Unfortunately we cannot use the Eternit Sports and Social club ground until we have sorted out our Club Affiliation to the BPKA and the club insurance that comes with it. This change of use has been forced upon the Sports club by their Insurers. Sorry !

More info soon

The Club has secured the use of the field being used as the car park for the Cereals 2007 show at Wendy from Friday 15th June until the farmer ploughs it up some time afterward.

The rules of use for this field are as follows :-

1. All users must have 3rd party liability insurance...

2. Be aware of Horses, the area around the field is used by quite a few horses and riders we were informed by the land owner, if you see or hear a horse them please raise your kite above yourself if it is already in the air or keep it on the ground if it isn't. The main thing is to keep it as still as possible until after the horse has passed.

3. Please be courteous to anyone else you should meet whilst at the field as this may affect our relationship with the land owner and subsequently loose us the use of the field now and in the future.

4. Please do not allow your kites to over fly the road. This road may be small but does have quite a bit of traffic using it as a cut through for some of the villages.. Also try not to jump buggies etc too close to the road (what ever the wind direction) as we know this can (unproven) have a disastrous effect on some car drivers passing by.....

Here is a link to the location of the field.

Google maps (the field that is being ploughed in the picture)            

Have fun

We've decided to resurrect the "Club Night on the Heath" from a few years ago....again. We thought that at least until the end of the summer or when the nights start drawing in making evening flying impossible, that we would have a regular night to meet up on the Heath each week. At the moment it's a Thursday but this may change as the footballers seem to have practice that night on "our" football pitch. One of the main ideas behind this was so that we could hopefully attract new members and always have a presence on a specific day each week to meet them. Hopefully we'll have the flags on show each week and maybe even a Marquee to provide some shade. Lets hope we get a large turn out of Club members each week.

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It's that time of the year again when most of Britain's Kite Traction fanatics descend upon the little Hampshire village of Middle Wallop for Europe's biggest kite festival.

Check out all the details >>Here<<

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Well we managed to find our way there again this year, only 15 of us though. Loads of fun was had by all with newest member Leigh coming up with a new and novel way of filming the traction action...

There will be a full write up of the event very soon by Timmer who has also submitted it and some pictures to the Power Kite Magazine.

The preparations for this years first trip to France (our Annual 4 day pilgrimage to the best beaches less than 4 hours away) are well under way. It looks as though we'll have the biggest turn out ever for this trip with at least 16 people going and possibly an extra 4 if the guys from the Herts Flyers decide to join us.. For those of you that ARE on the list remember that you should have paid your deposit by now to Timmer and that the rest of the money is due by the middle of March. (Any probs with this please talk to myself (Skydude) or Timmer as soon as possible.)

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Just five of the RPK took part in the annual weekend trip to Hunstanton this year with the usual stay over in the Sunningdale B+B. Unfortunately none of us had packed any wind and so we had to make do with the small amount that was drifting along the beach each day. Ress turned up on the Sunday (also without wind) as did ADZ's brother Leigh and a few mates. The main Highlights of Sunday were the Coastguard Hovercraft in the morning and Me leaving my lights on my van during the day and having a flat battery when I came to go home in the afternoon. ADZ did manage to do a little buggying on both days and even found enough wind to get all three wheels of his buggy in the air once or twice. Lets hope that next years trip has some more wind...

Well Xmas has come and gone and nothing much has been happening for the last few months, the wind has been going crazy lately and when it's not, it's either raining torrents or the ground is like a swamp.

At the moment we are planning two club trips to our favourite beaches, the first is to Hunstanton in early February and then the annual pilgrimage to Fort Mahon, France later in April.

Another thing that has been going on for some time now is finalising the paperwork so that the Club can affiliate to the BPKA (British Power Kitesports Association) which looks like being completed very very soon.

