Event report - White Air Extreme Sports Festival 2008

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Day three Sunday 21st Sept 2008

White Air 08 Extreme Sports Festival Day Three - Sunday 21st September It's official, the White Air 08 Saturday Night Party was one of the best so far with headliners The Pigeon Detectives kicking off another rocking night as over 3,000 revellers enjoyed dancing and singing with a chilled Corona in the late summer sun. Hot on their heels Rob da Bank hit the decks at the Party In The Marquee just after 10pm, moving easily between old school rave, drum and bass and funk keeping the crowd buzzing for his entire set. Island boy Brett Lawrence held the great atmosphere finishing the night with his house and electro set. First thing this morning taking advantage of brisk Easterly winds and clear skies the kitesurfing boys were out in force enjoying an empty sea and gentle swell. A morning low tide revealed plenty of beach for most of the day giving everyone the chance to 'Have A Go' at surfing, land yachting, land surfing and paddle boarding, while the jet ski's demonstrated their extreme moves and wakeboarders later got a tow to ride waves right in front of the main White Air 08 site.

Heavy seas and wind later in the morning prevented the Thundercats from completing their planned long distance race with an alternative course taking place off the back of the Island and won by James Sinclair and Murray McGregor in Chocky Clothing for the P740S class and Ronnie and Roland Sjogren in Mr Dynamite in the P750 class. The White Air European Championship titles were taken by James Sinclair and Murray McGregor in Chocky Clothing for the P750S class and Roland and Ronnie Sjogren in Mr Dynamite for the P750 class. During the day a gentle swell allowed the Paddle Boarding events to complete with overall winners Bobbie Cooper, Juniors and Claire Blacklock, Womens of the British Stand Up Paddle Surf Association Round 3, sponsored by Wight Water and Tiki, maintaining their success from yesterday. Taking the title for the Men was Neal Gent in first, closely followed by John Hibbard and Scott Gardner in second and third. A final day of receding winds through the afternoon only allowed the Youth and Junior Windsurfing events to take place, leaving the pro windsurfers time to play off the water during the weekend. Sponsored by Tushingham Sails and Starboard the Youth winner of the Junior Freestyle Windsurfing was Ben Harwood with Oscar Carmicheal winning the title of 1st Non Sponsored Junior Freestyler, taking with him one years sponsorship with Tushingham and Starboard plus various other goodies. After a massive turnout every day of the event so far, with over 10,000 visitors throughout the weekend, clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine encouraged another big crowd with up to 30,000 spectators given the chance to watch a second stunning display from the RAF Red Arrows as they reached speeds of 400mph along the entire South East coast of the Island. Over the weekend visitors have been treated not only to spectacular displays by the RAF Red Arrows and Falcons Parachute Display Team, but also had the chance to meet the men and women involved, much to the delight of fans young and old. Over the three days of the 12th White Air 08 Extreme Sports Festival here on the beautiful Isle of Wight a whopping 2,500 people experienced a 'Have A Go' taster sessions.

Maintaining its international flavour and appeal many competitors traveled from around the globe and all over the UK to attend and enjoy the fun, games and very special party atmosphere. A massive thanks goes out to all of our partner sponsors and especially the RAF, Wightlink, Isle of Wight Council, Corona, Monster and Trampa, Sydenhams, ITS, and to everyone who joined us this year at White Air 08.

