RAC News Feature

Click the link here and scroll down for the video......  HERE



We recently did a photo shoot with the RAC about our "journey to work" which was pretty cool to be fair.
We spent the whole day driving small sections of road over and over again so they could get the right shot!

We very rarely go to Ogmore to be honest however it was deemed to be a more interesting drive than our regular drive so off we went with approx 4-5 GoPro's attached to the van plus several digital SLR's

Digital SLR setup within the van and attached to the bull bars!

http://clubmagazine.rac.co.uk/GB/spring-2013/my-incredible-commute

This had Four thousand hits in the first three hours after it went live......and counting

Mutiny Kites 2013

Woah, this could be the year Mutiny kills it!

Below are the new kite line up from Mutiny Kites based in the UK and mostly tested in the UK too!

From the top...

S.Series

P.Series

F.Series

http://www.blastkiteboarding.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=43

A bit of a video diary from the past winter!

It's been a pretty good winter for me to be honest, even though it did start a bit rough what with breaking my ankle and leg in early December but as it happens it didn't really make much difference as I only missed a handful of sessions and only one that really stands out.

The past few weeks have been a bit sh*te but then again it's aloud me time to update the Blast website  plus get some of these video's finished and uploaded too! This is the latest video of some wave sessions during the past few months taken at a few spots along the S.Wales coastline.

 

The best snowkite conditions we have had here in S.Wales  EVER!

Big thanks to andy9lives for suggesting meeting up at Storey Arms to check out the snow, we never dreamed it would be this good mind.

A cold session early December taken at Llangennith and Fresh Water West with just myself and two mates out! It's super cool to have mates that are super amped to get wet as much as these to, cheers Ads & Gareth


 Couldn't wait any longer to get back in action and then found the plaster cast fitted perfectly inside the snowboard boots with the liner removed!
The leg now is healing pretty good and I hope it's not going to slow me down pushing myself especially with full on kiteloops.

As I'm writing this we've had yet another long February of cold easterlies, seems to happen every year. Hopefully it will change back to regular SW direction soon and the lessons season will get off to another awesome year like last year!

Bring it on!

The Blast Frozen Jam

Well, that went well!

After an epic few weeks back in January, it all went a bit erm pete tong in February with only the odd good day popping up so as we approached the annual Frozen Jam weekend here in Porthcawl it didn't look that promising, in fact it looked positively sh*t!

However as the weekend got closer there was a glimmer of hope with a chance of a breeze and sunshine on Sunday at least.

Several people contacted us to cancel they're trip and it started to get a little gloomy, however on Saturday we arrived at Rest Bay Porthcawl to find a great group of keen and hardy reps from kite brands around the UK who'd made the effort to attend. Soon there were loads of both local(ish) kiters but also plenty who'd made big treks to attend!

The day was spent catching up with friends and checking over all the lovely "kiteporn" on offer form the likes of ..........

Star Kites, Blade Kites, Epic Kites, JN Kites, Flexifoil, Axis Boards and Blankforce Boards

There was a huge BBQ running all day with the usual assortment of burgers, sausages and of course a few Tesco's special offers of horse meat.

After we'd packed up the huge amount of 30 plus kites on show we headed back to Blast HQ for a cuppa or two from where we walked the short distance to the Esplanade in Porthcawl for a meal and a few bevies ...a few to many for some!

There were over two dozen out that eve but only a few stupid/drunk enough to carry on to Streets Night Club....if you've seen "The Valleys" you'll have a good idea!

So, Saturday we met all bushy tailed, well most of us, at Coney Beach this time..and it looked promising  The winds were cross off at first but as the tide dropped back it started to improve and also increase considerably.

Most people were on 9-12m's, I reckon I would have been better on a 7m personally ;-)

Photo by local photog: Kevin Thomas

 I even managed a good while on the water too!

Once we'd all filled our boots (some took a lot of filling as many hadn't been in for as long as 5 months) we warmed up in the Hi Tide bar right on the beach.

This gave us a chance to thank everyone for making the effort to come in person but also to dish out a few little prizes for some random stuff like.........

Youngest Rider...Owen - progression DVD and 1-2-1 tuition with Blast Kiteboarding

Most rescued...Andy from Coventry... fortunately his board not so much him! - T.Shirt..windsurfing is a bit shit!

