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July 200 with the KiteShop and the Flexifoil touring bus in attendance at
Fleetwood on the Fylde coast... not exactly the riviera and the sea more of a
suspicious dusky brown than a deep blue but with a shed load of enthusiasm and
the right immunisations and vaccines you can still have a good time eh!
There was air to be had even though the conditions were not too good with the
wind blowing along the coast. It did mean that the main drag was out to sea and
back so there were limited opportunities for a close look at the action.
Andy Preston takes to the waves: a brave chap given the way the water tastes at Fleetwood! Watch out for those small brown sharks!
7.2m Blades were the most common sight though there were also Peter Lynn Waterfoils, the new Nexus from Flexifoil, and a Naish AR 3.5 too which looked to be a 9 or possibly bigger. The guys buggying on the beach were overpowered with 4 to 5sqm kites showing the relative increase in traction required for kitesurfing due to the extra drag of the water.
Despite very dull and surprisingly cold conditions for July (even for the North West coast), the boys still managed to put on a good show and prove that you don't have to live in Hawaii to enjoy kitesurfing (or to come back a nice brown colour after a good session), but hey! who are we kidding it's got to help.. I know which I'd choose ...right?
Jasons new board delivered only hours before, short, narrow and very light
.
Pumping up the trailing edge of Flexi's new Nexus. This one was one of the prototypes and has a different panel layout and a grey leading edge. Both the leading and trailing edges are inflated to a high pressure keeping the curved shape of the kite stable in lulls and at the edge of the window. I would think this is one of the few traction kites impossible to collapse or flutter (also useful as a huge umberella for 4 to 6 people at a time, very handy in Fleetwood).
Back on the beach it was jumping!
It was a shame that the tide came in fairly early on the Saturday and put an end to the buggying up and down the beach or we would have had some good buggy-pics too.
All pictures © Dr Mike July 2000 and may not be copied or reproduced without
permission.
E-mail: mike@spec.u-net.com for further
information.