Dates are out for our Spring Wingfoil clinics in Cornwall.
We have a Gybing clinic on 13th April for those struggling to turn around or ride flagged out on swell, this is for you!

On 14th April we have the Intermediate Clinic which will take you riding to the next level with, Tacks, Advanced Gybes, 360s & Waverides.
Details on the website kitesurf--wingfoil-clinics.html
​

​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/
 

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 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 2017 Edge Cup & British Kitesurfing Foil Championships took place over the weekend of 20 – 21st May in Exmouth hosted by 5 x World Champion Steph Bridge and the Edge Watersports team.
Over 30 entrants from all round the country including 1 German, 3 Frenchmen and 1 Irish lady gathered on the beach to battle out across 2 fleets, Pros and Ams.
With grey skies and light winds I hit the water using the Aero Ultralight 17m and Ketos Foil Race2, ready for 3 races back 2 back. Unfortunately as the 5 minute signal sounded it started raining and everyone ended up getting rescued as the wind completely vanished.
It wasn’t long before the sun came out and the wind was back at 12- 15 knts perfect for the Aero UL 14m on 18m lines. I hit the first start perfectly and was instantly please with my pointing and speed rounding the windward mark in 5th not too far behind the front 4 who are all ranked inside the top 15 in the World. All was going good until the last leg of the 3 lap windward leeward course when a small mistake allowed the 3 French guys past before the finish.
Race 2 and I made it around the first mark in front of Olly Bridge riding the new Flysurfer Sonic Race 15m. One of the best moments for me was managing to hold Olly off downwind until just before the mark where he overtook and went onto win while I comfortably kept hold of 5th with no mistakes. This gave me great confidence going in for lunch knowing my kites and foil is as fast as the best in the World.
The sun continued to shine for the afternoon and the sw breeze picked up although also became very gusty going from 18 – 22 knts. I went for the Aero UL 11m for the 3 races back 2 back.
My speed was still very good at the front of the chasing pack for most of the races but fatigue was starting to set in on my legs and too often I made a mistake on the last leg to lose my 5th spot.

​Sunday and the weather was much nicer with glorious sunshine and a southerly 12-15knt breeze perfect for the Aero 14. Three races in the morning followed by 3 races in the afternoon, we had some great racing and I enjoyed some great battles with the 3 Frenchmen. Holding 5th place after 2 laps in nearly all races I again made too many mistakes on the last downwind legs or into the finish to end up 8th Overall in the Edge Cup.
 
Happy with achieving my goal of 4th in the British Championship and with the speed of the kites and foil, it’s now time to train more to improve my leg stamina so I don’t make any mistakes at the next event.
 
Thanks to Steph and the Edge Watersports crew for running a great event and my sponsors for the great kit – Ketos Foils, Peter Lynn, ION & Pasty Adventures
 
Results:
Edge cup
1st Olly Bridge, 2nd Guy Bridge, 3rd Benni Boeli.
Ams – 1st Lance Olner
 
British Champs
1st Olly Bridge, 2nd Guy Bridge, 3rd Connor Bainbridge, 4th Lee Harvey
 
For kitesurf foiling lessons, coaching and sales – www.pastyadventures.co.uk

Surfer's ear is a common condition affecting the hearing of those who go in the sea regularly. Whether this for surfing, swimming or kite surfing they are all at risk of surfer's ear if they don't take precautions. The body reacts to the cold by forming tiny bony nodules around the opening of the ear. These slowly grow over the next few years, narrowing the opening. This leads to conductive deafness and a higher rate of ear infection in sufferers. To avoid this they need to protect themselves.
Having not used protection, the only treatment for the condition is surgery. The extra bone is chiselled or drilled away by a surgeon under local anaesthetic. ZenPlugs wanted to find out how often surfers needed to have the operation. They carried out a survey of 203 avid surfers who were contacted using social media and a hospital staff newsletter. Surprisingly, in this group 6% of the surfers had the operation at some point in their lives. This comes to 1 and 17 surfers. Several of them had even had it more than once. Having the operation does not protect against the condition coming back if protection is not used.
The research also showed that wearing surfing earplugs and a surfer's neoprene cap more than 90% of the time prevented the condition.
Summary. One in 17 surfer's have had their ears chiselled or drilled. If you don't want to be one of them wear your surfer's cap and ear plugs more than 90% of the time.

