CLUB NEWS & ARTICLES
EURO TRIP 2018
With just 24 hours to go before the SWATK road trip begins. First stop Folkestone then onto Calais and then next stop Amsterdam for a long weekend.
A couple of days sightseeing on the way up to Romo beach. Next stop Fano kite festival. Then 5 day’s buggying on a fantastic beach.
With just 24 hours to go before the SWATK road trip begins. First stop Folkestone then onto Calais and then next stop Amsterdam for a long weekend.
A couple of days sightseeing on the way up to Romo beach. Next stop Fano kite festival. Then 5 day’s buggying on a fantastic beach.
AMSTERDAM
FANO KITE FESTIVAL
After 1 week and over 1300 miles SWATK members and family have driven through France, Holland, Germany and now Denmark.
Week 2 will see them round the trip off some sight seeing on the way to Les Hemmes for the 8 hour endurance. Where they will meet up with some of the SWATK crew and some of the boys and girls from Hoylake. This has the makings of an “awesome” trip.
Check out more photo's as they travel around Europe in the photo/video gallery
To be continued......
Week 2 will see them round the trip off some sight seeing on the way to Les Hemmes for the 8 hour endurance. Where they will meet up with some of the SWATK crew and some of the boys and girls from Hoylake. This has the makings of an “awesome” trip.
Check out more photo's as they travel around Europe in the photo/video gallery
To be continued......
BREAN SUNDAY 22nd April 2018
With winter finally over myself and Mark hit the beach just after 9am shortly followed by the arrival of Ian, Bart, Roy and Ryan. Sun was shining and an onshore wind was starting to build. Not wasting any time I got my kite out of its bag and after a quick check to make sure everything was ok with my kit, hopped on my board and shot off down the beach while the rest of the guys was sorting out their breakfast of sausage and bacon.
30 minutes later the wind had dropped off so a short break was in order. With breakfast finished everyone started to get themselves ready to blast up and down the beach in their buggies, the wind however had dropped off completely....
Time to break out the no wind toys, Mark and Ian set about flying their drones while Roy and Ryan pulled out a couple of off road monsters, the end result saw Roy and Ryan tying their vehicles together for a tug of war match resulting in both machines bottoming out in the sand as their wheels dug in, Roy blowing out one of his tyres and once fixed both being towed around the beach on their buggies by these beasts.
With winter finally over myself and Mark hit the beach just after 9am shortly followed by the arrival of Ian, Bart, Roy and Ryan. Sun was shining and an onshore wind was starting to build. Not wasting any time I got my kite out of its bag and after a quick check to make sure everything was ok with my kit, hopped on my board and shot off down the beach while the rest of the guys was sorting out their breakfast of sausage and bacon.
30 minutes later the wind had dropped off so a short break was in order. With breakfast finished everyone started to get themselves ready to blast up and down the beach in their buggies, the wind however had dropped off completely....
Time to break out the no wind toys, Mark and Ian set about flying their drones while Roy and Ryan pulled out a couple of off road monsters, the end result saw Roy and Ryan tying their vehicles together for a tug of war match resulting in both machines bottoming out in the sand as their wheels dug in, Roy blowing out one of his tyres and once fixed both being towed around the beach on their buggies by these beasts.
After lunch we were joined by Doug and Andy, the wind slowly built up allowing us to spend the rest of the afternoon tearing up and down the beach until just after 3 when the wind dropped again signaling time to pack up and head home.
It was a fantastic day for everyone, and a great opportunity for everyone to blow the cobwebs away after a long winter and poor conditions.
Roll on the Summer and see you all on the beach soon.
Roll on the Summer and see you all on the beach soon.
RACE WEEKEND 5thand 6th August 2017
This weekend saw the SWATK Crew and members descend on the windzone for round 4 of the Clubs buggy race 2017 season.
Saturday was the usual free-fly day and a chance for the buggiers to get a bit of practice in before the race day on Sunday, the sun shone, wind was full on and almost on shore and we were all flying maxed out on the biggest kites we could handle.
Here are a few comments and photo's from some of our members
Saturday was the usual free-fly day and a chance for the buggiers to get a bit of practice in before the race day on Sunday, the sun shone, wind was full on and almost on shore and we were all flying maxed out on the biggest kites we could handle.
Here are a few comments and photo's from some of our members
Darren Howells
“Superb weekend at Weston, wind was full-on on Saturday everyone maxed out. Today was a lot calmer, though the lower winds made it more challenging for the 12 pilots who took part in this mornings racing. Well done to everyone who took part, a big thanks to Barry Cook assistant race officer for his help today at the far end of the windzone, where the usual chaos takes place, and David Clift for his help with the scoring. The results can be found posted on the race series page”.
