Name ? Sy Leonard

Age ? 34

Who are your sponsors ? Edge Power Kites & Flexifoil

What do you fly ? It just has to be Flexifoil’s Blade. The ultimate freestyle buggy kite and there is no other kite on the market that can compare. Also now in my kitbag are the Flexifoil Blurrs. An amazing kite that has speed and stability in bucket loads. You have to try these kites out for yourselves to appreciate how good they are. My buggy is the tried and tested Flexi buggy. Still the number one buggy for freestyle and still going strong after many years of taking a beating!

Where do you fly ? My home patch is Brancaster but i also fly at Cromer, Runton,Weybourne,Tibenham and a few other little spots dotted around North Norfolk.

What made you choose buggying ? After buying my first kite i went back to Kellers kite shop in Norwich and they had a mk1 Flexifoil buggy(basically a PeterLynn). Id not actually seen anybody using one at this time and i thought it looked fantastic! I bought it and then set about finding out how the hell you get moving in it with a kite. As i only had a 10ft stacker at the time the learning process was long! I pretty much taught myself how to buggy by just doing downwind runs and then getting towed back by my mate in his van. I love the endless possibilities of what can be done in a buggy. You can go for pure straight line speed, get into freestyle and start getting air, or my favourite, just strap yourself into the buggy and freeride any terrain that mother nature throws in your path. Of course these days we have to contend with restrictions and bans everywhere and buggying is harder to get into than before. Even though i also landboard(or try to!), buggying is still my first love.

When did you start kiting ? Phew! Ive got to cast my mind back for this one! I remember making my own kite from bamboo sticks and bin liners when i was a wee nipper(it wasnt a huge success to be fair). Regarding ‘proper’ kites, i bought my first Stacker 10 in 1999,closely followed by a 4m Blade then another stacker. Between me and my mates we had 5or6 Stackers that we would put together and take turns to fly. The jumps you could do with these babies were unreal, so much air-time! The Stackers were the reason so many people got into powerkiting and are still available to buy today. If you’ve never flown 1(or5), then try to give them a go, they are awesome fun.

Any favourite tricks ? Hmmm, dont know really. Im not one of these riders that feels the need to learn each and every new trick that comes along. I try to make the tricks i do as smooth as possible. I still think a tweaked aerial 360 with a nice landing can look the coolest thing in the world. I also think that ground tricks get overlooked in favour of big air tricks. From a filming point of view, ground tricks can often look more spectacular. A spinning buggy throwing up soft sand can look so cool on film. That said, watching the new breed of buggy freestylers coming through, blows me away. Craig Sparkes with his inventive original technical tricks, Will Mckean doing those ridiculous inverts and then riders like Freddie and Dave who just push the limits each time they go out and fly.

What are your views on competitions ? I have mixed feelings. Im not too worried about entering comps personally. I can see why a lot of people like them, its a chance for riders to see what each other can do and i do believe that competition improves riders skills. However, my own personal way of flying is to just go out, ride hard but have as much fun as possible. I find that in competitions some riders take things a bit too seriously and at the end of the day i would much rather just prat about on my local beach than get upset if a judge thinks someone has landed a more technical trick then me! The other thing with comps seems to be the lack of wind that appears at them! Ive attended many events throughout the years and very few have them have had the wind required to really show off what kiting is all about.

Do you think kiting is in crisis ? This is a good question. I would have instantly replied no but the more i read the forums and see the number of kite shops struggling, there obviously must be some issues. My local beach has fewer regular fliers these days, as do a few of the other local sites. I guess a lot of the land fliers have defected to the water but even so there are certainly less buggiers around. Why do i think this is? A few things probably. The main one being access to land. Most beaches have some form of restriction as to who can fly on them. I think we have a responsibility to try to gain more access to as many sites as possible. Ive been lucky and found a couple of local land owners who have allowed some of us to use sections of their land but we need more to do the same across the country. I also think kiteshops are finding it hard to compete with internet shops selling products much cheaper. The traditional kiteshop is irreplaceable, especially when it comes to offering advice to new fliers with very little idea of what they are buying. We need to keep using these shops. The other problem we have is the good old favourite....the weather! We just don’t seem to be getting as many decent sunny windy days these days! We work all week hoping for those big arrows to appear on XC Weather for Saturday and Sunday, only to see a little dot or even when wind is forecast, its coupled with rain! To me, kiting is the most exciting sport ive ever been involved in and i think more and more people will eventually get into it.Its great to see several riders coming through in Austrailia and it would be great to get over there sometime to meet up. The Americans are getting more into it too and with the aid of Will and Dave going out there and really showing what freestyle buggying is all about, the sport can grow and grow. Companies such as Flexifoil are really pushing to get more kiting into schools and i hope to be actively involved in this as much as possible.Remember, we have the best in the world in each kiting discipline. Aaron is just rewriting all kitesurfing records, Lewis Wilby is the undisputed landboard king at the moment and a combination of the Godfather of buggying in Rob Hills and the greatest talent challenging his crown means that we should be very proud of kiting in this country. So is kiting in crisis, no but it needs a little kickstart to get it back to where it deserves to be. Hopefully with guys like Andy Gordon making films to the calibre of In Vent and E Volve, kiting will get onto the mainstream media more and more, getting more people into the sport. And that is a good thing.

