2008 was always going to be a top year. It began with the news that Flexifoil wanted me to be a team rider for them and was swiftly followed with the news im going to be a Dad for the first time. It doesn’t get much better than that!

That brings us to my first official road trip as a Flexi rider, an outing to the west coast of France to meet up with the Mellow(Flexifoil’s European distributer) guys for a few days of flying at some fantastic beaches. And best of all, the forecast was for wind and sun.

I was going to be navigator(with a little help from TomTom!), and my driver for the trip was a young upstart by the name of Craig Sparkes. Like me, Craig was called up to the team at the start of the year and was as keen as mustard to go out there and strut his stuff.

The plans were made, the route selected, and all that was left to do was work out how we would squeeze 2 loads of kite equipment and clothing into Craig’s car. Easier said than done.

I got to Craigs at silly o’ clock and we set off on the 12 hour journey. We got to Dover in good time and the crossing was calm. Still a long way to go though. The first thing you notice is how good the roads are in France. Most are toll roads but you get to your destination so much quicker and there is minimal traffic,even at busy times.

Our final destination was Quiberon, situated on a peninsular in the Atlantic Ocean. An ideal location because we would be able to find a beach to use whatever direction the wind chose to blow.

We arrived at the campsite at around 3 ’o clock local time in Penthiévre, 2 minutes drive from the beach and with amazing views in all directions. It was a welcome sight after so much travelling and putting up with 12 hours of Craig’s curious taste in music! Some of the other guys were already there and they greeted us with a cold beer, I was loving the trip already. We got the tent up and to be honest, I could have hit the sack there and then, we had only had around 2 hours sleep in the previous 24 hours, but there was no time to put our feet up, time to check out the beach. The closest to visit was literally across the road from the campsite, Mané-gwen. The first thing we noticed were the amazing grassy dunes around the car park, a buggiers dream. Our eyes lit up but one of the French riders explained they were protected so we resisted the temptation and carried on to the beach. Wow! What a location. A huge expanse of hard packed golden sand as far as the eye could see, and best of all, we could use it all! We had a quick fly to ease ourselves in but a combination of tiredness and hunger meant we cut the session short to return back to camp. By this time some other riders had arrived, so it was time to fire up the BBQ and catch up. It wasn’t long before a kite was launched, quickly followed by another 2 or 3. The campsite was a perfect place to fly, clean winds and grass areas with tarmac roads in all directions. A few of us went exploring in the buggies and it was a perfect way to end our first evening. Time for a well earned sleep!

Through the night I was woken by sound of a kite whizzing past my tent, the wind had become really strong and someone had decided to have a sneaky fly. Ive no idea what the time was but it was nice to drift back to sleep knowing we were in for a good day.

It was around 10.30 before we got up, time for a quick breakfast in Peter’s camper and then we hit the beach. The sky was a little overcast but there was a decent amount of wind and everyone was quick to get out riding. Most of the Mellow team are kite surfers but the wind wasn’t really strong enough for them so we were all in buggies instead. Both Craig and myself started with our Blades and managed to get a few half decent jumps in before we decided to swap kites to the new Blurr and go exploring. The few beaches we have access to at home are really small so to have such a massive stretch of sand to play on meant we just had to lock the kites into the power and see where the wind took us. We were going for over 15minutes before we turned round and realised that we could no longer see where we had come from. By this time the sky had started to brighten up so we made our way back and returned to the others.

Richard Boudia was our photographer/translator for the trip, a really nice guy and a top kite surfer. I know how annoying it can be to have to sacrifice flying to get that killer shot but Richard was a true professional and kept his camera by his side all the times. We managed to get some nice pics of all the buggiers trying the Blurrs out. These kites are so powerful but with the added bonus of being lightning fast in the turn yet super stable and incredibly easy to fly. We continued for an hour or 2 but the wind steadily started to drop as the tide came in so we packed up and soaked up some rays instead. Suddenly, the wind returned and Craig was the first to grab his board and 14.5 Ion3 and hit the water. A few others joined him out there but it wasn’t long before the wind died and it was time to head back to camp. As we arrived we saw Theo, one of the French riders looking a bit sheepish. He had gone out kite surfing in the bay around the campsite and managed to lose his board. Not a happy bunny! As the night drew in, some new arrivals joined us. Bernd and his crew of buggiers had made the long journey from Germany, and the unmistakeable Animal logo’d van belonging to Kirsty Jones. So now we had people from Belgium,France,Germany, England and Wales. The other arrivals we had every evening that weren’t quite so welcome, were swarms of huge dune bugs, hundreds of them at a time that seemed drawn to the white campervans around us. It was amusing to see so many grown men screaming like girls as they run away swatting the air!