“Superb weekend at Weston, wind was full-on on Saturday everyone maxed out. Today was a lot calmer, though the lower winds made it more challenging for the 12 pilots who took part in this mornings racing. Well done to everyone who took part, a big thanks to Barry Cook assistant race officer for his help today at the far end of the windzone, where the usual chaos takes place, and David Clift for his help with the scoring. The results can be found posted on the race series page”.
Mark Bruford
“A big thank you to the organisers of another great race day. Much fun was had by all who took part and thanks to all for the advise I was given - got lots to work on and practice now”.
Karen Cutbush
“I loved the racing today, super challenging! Thanks Daz, Barry and David for marshalling”
Sue Coombs
“It looked awesome with so many pilots”.
“A big thank you to the organisers of another great race day. Much fun was had by all who took part and thanks to all for the advise I was given - got lots to work on and practice now”.
Karen Cutbush
“I loved the racing today, super challenging! Thanks Daz, Barry and David for marshalling”
Sue Coombs
“It looked awesome with so many pilots”.
SCOTTISH ROAD TRIP 6th - 20th MAY 2017
Loch Lomand
Saturday morning with the sun shining saw 10 friends and 4 dogs set off on a 2 week road trip around Scotland. After a stop over at the Lake District and service stations by 6 members of the group on the Friday night, the other 4 members travelled up the country from their homes, destination was a Ardlui Hotel Holiday Park at the top end of Loch Lomand, by late afternoon we had all arrived, settled in spent the rest of the day chilling out overlooking the Loch.
Loch Lomand
Saturday morning with the sun shining saw 10 friends and 4 dogs set off on a 2 week road trip around Scotland. After a stop over at the Lake District and service stations by 6 members of the group on the Friday night, the other 4 members travelled up the country from their homes, destination was a Ardlui Hotel Holiday Park at the top end of Loch Lomand, by late afternoon we had all arrived, settled in spent the rest of the day chilling out overlooking the Loch.
Wild Camping We woke up to blue sky's, after breakfast it was time to pack up and move on to our next spot, after a quick stop to pick up supplies we all met up at the side of Loch Cluanie for a night of wild camping, there was a bit of wind so a spot of buggying was in order and a bit of exploring of the surrounding area. The evening was spent sat around sheltered by the vans, a bite to eat and drink listening to some music. Once the sun had moved behind the mountains the temperature dropped fast, it was time to call it a night and seek the warmth of vans and tents. |
Skye
By 11.00 we were all back on the road again to our next stop the Isle of Skye, on route we stopped to stretch our legs and a good excuse for a coffee, cake and a spot of site seeing at Eilean Donan Castle before crossing the Skye bridge and on to the Isle.
The next few days were spent occupied with remote controlled boats, walking the dogs, taking a mini tour around Skye visiting Portree, Dunvegan Castle while using Sligachen campsite as our base. So far the weather had been fantastic. By the end of the 3 days it was time to move on to the next destination.
Loch Ness
Saying goodbye to the Isle of Skye and 2 members of our group who would join us later in the week, we headed back over the Skye bridge back to the mainland and the long journey taking in the scenery before arriving for a one night stay next to the mid-west side of Loch Ness, the good weather was still holding and the time hear was spent walking along the footpaths next to and overlooking the Loch. |
St Andrews
All too soon we were on the move again, heading south stopping off for more sight seeing at Fort Augustus situated at the bottom of Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. A couple of hours later and back on the road to the east coast and St Andrews and our home for the next 5 days to meet up with members of the SPKA and the PKA for a weekend of racing.
The first day of racing was a no go, the wind was low and the visibility bad as a blanket of fog covered the beach and town, that evening the Scottish flyers had organised a BBQ for us, the next day the weather improved and we managed to get in a few races before the tide pushed us off the beach. The rest of our stay at St Andrews involved more site seeing around the town, an evening session on the beach, and lunch in a small fishing town Pittenweem.
There is one thing to remember when visiting St Andrew Fudge Doughnut's.
All too soon we were on the move again, heading south stopping off for more sight seeing at Fort Augustus situated at the bottom of Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. A couple of hours later and back on the road to the east coast and St Andrews and our home for the next 5 days to meet up with members of the SPKA and the PKA for a weekend of racing.
The first day of racing was a no go, the wind was low and the visibility bad as a blanket of fog covered the beach and town, that evening the Scottish flyers had organised a BBQ for us, the next day the weather improved and we managed to get in a few races before the tide pushed us off the beach. The rest of our stay at St Andrews involved more site seeing around the town, an evening session on the beach, and lunch in a small fishing town Pittenweem.