Although it has been a very cold spring we have still had some amazing conditions for Learning to Kitesurf at Marazion.

Our private lessons have been very successful with the use of the new BBTalkin 2 way headsets. This has greatly improved the speed of learning and all the students that have used them have been extremely happy with some great feedback.
We are using them on all private beginner lessons and coaching sessions. Check out our full range of courses here.

Have a great summer and we hope to see you on the water in sunny Cornwall at some point. Remember to keep an eye on our Facebook page for all the latests news and happenings from our World.
If you are in need of some new Kitesurf equipment check out our Kitesurfing shop, where you will find unbeatable packages from North Kiteboarding, KiteFoiling setups, Kite Surf boards and New & Used Bargains! 

Have Fun and Stay Safe
Lee 'Pasty' Harvey

Our recent coaching holidays in Dakhla, Morocco were without doubt our best yet. 
First up we had the Lagoon camp from 21st Feb - 1st March on which we had 6 fun guys. After the morning brief and preparation of action plans, it turned out we had 3 groups of 2 to work on similar goals which was perfect. The wind blew everyday from dawn to dusk and with the Dakhla Spirit camp providing the best possible setting, it enabled the coaching to run at the best times according to the activity. 
At low tide we worked on freestyle tricks in our on private flat water area or carves and turns both on twin tips and surfboards out in the lagoon, including the use of video coaching. When the tide came up we ran group sessions on jumping or follow my leaders in perfect waist high water. Kites used were everything from 12m on the first morning down to 6/7m kites the rest of the time. Being based at the camp, also meant that the guys could take a break whenever they wanted and still learn at the same time by watching the others. 
During downtime I also managed to sneak in a few Kite Foil sessions and hit a top speed of 34.1 mph riding a Sector and Rebel 9m one windy lunch time.
The vibe at the camp in the evenings was great with some good Moroccan food and a few beers during evening theory sessions and daily debriefs.
Well done to all for a great week and learning lots. Also thanks for the great feedback :)
Check out some of the pics from the Lagoon Camp-

The Wave Camp ran the following week 28th Feb  - 7th March and again had six people. Two from the previous week camp on the lagoon with  the other four flying in. For this camp we stayed in town at the Dakhla Spirit Surf House which is the perfect base for the amazing wave spot of Oum Laboiur.
Starting off on Sunday morning with a brief and action plans we then had an perfect little wave session for everyone to warm up and get used to the spot. Following on from this we were blessed with perfect 2-4 ft waves and wind everyday, so much so that the guys even needed a morning off half way through. 
On two mornings we went back to the lagoon to run some footwork and flat water exercises while we waited for the tide to push up and make the wave even better. The spot is just so good and with no one there (the most we had were 2 windsurfers and 3 other kiters on one occasion), it really is the best place to improve your Kite Wave riding. In the evenings we had great food at the house and watched back the video from the day. Mornings were early surfs followed by theory or general feedback from the previous day.

"Lees enthusiasm for wind and water is relentless, his skill and experience exceptional. Hes been a great mentor for chasing the best waves from sun-rise to sun-set, giving unlimited attention and pushing you further. Its been great to be a part of his trip, and 'its on' for the next one." Jason, Dakhla Wave Camp.

The next Pasty Adventures Kitesurf Coaching Holiday is looking likely to be in Cape Town. 
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for all the latest updates and news from Pasty World. 
Kitesurf Coaching Clinics are on in Cornwall this Easter, click here for info
Cheers
Lee 'Pasty' Harvey

Dates are now out for this autumns Kitesurf Wave Clinics at Gwithian or Marazion. 
Starting off we have the Intro to Wave on Saturday 11th October. This clinic is for kiters who are new to surfboard riding and want to learn the techniques to get out there and start riding waves.

The Wave Clinic on the 18th October is for kiters who are already comfortable riding a surfboard and are looking to perfect their technique in the waves. 
Price is only £60 per clinic, max 6 people with coaching from British Champion, Lee 'Pasty' Harvey. Click here for all the details.