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Stoked to finally get out on the new Neo SLS 9m & Clickbar all be it with a dodgy leg. Quick edit using GoPro App to share my thoughts and show it in action in the waves of Cornwall. If you want any more info or want to demo or buy any 2021 Duotone kit in Cornwall go to our shop
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 For those of you that know me, you know how much I love fins and always tell people how much fins can change the performance of boards, so much so that I own over 20 sets of Futures for my various kite and surf boards along with a crazy amount of windsurf fins. After hearing from my mates on the Duotone team about the Quobbas I was stoked to get sent a set of med and large Quobba Glass Series fins to try. So far I have used them kitesurfing in various conditions and boards, sadly we haven't had any good waves yet to test them surfing. I am 6'2 86kgs, 7 x British Kitesurf Champ and surfing for 35 years, sponsored by Duotone and ION. Read below for my honest thoughts- First thing you notice when they arrive is the quality and attention to details in the packaging. Great box, fin pouches, screws and spacers, instructions plus great looking fins. Size wise the Med Quobbas are similar size to Futures AM1 and the Large Quobbas similar to AM2 but with all 3 fins same size and slightly more upright with a wider tip making the template more similar to Futures JJF but size wise in area more like the AMs.      First test was in the Duotone Pro Whip 5'5 in small 2ft windswell, sideshore light wind using the Duotone Juice 11m. Normally in the Whip I use Futures P6 (formally WCT) which feel great. I fitted the Large Quobba fronts and med rear. First thing I noticed was the board felt slow. On the wave I had a lot of grip but was lacking the speed I normally have from the Whip in small conditions. Changed back to the P6s and was instantly faster. Not sure if lack of power and weak waves mean not suited to the Quobbas? Next day was bit windier but still small so tried again in the Whip this time with 9m Neo and Large Quobba fronts with P6 rear. Still felt draggy and slow so changed back to P6s and instantly more speed. I think the deep channels and bottom curves in the Whip somehow effect what the fins are doing so my recommendation for the Duotone Pro Whip remains to use Futures P6 fins if you are around 85kg, P8 if bigger and P4 if smaller. Next test is Pro Wam-  After the Whip I was excited to test out the Quobbas in the Pro Wam 5'11 which I normally ride with med JJF Futures. Conditions were cross on 3ft full power on 9m Neo. Starting off with Large Quobba fronts med Quobba rear, the board felt super good with loads of grip and speed. However in the small waves I did feel it to be hard to release the tail in the top turn so changed the rear fin to the med JJF. Now it felt super good, I could come off the bottom super tight with speed and have the release off the top. After a while I changed to all 3 med JJF Futures and instantly the board felt worse, having less grip and less speed in the bottom turn on the choppy cross on waves. Changed back to Large Quobba Fronts with Med JJF rear and was back feeling super good again, offering loads of grip both on the wave and for frontrolls. In the afternoon the wind switched to cross off and the small waves cleaned up to give small down the line conditions. The Quobbas still felt really good in the Pro Wam, holding well with great speed.     Next test was proper down the line condtions with overhead waves and good wind. I tested the Pro Wam again and found the best set up to still be large Quobba fronts with med JJF Futures rear. As the wind increased I changed to the 5'11 Pro Session with Med Quobbas and Neo 7m. On the steeper faster waves the Quobbas felt great, allowing me to come hard off the bottom and holding but releasing well at the same time off the top.    In conclusion-
On my traditional no channel boards the Quobbas felt great but didn't seem to work on the 2020 Duotone Pro Whip. Where I found them to excel was in choppy onshore windy conditions as well as cross off fast breaking waves where the extra grip, translates into more speed while still being able to crank a tight bottom turn to come vertical up the face. If you kite in these type of conditions then definately try some Quobbas and experiment with changing the rear fin to find the best set up for you and your board. Check out the fins at https://quobbafins.com/ and for the best Kites and Kitesurf boards - https://www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/ Wetsuits, Harnesses and Gear - https://www.ion-products.com/water/ For coaching in Waves, Foil and Big Air come and see me http://www.pastyadventures.co.uk/ and please follow me on Instagram for all the latest news https://www.instagram.com/pastyadventures/ Thanks for the pics - Jo Malyon and Ian Butt Saturday 18th June saw our Kitefoiling Improver Clinic run at Marazion with coaching from Lee 'pasty' Harvey. Ideal conditions saw the 5 guys all improve lots and they also got to demo the new 2020 Kites, boards and foils from Duotone Kiteboarding thanks to Pete at KitesurfKit The next coaching clinic is Foiling Basics on the 1st or 2nd August at Marazion. Limited space so book on quick to avoid missing out. For more details click here We are pleased to announce that we can now run Group coaching for up to 5 people. Price is £250 for 2 hours. Adhering to Gov guidelines this is