Thursday 29 April 2010


STuDenT KiTeSurf NaTiOnaLs!

Back in March I competed in the first ever Student Kitesurf Nationals held at Calshot by Southampton University.
The whole event was extremely well organised and overall a great success. All the heats and riding took place on the Saturday as there was no wind forcasted for the Sunday. They managed to fit all the heats and finals in by the end of the day. This was shortly followed by the prize giving in the evening and the after party.

I came away with a prize for first girl and a special prize awarded by expix (www.expix.co.uk). Ian Edmondson from expix has given me a days photo shoot including Kitesurfing and lifestyle shots :-)
I was so pleased with this result, as it was my first ever competition and I wasn't really sure how I would do under a bit of pressure. I know I definatly want to continue to compete and hope to take part in all the BKSA events next year (2011).

I am really looking forward to the photo shoot with Ian :-) and hope to have some photos to post up soon.

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Cable trip :-)

A couple of weekends ago the University Of Plymouth Wakeboard Club took a trip to WM Ski, a cable near Cirencester. We weren't very lucky with the weather and had to deal with freezing cold conditions and quite a bit of wind.
However this didn't put anyone off! Despite the cold the majority of us were on the water from 12.00pm, when the cable opened, until it was dark around 4.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

I was ill with a throat infection before I went so wasn't in the best condition to be trying new things however I had fun on the little slider shown in the video, attempted my first raley on the cable and had a go at the slicker and big slider for the first time. So all in all I had a pretty good weekend :-)

The video below is a short clip of me hitting the slider, it also features my boyfriend Ali Reader (www.ali-reader.com).

Thanks very much to John Matthews for putting together the video for me :-)

Gemma from John Matthews on Vimeo.

Sunday 22 November 2009

More photos from Egypt :-)


Me with my 5m North Vegas.


Watching everyone kiting


Pumping up.


Xx.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

This is me.... :-)















I flew a power kite for the first time about a year ago and have been hooked ever since! Although I have only been up and riding since mid July Kitesurfing has already become a massive part of my life.

Over the summer I attended some of the events of the British championships, not competing but kiting as much as I could and making friends along the way. This has really pushed me to be at a high enough level to compete next summer.


I then went to Egypt where I Kitesurfed solidly for a month. I am now back in Plymouth where I kite when at all possible, along with wakeboarding and surfing. I have also just taken on the role of running the Plymouth University Wakeboard club.















I feel my greatest achievement is that I am one of the only female UK riders that rides in boots (wakeboard style bindings on a kite board) on a regular basis and with a view to competing in boots in next seasons British championships.




Aims and Goals
I am currently working on raleys. My next goal is to have tried a slider by the end of this year and hopefully perfected raleys in both boots and straps!

I am in the process of collecting footage and putting together a film so I also hope to have this by the end of this year!

I have easy access to a video camera so should be able to post tons of videos keeping you guys up to date with every new trick I am learning or crashing! :-s




My dreads :-)
I got my dreads done in April 2009. Before this I was constantly changing my hair in the attempt to find a style I was happy with and that was low in maintenance. Now I have discovered dreads I never want to get rid of them.







I hardly had to wax them at all because I was in and out of the sea so much that the salt water helped hold them together and keep them neat.After 6 months of having them I went back to get them tidied up, and was told that they looked as though they were a year and a half old. I use dread head dread butta to condition them and dread-licious citrus spray.

They are perfect for any waterbabies out there!


I have so many people ask me about my dreads when I have just got off the water or when I'm out and about. I think down at the beach is a great place to promote dreads and dread head! I aim to get as many Kitesurfers and Wakeboarders into dreads as possible!


I hope you will all enjoy watching my progress!

Here are a load of pics :-)









































xxx

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