Windfest Blows into Town

Animal event brings extreme sports to Dorset

An idyllic Sandbanks beach welcomed the Animal Windfest 2009 last weekend, in what could have been easily mistaken for some Hawaiian playground rather than the coastline off Dorset.

Poole’s golden sands were a hive of wind, water and extreme sporting activity, as competitors ranging from the curious novice to experienced pro took to their wheels, boards and decks.

This, the 11th year of Animal Windfest, is reported to have opened its free-entry doors to around 15,000 competitors and spectators. Speaking before the event, organiser Gary Willingham said: “If you’ve never done it before, you can fly a kite, you can stand on a windsurf simulator on the beach or you can have taster sessions with the local Watersports Academy.” Organisers, he said, endeavored to look for an all-inclusive family spirit to form the foundation for the weekend.

With crowds slowly meandering through the various sporting camps on day one, the atmosphere quickly lifted in anticipation of performances from the biggest names in windsurfing, kitesurfing, wakeboarding, mountain biking and Thundercat racing (high performance motorised catamerans). Perfect conditions meant both glorious sunshine and wind equally smacked you across the face.

Mountain bike showboats Martyn Ashton (four-time British Biketrial Champion) and his young protégé Sam Pilgrim pulled out all the stops with displays of mind blowing speed, balance and agility that could have entertained the most slovenly anti-extreme crowd. Awe-inspiring no-hands backflips and all kinds of gravity-defying stunts had already left their young audience’s jaws in the sand by midday.

Next, it was left to the pro wakeboarders to inspire in their brand new wakeboard pool. What ensued was a feast of handle passes, jumps and flips galore. The words ‘twizzle’ and ‘swizzle’ were also used, much to the amusement of some.

By day two a more serious tone of competition had arrived with the surprisingly demanding, Stand-Up Paddle Boarding. The race round Brownsea Island was open to all, as the majority of awkward-looking competitors struggled to make an impact on the race and the position of the pros.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, class eventually shone through, with John Hibbard – rated 3rd in the world – taking top honours. Fellow pros Paul Simmons and Eliot Dudley shared the podium.

The kitesurfers soon showed they were not to be out done, as they took advantage of the early wind conditions with pros Denzil Williams, Jason McCaffrey and Andy Gratwick taking gold, silver and bronze respectively in the course-racing.

Soon things quickly began to really heat up, quite literally, as crowds were treated to some petrol-powered racing when Thundercat racing commenced off the south shore in fast and furious style. First place went to the favourites, boat number 33, Southampton Solent Uni, driven by Bligh Julius and Simon Butters. While the P750 first place was boat number 58, “Project 58” driven by James Sinclair and Murray McGregory.

Unfortunately as the engines stopped, so did the wind at the end of a thrilling day two, inevitably leaving the chances for any late afternoon windsurfing dashed. The evening’s imminent florescent-themed party however, managed to take the edge off any disappointment, as did the various quantities of Jaegermeister and beer consumed.

With a few neon yellow reminders from the night before, the third and final began. The wind had reached 12 knots and it was time for the windsurfers to have their fun. Taking part this year was the recently crowned Slalom World Champion, Antoine Albeau, although things didn’t go quite to plan for the big Frenchman. Under extraordinary circumstances, Albeau’s failure to find the finish flag resulted in the shock result of the weekend, as 16-year-old Sam Sills, the Youth Under 17 World Champion reached the chequered flag first.

And so, with the sporting star of the weekend turning out to be Stand Up Paddle boarding’s John Hibbard, who went onto to achieve a clean sweep of victories.

“Windfest has exceeded all our expectations this year," event director, Gary Willingham said. "We had 200 competitors from all over the world taking part and with sunshine we ensured a great spectator experience and the wind god smiled upon us maintaining our credibility as a wind related event.”  

For more information, visit www.animalwindfest.co.uk