There is one thing to remember when visiting St Andrew Fudge Doughnut's.
Falkirk
Our road trip was coming down to our last few days, leaving St Andrews we started to make our way home, travelling down the coast road we made our way to the Forth Bridge with a short stop in Queensferry before heading over to Falkirk for an overnight stay giving the guys another opportunity to use their boats in The Helix large boating lake and a chance to watch the Kelpies light up as the sun went down. The final morning in Scotland was spent at the Falkirk Wheel for a spot of breakfast, watching the unique piece of engineering as it lifted boats from one part of the canal to another, before heading back across to the west coast down to Hoylake for round 4 of the PKA and the final stop of our holiday before heading home... |
Sunday April 9th
Race Day 2:
Location Brean Sands.
Well that's our second race day over and done, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. We all arrived early thanks to having advanced warning of a VW event going on at the other end of the beach.
The sun was shining, the wind was light and cross-off shore but was forecast to increase and swing around to on-shore. With registration out of the way, myself and assistant race officer for the day planned then walked the beach to mark out the course.
After the pilots briefing all we could do was to wait and pray for the wind to pick up and change direction. While we waited, the usual banter between members, it took a while but the wind started to build and slowly changed direction.
With a few pilots making their way up and down the beach, the wind finally swung round to on-shore and having picked up enough to start the first race. The 15 min warning was given to the pilots, and kites started to fill the sky.....5 minute flag went up and the pilots all moved onto the course.....1 minute flag was raised and they all started to find a good start position.....10 second count down 5,4,3,2,1 and they were off.
Less than 2 minutes into the race and the wind really kicked in and the pilots found themselves overpowered, but they held on till the end of the race. After a break between races, Race 2 was underway and everyone had switched over to smaller kites. After another break the flag went down and the buggies flew past the start line for the 3rd and final race of the day.
With the racing done the rest of the day was left for free-flying and the buggiers to make the most of the clean on shore winds that we had during the racing. After a long day in the sun and wind, some of us sunburnt and weather beaten, and a lot of smiling faces we packed up leaving behind tracks on the beach from another great and successful days racing.
Results from the days racing can be found on the race page.
Thanks to Mark Coombs assistant race officer, and the marshalls out on the course for their help and to everyone who made it a great day.
Race Day 2:
Location Brean Sands.
Well that's our second race day over and done, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. We all arrived early thanks to having advanced warning of a VW event going on at the other end of the beach.
The sun was shining, the wind was light and cross-off shore but was forecast to increase and swing around to on-shore. With registration out of the way, myself and assistant race officer for the day planned then walked the beach to mark out the course.
After the pilots briefing all we could do was to wait and pray for the wind to pick up and change direction. While we waited, the usual banter between members, it took a while but the wind started to build and slowly changed direction.
With a few pilots making their way up and down the beach, the wind finally swung round to on-shore and having picked up enough to start the first race. The 15 min warning was given to the pilots, and kites started to fill the sky.....5 minute flag went up and the pilots all moved onto the course.....1 minute flag was raised and they all started to find a good start position.....10 second count down 5,4,3,2,1 and they were off.
Less than 2 minutes into the race and the wind really kicked in and the pilots found themselves overpowered, but they held on till the end of the race. After a break between races, Race 2 was underway and everyone had switched over to smaller kites. After another break the flag went down and the buggies flew past the start line for the 3rd and final race of the day.
With the racing done the rest of the day was left for free-flying and the buggiers to make the most of the clean on shore winds that we had during the racing. After a long day in the sun and wind, some of us sunburnt and weather beaten, and a lot of smiling faces we packed up leaving behind tracks on the beach from another great and successful days racing.
Results from the days racing can be found on the race page.
Thanks to Mark Coombs assistant race officer, and the marshalls out on the course for their help and to everyone who made it a great day.
Race Weekend 11th & 12th March 2017
Location Brean Sands
Round 1
Saturday morning was an early start – 7:18 train to Yatton where I was met by Mark and Sue before heading off to Brean for the day, upon arrival at the beach we stopped to chat to the warden and was informed of large mounds of sand had been dumped in the top corner of our windzone.
There was already a few members already on the beach by the time we had arrived, and had checked out the mounds of sand and the area surrounding them declaring it a hazard to be avoided, but that didn't stop SWATK members being well, SWATK members wasn't long before some of us were digging out trainers much to the amusement for the rest of us. The victims of the day were Russell, Ryan, Jo and Karen.
The afternoon was spent with a few members of the group buggying their way up and down the beach in low cross-offshore winds, being filmed by Karen and one of our new club member with their drones and the usual social banter between friends. Followed by a relaxing evening, a few drinks and a lot of laughter.
