La Ronde des Vents is a kite festival which takes place during the pentecost weekend on the wide beaches (at low tide) of Bray-Dunes in the north of France. Every year we are invited to participate in the festival and to compete in the dual line freestyle competition.

We arrived on friday, checked in, had a bbq at the campsite and a nice evening flying session at the beach. Always a joy to high-five with old buddies and to meet new friends.

Saturday began with really nice wind and the sun was peaking through the clouds. The sun never fully came out, but the wind remained perfect. We had a very nice day with loads of flying and we watched the STACK competition in between the sessions.

Another very good evening session with night flying in the main arena after pizza and burgers for diner. We flew until we couldn’t see the kites anymore.

Sunday turned out to be just that: a SUNday. The dualline freestyle competition (tricksparty format) started with the Imposed Tricks and Freestyle routine in the morning. After lunch we watched Yannick Kuijpers fly his Rev in the Hobbykite Cup: a four line kite mystery ballet competetion.

The Ballet Routines started 15:00 and the wind was getting stronger throughout the afternoon. It went from light standard kites to venteds (with one nutcase flying a SUL ;)).

We stayed at the beach until the final results were announced. The top 3 of France was: 1. Julien, 2. Christian, 3. David. The overall top 3 was: 1. Wouter, 2. Carlo, 3. Lars. You can find the complete ranking here. Yannick placed 2nd in the Hobbykite Cup. Wel done!

After packing and checking out on monday morning we had a small session at the beach and headed back home around 13:00 just before a small rain shower`. See you next year!

Yet another amazing weekend in Zeebrugge.

Most of the pilots arrived on Friday, after the usual handshakes kites came out of there bags. Only after it was to dark to see a kite from 35 meters it was time for the funny stories and some beers. Saturday started with a nice SUL wind, even before the sun was above the horizon a few pilots pulled there kites in the air. In the afternoon the wind was blowing a solid 4bft  that made the ballets a bit more of a workout than we wished for. The beach was filled with the noise of icarex braking the airflow on the trailing edges. After the ballets diner was cooked by Jean, it was a very welcome meal after the workout on the beach. As usual suspects went straight back to the beach for the nice UL winds until darkness.

photo’s leased from: tweelijners.be, tricksparty.nl, Harold

Sunday was a perfect day for a trick kite competition, sunny, 2bft and warm enough for a shirt with shorts. With the perfect conditions during the ballets in the afternoon, the off season training was noticed by the judges in the results. After many flying hours the vide was very laid-back with some discussions about framing kites, best sun protection, planning Bray Dunes and who the winner would be.

Thanks to all who did his part to make it a great season kickoff.

Seizoen 2016 gehts los, zeebrugge staat voor de deur (30 april, 1 mei) strak daar achter aan demo in Valkenswaard. Daarnaast hebben we voor 2016 weer een aantal nieuwe ideeën om de sport onder de aandacht te brengen.

Dennis Reuvers heeft het idee opgeworpen om elke maand een middag op de Ginkel te gaan vliegeren. Voor het gemak noemen we dit voorlopig een: Fly In. Iedereen die wat meer wil leren over trickvliegeren of gewoon gezellig mee wilt doen is van harte welkom.

Meer info op vliegerwereld

De scores van de Den Helder staan online en de Ranking is weer bijgewerkt. We hadden seizoen 2014 niet beter af kunnen sluiten. Het was een weeken met alleen maar hoogte punten!

Winnaars, gefeliciteerd. Deelnemers, juryleden, field directors en alle andere hulptroepen. Veel dank voor weer een heerlijk seizoen!

Laatste agenda puntje is de After Party! 26 oktober @ginkelseheide