Halloween Freestyle Jam (10/2007)

The Halloween Jam was held at Airbossworld kite shop near Loughborough. The competition was set to be held on the Sunday however things kicked off on the Saturday as we had some good wind and sunshine.

On Saturday we arrived around 11:00am and chilled for an hour or so because the wind hadn’t kicked in yet. Around 12:30pm we had a nice, but slightly gusty breeze come through so I headed out to test my new 9m Atom 08. Despite the lowish winds I was able to throw some loops, s bends and passes off the kicker. The wind gradually built up through the day and I was becoming more and more powered. I decided to take out my 9.5 Sabre II and do some more powered riding.

After we finished riding, a group of 10 headed to the local pub for some food followed by the party at the event. There were a few guys night flying which was pretty crazy as there was no light at all, only glow sticks…

Sunday brought silly winds! Gusts well over 30mph and not constant at all! We had been lucky enough that the rain stopped around 9am but before it was really heavy. The grass stayed wet all day so it was fairly hard to hold a good line in these gusty and wet conditions. The competition was set out so that you could go out in 3 heats around 8 minutes and perform your best trick and biggest air. My first heat was with Daniel Copeland and David Ursell. I was underpowered on my 9m Atom II but still pulling off some big airs, flips and kiteloops. Nothing big enough to win just yet but a really good start as everything else was getting to grips with the conditions.

My second heat was with Alex brown and Aston Wilby. I managed to get some bigger airs, a board varial, more powered kiteloops and finished with a kiteloop 3. I decided to use my 8.5 ion II this time as I felt this had a little more performance. In my final heat it was just me and Alex Brown. We had a bet on to see who could land a double kiteloop first however the wind had dropped and this wasn’t doing use any favours. I went for a kiteloop 3 early on, forgetting to pass as I got caught out in a gust which sent me into a double loop however I stacked the landing which was a shame. This heat seemed to go on forever and I finished it off with some nice tricks hoping it had sealed the best trick competition. I did a dangle, a flat 3 indy off the kicker and another kiteloop 3.

We finished fairly early which was lucky because the rain seemed to come straight back, leaving the last two amateur heats to be cancelled. I managed to get some coverage in the local ITV news which was cool. To see the news CLICK HERE.

I managed to win the best trick which I was really happy about and come 3^rd in the big air which was pretty cool also!

The results:

Best Trick-
1st Lewis Wilby
2nd Daniel Copeland
3rd Alex Brown

Big Air-
1st Daniel Copeland
2nd Aston Wilby
3rd Lewis Wilby

   

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