We are pleased to announce we are now taking entry's for the 2013 Pasty Cup sponsored by the National Marine Aquarium. 
Just under 2 months to go so get out there kitesurfing and start training to be in the running. For 2013 there will BKSA National Titles for Kiteracing in both the IKA & Open Fleets for Men & Ladies.
IKA Fleet runs to IKA rules with registered equipment.
Open fleet is for any board 60cm & under with any kite
For all the info on entering the 2013 Pasty Cup click here

Pasty Cup 2012

Saturday 26th August saw the country’s top kitesurf racers descend on Mounts Bay for the 2012 Pasty Cup organised by Pasty Adventures Kitesurfing School and run by Penzance Sailing Club.

With the buzz surrounding the announcement that Kitesurf racing is an Olympic sport for Rio 2016, the UKs top racers were joined by several newbie’s to the kitesurf race scene including 2 guys who were previously on the Olympic Windsurf development program and are now training for Kitesurfing in Rio, making a fleet of 10 kites flying around Mounts Bay.

Rigging up at Long Rock in 18-20 knts of breeze, organiser Lee Harvey went out first on a 12m kite along with Mogsy from Wales who was on a 13m. As soon as they made their way to the start line around 2 miles out to sea the wind notched up and most of the other riders noticed in time and chose more appropriate kite sizes from 7-10m as the wind meter on the committee boat read an average of 25knts with 31knt gusts.

With the amazing organisation of the race crew thanks to Mike and co. from Penzance sailing club, the 1st race started on time and was promptly won by UK Tour leader, Olly Bridge (15) from Exmouth followed by his mum, 4 time World Champ, Steph with 2010 UK Champ, Callum Edge fighting hard just behind. The next four races were much the same with Olly winning and some close fought battles along with the occasional big crash behind, as huge gusts blew down the race course. In the 6th and final race, Olly was winning yet again before deciding to head back to the beach on the 2nd lap of the 2 mile course as the wind notched up yet more, knowing that he had already won the prize pasty, due to being allowed to discard your worst result with 5 races to count. Callum seized the opportunity taking the win, which meant he finished just 0.3 points ahead of Steph while Lee struggled again as the breeze increased meaning he had to count a dnf.

It was then back to the beach for Prize Giving presented by Alex Hapgood.

The unstoppable Olly Bridge took the win and the Pasty Cup 2012 with Callum Edge nudging ahead of Steph for the 1st time ever. Other notable performances came from former windsurfer Tom Squires knocking Lee Pasty out of his normal 4th spot and local boys Ryan Crawford and Craig Smith with a great effort getting round after only recently buying race boards. It was then off to bed for a rest for some while others scored a wave and a few had to leave before heading to the sailing club for curry and a band.

All of the sailors loved seeing us kitesurfers out there and there was some great feedback such as-
amazing control, such speed, general praise and interest in how well we were going around the course and how good it looked. Mike even said he’d like to see and run an event with 100 kites, so maybe the Kitesurfing Europeans or Worlds will be in Cornwall one day soon?

Huge thanks to Penzance Sailing Club, especially Mike for providing the committee boat and being an excellent race officer, Barry and Robin on safety in the rib and for videoing, Joe of www.jnpevents.co.uk for the pics and scoring and big thanks to Mark Chadwick for enabling a kitesurfing event to be held at PZSC. We look forward to coming back for a bigger event next year.

Next up for the racers is an RYA Test event in Weymouth in end of September followed by the IKA Worlds in Sardinia 1st week of October. Meanwhile Lee is off to Mauritius for the 2nd stop of the 2012 KSP World Tour which runs from 7th -16th September.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @PastyAdventures to stay up to date.

For kitesurfing lessons in Cornwall go to www.pastyadventures.co.uk Blake is manning the fort while Lee’s away on Tour so you will be in good hands!

Results

 1st Olly Bridge 3.5, 2nd Callum Edge 10.7, 3rd Steph Bridge 11, 4th Tom Squires 25, 5th Lee 'pasty' Harvey 28, 6th Gareth Mogsy Morgan 31, =7th Sam Chown & Denzil Williams 40, 9th Craig Smith 42, 10th Ryan Crawford 43 pts. 

To view and purchase all the pics from the day go to http://jnpevents.co.uk/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=10090

Video coming soon ;)

Despite the crazy weather with torrential rain and hosepipe bans up country, its been almost perfect for learning to kitesurf down here in Cornwall.
With small waves and North to West winds, Gwithian has been amazing with all the beaches around St Ives bay offering up amazing kite conditions.
In the southerly winds we have been having, Marazion has been perfect, although some waves last week have stirred up a bit of weed making for some line tangles and the students learning about the importance of staying away from weed and cleaning your lines after your kitesurf session. The beach have now been cleaned by Cornwall Council who use the weed to fertilize the farms around Penzance.
With great winds forecast again all this week and the beaches pretty empty, there has been no better time to learn to kitesurf in Cornwall, so make the most of this summer and get in touch today to book in your extreme adventure with Pasty Adventures, West Cornwalls only British Kite Surfing Association recognised school.
We also pride ourselves on offering the best value kitesurf instruction in the UK concentrating on giving intimate instruction to the students. To do this we recommend 1:1 instruction so that you can learn at your own pace. We also offer the 'Learn with a friend' option for all of our kitesurf courses as kitesurfing is a really socialable sport and great to learn with your mates. 2:1 is the biggest class size we run, unlike most other schools who operate on a 4:1 basis. We believe this is unfair as you spend a lot of time hanging around and we want you to learn quickly, while having an amazing time and feeling like you are getting amazing value. Kitesurfing is an expensive sport to learn but we feel it is worth every penny and want you to feel this right from your first lesson!

We can also sort you out with some great deals on new equipment thanks to local shop Westcountry Watersports in Truro and our sponsors North Kiteboarding so there has been no better time to get into the Worlds fastest growing extreme sport.

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
Cheers
Lee

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.

We are pleased to be supporting and donating prizes for the upcoming Kernow Race Cup at Marazion 14th & 15th August. Being run by Kernow Kitesurf Club, there are classes for Race boards, Twin Tips and Directionals. A bbq and band on saturday night at Mounts Bay Sailing club should be great fun.
Hope to see you there.