of page 2 of the Western Morning News, the south wests biggest selling daily newspaper, with a picture I took myself riding in front of St Michaels mount using the Go Pro 3 black on the K4 harness mount. I was riding the new 2013 Kite Race kit, Dyno 13m and Race 69 from North Kiteboarding which is amazing. If you are looking to learn to kitesurf in Cornwall go to my school Pasty Adventures, the only Britsh Kitesports Association (BKSA) recognised school in West Cornwall running lessons at Gwithian & Marazion.
If you have an interest in Kitesurfing be sure to come and check out the Pasty Cup over the bank holiday weekend of 25th - 26th May at Marazion. You can even have a free Powerkite session and see if kite surfing is the sport for you. Details on website http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/events.html

So the powers that be have made a crazy decision and decided to drop Kitesurfing and put Windsurfing RSX back in for Rio 2016.
Really strange outcome after all the recommendations at the ISAF conference all week to keep kiting in. But hey, politics and money is something I will never understand? 
Not sure how they can reinstate a dying class that will be pumping around the course in Rio, not very enjoyable to watch and especially after the RSX class took ISAF to court costing them at least £35000 in legal fees. Still I'm not entirely sure Kitesurfing was ready for the Olympics anyhow?
I do feel real sorry for all my friends who have now lost their Olympic dream especially Steph and Olly Bridge who were looking like being the first ever mother, son combo at an Olympic games.
so lets look at the positives-

• Even being selected for the Olympics has increased media attention and awareness that Kiteracing is a high performance sailing sport.
  
• Every country now has some kind of kiteracing going on and sailing clubs have started to include kiteracing events all around the world
• The kiteracing world tour can now go back to being run by the PKRA who were heading in the right direction and had some great events coming on board
• It will now be left to people who are passionate about kitesurfing and do racing for the love and sportmanship rather than just for a job with no passion. This was something I didn't like at the IKA Worlds this year!
• we have gained a lot of kitesurfers who have given it a try because of the Olympics. some of these may go back to RSX some may stay kiteracing, some freestyle and some may even wave ride ;)
• We can now keep developing equipment, courses, race structure and most importantly a training network and clear pathway enabling the youth to get into kiteracing on our own terms.
• By the time ISAF come begging for Kitesurfing to be included in 2020 to save sailing as an Olympic sport, we will have a set structure and can go in on our terms as kiters rather than changing to what they want as yachties.

I would like to thank everyone involved in this process especially Markus at the IKA. It's been a rollercoaster ride but i am positive that this outcome is the best for the sport and Kiteracing will only become stronger from it.
If you are looking for kitesurf race coaching or just to get into kitesurfing then gp to my school in Cornwall- Pasty Adventures
Cheers
Lee

RYA Ranker Event Weymouth 22-23 September 2012

The first RYA Olympic classes’ event to include Kitesurfing was run as a test event with no points counting towards ranking points. For the race committee and the riders it was the first time for everyone to test out courses and the new rules which come into play now that Kitesurfing is an Olympic sport.

With 20 entrants in total we were the biggest fleet out of all the classes and included 4 women. At the briefing it was explained that the starts and courses would be changed throughout the day and that it would be run to standard ISAF rules including all the flags.

With the wind blowing at around 15knts and due to increase over the weekend the first challenge for the riders was which 3 kits to register which we were not used to in the UK. Some made the wrong choice and chose to change anyway to make the most of the event in prep for the Worlds while the others learnt that you have to protest if you think someone is on a non registered kite.

3 races were run in the morning and another 3 after a quick break with the start line being changed slightly each time allowing the race crew to find out which works best to get the fleet away cleanly. The course was windward leeward with a spacer at the windward mark. One thing that we were not used to was the course being moved after each race to account for the 15 min 1st finisher target time and any wind changes.

On the water the big surprise was how well Tom Squires and Sam Sills, former RSX Squad windsurfers were going as they were right up with the usual front runners of Olly Bridge, Callum Edge, Steph Bridge and me. During racing we had 5 ribs on the water which allowed us to take a break sitting on the boat and having a drink. During this time all of the RYA Crew were asking loads of questions and were super impressed by the standard of racing, our angles and speed on the water.

After racing we met at the WPNSA for a debrief and talked about the courses, start lines and how we can make it better in October to finalise things for Sail for Gold in 2013.

On Sunday with the wind blowing at 27 gusting 34knts racing was abandoned for all fleets and we had the prize giving.

End results after Callum retired from 3rd due to ineligible kites were-

Men- 1st Tom Squires, 2nd Olly Bridge, 3rd Lee Harvey

 Women- 1st Steph Bridge, 2nd Alice Shoulder, 3rd Izzy Hamilton

The outcome from the event was extremely positive with the RYA and the riders learning valuable lessons before the upcoming Europeans & Worlds and we look forward to many more great Kite racing events being run in at the Olympic venue in Weymouth.