Who are your influences in kiting ? Im lucky i that i learnt to fly with the top man himself, Rob Hills. One of the nicest people in the sport and a good mate. To fly with someone of Robs talent can only improve your own skills. It was a shame when he moved to Wales but we still get to have the odd day on the beach when he pays a visit back to his spiritual home! As well as Mr Hills, the other fliers at Brancaster wern’t too shabby either. Mark Everitt is another top buggier and can still pull tricks that i wouldn’t dare try! Also flying back in the day were people like Phatdan, Butch and Andy Preston. You don’t get much better than that! Now i seem to be the old man on the beach and i fly with the modern day pioneers in kiting. Criag Sparkes has had an amazing year in which he has really pushed himself to come up with all manner of technical tricks and establish himself as one of the best freestyle buggiers around. Lewis Wilby doesn’t need any introduction, top guy, and gravity defying skills on the board(and rather annoyingly, in a buggy too!) These guys ensure i don’t drop my guard and they push me to try out new tricks all the time. Other influences would come from different sports. Anyone who goes out and has fun has an influence on me.

What has been your greatest achievement ? In kiting ive had several things to be proud of. I remember the first time there was a picture in Powerkite magazine of me. I couldnt believe it and was so happy! To actually then get a cover shot was incredible and i have been really fortunate to have had 2 covers of Powerkite. Regarding my films, its really good to read the nice stuff people have to say about them and i guess my proudest moments have come from having a specially commissioned film in a window of Harrods of London, as well as having a cinema show one of my films in Wales. Ive also made several promo films for Flexifoil so check out Atom08.com or Blurrkite.com if you haven’t already. Ive had several articles in Powerkite mag and i also bagged the cover of the first issue of I-Kite, the online kite magazine. When i was asked to be a shoprider for Edgepowerkites i was really proud, but this year was really the pinnacle for me when Flexifoil asked me to be a team rider for them. To be asked by the brand that i have used from day one is an amazing feeling and im honoured to represent a brand that are world leaders with their products. Away from kiting, 2008 has been a tremendous year because i am going to be a Dad for the first time! Baby is due in September and he’s a boy so Rob has already been instructed to make me a mini-buggy for the nipper!

You are also known for your films, which is your favourite ? My favourite of my own films would probably be Thrills Spills and Mr Mills. It was a time where everybody was just having fun on the beach and was filmed pretty much over 2 or 3 days. The music worked so well with the action and lots of people tell me its one of their favourite kiting films. Ive enjoyed making all my films so far and look forward to making more. As for other film-makers, i enjoy watching all kiting films and check out all the websites each night to see if any new ones have been added! When i first started making films the top guy was Trebor but these days people like Appo, Marman and of course Andy Gordon are really raising the bar with their films. When i first watched Andy’s film with Lenten, i was gobsmacked! Since then he has made 2 films with Aaron that have brought kite movies into the 21st century. His editing skills are second to none and the films have created a real buzz in kiting-just what we needed. Im hoping Flexifoil will get him to make a land film with us because that could be something special.

Anyone you’d like to thank ? Firstly i’d like to thank my girlfriend Louise. Not only does she have to put up with an over enthusiastic bloke going kiting every windy day, but she also has had to get used to sand everywhere in the house and me locking myself away for days on end whilst i make my films! Obviously i want to thank my sponsors, Edgepowerkites and Flexifoil, and finally all the people who have made kiting the best activity in the world. I have made many friends through the sport and hope to make many more!

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