Monthly Archives: April 2015

Blast Kiteboarding’s update from Marc Rowley

Marc Rowley of Blast Kiteboarding brings up to speed on their busy school, shop, brand distro and travel schedule!

The season got off to a slow start with a distinct lack of wind during spring but things are now shaping up nicely with plenty of bookings and lessons now in full flow and the water is warming up nicely and we’ve had plenty of lovely sunny / windy days.

We have just returned from a trip to S.France with Epic Kites the main purpose being to test the final prototype 5th Generation kites before their release in June. It was also an opportunity to take our team rider and instructor Tom Butler to meet the boss…Dimitri!

Tom doing what he does best...stylin' for the camera

We had a few amazing days especially near Leucate and Tom was able to show his mega loop skills to the full, they must have been impressive as Dimitri has now invited Tom to Paros in July for another Epic trip, this time with his son 13 y/old Cameron. Tom will also be helping us teaching at the Blast School this coming season after his winter spent teaching in Perth WA along with our regular instructor Richie, myself and of course Mrs.Blast

Between us we are ready for a super busy season introducing others to this amazing sport we obviously all love so much.

Next up is our annual trip to the Outer Banks in Hatteras N.Carolina USA, the home of the Triple SSS contests. This an amazing place with flat shallow water for miles and then 100 metres away on the other side of the island we have the Atlantic surf… check it out on Google Earth, amazing place!

On the local beaches here we are seeing a lot more surfboards, this has to be a good thing with so many good wave spots here in S.Wales but also as it opens up another side of the sport that can really get you hooked..for life!

All the best,

Marc & Sarah.

Check it out here:
http://www.britishkitesports.org/news/blast-kiteboardings-update-from-marc-rowley/

So it's almost time to take off for a week with the Epic crew with Dimitri Maramanedes at the helm. We will be starting in Nice and working our way down to Leucate home of the Mondial Du Vent.

19th-26th April

As well as Dimitri we will have Jeroen (Epic graphic designer) Tom Butler and Olivier Dorsner (Team riders) and myself Blast / Epic UK

We will have the full range of Epic kites / boards available to demo with us including some of the final prototype 5G kites....can't wait to try these at last!
Click for larger image:

Expect to see plenty of this kind of action

At last the season has kicked off.
We have run a good few lessons over the past week or so and the water is finally warming up.(slowly)
Now is a great time to kick start your new sport of kitesurfing as you'll have the whole summer to get it totally dialed!

Matt - Day 1of two day kitesurfing course. Rest Bay, Porthcawl

We have lots of shiny new kit for the season also, as well as our trusted Epic Renegades, we now have some very sweet new CrazyFly Sculps - you won't miss them as they light up the sky with their neon day glow colours!!

CrazyFly Sculp 7m

We will also be getting in some Airush DNA's asap

Yesterday we had yet another cracking day in the spring sunshine at Aberavon Beach with a group of students at varying levels...some first timers right through to one guy working on his upwind riding!

Mickey - Day 1

Dom - Upwind riding lesson

OK so you love kiting, you love holidays, you also love kiting in the warm sun but why do an organised kitesurf holiday with Blast (or for that matter any other organised group)

Well there are a number of good reasons to do so, for a start we do all the the donkey work. We book the all the flights, the car hire, the accommodation, and generally try to sort all the mundane stuff that can over shadow many a trip. This means you can just rock up to the airport and enjoy your holiday without all the hassle. We get everyone from single people who want to enjoy being part of a group (and get away from family etc) to small groups of mates just looking for a stress free organised trip.

The destinations are chosen to tick as many boxes as possible i.e. wind, sun, not too crowded, flat water, waves, good food, good bars, great accommodation and of course amazing company. ;-)

Blast only run trips to destinations that we have already done a reccy too, we know the area, which beaches work on any wind direction, we know the best local eateries, the best bars, alternate tourist sights to check out etc etc

 Portugal

You get to ride with others often better than yourself so you also get the chance to improve. We will (when possible) take video through the day which really helps to analyse your technique. We will obviously always be on hand to offer advice for that next trick you want to nail.

There will be many other like minded people to kite with but also to simply share the stoke with....evenings will be spent laughing and sharing stories from the days sessions.

Good food good company!

Experience pays....It's taken us many many years to find in our opinion some of the best spots you could ever dream to kitesurf. For example this will be our 9th year to Portugal, Hatteras 7 times and Brazil 5 times.

We are not travel agents, we just love doing kite trips to amazing locations with like minded people.

Check out some of videos from previous trips...
http://www.blastkiteboarding.co.uk/videos/kitesurfing-holidays/
If you'd like more info on upcoming trips don't hesitate to contact us: [email protected]

Example of one of our many trips, click the Blast TV link at the top of this page.