The next morning we were met with lighter winds blowing in a different direction from previous days. We followed Richard to another part of the beach we’d used, a bit further around the coast so we had onshore wind again. This is where we got to see Bernd’s Flexifoil buggy, a matt black beauty with moped tyres and white graphics, one of the nicest buggies ive ever seen and im very tempted to make my own. Most of the day was spent racing up and down the beach again. Kirsty went surfing, Richard got a few more pictures when me, Craig and Nico ventured around a few of the rocks in our buggies, but the wind was always dropping so we made our way back to a bar in Plouharnel for a cold drink and a quick check in to our emails. Next to the campsite was a small football field, this gave us the idea to try to buggy through the goalposts. After a few attempts Craig managed it in the buggy and I pulled a handle-pass over the crossbar on my board, sort of!

That night we all sat round the bbq and Bernd fired up his laptop and film projector. He used the back of his campervan as the screen and it looked absolutely brilliant. We had an evening of various surf and kite films, including a few from Sylenz productions! The films and drinking carried on into the early hours but eventually we all hit the sack hoping for more wind for our next session.

 This time it was a really bright start to the day and there was a half decent breeze. Richard knew just the place to take us and a short drive later we were at Cote Sauvage, a beautiful bay and a perfect location for some more photos. A few of the other riders went surfing, Kirsty went out on her paddle board, making it look a lot easier than it is, (as Craig later found out), and me, Nico and Craig buggied around making the most of the wind. Richard got some of the best photos here and we stayed until the tide was almost surrounding us. By the time we got back, the rest of the riders had designed a course around the campsite and were trying to beat each others lap-times in the buggy. After many attempts, no-one could get near Peters time and he was declared the winner-although he did refuse a drug test afterwards! The wind forecast for the following day was not great but back in England it looked perfect so me and Craig both agreed that we would head back to good old Blighty in the morning. As this was going to be our last evening in France a few of us ventured into town. There was a music festival taking place so we sat outside a bar and watched a couple of the bands before giving in to our hunger and visiting a creperie. The food was delicious and it was a really nice way to end our trip. By the time we got back to camp the film show was back in full swing and we sat watching a few more movies before deciding to call it a night.

Morning arrived and we started to pack the car, it seemed a lot trickier to fit everything in this time but after some tetris-like adjustments, we got the boot and doors shut. A few goodbyes to those that were awake and not sleeping off their hangovers and we were starting the long journey home. Craig made really good time along the toll roads again and we were hoping to be back in Norfolk by evening. Things are not always that simple though, and when we got to Calais we were told that high winds were delaying all the crossings. While we sat in the queue waiting for the ferry to arrive Craig’s feet(which he had sticking out of his window), became the centre of attention for a bus load of pensioners. As each walked past they gave his foot a tickle, probably in disbelief that a human could have such huge flipper-like feet! Eventually we got on the ferry and started the crossing. We had different approaches to trying to cope with the rough seas. Craig fell asleep, I drank Jack Daniels til I didn’t care anymore. I think my way was better! Dover was a welcome sight, we were back in the car and on the home straight.I finally got home at close to midnight, tired but glad to be back. The next day the wind that had been forecast never emerged. We then heard that our friends back in Quiberon had enjoyed perfect conditions whilst we were driving across France, typical!

Thanks go to Flexifoil and especially the Mellow crew who were very generous and made us feel very welcome, we will definitely be seeing you again very soon.