Welcome to the Canterbury Windsports Association Inc. (CWA)

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July 30: Mid winter Club Nite - venue TBA.

Sept 3: Annual General Meeting - venue TBA.

Easter 2008 New Zealand Kiteboarding Nationals: 20 to 24 March @ Ruakaka, Northland

Kite Nationals HQ @ Mair Road, Marsden Point

A small contingent of Canterbury kiters made their way to Ruakaka in Northland for the 2008 New Zealand Kiteboarding Nationals over Easter. John & Suzy Thyne led the way with Anthony Hopkins and Alex Bowater in tow, and supported by Dunedin kiter Craig Knights. We met up with fellow Cantabrians Elrith & Brianna Boyd at registration on Thursday night, and Mike Chapman who was flown in to judge, along with all the usual suspects from Nelson to Northland (some 80+ in all).

Team Canterbury:

John, Alex and Anthony.

Alex, Anthony and Brianna - extreme light wind setup.

Friday to Sunday were a blurr of early starts at the beach - Mair Road at Marsden Point, with breakfast from 8-9am, followed by skippers meetings. We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather, but unfortunately the wind was not cooperating, so we had to make do with socialising and other beach activities (sunbathing, swimming, paddle boarding, foil kite flying, car-tow surfing), with tunes and commentary by MC Luca. Friday night saw some kite action on the big screen plus a cable tow demo by local Mike Holland in his own personal cable park/slider; Saturday night was the party in the big marquee at the marina; but by Sunday afternoon we were all getting a little bit nervous. There was wind enough for foil kites and buggies, and the first prize of the competition was claimed by the first junior to kite 100m (on a big kite and a surfboard). Around 5pm a down wind race was announced, and over the next half hour some 30 odd kites lined up for a mass start. This in itself was pretty spectacular, and when the hooter finally sounded some carnage was inevitable. Anthony and Alex and Craig were midfield, but unfortunately Anthony and Craig got tangled with each other, while Alex ran out of wind half way. First prize went to Brock Cleary, with Gavin Broadbent 2nd, David Robertson 3rd, and Linda Limburg 4th and 1st woman. Check it out on youtube .

Start of the down winda

Monday dawned with a freshening cross-on northeast wind, and a decision was made to start the comp as soon as riders could stay upwind. The elimination rounds got under way at 10:30, with the wind coming in waves, and increasing throughout the day, peaking at around 15 knots for the final, and then dying away completely half an hour later! Phew. The format was a series of 7 minute heats with 4-6 riders, starting with the Open (~68 riders), and followed by Women, Juniors, and Legends (~12 riders in each catergory). The variable strength cross-on winds meant a lot of running back up the beach to stay in the competition zone, while choppy conditions saw many doing tricks close in to the beach (with some ending up on it). The Canterbury riders were eliminated early from the Open; John narrowly missed entry to the Legends final (so says Suzy); Brianna competed bravely in the Open and Womens as well as the Juniors, while Anthony and Alex progressed to the Junior semi-finals, with Anthony placing a creditable fourth in the final.

Anthony flying the Canterbury colours...

...impressing the judges with a railey to blind...

...then back to the beach.

Anthony with support crew Alex and Brianna...

...getting him back in the zone.

Prize giving at the Bream Bay Club saw trophies and spot prizes awarded, before everyone headed home for a well earned sleep. The next day the northeast wind was back and stronger than ever, so we headed for a session at the Ruakaka River mouth. All too soon it was time to pack and drive back to Auckland for our flight home. Mission completed.

Thanks to the CWA for covering the Juniors registration costs.

- text by John, pictures by Suzy, full results at http://www.kiteboarding.org.nz/comp.html

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About the CWA

Objectives
To foster and encourage local participation in windsports.