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King of Watersports > News > FIRST STUDENT KITESURFING NATIONALS HUGE SUCCESS!

FIRST STUDENT KITESURFING NATIONALS HUGE SUCCESS!

Posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 10:28AM by
FIRST  STUDENT KITESURFING NATIONALS HUGE SUCCESS!

STUDENT KITESURFING NATIONALS  
Date: SATURDAY 20 – SUNDAY 21ST MARCH 2010

Location: CALSHOT BEACH

Hosted by: SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY KITESURF CLUB
Sponsors: KING OF WATERSPORTS, KAMIKAZE, FLEXIFOIL, HOOKED ON, NAISH, PROLIMIT, AQUAPAC& BEACH BREAK LIVE
Media Partners: ExPix www.expix.co.uk

Student Kitesurfing Nationals
 
The first ever Student Kitesurfing Nationals proved a huge success at Calshot beach last weekend. If there was ever any doubt that this was a serious event, the race meeting on Friday evening soon put pay to that! With precision akin to a military operation and the envy of any event organiser, the logistics of the event were discussed with the 50 or so organisers and volunteers present.

Safety was paramount and key to the weekend’s activities. Over 30 student volunteers acted as beach marshals, event staff, safety officers, first aid personnel and beach clean up staff. James Topping, Senior Watersports Instructor at University of Southampton was instrumental in gaining the support of the staff and volunteers from the department of Sport and Recreation without which the event would not have been possible.

Special thanks must go to Alex Parker and Ali Shepherd and the committee of the Southampton Kitesurfing Club (SUKS) for organising and hosting the event, the Student Kitesurfing Association, (SKA) for their support, the guys at Solent Sailboards and the BUCS student windsurf nationals organisers whose help was invaluable in the preparations for the event and all the volunteers on the day who despite the rain, wind and cold stuck with it. Also to Keith Macfadyen, Chris Tuffill, Tom Dynes, Alex Nock, Simon Harrison, Mark Bevan, David Bourne, Nigel Powell, Mike Bunton, Iain Tuffill who had the task of manning the safety boats.  

In addition to hosting a first class event SUKS also managed to raise money for charity and were pleased to donate £620 to Julia’s House children’s hospice for The Pyjama Appeal which is raising funds to enable them to open their doors to special children at night as well as in the day. www.juliashouse.org
Saturday morning arrived and so did the rain! Never deterred and after a very, very early start, an army of students soon assembled the site and after a safety briefing the competitions began. The Red Bull team were on hand pumping out some epic tunes and free Red Bull to lift the spirits. As media partners for the event, ExPix were out in force capturing all the day's action both on and off the water.

First on the water were the intermediates and after 4 heats and a quick lunch break it was time for the advanced riders. With wind looking set to die off on Sunday it was full steam ahead to complete the competition in 1 day. Pro riders James Boulding and Ali Barrett, together with Freddy Oldfiled and industry guru James Longmuir had the difficult task of judging and commentating on the day’s action.

After a great day of riding with a high level of skill being demonstrated everyone was eager for the results; who had won best wipeout, most boring and obviously who had won the finals in both categories? In true student style it was decided that the best way to celebrate this had to be at the SUKS party so it was down to the Student Union bar.
The ExPix slide show kicked off the night and attracting a huge crowd and then the presentations began.  Prizes were sponsored by King Of Watersports, Kamikaze, Flexifoil, Hooked On, Naish, Prolimit, Aquapac & Beach Break Live and included, a holiday from Hooked On, 2 top of the range 2010 wetsuits and sector 9 longboard from King of Watersports, Naish golf bag, Prolimit Harness, Aquapacs and Beach Break Live festival ticket.

The results are as follows:

Intermediates

1. Manuel Paiva

2: Tom Bowker

3: Harry Gregory

Advanced

1: Richard Burton

2: Ali Reader

3: Ben Gillespie

4: Zac Andrews

Southampton University were crowned overall Kitesurfing Nationals Champions 2010 for getting the most riders through to the finals.

ExPix made a surprise presentation; 2 riders were picked by the judges for their initiative and perseverance throughout the day's riding resulting in Ben Gillespie and Gemma Brill each winning a full day's photo shoot with the ExPix team.

A meeting was held on Sunday between Alex Hill the president of the SKA, members of SUKS and students at the event to discus the format for Student Kitesurfing activities. A student kitesurfing tour for 2011 culminating in the Student Kitesurfing Nationals 2011 was discussed together with the possibility of linking with international student bodies. With the support of all those at the meeting, things are looking good for a new era of student kitesurfing events and activities!

More information is available via www.sukitesurfing.co.uk on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=288563215974&ref=ts & http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2218218093 or by contacting president@sukitesurfing.co.uk.
 

 
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