Sunday Race Day
We got to beach to find the wind had dropped off from the day before, but at least it had swung round to on-shore (the perfect direction for). This being the first race day of the season is always the most important one as it sets up the motivation for the rest of the season.
The club had arranged a former member to come along with his drone and film the days racing, with this in mind we were more anxious today about the lack of wind as we needed the wind to get some good footage of a club race day.
With the pilots registered for the days racing done, the course laid out and the pilots briefing out of the way all we could do is wait for the wind to pick up, by 11.00 when the first race was due to start there was still no sign of the wind building to the minimum speed we needed to be able to race. It was a long wait and people were getting restless and we were beginning to feel like the first race day of the would have to be cancelled.
Thankfully by 12:45 the wind had picked up to just under the minimum wind speed we needed to start a race, the decision was made and the 15 minute warning was given. The pilots started preparing and by 1:00 the wind suddenly kicked in, the first race was underway and the battle for 1st and 2nd place was fought between Ryan Mcgavin and Russell Winters, while another battle for 3rd and 4th place was taking place between Karen Cutbush and Bart Bristow.
Race 2 had nearly everyone switching down a kite size only to find just as the race started with wind dropped off making it a bit more of a challenge getting round the course, with Gavin at the controls of his drone filming the action of the racing, after 15 minute the chequered flag went up signalling the end of the race.
After another 15 min warning given to the pilots the 3rd and final race got underway and the usual battles continued. Luckily this was the last race of the day as there was a weather front closing in from the west bringing some rain with it. The flag went up ending the race and we just managed to get everything packed up before the heavens opened telling us it's time to leave.
Big thanks to everyone who turned up and took part in this weekends racing, and special thanks to Barry for his help as assistant race officer, setting the course and running commentary during the racing, Gavin for filming the racing with his drone, and Jo for the photography, looking forward seeing the videos and photographs from this weekend. Just want to thank everyone again for making it a great weekend. Bring on the next one.
Location Brean Sands
Round 1
Saturday morning was an early start – 7:18 train to Yatton where I was met by Mark and Sue before heading off to Brean for the day, upon arrival at the beach we stopped to chat to the warden and was informed of large mounds of sand had been dumped in the top corner of our windzone.
There was already a few members already on the beach by the time we had arrived, and had checked out the mounds of sand and the area surrounding them declaring it a hazard to be avoided, but that didn't stop SWATK members being well, SWATK members wasn't long before some of us were digging out trainers much to the amusement for the rest of us. The victims of the day were Russell, Ryan, Jo and Karen.
The afternoon was spent with a few members of the group buggying their way up and down the beach in low cross-offshore winds, being filmed by Karen and one of our new club member with their drones and the usual social banter between friends. Followed by a relaxing evening, a few drinks and a lot of laughter.
Sunday Race Day
We got to beach to find the wind had dropped off from the day before, but at least it had swung round to on-shore (the perfect direction for). This being the first race day of the season is always the most important one as it sets up the motivation for the rest of the season.
The club had arranged a former member to come along with his drone and film the days racing, with this in mind we were more anxious today about the lack of wind as we needed the wind to get some good footage of a club race day.
With the pilots registered for the days racing done, the course laid out and the pilots briefing out of the way all we could do is wait for the wind to pick up, by 11.00 when the first race was due to start there was still no sign of the wind building to the minimum speed we needed to be able to race. It was a long wait and people were getting restless and we were beginning to feel like the first race day of the would have to be cancelled.
Thankfully by 12:45 the wind had picked up to just under the minimum wind speed we needed to start a race, the decision was made and the 15 minute warning was given. The pilots started preparing and by 1:00 the wind suddenly kicked in, the first race was underway and the battle for 1st and 2nd place was fought between Ryan Mcgavin and Russell Winters, while another battle for 3rd and 4th place was taking place between Karen Cutbush and Bart Bristow.
Race 2 had nearly everyone switching down a kite size only to find just as the race started with wind dropped off making it a bit more of a challenge getting round the course, with Gavin at the controls of his drone filming the action of the racing, after 15 minute the chequered flag went up signalling the end of the race.
After another 15 min warning given to the pilots the 3rd and final race got underway and the usual battles continued. Luckily this was the last race of the day as there was a weather front closing in from the west bringing some rain with it. The flag went up ending the race and we just managed to get everything packed up before the heavens opened telling us it's time to leave.
Big thanks to everyone who turned up and took part in this weekends racing, and special thanks to Barry for his help as assistant race officer, setting the course and running commentary during the racing, Gavin for filming the racing with his drone, and Jo for the photography, looking forward seeing the videos and photographs from this weekend. Just want to thank everyone again for making it a great weekend. Bring on the next one.