BKC FREESTYLE NATIONALS

September 30th 2023 - October 1st 2023

Hayling Island delivered some breeze and enabled us to crown some of our 2023 Freestyle Champions…

At the 10am rider briefing on Saturday morning each of the three fleets, (junior, amateurs and pros) were interviewed in front of the crowd by Lewis Crathern.

This new addition to the briefing provided a real insight into the kiting background and aspirations of the riders. Particular highlights were the interviews with two of the amateur men Jonnie “Crash” and “Big air” Shields.

With the announcement of a Bigger and Better Watersports Festival on site in 2024 the competition scene is making a comeback.

Competition Results & Reports

Kite Foil Freestyle Report

This discipline was run in three parts over the weekend and was judged on a simple “best trick” format.

The riders were throwing down multiple rotations both hooked and unhooked as well as strapless tricks. With a strong display from the juniors, Ollie Evans and Charlie Mann were eventually beaten by Alfie Luxton with a perfectly executed foil to foil unhooked backroll.

Kite Foil Freestyle Results

First: Alfie Luxton

Second: Ollie Evans

Third: Charlie Mann

Kite Foil Freestyle Podium

Junior Men Report

As the wind built on Saturday the junior fleet began their competition.
The onshore wind meant riders had to work hard to stay upwind and inside the competition box to ensure their tricks counted.
With unhooked raley’s, s-bends and multiple front and back rotations the eventual winner was Charlie Mann followed by his brother Matt in silver and Jeremiasz Kuczma taking the bronze.

Junior Men Results

First: Charlie Mann

Second: Matt Mann

Third: Jeremiasz Kuczma

Junior Men Podium

Junior Women Report

Jenna Ward as the only junior girl entered and competed in the junior boy heats and received a well deserved win for her riding.

Junior Women Results

First: Jenna Ward

Junior Women Podium

Amateur Men Report

With the wind still bang onshore and still a bit marginal, many of the male amateur fleet elected to ride 17m kites and gratefully accepted a lift from the jet skis to the upwind end of the competition zone before their heat started.

James Bird struggled in the early rounds with a lack of power but eventually squeezed into the final as the wind build during the semi final.

The final enjoyed a significant increase in wind speed with the title eventually being taken by James Bird, followed by the very entertaining (multiple fast rotating) Lendui Ramos Gomes and Jonnie “Crash” Myers in third.

Amateur Men Results

First: James Bird

Second: Lendui Ramos Gomes

Third: Jonathan Myers

Amateur Men Podium

Amateur Women Report

The amateur women’s fleet saw some very competitive action between three strong riders. Throwing down unhooked tricks and rotations Anya Ward emerged victorious, followed by Louise Edge and Lucy Mann.

Amateur Women Results

First: Anya Ward

Second: Louise Edge

Third: Lucy Mann

Amateur Women Podium

Open Women Report

As the wind continued to build the pro women took to the water.

Despite some accomplished riding from Annie Branton (who had travelled from Cyprus to compete) the power and skill of Polly Crathern shone through earning her the title of British Champion 2023.

Open Women Results

First: Polly Crathern

Second: Annie Branton

Open Women Podium

Open Men Report

The first two heats of the pro men saw the most exciting riding of the day.

The wind built to 17 knots and we were treated to some top quality riding including a stomped back mobe from Jordan Hurst and a sick heart attack from Alfie Luxton.

The standout move was a huge KGB from Ollie Sweeney and Archie Luxton was on fire scoring 6 handpass tricks in the 7 minute heat, achieving the highest score of the day. Alfie and Archie won their heats and we headed into the semi final with Craig, Jordan and Ollie to see who would join them in the final.

Annoyingly the wind dropped during that semi final and we had to abandon competition for the day. With no contestable wind on Sunday the eventual result was a joint win for Alfie and Archie and the other three riders sharing third place. This left us unable to award the male British Champion but we plan to arrange a pop up event in the next few weeks to decide the title.

Although we couldn’t complete the competition the two young riders Alfie and Archie firmly announced their arrival into the pro fleet which bodes really well for the future of British Freestyle kiting.

Open Men Results

First: Alfie Luxton - Archie Luxton

Third: Craig Smith - Jordan Hurst - Ollie Sweeney

Open Men Podium

Wing Foil Freestyle Report

On Sunday we ran the first two heats of the wing freestyle with Hugo Dobrijevic and Matt Matt throwing huge jumps in their heats. Again annoyingly the wind proved insufficient to complete the ladders leaving us with Hugo and Matt joint first and Ollie Evans, Deckland Boswell and Alfie Luxton joint third.