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Team Trampa rider Ash Garwood @ BKSA Westward Ho

26/10/2012

And so the last stop of the British Kite land boarding championships was upon us, I was particularly excited for this event as I had a chance to take the title once again. I arrived early Thursday to a cold and wet westward ho. Shortly after arriving I settled in to a chalet with views of the beach waiting for the tide to go out. The wind for Thursday was predicted to be good so I made my way to the beach for a warm up session to get ready for Friday’s competition. 

After a good session on Thursday, I managed to land handle passes, 360 varials, varial flips and multiple rotations. I felt good about the competition the day after, although looking at the forecast I wasn’t sure it would happen.

Friday morning came and with it fresh anxiety for the day ahead. Competition is one of the most enjoyable things to do, but at the same time it’s also terrifying. You find yourself in a small compact area, pushing yourself, all the while trying to mind other competitors, fight for space and land all your tricks. Not something easily done in wind, but in no wind it becomes very frustrating. Friday it seems was not happening, so myself and the other riders retired for a chilled evening in the chalet.

I woke Saturday to a cold, chilly, and windless day. And with my hopes of a good session dying, I pondered over breakfast what would happen if no competition was run. Thankfully though, there was a brief period of wind, which led us into competition. But like our summer, the wind was brief. My 1^st heat was up and the wind was in. I competed against Abe Azoulman in the first round, he was flying a 21m kite and I was on my trusty 11m C4. My aim was to use my smaller kite and superior speed to boost me into the next round. After about 20 seconds into my heat, the wind died leaving me severely under-powered, but I still managed a few 5 to blinds, railey to blinds and other ground combos to land me in the final. 

Unfortunately though, the wind dropped to absolute zero meaning I got joint first with LOLO and Emanuel.

The prize giving for the whole year was Saturday evening and the whole fleet turned up dressed in their best to celebrate another great year at the BKSA. The results were in and I managed second over all for the year. That’s 2 years running and I’m so stoked to do it as part of the Ozone and Trampa team. It’s been a great year for me in general and for kiting. We have pushed land boarding further than ever and shown that there Is some real style around.

The final results for the year are

Laurent Guyot 1^st

Ash Garwood 2^nd

Abe Azoulman 3^rd

A big up to every one for a great year and for every one who the supported me.

For more on my antics check out www.facebook.com/AshGarwood

Peace. 

Trampa team rider Luca Castagna ITALY No1

16/10/2012

After getting 3rd in the world downhilll champs our friend and team rider LUCA CASTAGNA has won both downhill and freestyle italian championships.

Team rider Ash Garwood Second at British kite land barding champs round 2.

13/10/2012

Team rider Ash Garwood gives us the lowdown of his weekend in Redcar …

BKSA Redcar 2012

The end of summer is here and along with it the end of the English kite season. Thankfully for some there are still a few of us taking to the skies to end the British competition scene in style with the 2^nd round of the British Land boarding championships. Coming back to Redcar for the 3^rd time I was looking forward to riding there again. Every year Redcar provides us with hard packed sand and usually wind on one of the days. This year was no different. I arrived on a chilly Thursday evening and hit the hay ready for a session tomorrow.

I woke to a cross shore wind, eager, I was the first rider out on my 11m C4. The kite surfers and other kite users were soon to follow once they realized the wind was up. Friday was only a competition day for the kite surfers so I was able to watch the comps and train with fellow riders for Saturday. I managed to land some awesome tricks ranging from railey to blind’s to multiple rotations and handle passes, this put me in a great state of mind for Saturday’s competition.

Saturday came and with a sore head I woke early to catch the rider briefing, the forcast was for wind but not much. So I pumped up the biggest kite in my quiver, my 11m and hoped for the best as I was against riders with much bigger kites. When it came to competition time the judges were happy with the conditions and we were off. Riding in very difficult and low wind conditions I lost the first heat coming last. But as I warmed up to the conditions I used unhooked tricks and multiple rotations to my strength and managed to get one back. With the end round being almost black flagged the competition was over. Dispite the conditions I was proud of my performance and for all the people watching us.

Saturday evening saw all the competitiors get together with all the attendee’s of the event. As with BKSA tradition every one got merry and enjoyed them selfs to the end.

Sunday we woke to a calm sunny day with no wind leaving only the prize giving.

I was stoked with a Second a massive credit to my kite the 11m C4 as with out it I would have come no where. For low wind flying this kite rocks!

The end results were:

1^st LOLO BSD

2^nd Ash Garwood

3^rd Abe Azoulman

Redcar was another great weekend, the final round is coming up at westward Ho from the 18^th of October where I have a chance at the title once more, with it being very close between me and French rider LOLO it will be one to watch. so keep an eye out for more results. For more info on the competitions and to keep up with my travels go to www.facebook.com/AshGarwood

Stay safe out there, Ash.

