kitesurf

 Shinn Jackson and Airush Ultra....glassy ultra light wind conditions!

The last year has seen a huge rise in the number of kitesurfers getting into foiling, obviously great business for us but why are so many taking up this side of our amazing sport.

Well the last few months have helped to promote them hugely, with all these hot sunny days with super light winds, there are a growing number of us still getting out regularly on the water.....whilst everyone other kitesurfer moans!

Obviously most of us would still prefer a good storm session boosting or smacking some waves however the bottom line is we are still getting wet and pushing ourselves whilst loving another new element to this amazing sport.

There are a number of kitesurfers I know who now consider themselves foilers rather than just kitesurfers!!!

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The Airush Core Foil Board with Airush Ultra V2

The last 5 days I have been out 4 or them and the day I missed I could have been in also (we went mountain biking for a change).

The discipline of foiling changed a year or so ago when a certain Mr.Shinn introduced the P Foil....to be honest it doesn't look sexy and slick like the previous high end wings, the P wing was fat and round. This all new wing allows you to get up super fast at the slowest of speeds, making learning so much more pleasurable not to say safer and quicker also!

I mentioned this to Shinn over a cold beer post foil session and he sat and thought for a moment before replying "but the fat ones are always easy" Strangely Shinn Kiteboarding never used that one in there adverts!!

Until this point the majority of brands were targeting the race side of the sport and not the regular every day recreational kitesurfers at every beach up and down the country.

The Shinn P Foil that changed the sport for so many people. 

Fast forward a year and the progress for those buying into this system is staggering. Shinn have now expanded the range to include various length masts some suitable for just starting out on your first runs but also great for shallower water locations. There are now also a multitude of wings available all compatible with the Shinn Jackson setup. P Foil / K Foil / Mega K / F Foil etc etc (check out our website for more information on these)

https://www.blastkiteboarding.co.uk/kiteboards/kitesurf-hydro-foil-race-boards/

 Mrs Blast, ready to rip!

We run several trips abroad each year and each year we see more and more people out on foils,  Two weeks ago in Portugal there were approx a dozen out, the  year before there were only three and two of those were us!!

I simply wouldn't go anywhere without the foil now, it's the difference in riding each day or not. Added to that the amazing feeling of riding on a cloud and it's not hard to see why we have the massive rise in foils at the beaches everywhere now.

Shinn Jackson Review

Can I use my regular kites?

Obviously you can use your normal kites and they will be just fine but there are now several new kites on the market specifically targeted towards light wind kiting. In our opinion the best of these is the Airush Ultra V2, an amazing kite which is so so stable in even the most extreme light winds.

It's simply not just the fact it's a single strut kite (as many believe) but the fact it really is exceptionally light using the very lightest materials available but also more importantly amazingly stable in next to no wind....no fear of it dropping like a stone like most regular kites when it gets super light. The Airush load frame allows them to make these kites with latest light weight fabrics, they even lengthen the life of the kite by as much as 30% (that's what the advertising blurb says anyway).

 Sav and I even managed a game of footie whilst the rest of the country watched the World Cup Final. Photo: SarahSavagePhotography.Com

Yesterday was the latest in many an eye opener,  it was marginal to say the least...if you didn't have a foil then you were not going to kite!

I took out the 12m Airush Ultra and Core Foil and cruised from Rest Bay Porthcawl all the way along the coast to Swansea Bay and back approx 34km round trip. My legs feel it today as it was just one long tack there and back.

Meanwhile those without foils were stood on the beach cursing. Many of these people are reluctant to start foiling and yet some had driven upwards of 2 hours only to get to the beach to find 8-10knots.

Yes you will be like a beginner all over again, but embrace it , enjoy it, oh and wear a helmet and be prepared to scream & laugh like never before!

So if you are thinking about it - just do it, you will not regret it.

email us any questions you may still have

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Some of you may well remember that Iksurfmag stepped forward at the last minute to save last years "Wavemasters" in Cornwall......and what an awesome event they ran too.

Since it was such a last minute event last year we have all been looking forward to see what they could do with this years event with a little more time to plan things.

Both the teams at IKSURFmag and Kiteworld Mag have been more hectic than ever, what with running their hugely successful magazines and with all the new 2016 kit coming out and needing reviews etc but also this year they took over the British Freestyle Champs but then this will also helped to hone their organising skills even more.

Unfortunately there is one element they cannot control - the Weather, and she really didn't want to play ball this year!

Marc@Blast collecting the goodies

2014 IKSURFMAG WAVE CLASSIC....

https://vimeo.com/110427541

The past two months the wind on the west coast has been fickle to say the least. We had a great summer of teaching here at the Blast school but once September arrived so did the lack of good winds, especially on the weekends which is when we needed them the most.

It became that bad Sarah and I decided to do a last minute trip to Morocco (there was no wind here to run lessons so why not) to get some much needed wind/surf, 6 out of 8 days it cranked!

Sarah & Marc in Morocco

https://vimeo.com/139802027

Since returning we have only one weekend we could run lessons and these were in Easterly winds on the Gower, not our usual westerlies at either Porthcawl or Aberavon.

So, as the week of the Wavemasters approached everyone was getting excited, surely October in Cornwall would produce the goods?

Two weeks prior to the comp I saw the long term farming forecast and...it didn't look good! A huge high pressure was due to take over much of the Atlantic and in so doing so would pretty much rule out any deep lows swinging our way.

Sure enough this is exactly what happened.

The decision was made by Rou and Jim that the comp was not going to run...a tough call to make but the correct decision for sure. The winds were due to be very light mostly ENE with a very slight chance of wind for the Wednesday and small swell also.

It's such a long way for many people to travel with some coming from the far reaches of the UK such as George Noble up in North Scotland.

Sometimes this sport sucks balls!

But then again this is also the very reason that makes those special days just that...special!

A special day in Tiree for the 2014 Wavemasters

I'm not sure if there will be a new date added once a good forecast is seen however I really hope it's not any time at the beginning of November as I'll be away in Brazil with Dimitri from Epic Kites doing a photo/video shoot and opening a new dealer/school.

Whatever the outcome, it is the hands of mother nature to have the last word on whether it goes ahead or not.

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

The last month or two the winds here have been errm lacking to say the very least. There was a slight chance of wind for us today and early am it was showing 20mph so a few of us met at Rest Bay as hopeful as ever.

Then the rain came, followed by the wind dropping right off a cliff edge!
Damn!

We sat in the Blast Bus and chatted for what was probably an hour or two, repeatedly checking the wind, eventually we walked down onto the beach to get a better idea as it was slightly harder to tell up in the car park as it was cross shore.

Alex and I were keen to got straight on it, as we walked down ready to pump up it was now really blowing hard (weather station showed it as 30mph later when I checked) Anyway as soon as we'd pumped up our 9m's the wind quickly disappeared as quick as it had arrived!

We decided to launch the kites anyway just to see if we could remember how to fly them, we still have the CrazyFly Tango here on demo so I was keen to try this too.

We both eventually got in the water and attempted to kite but to be honest it was barely enough wind but I did manage a nice few smacks of some small waves and the sun came out so not such a bad time! Now we can't wait for some proper wind, hopefully very soon!