perfect if you are a group of mates looking for a Refresher session to be able to kitesurf safely under British Kitesports Covid-19 Guidelines. We can sign you off and issue a BKSA Intermediate Kiteboarder card or if you are simply looking for a to improve your jumps or any aspect of kitesurfing, then please get in touch. lee@pastyadventures.co.uk   We are super stoked to announce we are now open for Kitesurf Coaching in Cornwall. As per BKSA and Government guidelines we can now run private 1 on 1 coaching and intermediate lessons. With British Kitesports Advanced Coach, Lee 'Pasty' Harvey we are able to run all levels from Intermediate to Advanced in Kitefoil, Kitesurf, Strapless, Big Air and Tricks. Location will depend on conditions and chosen discipline, either Gwithian, Marazion or The Bluff (Hayle river) With a great forecast from middle of next week now is the time to book in. We are also offering refresher sessions, Email lee@pastyadventures.co.uk with any enquiries. Price from £100, all details here For anyone that is looking to kite themselves please ensure you stick to the latest BKSA Guidelines as found below and make sure youre membership is up to date. you can join British Kitesports by clicking here  BBTalkin headsets charging ready for Kitesurf Coaching  Storm Gareth as featured in THE TIMES With 2019 drawing to a close its time to look back at some of the highlights. An awesome winter was topped off with Storm Gareth in march with the above shot of Lee at Porthleven, taken by Mike Newman featuring as a half page in THE TIMES newspaper. The first comp of the year was The Edge Cup , British Kitefoil Championships in Exmouth. Lee won the Masters division and the Silver Fleet (Inflatable Kites) for full report click here https://www.edgewatersports.com/10th-annual-edge-race-cup-2019/ A great summer ensued where we decided to focus more on coaching rather than beginner lessons. This worked really well with a lot of people coming for Foil coaching on lighter days, improving jumps and tricks when it was windy and getting in the waves on surfboards when it was wavey. We also ran numerous Windsurf Intro to Wave Sailing private coaching sessions. For 2020 we are going to continue to focus on Coaching as feel this is an area where many Kitesurfers and Windsurfers can greatly benefit from our knowledge and expertise to not only gain better skills but safety knowledge as well which could lead to saving lives. We will be updating the website over the coming months. The next comp was the British Kitesports Wavemasters which was held in Brandon Bay, Ireland at the start of October. Lee came away with the win in the Pro Mens fleet for the 7th year in a row. For the full report click here https://www.britishkitesports.org/news/bksa-wavemasters-2019-brandon-bay-what-a-week/         After Ireland we went straight to Scotland for the British Windsurf Championships Round 1 - The Tiree Wave Classic. After a great week Lee cam away with 2nd in the Masters Fleet. It was then home to Cornwall and Round 2 - The Cornwall Wave Classic. Crazy stormy weather with 70mph winds in the morning slowly died off towards the final of the Masters fleet, however Lee managed to sail to 3rd place, winning the 2019 British Wavesailing Masters Title to complete the hat trick of British Champion in 3 different windsport disciplines - Kitefoil, Kitewave, Windsurf! For report from the British Wavesailing Accociation click here - https://britishwavesailingassociation.com/ -
Thanks to my sponsors for the continued support and making the best gear that allows me to do what I do- https://www.duotonesports.com/ https://www.ion-products.com/ https://www.fanatic.com/windsurf and the goodies from my supporters that make my life more comfortable on and off the water- https://www.lip-sunglasses.com/ https://dryrobe.com/ https://soliteboots.eu/ https://www.fuwax.co.uk/ We wish you all a windy, wavey and safe 2020 :) Results 2019- Lee 'Pasty' Harvey British Kitesurf Pro Mens Champion British Kitefoil Masters Champion British Windsurfing Masters Champion Wow what a winter we had for kitesurfing in Cornwall. Before Christmas we had an amazing run of conditions and Lee managed to get pictures published in the big three kitesurf magazines in February- After a great 6 week trip to Cape Town, we then returned to a run of storm after storm with Lee getting a great picture in The TIMES kitesurfing during Storm Gareth- See all the shots below The TIMES - 14th March IKSurfmag - Feb Kiteworld Magazine - Feb The Kitemag - Feb  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  Pro Men - 1st Lee Harvey, 2nd Mike Dawson, 3rd Alex Bird 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  Summer 2017 has been producing amazing conditions for kitesurfing in Cornwall. Both Marazion and Gwithian have seen perfect flat water days as well as wave days for the more advanced riders. We have had wind from 10 - 40 knts with an average of 5 windy days a week. Pretty good for kitsurfing in the UK over the summer months. Fingers crossed the conditions carry on and we have an amazing windy and wavey autumn. As well as beginner kitesurf lessons we have also been running lots of advanced and intermediate kite coaching sessions and we also have our Autumn Wave Clinics. Get in touch with us if you want to improve your kitesurfing in Cornwall whatever your level or style. Keep and eye on the website and facebook page for all the details |
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