Trampa does Thailand!

12/09/2012

Essex kite fest: The low down from Ash Garwood

24/06/2012

Here rider Ash Garwood gives you a low down of the event.

2012 saw the first year of Essex Kite Fest held at Essex Kite Park, sponsored by Ozone kites. The kite park is a brilliant location boasting clean winds, flat terrain, ramps and rails. It is also my local spot.

Before the event, the members and myself frantically prepared the kite park for the event, putting up the marquee, re-conditioning the ramps and making the world aware of the event. Pre-event I got some last ditch training in, to prepare my riding, smashing out standard board-off variations to big loops and handle passes, which left me feeling good for the weekend ahead.

The 12-hour forecast for the event looked good with no rain Friday, Saturday or Sunday and wind all weekend. With no competition on the Friday, myself, fellow team mate Jack Elston, and Flexifoil rider Lewis Wilby headed out for a session in some gusty south westerlies on our 9m kites - I was using the Ozone C4, perfect for these conditions allowing me to confidently perform my tricks boasting some huge air’s and board off variations. The day ended with a little shower followed by chilled vibes and a BBQ.

I woke Saturday to blustery 20-40mph conditions. I decided to represent and get out my 9m Ozone C4 and test the conditions. After about 20-30 minuets fellow competitors and myself decided that today’s conditions were un-suitable for competition, as they wouldn’t allow us to perform our best and not giving a fair result. So instead of competition we had an unofficial race with both buggys and landboards. The buggy riders set off first on a technical course set up by comp director Richard Gowers, after some blood, sweat and tears (literally), Josh Hough claimed victory, leaving only the landboards to race. I tentatively put up my 9m as by this point in the day the wind had picked up considerably. After ignoring my instincts I decided to just go full power, the race kicked off with me, Emanuel, Will, Carl and Pascle setting off. I immediately realised that I was over-powered, struggling to get up-wind with the rest of the field gaining up-wind momentum much easier. After some hard edging and big gusts I finished the course 2^nd from last with Emanuel Norman finishing in 1st place.  The day ended with friends and drinks chilling in the club house with all the kite park crew.

On competition day, I woke to yet more blustery conditions and set out to meet Richard and the other competitors for a rider briefing. I was set to compete in the first heat against, Lolo Bsd and Abe, with fellow Ozone rider Jack competing against Emanuel. In my heat the conditions were difficult resulting with me ending up down-wind in the corner of the field away from the crowd and judges. I managed to pull off a handle pass, board off variations and 9-blind’s. Unfortunately this was not quite enough against Lolo, who just managed to get ahead sending me into the next heat with another chance of getting to the final. This left Jack with Emanuel for the first heat with him falling into the corner away from the judges like myself leaving the ramps/rails up wind clear for Emanuel. At the end of the heat Emanuel went through to the final, boasting some huge 720 dangle passes and consistent style. This left myself, Jack and Abe in the losers final, for a place in the final 3. With conditions still up and down, I set out on my 11m C4 keeping up-wind to impress the crowd and judges, landing board-off variations, multiple rotations and some handle passes. At the end of the heat. I managed to come in ahead of both Abe and Jack winning the heat putting me into the final.

The final round came, with judges Lewis, Floyde and Jay at the ready, myself Lolo and Emanuel set off. I managed to borrow Jacks 12m C4 for this round, giving a little bit more power for those all-important tricks. Boosting some big rotations, kite loops and handle passes, I gave a good show but unfortunately not quite enough to get ahead of Lolo and Emanuel. Although a little disappointed, I was happy with a good 3rd place in the comps, setting me up for a good start to the year.

Over all results …

Overall Amateur Buggy Results

1. Adam Toms

2. Richard Dent

3. Josh Hough

Overall Amateur Landboard Results

1. Pascal Schmidt

2. Chris Walker

3. Carl Kirton

Overall Pro Landboard Results

1. Emmanuel Normal

2. Laurent Guyot

3. Ash Garwood

A bit battered and bruised with fellow members, we reflected on the event being the first of its kind at the kite park. It was just amazing we got international support from Germany and France, with riders young and old coming to the event. We look forward with excitement for 2013, with funds from all the events we hold, going towards the upkeep of rent and ramps.

Big up Ozone for sponsoring the event and myself, along with Trampa and all the peeps at Essex kite park.

www.flyozone.com    www.trampaboards.com    www.essexkitepark.com    

www.facebook.com/AshGarwood