The last bit of news for a while is that Whatever now has her own Weather Website HERE, the wind measurements are not very accurate at the moment but should get better when Greengiant moves the anemometer from the side of the garden shed and re-positions it above the house roof line...lol

Well I don't think this event could have gone any better, we arrived at the Heathsports football pitch nice and early which gave us time to erect a couple of flag poles and hide our buggies, boards and kites under a large tarpaulin. We also hid a number of single line kites under another tarpaulin nearer to where we would greet the children when they arrived. We had loads of fun watching the kids run in every direction pulling these single liners into the air and had surprisingly fewer tangles than I had imagined we'd have.. lol. Then we got the kids to sit safely in one corner of the field when we went to get our "toys" out, to show them the real kites.. After this we let them sit in the buggies and stand on the boards whilst we towed them around with our training rigs. We ended the session with a presentation of rucksacks from Flexifoil, filled with stuff bags from the Turbulence guys and noisy gifts from the Beautiful Balloon shop in town. The children all shouted out a great big "Thank you" to everyone and climbed aboard their two minibuses with big smiles on their faces.. Timmer has also written an account of the day which has been sent to all the local Newspapers and Magazines which can be found >>HERE<< with all the days pictures >>HERE<< and video >>HERE<<

The RPK and Friends headed off the Les Hemmes again to meet up with loads of other Kiters from the Essex Powerkiters, Herts Flyers and SEKA. The day started at around 4.00am for most of us so that we could all meet up at Tesco's in Royston before heading off down the M11 on the way to the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. Everything was going to plan until we met delays at the Tunnel due to an "earlier incident" and then disaster as it transpired that Skydude had booked the Van carrying all the Buggies and Boards as-well as 3 people on a train from Calais to Folkestone instead of the other way around.. So 10 people and most of the kit (minus the Buggies) arrived late in France and headed for the beach, the others in the van would follow a few hours later.

When we got to the beach we found most of the other guys seemed to have been held up by the Tunnel incident as well but did all have their buggies .. lol

There were around 80 to 100 kiters set up on the beach which still left plenty of room but only half the wind that was forecast actually turned up so everyone had lots of time to get over the early start to the day..

Everyone seemed to have fun and the 4 LH Virgins with us were all impressed by the size of the beach and said that they'd all like to go back...

Here is a link to the .pdf file that Timmer wrote and has sent to all the local publications around Royston about the clubs exploits at this years Kite Festival. >>LINK<<

You may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file  

Just thought I'd update you with few websites I've found that have pictures and some even a write-up about the Royston Kite Festival.

http://www.flexifoil.com/company/newsitem.php?article_id=102123

http://www.roystonrotary.org.uk/

http://www.teamspectrum.org.uk/

http://www.dark-star.org.uk/

You may have to dig slightly to find the articles and pics.. but it is worth it as we are in there.. lol

Yep it's that time of the year again, the Royston Kite festival is almost upon us and the RPK will be manning a stall as usual selling raffle tickets in aid of the Rotary Club of Royston's chosen charity "The Alzheimer's Society" but this year we will also be donating half the money to the "East Anglian Air Ambulance". We have a great many prizes to be won again this year with the biggest prize being a 5m Ozone Riot kite with lines and handles, we will of course be offering this in a separate raffle only for experienced Kiters. Other prizes consist of a Flexi Super10, a Flexi Buzz and safety gear, we are still waiting for a few other prizes to arrive and will list them when they do...

A VERY BIG THANKS TO ALL THE SHOPS AND MANUFACTURERS THAT HAVE DONATED THESE PRIZES, WITHOUT YOU, WE COULDN'T DO THIS THIS FOR THESE CHARITIES. THANKS AGAIN !!

the Festival will be on the Heath just to the west of Royston (you wont be able to miss it, it'll be the grassy place with all the kites...see the maps on the "How to find us" page of the website). It costs nothing to get in (although the organisers do like you to buy one or more of their raffle tickets) and is due to start at 10:30 and run until approx 16:30, but there will be flying going on much later if the wind and weather allow.

