The BKSA Wave Masters 2009

The BKSA Wave Masters 2009 saw twenty competitors from across the UK and Europe make the journey to Fraserburgh in the North East of Scotland.

Whilst conditions early in the week were fairly tame the forecast for the competition dates looked epic with big winds and big swell on the way.

This event was rider judged, with 10 minute heats of up to four riders with each being scored on their 2 best waves.  Points were allocated out of 10 for size and length of ride, turns, power, style and closeness to the critical breaking part of the wave.

Wednesday morning arrived with light cross shore winds and clean 4ft swell with competition taking place at Philorth. The ladies headed out first with Helen Thompson, Ali Hendry and Maggie Cleeve putting on a show for the spectators and showing that the girls can rip just as hard as the guys when it comes to the waves. After 3 heats Helen came 1st with Maggie Cleeve taking 2nd place on the 10m Light XC and Ali Hendry in 3rd.

The next round of heats saw the seniors take to the water with French rider Sebastian Harinkouck causing a stir by competing on a twin tip!  Local rider Richard Wiseman put in a good fight to almost make it to the final in his first ever competition, unfortunately however he was beaten to the final by Martin Coulthurst from Blackpool. In the final it was Paul Stebbing who took 1st place ahead of Martin and Sebastian.

With the first round of ladies and seniors heats completed it was then time for the pro men to take to the water and with some of the best riders in British wave riding we were in for a good show.  Throughout the afternoon the wind picked up with riders now on to 7m kites and throwing out some awesome turns, tail slides and good quality rides. The final heat of the pro mens saw two times British Wave Master Will Bennett competing against Neil Gent and Richard Sills, all 3 put in a top class performance as the wind increased throughout, however it was Will Bennett who came out number 1.

Thursday began with a light cross offshore wind and good clean 6ft waves, with competition taking place at the town end of the beach. First out on the water were the pro men with Lee Harvey excelling in the light conditions with great wave selection. Will Bennett and Neal Gent battled once again in the semi final, with Neal heading way out back to catch some monster rides!  It was a difficult one to judge but it was Will who once again made it to the final to compete against Lee Harvey and Richard Sills. As the swell continued to build with some double head high waves rolling in, the guys delivered an excellent display of strapless wave riding with Lee Harvey taking the win over Will in 2nd and Richard in 3rd.  Unfortunately the wind dropped off for the rest of Thursday and Friday, but it gave competitors some time off to surf in good 4ft waves.

Saturday saw the wind starting cross off at about 25-35mph. It was the ladies who headed out first in the gusty conditions on 5m and 7m kites! Unfortunately the wind kept increasing making conditions dangerous and things were called off.  Later that afternoon the wind speed hit 68mph!!!!

Sunday began with a more reasonable 30mph wind and a nice 12ft swell allowing the final round of senior men’s to get underway.  The final saw Paul Stebbings riding against Sebastian and Martin in some epic conditions with some waves coming in at almost double overhead. Unfortunately Martin’s kite went down in the first minutes of the heat putting him out of the competition. It was Paul’s choice of wave and quick aggressive riding which saw him take the win over Sebastian.

With an increasing swell and incoming tide the judges, spectators and competitors moved up onto the dune as the final round of pro men’s heats got underway. The faces were double to triple overhead by now and all the competitors were thoroughly enjoying the experience with some putting up bigger kites to get through the powerful swell. Dave Ibbertson was ripping like a man possessed on his 10m while Neal Gent was on his 5m!

One of the most exciting heats was between Will Bennett and Dave Ibbertson with Dave taking the win preventing Will making it to the final. This meant Richard Sills had a great opportunity to take the British title.
Lee and Dave both on form put in some superb rides to ensure they were racking up the points. Richard caught an absolute storming first wave but was unable to find another high scoring wave in the 10 minute heat – dashing his hopes.

Overall Results – British Wave Master’s Champions 2009
Men                       Ladies                      Seniors  
1 Will Bennett        1 Helen Thompson     1 Paul Stebbings
2 Richard Sills        2 Maggie Cleeve        2 Martin Coulthurst
3 Lee Harvey          3 Ali Hendy               3 Sebastian Harinkouck

Best Wave – Dave Ibbertson

During the Wave Masters event in Fraserburgh, the BBC’s Adventure Show spent five days filming all of the action both on and off the water as well as interviewing competitors, race crew and organisers. Some of the presenters were also given some brief lessons in flying kites and we are sure the footage will be some of the best kiting action to ever make it on TV. So if you didn’t make it to this year’s event and want to see exactly what you missed, keep your eyes peeled to BBC and Sky channel 990 towards the end of November or start of December.
Big thanks to the local organisers Synergy Kitesports and all the sponsors: Aberdeenshire Council, Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, Fraserburgh Harbour Board, French Fish Export, Shearer Bruce Paterson, Granite Reef, Ozone, King of Watersports, and the Fraserburgh Business Association. Also thanks to Sea Support for providing rescue cover for the duration of the event.