Best waveriding...Neil  - Epic T'Shirt

Most hardcore - Gareth - Blade Flask

Biggest wipeout  Tom busted ribs and a trip to A&E but all fine, set of  "L" plates

Oldest kiter, our very own Terry just pipping Harry  70 somin' plus!! - Mystic Poncho

Biggest boosting..Martyn - (he was on an Epic Screamer though) ;-) - Epic Cap

Longest on the water Steve P - Epic T'shirt

Shortest Time on the water Abi  - Blade Pump

Furthest upwind Dave - T.Shirt..windsurfing is a bit shit!

Oldest retro kite - Ade - Blade T'shirt

Big shout to the sponsors who supported this event....

JN/Epic/Blade/Axis/Blankforce/Flexifoil/Mystic/Star 

Finally, a huge huge thank you to all that came along, got involved, helped out and made The Blast Frozen Jam the success that it truly was, especially Ade for pumping SO many kites up over the w/end.

What a start to the year!

What a truly awesome month January turned out to be.....first we had pumping surf (but iffy winds) then an all time classic snow kiting in the Welsh Brecon Beacons and finally it went out with a bang with some epic grinding peeling point break surf.

Rest Bay, Porthcawl Jan 12th

 See Blog below for more on the snow kiting!

And finally...the Welsh Point Breaks turned it on big time!

We are blessed with not just one point break but two right on our door step here in S.Wales. I have been lucky enough to have lived and surfed both of these spots most of my life and now I get to combine my 

The Welsh Alps

What an awesome week we've had here in S.Wales!
How many places can you snowboard/kite/surf all in one day?

My leg was still in the cast from recently breaking it six weeks ago but it felt strong enough so I was not going to miss out on a rare day of snowboarding/snowkiting. So a small group headed up for a snowboard session on the hills around the Beacons. We arrived pretty early to find the main snow slope  with only a handful of people making the most of the untracked slopes.

After a few hours snowboarding we drove a few miles further up the A470 where we met a few other kiters there making the most the fresh snow. I had a good few runs on a mates kite/board and the leg felt even better than it was snowboarding....giving me more confidence if we were to have another dump of snow.

 Snowboarding in the Beacons

Followed by a sweet snowkite session.

 

 Another awesome SUP session in Porthcawl in between the dumps of snow.

On Tuesday we had a day showing off kitesurfing at the RAF Health and wellbeing exhibition, whilst we were there it was constantly dumping a fresh lot of snow especially up on the mountains.

My wingman Andy9Lives txt me early the next morning and we rushed up to Storey Arms where we found blue skies and up to waist deep fresh snow. It was a very long slog up to the top of Pen-Y-Fan especially as my cast had only been removed two days earlier.

What followed was easily one of the most memorable days kiting we both have ever had. We both took seven metre kites up but soon realised that this was way too small for the approx. 10knots of wind we had. 

We had a few hours in the super soft crystalised powder before heading back down to the car park, the treck down turned out to be the best part of the day as we found super soft smooth powder all the way down.

 Andy and I heading back to base camp.

 Austria, France, Switzerland..Nope Wales!

Once back at the cars we rushed back home to Porthcawl....forty minutes later we were at Rest Bay with a nice clean 3-4 feet breaking into the bay.

Anyway here's a vid of the last day we had

As I'm writing this we are about to get hit by a BIG swell from the Atlantic so we're hoping to get plenty of wave riding sessions over the next few days.

New Year....but lots of Blast group trips to look forward to!

Been a while since the last blog but we have not been idle!
Sarah has been super busy sorting accomodation/flights etc for the three main Blast Group Kite Trips...

First we're off to Hatteras, USA in May, then in June/July we're heading off to our regular spot in Northern Portugal and then finally in November we head off once again to Brazil......so which one do you want to join us on??
 
These trips are all about FUN, you do NOT have to be a minimum standard (although it obviuosly helps to get most of the trip if you can ride upwind) We take the hassle out of booking a kite trip and take you to some of the best spots in  the world!

We have done all three trips many times and even we'd hate to have to choose between them, they are all awesome in their own right!

Lots more info here:

http://www.blastkiteboarding.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=9

http://blast.forumotion.com/f1-holidays-events

We know where to go, when to go, where the best spots are, and where the best places are to eat. You'll be surrounded by others just like you, keen to kite in beautiful places and have a laugh and learn new stuff as well.
Marc & Sarah are both fully qualified BKSA Instructors with over 20 years kitesurfing bewteen them with Marc being British Wave Champ and Sarah runner up in the Ladies so we are also well placed to offer advice and coaching during the trips whether it's freestyle or surf!

If your in the least bit interested get in touch now as we are arranging accomodation NOW for the trips and places are filling up quick!

info@blastkiteboarding.co.uk