The RPK should also be making an appearance in the arena at around 13:00 showing off our Kiting toys.

We hope to see you there, any questions please contact me  HERE and I'll do my best to answer them.

Due to prior arrangements this years Summer Solstice Fly-in will be held a day early on the 20th NOT the 21st of June.. We are hoping to get as many kites in the air at the same time as possible and maybe get some pictures or video to go along with it.... The venue for this event will be the flying site at Eternit if the weather is good or the Heath if it isn't... More info about the fly-in can be found on the forum HERE.

Well, the afternoon started with Uncle and I (Skydude) trying to guess how long the guy cutting the grass was going to take to finish the whole field. He eventually left (presumably for his tea) only to return later to finish the job. When we first arrived the wind did not seem very strong but by the time Grumpy and Greengiant turned up we were realising that the 9.5 Sabre and my 7.3 Frenzy were going to be a big handful as you'll no doubt see in a clip from Uncles Video camera soon.. Slowly the rest of the gang arrived and new guy Chunky Monkey also appeared with his new Buggy and Kites. Small kites were now the order of the day with nothing bigger than a 3.3m Blade being used.. Lots of fun was had by everyone well into the evening as can be seen in some of the photos HERE.

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29/05/06

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23/04/06

Yep that right, 12 of us took three vehicles across to France again. we spent most of the first day on the beach at Les Hemmes, then made a quick visit to the Cite d'Europe for last minute supplies (BEER!!) and then made a dash down the A16 to Fort Mahon. The next two days were spent on the local beach where we all had loads of fun with a great deal of Boarding, Buggying and even some Kite Surfing going on. The last day was spent repacking the Vans fully and heading up the coast again, stopping at Le Torquet and Hardelot before actually doing some Kiting in the drizzle at Les Hemmes again. Then it was back on the Tunnel Shuttle and home (for most of us) by 22:00. Will we be doing it again next next year ?  ............................ Definitely.. lol                                    Check the Gallery for the pics and vids...

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Well.... we all went away again to Hunstanton and were joined by many friends from around the various Counties in East Anglia and the Midlands. Unfortunately the 20mph winds we had been promised didn't arrive and what wind there was came from the land so it was a little bumpy but mostly just "on and off". On the Saturday just about everyone either went home or back to the B+B with wet kites, except the Venom boys..!!!  The Sunday started earlier as most of us were already there and we were joined by a few other RPK'ers including Uncle who had decided "not to fly, just to shoot", you can see his efforts here. The main difference between the two days was the building of "Stuey's Hump" on the Sunday, a smallish ramp about 1.5m long x 1m wide x 0.7m high. This was the main focus of attention for the boarders in the afternoon and results of the fun can be seen in Uncles Video here.

ADZ, Ress, Skydude, TimA and Uncle are all taking a St Johns Ambulance Brigade Emergency First Aid Training course in Bedford today. When finished this will mean that the 4 of them that have also completed the PKSF Instructor courses will only be in need of the extra insurance before they can start rolling out training to the general public.

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Sparkie (Mark) from Cambridge put me onto this website of a guy who'd been taking a load of photo's at the Kite Festival on Sunday. I must say that these photo's are really good although if he'd got a little closer they may have been better, but as he doesn't know any of the riders, I guess he didn't want to take the chance of getting run over.. LOL

Be warned there are loads of photo's of the Festival on this site

Today Perry was officially told that she is "nearly fixed and can start to kite again". After very nearly 8 months suffering with a bad shoulder injury and recovering from the resultant surgery Perry can at last start playing with the toy that's been in the cardboard box since Middle Wallop...

Once again the RPK came along to support the local Rotary club to the tune of £286

Today Greengiant and Whatever met up with Stueyboy and Perry at the Dunstable Kite Festival. This year Greengiant escaped injury free....