Thanks

Lee ‘Pasty’Harvey

Sponsored by- North, Ion, Freeriders, Pasty Adventures

For Kitesurf Coaching and Lessons visit my school www.pastyadventures.co.uk

Last weekend saw the Edge cup hosted by 4 times World Champ- Steph Bridge. After mostly finishing 3rd, I ended up 4th being beaten by Callum by 0.3 points after he bagged an equal 2nd and got took out in the last race which gave him average points meaning he beat be even though i beat him in 7 out of 11 races. Jammy git!
the report from Edge is below-

On the friday, Steph and me ran a Race Coaching clinic which was attended by the RYA and 9 of their development squad along with 3 other kitesurfers who are keen to get into kite racing. With around 25knts of breeze we covered the basics of getting into kite racing, including gust management, rules, footwork, upwind/downwind sailing and mark rounding. All learnt lots and I think the RYA were suitably impressed. 
Lots more to come so stayed tuned for Race Coaching dates at www.pastyadventures.co.uk and www.edgewatersports.com

Edge Race Cup - Report


 June 23rd and 24th saw the 3rd running of the Edge Race Cup, now established as the premier kitesurf racing event in the UK.  The record entry of over 40 kiteracers came expecting great kitesurfing conditions and were not disappointed!  Amongst the entries were organiser Steph Bridge 4 times Kiterace World Champion and previous UK National Champions Denzil Williams from Cornwall and Callum Edge from Weymouth.  The weekend also saw many 1st time racers get down to Exmouth seafront and join the action.



The action began on the Friday with a race clinic run by Lee Harvey and Steph  Bridge- 12 kiters joined and learnt up and down wind techniques, directional board footwork, stance, kite position and race strategy.  The day also saw the Royal Yachting Association in attendance to learn more about kitesurfing prior to its inclusion at the Olympics in Rio for 2016.

Saturday dawned with a good force 5 south westerly wind blowing and an out going tide resulting in challenging sea conditions ensuring the race board fleet were sent out on the water first.  3 races were run in quick succession with fantastic fast racing with the Exmouth Duo of Steph Bridge and her eldest son Oliver Bridge setting the tone for the weekend and dominating the fleet.  Oliver Showed amazing speed and control in the rough conditions and came away with 3 first places in the morning session.

 

Then it was time for the amateurs and ladies fleets to get into the action.  Stand out performances were seen from Murray Smith from Dartmouth and Mathew Causen from Bristol as well as local teenager Alice shoulder in the ladies fleet.  After a brief lunch break the course was moved further out to sea and both pros and amateurs were sent out at the same time.  The sea conditions were now a little kinder and it was time to set both fleets off at the same time.  It was impressive to see forty racers all starting at the same time and some great racing continued.  In the ladies local rider Bel Bailey really came to the party winning a number of races and beating all the amateur men in 2 races but with Alice shoulder right on her tail the overall result was looking very tight.  In the men's amateur fleet local doctor Tom Debenham was on fire getting some great results followed closely by another local James Bainbridge.  In the pros there was no stopping Olly Bridge with 2 more race wins abruptly ended with a disqualification in the last race for starting too soon.  Other pros with good results that afternoon were Callum Edge, Lee Pasty,  Denzil Williams and Steve Stubbs,  All they had to do was work out how to beat Olly!

The Saturday night party was hosted by the River Exe Cafe and despite the rain everyone had a great time with excellent food and wine provided by our  sponsor pebblebed wines.

The Sunday dawned with light winds and the pro's were sent out to do battle, in these very difficult conditions only 1 race was run won by Steph Bridge proving that experience counts when the going gets tricky.  The afternoon gave much better wind and slacker tides so everyone was back on it for the final deciding races.  In the ladies fleet it was a battle down to the wire between Alice Shoulder and Bel Bailey, both were super powered and gunning for the win just coming out on top by 2 points was Alice in her first ever race event!  In the amateur fleet it was down to a 3 horse race with Murray Smith just edging out Debenham with Bainbridge third.

The Race board class continued to be dominated by fourteen year old Olly Bridge winning nine races out of eleven, an amazing performance, second was Steph and third  Callum Edge.

It was a great weekend of racing and enjoyed by all participants, roll on 2013.

The last round of the BKSA Course race championship was held over weekend 7/8th august way up in Barrow Cumbria.
Having never lost an event in Cumbria back in my sailing days I was pretty hopefull my winning ways on the lakes would transform to the sea.
Armed with a new board and the 2011 North Rebels we arrived at midnight after an 11 hour drive in crazy traffic.
The 1st 3 races were held in increasing winds on the 14m. The new board flew upwind but I was still having problems on the downwind which I experienced in testing and as the wind and chop piceked up it just got worse.
For the next races I switched back to the North board and instantly nailed a 1st now full power on the 11m. In between races while testing offwind speed with callum i totally destroyed a fin box at over 30knts and ad to switch back to the 2010 North board for the remaining 4 races.
With all finishes inside the top 3 I ended 3rd with Callum nailing 6 1sts and Denzil 2nd with 1 1st and all the rest inside the top 3 as we were way ahead of the rest with superior downwind speed on the windward leeward course.
Big well done to Callum for showing the way and proving all his training has paid off. Gonna get you next time with my new JayFactory tris!
Thanks to all my sponsors and I can't wait for the Kernow Race Cup tis weekend.
For Kitesurf lessons in Cornwall go to my school site http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk