​Riders Battle It Out In The 10th EDGE Race Cup
 
The weekend of the 25th-26st of May saw the 10th annual Edge Race Cup, sponsored by Grenadier Estates take place in Exmouth, Devon. Over 30 riders registered for the event with one international riders arriving from USA. The striking fact is that the standard of riding on their hydrofoils has risen appreciably across the board in both fleets, both in terms of speeds achieved and success rate of tacks and gybes, notoriously hard manoeuvres to master. This year in the Gold fleet there were 5 women ‘Kite for Gold’ riders who hadn’t foiled at all last September and the top riders in that fleet weren’t lapping the slower ones as had been the case last year. 
 
Whilst the racing took place some way off shore, the colourful flags and tents at the beach race site were situated where the new Watersports Centre will be constructed within the next 12 months. It is an enviable location, with both extensive sandy beach and waters upon which to kitesurf. Visiting competitors were very complimentary about Exmouth as a venue and the initiative to make it a Centre of Excellence is fully justified. Representatives from different Kite manufacturers attended with demonstrations of gear and coaching available. Many members of public enquired about the event and were keen to find out more about the sport. Competitors were very appreciative of the benefit of free parking generously provided by East Devon District Council who are in the midst of rerouting the road in preparation of full site development.
 
Saturday saw Champagne sailing conditions, sunny waters and winds of 8-12 knots, perfect for the hydrofoilers with 5 races for each fleet being successfully completed. These craft are so incredibly efficient, that the leading riders are able to sustain speeds in excess of 30 knots in such wind strength. The wind dropped on two occasions, necessitating some rescues by the attentive support boat crews. On Sunday, the forecast rain and drizzle held off, but so sadly did the stronger stable wind that was anticipated. The race team did well to set a course and worked hard to get the racing completed. Initially due to a drop in wind causing an abandoned start, the decision was made to initially race only with Gold Fleet because their ‘foil’ kites require less wind to be effective than the inflatable ‘tube’ kites being used by those in Silver fleet. This is the only distinction between the two fleets, although since the faster riders generally were in the Gold Fleet, they sailed an extra lap per race compared to their counterparts in Silver. After 2 Gold fleet Races, the Silver Fleet joined them to complete three races. With the wind finally stable and strong, the grins of racers were biggest when they returned from the final race.  
 
Racing was tight in Gold fleet with Connor Bainbridge and Guy Bridge having a battle royal and trading first and second places. They consistently opened a substantial gap from the others lead by Ellie Aldridge, Josh Carey, Lance Olner, Jemima Crathorne and Maddy Anderson with close racing within the whole fleet. A notable mention goes to Dane Wilson who scored five 3rd places on Saturday before having to return to his 49er Olympic campaign for his native USA.
 
There were battles throughout Silver Fleet, notably for top spot with 15 year old Angus Fellows vying neck and neck with Lee ‘Pasty’ Harvey a Master with a long heritage of Kite Racing. Fellow Junior Mattia Maini had a strong Sunday to finish Third, behind Angus in Second and Pasty winning the chocolates.
 
 
 
Chunk of Devon provided racers on both days with a choice of their delicious steak and vegetarian pasties between races.
 
Following the racing on Saturday, racers were able to enjoy free beer at the Exmouth Festival generously donated by  Crossed Anchors Brewing and discounted food from The Little Tavern whilst seeing the live Music on stage.
 
 
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Edge Water Sports would like to thank all their sponsors who contributed to this year’s Edge Race Cup Grenadier Estates Chunk of Devon Crossed Anchors Brewing Salcombe Gin F-One kiteboarding UK Olly bars British kitesports Duotone kiteboarding UK FATFACE The Beach House Flysurfer Ozone kites Mystic Red Bull ION  Da Kine , Maxtrack and Levitaz
 
Final Results
 
Gold Fleet:
1st – Guy Bridge
2nd – Connor Bainbridge
3rd – Ellie Aldridge
 
Silver Fleet
1st – Lee ‘Pasty’ Harvey
2nd – Angus Fellows
3rd – Mattia Maini
 
Women
1st – Ellie Aldridge
2nd – Maddy Anderson
3rd – Jemima Crathorne
 
Masters
1st - Lee ‘Pasty’ Harvey
2nd – Ian Savage
3rd – Nick Ajderian
 
Youth (U19)
1st - Angus Fellows
2nd -Mattia Maini
3rd – Francesca Maini
 
Junior (U17)
1st - Angus Fellows
2nd -Mattia Maini
3rd – Sandy Bailey
 
 
 
To find out more about EDGE Water Sports please visit:
http://www.edgewatersports.com/
 

Having picked up a rib injury this week, meaning I am now off the water for a bit, I can look back on the past couple of months which have been going off!After a windless summer, the wind and waves turned up in Cornwall just as the new DUOTONE kites and boards were launched. Boy the new kit is so good, perfect for all kitesurfing disciplines. Check out the full range in our shop http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/duotone-kitesurfing-shop.html  or at https://www.duotonesports.com/

The middle of September saw the British Kitesurfing Wave Championships held at Gwithian. With a great turn out and two days of wind and waves, I was super stoked to regain my title for the 6th year in a row, winning the Pro mens division riding the Duotone Neo 9m and Pro Wam 6’0. Read the full event report at https://www.britishkitesports.org/news/bksa-wavemasters-2018/
​
Next it was back on the Foil for the Edge Cup, British Kitefoiling Championships in Exmouth over the last weekend of September. The biggest turn out for the last few years had light wind on Saturday followed by 7 races run all on Sunday in tricky gusty nw wind. After limited time on the foil this year I was happy to take 2nd in the Masters, although my legs paid the price and I struggled to walk on the Tuesday after! Well done to Olly Bridge for making it 5 years in a row as British Champ.
Here come the storms-

October kicked in with storm after storm producing great Windsurfing and Kitesurfing all over the Country. With a crazy forecast we decided to head north for The Tiree Wave Classic windsurfing event. Big winds and waves challenged everyone over the week with a lot of cancelled ferries but in the end we managed a full day of competition at the Maze. In 40 mph cross on, logo high closeouts, i was super pleased to take 2nd place in the masters. See the event video here - https://windsurfing.tv/video/tiree-wave-classic-2018-full-story/
​
We then headed back home to great surf, before the 2nd event of the British Windsurfing Wave Tour at Gwithian over the last weekend in October. Northerly winds made it super cold but fun conditions, allowing a double elimination in all fleets. Sadly I missed out on the final as the wind died towards the end of the day but 6th place was enough to take 3rd Overall for the year. Well done to Mark Dowson winning the masters title, Adam Lewis the Pro mens and Sara Kellet the womens.

With the comps over for the year the storms kicked up a notch and from the first weekend in November it blew over 30mph with 10ft plus waves for 3 weeks.

The kitesurfing and Windsurfing was world class at Gwithian, with some of the biggest days for a few years. Amongst this we had some classic surf days and some super fun south coast conditions. At times it was a toss up wether to kitesurf or windsurf, so on the really good days I did both, switching to the kite as the wind dropped below 30 mph.

The last couple of weeks has seen the swell drop down a bit but the wind has still been blowing hard. On the lighter onshore days I have been loving the new Fanatic surf foil and sky surf board, getting to grips with super long rides at Marazion.
Unfortunately on Sunday I landed on the mast windsurfing in 40 mph at Maza and have picked up a rib injury. Fingers crossed it will heal soon as we have more big waves and wind on the way.
​
Thanks to Steve Clarke and John Carter for the pics and my sponsors for making the best gear out there- Duotone Kiteboarding, ION, Duotone Windsurfing, Fanatic.

​Cheers and see you on the water soon
 
Lee ‘Pasty’ Harvey

The British Kitesurfing Wave Championships were held at Gwithian on Saturday 23rd September.
28 competitors from across the country were greeted to blazing Cornish sunshine, cross offshore wind and 2-3 feet of surf.
In the Pro Men category Lee showed a dominant performance to retain the British Champion title he has held since 2013.

Riding the 2018 North Neo 9m paired with the new Clickbar and Pro Wam, Pasty blitzed the field scoring 19 out of a possible 20 in the final with one judge awarding a 10 point ride!

For a full event report chceck out www.britishkitesports.org

If you want to learn to wave ride with a kite or improve your kitesurfing skills, Pasty is running Wave clinics in Cornwall this autumn with the Intro to Wave on the 7th October and Wave Improver on 4th November.

Limited space so sign up quick.
All the info here - http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/kitesurf-clinics.html 

​pics by Joe Cockle photography

The weekend of 11th and 12th June, Lee competed in the 2016 British Kitefoil Championships take place at the Edge Cup in Exmouth.
Run by 5 times World Champion, Steph Bridge the event attracted top international riders as well as the best racers in Britain, making a fleet of 42 kitesurfers, competing for the £5000 prize pot and  various titles.

