Kite Expert at Kite Sports Services Ltd T/a KiteCoach.co.uk
The New Forest, Hampshire
- About me
I started into kites with the traditional single line diamond style, flying with my granddad and father, apart from building sand castles and digging holes on the beach, kite flying was probably my favorite thing to do aged 2-7. Kiting then passed me by thanks in part to the advent of the Peter Powell stunt kite - the packaging stated for aged 8yrs & over hence my dad refused to buy my 6 year old self one, and kites disappeared from my radar until moving to London in the early nineties.
At this point I was introduced to power kites, a couple of pals had them and soon between us we had a whole collection of assorted sized Flexi Stackers that we would link together and fly / drag / jump our way across Richmond park. Indeed one fella took things a bit too far - while being filmed on top of an old hill fort in Dorset he catapulted over 100ft powered by 4 10ft kites and landed on his head, he was lucky to survive and we all took a lesson from the experience. While the original London kite crew went their separate ways I took a summer job in a kite store in Soho and poured all my resources into collecting the new 4 line parachute style kites and after 6 months acquired my first Land Lizard buggy. I was totally hooked on kite buggy sailing from day one - this was the way to use all that power! I practiced on Clapham Common & Wormwood Scrubs (often at night!), Stoney Cross in the New Forest and spent weekends on the sands of Pembrey South Wales. In '95 I competed at Weston-Super-Mare in my first buggy race alongside Jason Furness (who went on to pioneer Kite Surfing in the UK) and my friend Tony Mackay immortalized the event in a kite movie called Show Me the Sky that we released in late 1996 just as I began work on setting up the London Beach Store. The Beach Store was one of the first retailers in the UK to see the potential in Kite Surfing though ironically we spent most of the early days trying to dissuade people to buy surf kites on grounds they were far too dangerous! Coming from a buggy background I was only too aware of the difference in control between a 9m 2 line inflatable and a 4m 4 line ram air, consequently I didn't take up Kite Surfing until 2000 when the first 4 line LEI's with basic safety systems arrived. Being stuck in London and blighted by the kite store owner's legendary wind jinx I didn't start to get to grips with kite surfing till summer 2002 - the thing that really clinched it for me was braving the hard baked sands of La Frankie in Leucate SW France on a land board for the first time - I bloodied my knees but also water started and was up and riding on a 16m Wipika Air Blast the following day - then the wind stopped for the rest of the holiday!
Evidently I am totally hooked on kiting in all its forms and would very much like to one day write a definitive book of kites. I am never happier than when sharing my passion for this amazing sport with new friends from all walks of life. I'm married to the beautiful Veronique and having lived in London since 1991 we recently took the decision to move to live on the edge of the New Forest and escape the rat race.
At this point I was introduced to power kites, a couple of pals had them and soon between us we had a whole collection of assorted sized Flexi Stackers that we would link together and fly / drag / jump our way across Richmond park. Indeed one fella took things a bit too far - while being filmed on top of an old hill fort in Dorset he catapulted over 100ft powered by 4 10ft kites and landed on his head, he was lucky to survive and we all took a lesson from the experience. While the original London kite crew went their separate ways I took a summer job in a kite store in Soho and poured all my resources into collecting the new 4 line parachute style kites and after 6 months acquired my first Land Lizard buggy. I was totally hooked on kite buggy sailing from day one - this was the way to use all that power! I practiced on Clapham Common & Wormwood Scrubs (often at night!), Stoney Cross in the New Forest and spent weekends on the sands of Pembrey South Wales. In '95 I competed at Weston-Super-Mare in my first buggy race alongside Jason Furness (who went on to pioneer Kite Surfing in the UK) and my friend Tony Mackay immortalized the event in a kite movie called Show Me the Sky that we released in late 1996 just as I began work on setting up the London Beach Store. The Beach Store was one of the first retailers in the UK to see the potential in Kite Surfing though ironically we spent most of the early days trying to dissuade people to buy surf kites on grounds they were far too dangerous! Coming from a buggy background I was only too aware of the difference in control between a 9m 2 line inflatable and a 4m 4 line ram air, consequently I didn't take up Kite Surfing until 2000 when the first 4 line LEI's with basic safety systems arrived. Being stuck in London and blighted by the kite store owner's legendary wind jinx I didn't start to get to grips with kite surfing till summer 2002 - the thing that really clinched it for me was braving the hard baked sands of La Frankie in Leucate SW France on a land board for the first time - I bloodied my knees but also water started and was up and riding on a 16m Wipika Air Blast the following day - then the wind stopped for the rest of the holiday!
Evidently I am totally hooked on kiting in all its forms and would very much like to one day write a definitive book of kites. I am never happier than when sharing my passion for this amazing sport with new friends from all walks of life. I'm married to the beautiful Veronique and having lived in London since 1991 we recently took the decision to move to live on the edge of the New Forest and escape the rat race.
- Places I've lived
- London
- Companies I've worked for
- London Beach Store
- Schools I've attended
- Marlborough College Wilts; Oxford Poly; Westminster Uni
