This weekend 13 of Windrider's most esteemend kitesurfers descended upon the holy grail of local kitesurfing spots, the one and only Westward Ho! for a weekend of wind, waves and endless shredding... or so we thought.
Friday, 14:00 hrs.
Two large parcels bound with Best tape had arrived at Windriders HQ, Billy had a grin from ear to ear and Joash was pertty content with life. Yep, you guessed it, the new club kites and harnesses from our sponsors Best Kiteboarding had arrived in teh nick of time, ready for the weekend. Like two children on christmas morning the boys unboxed the kites and spent the next few hours staring at the shiny new toys.
18:00 hrs After a week of lectures, morales were high and the kitesurfers were all super stoked to leave the books behind them in the search for wind. Upon piling all the kites, boards, bags and deckchairs together it soon became apparent that we would need a bigger trailer (uh oh!). Not to worry though, Ned just happened to have a bigger trailer (what would we do without him) and after a short delay the windriders were on their way. 20:00 hrs Arrival at Westward Ho! The team picked up their keys, raced to grab the best beds and got settled into their homes for the next 2 nights. Whilst relaxing and enjoying a few cold beers (or warm mulled wines... don't ask why, it's not even december yet) students from Swansea Kite Club arrived, with hopes for a windy weekend aswell.
Saturday, 11:00hrs Despite Exeter's best efforts to summon the wind gods through a combination of prayers and drunken wind dancing, we were greeted the next mornnig by a calm, still, windless day and an array of hangovers (typical eh!). Needless to say, a nice lie in was appreciated by all and after a good fry up the windriders began to feel human once again.
12:00
With full stomachs and a good night's sleep behind us, we made the most of teh sunny weather and went for a life affirming walk along the clifftops and through the rugged shoreline. We were greeted with some wonderful views and Ricky had the perfect oportunity to snap a few timelapses. Who says you can't have fun when there is no wind (well, apart from Matt Crumpton of course)!
15:00 Still no wind, however, the Autumn International Rubgy was on... Just what the doctor ordered. 20:00 With the Rugby over and dinner eaten, what else to do? Partaay! Needless to say, more mulled wine was consumed, the card games began and eventually, as always, kitchen utensils were used to cover up naked students... Well that escalated quickly. Sunday, 09:00 Billy really was a Billy-no-mates that morning when he pulled open the curtains and turfed the others out of their beds. The wind had picked up overnight and he was itching to get to the beach. Breakfast, showering, packing and cleaning then ensued. 11:00
We arrived at the Beach to find a strong 15 knots of wind. Just what the doctor ordered. The Kitesurfers set up base and pumped up the shiny new toys, a brand new set of 4 Best Cabo and Kahoona kites.
Joash and Tara spent some quality time with Dan, Tigger and Jennie who made the most of the new 6 and 7m kites to practice their kite skills and try LEI flying. Great progress was made by all.
The advanced kiters had a good session out on the water, making the most of the crosswind conditions to practice riding through the choppy whitewater and jumping off of waves. Both Tash and Matt made bounds of progress in the lightwind conditions, which proved great experience. The new 11m Cabo certainly prodided enough power to get a great session.
Meanwhile, Ned and Ricky tore up the flat sandy beach on the landboards with the new 9.5m Kahoona.
16:00 With a fastly rising tide, the kiters packed up and soaked in the gorgeous sunset Westward Ho! blessed us with to end the day. We hit the road home (via McDonalds of course) tired after a great day on the beach.
A big thanks to everyone who came down for being awesome and a shout out to our sponsors Best Kiteboarding for having provided us with the new Kit.