Day Two White Air Sat 20th

White Air 08 Extreme Sports Festival Day Two - Saturday 20th September Exploding from the sky the RAF Red Arrows opened the second day of White Air 08 with their world class aerobatic display off Yaverland and Sandown beach. Crowds had arrived early to revel in a second day of glorious sunshine and were rewarded with a high octane adrenaline spectacular on land, sea and air during the morning. Following the Red Arrows in the air the RNLI All Weather lifeboat and helicopter displayed a daring stretcher lift, and were joined by jet ski demo's and paddle boarders on the water and 'Have A Go' land yachting on the beach. First events of the day included the Thundercat finals of the European Championship for both the Blueprint and Standard P750s classes for Circuit Racing. Maintaining their lead from all 4 heats second cousins Roland and Ronnie Sjogren in Mr Dynamite stormed in, taking first place in the P750s class in their first year of racing together. In choppier conditions with stronger winds and swell James Sinclair and Murray McGregor in Chick Clothing took first place in the Blueprint P750 after two firsts in the third and fourth heat. As the wind and swell picked up during the afternoon the Paddleboard distance races, part of the first National Series being held outside of Hawaii, saw John Hibbard take first with Neal Gent taking a close second just beating Mark Slater in third. Claire Blacklock took the ladies race and Bobbie Cooper won the Juniors over the three mile course. To take advantage of the high tide, even though the waves were too inconsistent for the National BSUPA Surfing Series, an 'Expression' session was held for each class. Bobbie and Claire both won their classes again with some nice long rides given the conditions. For the men John Hibbard again took first with some stylish turns, narrowly beating Scott Gardner into second place. Further along the beach the Junior and Youth Windsurfing 'Expression' events, commentated and judged by pro-trio Andy Bubble, Ollie Scott and Colin Dixon, were won by Oscar Carmicheal, sailing for Naish, and Ben Harwood, sailing for Neil Pryde. An 8-10 knot Easterly breeze picked up in the afternoon with kitesurfers Chris Burke, Neal Gent and David Hastilow taking to the water in the late afternoon sun. Entertaining the vast crowd once again amateurs and pro's of all ages took to the ramps in the freestyle park with demo's from Marco Daehler and Arno VDV leading the pack and vying for the loudest cheers from the audience with their moves.

At the MC Australia's Ryan Slater and Andy Potter delighted everyone with their commentary until Ryan couldn't stand by any longer and took to his board to join in the fun. In the back field overlooking the venue and next to the RAF landing site the Red Arrows came in person to meet and greet on the ground, much to the delight of young and old. Once again the Trampa Mountain Boarding 'Have A Go' sessions remained in constant demand all day giving newcomers to the sport a great taster session. As predicted the sun brought out the crowds with the RAF boys working from dawn to dusk on the Climbing Wall, one of the most popular free events of the day. Gearing up for the evening the site remains packed with people chilling out and making the most of some later summer sun in anticipation of a rocking night of VIP parties, live entertainment and music from the Pigeon Detectives and Rob da Bank.

Day One Friday 19th Sept

White Air 08 Extreme Sports Festival Day One - Friday 19th September The 12th Annual White Air Extreme Sports Event opened with a spectacular 9,000 ft skydive and parachute display descent from the RAF Falcons, one of the world's leading display teams. The 7 man team swept down onto the beach out of clear blue skies and sunshine leaving a trail of red and blue behind them. The promise of more hot and sunny weather over the weekend means Wight Air 08 expects to see over 10,000 people visit the event to watch, 'Have A Go' and enjoy three days of live music including headliners The Pigeon Detectives who will attract up to 2,000 more people on Saturday night. Light Easterly winds and a small swell provided near perfect sea conditions for the first 4 heats of the European Thundercat Championships, held for the first time in the UK, and also meant that competitors and visitors could enjoy a calm crossing with Wightlink Ferries. After a tricky 'yellow flag' first heat, the remainder of the heats were close as competitors took advantage of the good conditions to hit top speeds. White Air 08 still maintains its international status again attracting sportsmen and women from around the globe to compete. This year you can share the ramps with Arno VDV from Belgium and Ryan Slater from Australia plus Joel Treliving, UK under 14's UK, World and European Champion, all riding for Trampa, and Marco Daehler of Switzerland (MSB Europe) reigning champion who took the European cup last year at White Air 07 with a tremendous double back flip. Look out for some radical moves and fierce competition in Mountain Boarding over the weekend from the guys who have all been warming up today. With stronger winds forecast for the next two days competitors arriving for the Headfirst Kite Jam include David Hastilow riding for Cabrinha and competing on the Isle of Wight for the first time, Murray Smith riding for North joined by Craig Smith riding for Flexifoil and Islander Chris Burke of Headfirst riding for Liquid Force. Returning once more to White Air this year are the Parkour boys who are running 'Have A Go' workshops throughout the weekend with a bigger and better set up and are part of the purpose built freestyle park, designed by Andi Potter and his team for the 6th year running and open to all. Other 'Have A Go' events giving the crowds a shot of adrenaline are the hugely popular RAF Climbing Wall and EA Games.

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For the less adventurous, spectator events include the amazing FMX 'Ball of Steel' stunt team, travelling all the way from Texas with Monster Energy Drink, whose Honda mini-bikes ride inside a 14ft steel globe and demonstrate amazing freestyle ramp to ramp jumps. With two days of great weather ahead predicted, a top class line up of extreme events, even more 'Have A Go' sports to try and a fantastic live music line up this years event promises to satisfy even the most hardy thrill seeker.