The 3rd and final round of the BKC, presented by IKSURF Mag and Kiteworld Mag, took place at Hunstanton with the help of the local sailing club; an old favourite for many riders who know there is always a warm welcome at Hunstanton Sailing club.

With their usual hospitality the club provided a great base for the weekend; free parking for riders, a place to park up and camp for the night, free breakfast, showers and Wi-Fi as well as the Saturday evening BBQ, all cooked by club members.

With the forecast being extremely marginal and set to drop, a decision was made to host a riders briefing on Friday night where it was decided to move the event to Heacham beach for the Saturday morning to maximise the chance of using any wind and tide that was available.

Whilst in some categories the overall winners were already decided, in the Men’s Pro category it was still wide open. With a possibility of so many permutations, anyone of the top 5 riders could take the win if they all turned up. But with the Bridge boys not available, it was left to Sean Murphy, George Dufty and Oli Sweeney to battle it out for the top spot.

 

With light winds everyone was struggling and there was a few surprises as the riders for the finals were announced. Sean Murphy who had been consistent throughout the whole tour was in there along with Rich Flindall who showed us just how well he can ride and Craig Smith from Cornwall.

The only contenders left who could have made it to the premium podium place, George Dufty and Oli Sweeney, failed to make it to the final and at that point Sean Murphy knew that all he had to do was ride to take the overall spot. Going out very relaxed, Sean took second place behind Rich Flindall who was on fire.

The Women’s Pros were also struggling; a very choppy sea and light winds meant take off and landings were difficult. And with wind dropping mid trick it was tactics that came into play as smaller more frequent tricks seemed to be the order of the day. The final saw Ros Jury up against Sukie Robertson from Devon and after a very difficult heat, Ros came out on top taking her third British Title. Sukie’s 2nd place at Hunstanton moved her into 3rd place overall and hometown girl Danielle Durrant taking the second spot on the podium.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

With the wind dropping and the tide receding by the minute, the decision was made to move the competition back to Hunstanton. However as the BKC competition riders sat on the sea wall in anticipation, a becalmed Hunstanton meant that the Women’s Pro 3rd/4th place heat was the last action for the day

With the forecast for Sunday not looking any better, the decision was made to call the event. The Pro’s results would be added to their overall tally but the rest of the categories stood as they were.

It’s been great to feel the buzz again around the British Kitesurfing Championships and to see the support from the kitesurfing industry, both of which have been missing in the last few years. Kiters getting excited about entering British competitions can only be a good thing.

It’s a new team who have worked hard to make the British Championships happen and no doubt they have learnt a lot on this tour. It will be interesting to see where this knowledge takes them and to see how the British Kitesurfing Championships develop in 2016.

And as for ExPix, well we’re looking forward to covering the tour again and playing our part in helping to promote kitesurfing in the UK and raising the profile of all the kitesurfers involved.

 

Click the link to view all the British Kitesurf Championship BKC images from Hunstanton

Round 3 Hunstanton Results:
Men’s Pros
1st Richard Flindall
2nd Sean Murphy
3rd Craig Smith

Women’s Pros
1st Rosanna Jury
2nd Sukie Robertson
3rd Danielle Durrant

OVERALL RESULTS
Men’s Pros
1st Sean Murphy
2nd Richard Flindall
3rd Oli Sweeney

Women’s Pros
1st Rosanna Jury
2nd Danielle Durrant
3rd Sukie Robertson

Masters
1st Kevin Matthey
2nd Pete Jones
3rd Cedric Bontemps

Men’s Ams
1st Dan Turner
2nd Richard Wise
3rd Andrew McMillan

Women’s Ams
1st Lucie Turner
2nd Kate Ross
3rd Sarah Barkway

Juniors
1st Harry Way
2nd Cameron Auld
3rd Jack Gardiner