Today whilst playing at Coldhams Common in Cambridge Skydude managed to eject himself, with the aid of his trusty 4m Firebee, skyward about 6 -8 feet horizontally , but was unable to obtain Escape Velocity and came crashing back down to Earth.

He sustained a dislocated right shoulder and various bruises on his right side. He was kept in hospital over night as he had to have a general anaesthetic to relocate the bits and pieces of his battered body.

He wishes to thank Greengiant who was with him and called for the Ambulance and looked after his kites, buggies and bought his car home for him after staying in Hospital to make sure he was OK, also thanks to Whatever for visiting straight away that evening.

On a side note, Skydudes doppelganger, Uncle, also hurt his right Shoulder this evening whilst playing football..

Today 10 of the RPK and 5 of the HHF took advantage of cheap Channel Tunnel tickets, good weather to visit Les Hemmes just outside Calais. The beach is well over a mile from the Dunes to the water when the tide is out and several miles long. The weather was great with 15+mph winds and bright sunshine all day. Everybody had a fantastic time and the only injuries were sustained by Noels from the HHF who left France with some very bad bruises and a swollen ankle after a rather nasty buggy collision.

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Flexi Wallop One (possibly the only one this year) took place over this weekend. The Event started as usual at around 10:00 in the morning when Uncle and Skydude started packing the van with all the essentials to make this another Wallop to remember. They were on the road by lunchtime and picking Mystyc up on route. They all arrived nice and early, as was the plan, as Uncle was one of the gate Marshall's which gave the rest of us the opportunity to pitch the tents before the rest of the weekends campers arrived. StueyBoy and the poorly Perry also arrived early for the same reason which allowed us to set up a small "village around the clubs 3m X 9m marquee. We were later joined (when the gates opened) by the rest of the travelling RPK, the Milton Keynes crew and Diggy and Morbius from Norfolk.

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THE RPK have decided to Conquer France over this long weekend.

More details are available HERE

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Well the RPK went to Hunstanton for the weekend, we were greeted with very light winds on the Saturday and 20+ mph winds on the Sunday. These big winds did cause a few problems for one or two of the gang with broken lines and minor OBE's but mainly we all stayed in one piece and enjoyed the very cold conditions (It was snowing later on the Sunday evening).

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Today the Nice Flexifoil people came to Coldhams Common in Cambridge to show off some of their wares.. Skydude and Uncle decided to include this in their trip to the Norfolk coast which was due to last for a few days. StueyBoy and TimA also came along to Coldhams to enjoy the Fun, TimA left that evening with the scars to prove it..

The next day the intrepid travelling Kiters had lots of fun at Sea Palling and Hemsby even though the wind was rather low and from the North which meant a lot of traversing the narrow'ish beaches. The duo who also had with them the renowned kite dog Oscar, returned home the next day due mainly to the rain that had set in to Norfolk the previous night.

RPK'ers  (Skydude, Uncle, TimA and Kite Widow) invaded Brancaster on the North Norfolk coast on this day, they left shortly afterward to go to Wells-next-the-sea and get some chips, as there was no wind and a light drizzle of rain falling..

Tonight at around 18:00 quite a few members of the RPK gathered together on the Heath to take part in a World Wide Charity event to get a record amount of kites in the air at 18:30 for at least 30 seconds. We managed to get 11 kites in the air in extremely high and gusty winds. Our event was viewed by two independent witnesses and we also took some pictures with most of the kites in the shot..

Skydude, Greengiant, TimA and StueyBoy were at Coldhams Common in Cambridge to give an interview to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on the rapidly growing sport of POWERKITING.!!!

Skydude appeared in the Royston Crow Newspaper, following the recent Royston Kite Festival.

Canker and Mystyc became "Stars of the Silver Screen"....well they actually appeared briefly on a News report on Anglia Television that was covering today's  Royston Kite Festival. They do now have the dubious honour of being the first of the RPK crew to bring Powerkiting to the masses through the medium of television....