With light winds of 6-8 mph on Saturday the racing was tense at the front of the pro fleet with World No. 2 Olly Bridge taking out 4 wins out of 4. With a few rescues in the Am fleet as the wind dropped off towards evening, racing was called off for the day with promise of more wind and sunshine on Sunday.

Sunday came with sunshine and variable breeze of 10 - 12 mph that allowed 2 races before the wind switched offshore and due to the tide made it impossible to race anymore.
Lee finished in 7th place overall and 4th in the British Nationals.
Overall results
1st Olly Bridge
2nd Guy Bridge
3rd Florian Gruber (GER)

The 2015 British Kitesurfing Racing Championships took place at the Edge Cup on 6th and 7th June in Exmouth hosted by Edge Watersports.
Split into three classes of Formula race board, Foil board and Open fleet there was a great turn out of over 50 riders from 8 countries including the Top 10 in the World for the Formula class.
On Saturday the wind was blowing Westerly 15-20 mph which meant for some great action packed racing with the Formula and Foil classes completing 8 races each and the Open class 4 races.
This year I competed in the Foil for the first time after working with Fastafoil over the last year, I was super keen to see how fast I was going and line up against 2014 British Champ Guy Bridge along with 4 visiting French guys. For the first race I used the 10m North Dyno and was super happy to take 3rd place with half the fleet using faster Foil kites. As I wanted more power I quickly headed in to change up to the 13m Dyno and took 2nd place in Race 2 behind Guy Bridge riding on a Spotz 2 hydrofoil and Ozone Chrono 9m Foil kite who was blisteringly fast and overtaking all of the Formula guys after 2 laps despite them starting 1 minute ahead.
For the remainder of the races I placed 3rd behind both Guy and Theo de Ramecourt (France) which I was super pleased with after having some great battles with Mateo from France in 4th who overtook me on most of the upwind legs with his ultra fast Elf kite but I managed to overtake him again on all the downwinds with good speed and fast foiling gybes which made the difference.

In the Formula class 2013 World Champion Florian Grubber from Germany held a narrow lead from Florian Trittel (Spain) and Olly Bridge (Exmouth).

While we took a break for lunch the Open fleet hit the water for 4 races. With a mix of riders using different boards it was Matt Taylor from Praa Sands that was leading the fleet riding a Sector board and North Dyno 13m. A great result from Matt after lots of hard work and awesome to see my coaching paying off with a win in his first event.

After a great days racing it was off to Pebblebed vineyard for some top nosh and fine wine, courtesy of Jeff. Thanks again for the amazing food.

Sunday dawned and as the forecast predicted it was light although at 9am there was just about enough wind blowing down the estuary at about 6 knts. The course was set and we headed out with me as the only tube kite able to get off the beach on my 18m Dyno. As quite often happens in Exmouth as the sun came up the sea breeze started to work and cancelled out the Northerly wind meaning everyone got rescued before we could start. We then waited to see if the sea breeze would fill in enough and around 12pm the course was reset in 6knts of southerly wind. 
Yet again I was the only inflatable able to make it to the start line but felt powered and was making my tacks and gybes. At the start I was bang on the money, but was simply blown away by the speed and pointing ability of these big foil kites in such light wind. Half way up the beat the wind dropped a bit and my kite simply fell backwards into the water after a tack. I was then sat there watching all the formula guys get slower and slower as the made there way to the windward mark and by the time they started coming downwind, the wind had dropped so that even the foil kites would not stay in the air and everyone was rescued again.
That marked the end of racing apart from a paddleboard race which is always a good workout against the 8knts of tide in the channel.

Thanks to Steph and all the Edge Watersports team for another great event, the rescue cover and beach marshalls were the best I've ever seen! Big thanks to all the sponsors for making it happen and everyone for turning up. It was great to see so many foils and have such a buzz around this new discipline. I can't wait for next year, lets make it over 30 Foil boards!

Thanks to my sponsors-
North Kiteboarding, FastaFoil, O'Neill, Ketos, Supersaturated
Cheers
Lee 'Pasty' Harvey

Results-
Formula- 1st Florian Grubber (Germany), 2nd Florian Trittel (Spain), 3rd Olly Bridge (Exmouth)
Foil- 1st Guy Bridge (Exmouth), 2nd Theo de Ramecourt (France), 3rd Lee Harvey (Hayle)
Open- 1st Directional Matt Taylor (Praa Sands), 1st Twin Tip Lance Oliver, 1st Women Bel Stanley

Rou Chater - Iksurfmag
To learn to Kitefoil or for kitesurf foil coaching click here