The Tour was taking place in Castlegregory, on the northern side of the Dingle peninsula. It gets its name from Gregory Hoare, a local chieftain who lived during the 16^th century and built a castle where the village now stands. However, don’t bother going to look for the castle as you won’t find it: it was destroyed during a battle with Cromwell’s forces in 1649.

Instead, drive through the village and about two miles on you’ll find a peninsula flanked on its tip and sides by three kite-friendly beaches: easy access, plenty of room for launching, no hazards and a beach to fly from no matter what direction the wind is coming from.

The area is already a haven for windsurfers – the PWA held their first Irish Wave Grand Prix last year – and attracts many UK visitors.

Organized and hosted by David Nelson, Flexifoil’s authorized distributor in Ireland, this was the second kitesurf event in Ireland. In May, Ed’s Shedz, a local surfshop and Wipika dealer in Tramore, on the south-east coast, organised a Wipika-sponsored event.

Both events attracted much the same candidates, but Castlegregory saw a marked improvement in the overall standard and a growing consensus in the kites of choice: Flexifoil Blades, Wipika Air Blasts and Naish ARXs.

Flexifoil are no strangers to Ireland: we got our first glimpse of kitesurfing back in late 1998 when Flexifoil rider Jason Furness, and Andy Preston (Nexus designer) came over to demonstrate the sport at a windsurfing competition in Roundstone, off the north-west coast.

At the time, Blades didn’t exist, Naish was famous for windsurfing only and Wipika was an obscure kite product found on internet.

Furness flew a Skytiger 18 in Force 8 conditions. Sure, it looked impressive, but half-way across the bay one of his lines stretched, preventing him from turning the kite, and he ended up being dragged out of the bay’s shelter and into a virtual washing machine. An abandoned kite, and a rescue boat that nearly overturned during his retrieval, left many of the competing windsurfers sneering and sceptical about the sport.

Today, of course, it’s a different story. Furness is on the pro-circuit and about 50% of the Ireland’s kite-surfers are converts from hard-core windsurfing.

Last year, Castlegregory got its first real taste when the UK’s Mike Birt stayed on after a windsurfing event to provide a 3 day course in Jamie Knox’s Watersports Centre. Later again, Ben Hanbury, grounded after writing off his van on a local bridge, stayed on after the PWA Grand Prix to perform a similar obligation.

Despite being an average 5 hour drive from most of the country’s kitesurfing spots, Castlegregory has become the most popular weekend destination of choice for Ireland’s kitesurfers.

Attracting 37 competitors, the Tour drew its entrants from all the key kitesurfing spots in Ireland: Rush, Skerries, Dollymount and Tramore.

From the start, it was clear the real spectacle was going to come from Flexifoil’s South African contender – Dave Callahan and Ireland’s Jeff Williams and Jordan Allen.

While most of the other Irish contenders are content with their amateur status, both Williams and Allen aspire to reach the professional circuit. Williams is closer to his goal, having spent 8 weeks in Cabarete acquiring his basic skills. It helped him into first place in the Tramore event and gained him an entry on the Kiteboad Pro tour in Paros. Recently, he’s secured some sponsorship seed money from a local bank to help him with his travel expenses. Allen, at 18, a relative newcomer to the sport, is making serious progress but, lacking funding, is in need of a sponsor if he is to get anywhere.

Dave Callahan, from South Africa, has been spending a bit of time in Ireland working in a local windsurf shop and doing a bit to promote the sport. Better known for being one of the designers behind the Flexifoil Blade’s depower system — he brought a much needed outside edge to the competition.

Two disappointing absences were Gary Duff and local Italian Adriano Fariselli — each with the potential to challenge Williams’ position. However, Fariselli, a veteran who’s spent time as a kitesurf instructor in Cabarete, was recovering from a broken leg but had agreed to act as judge for the event. Duff, ranked 2^nd in the Tramore event, had work commitments and was still waiting delivery of a new F1 TT board to replace one he had lost two weeks earlier during a practice session. (Ironically, the board was handed in during the competition having been found by a local surfer.)

About 10 riders had arrived at the start of the week to get some practice in but found themselves having to sit it out until Thursday for conditions to change.

And change they did. From Iberian temperatures to typical Irish weather: a Force 5 south-westerly that blew side-shore across Brandon bay giving the riders about 7 continuous hours of riding and plenty of time to get comfortable with the waves.

Later that evening, everyone retreated to Spillane’s Pub, the area’s most popular eating spot, particularly renowned for its fillet steaks and its tolerance of kite and windsurfer antics (it’s not unknown for the carrot cake to get swiped out of fridge at closing time!).

Friday was more of a disappointment and by late afternoon most were trying their hand at surfing and body-boarding amid local excitement when a visiting shoal of dolphins came in to see to check out the bay.

Much to everyone’s relief, Saturday woke up to a freshening south-west breeze sweeping down from Brandon mountain. Although still too light for competition, many of the competitors used the opportunity to get some practice runs in.

Meanwhile, Dave Callahan showed the sort of control you can get with a depowered Blade, entertaining the waiting crowd with some dune jumping, trusting his 9m Blade to deposit him gently down on the beach, 40 feet below. (Isn’t there something in the Flexifoil brochure about these things not being suitable for paragliding?!)

With the wind clearly getting stronger, and the arrival of the Red Bull music-crew to create a louder buzz, it was decided to aim for a 1pm start.

With 6 heats initially, the organisers got the mix of riding ability just right for each heat, ensuring the gathering crowd were treated to jumps and tricks in all heats. Favouring participation more than elimination, it virtually meant that if you had any reasonable jumping ability you stood a good chance of getting into the second heat.

The three favourites didn’t disappoint and each had a distinctive style: Callahan looking like a yoga master as he performed high jumps and inverted twists, Williams concentrating on lower jumps but with wider range of tricks, and Allen with a smooth, stylized riding style.

The shifting wind conditions caught some of the beginners by surprise, many being overpowered and dragged downwind, leaving room for the more experienced improvers. Oisin Ryan, favouring a Naish directional and a 6.4 Blade, Alan Early on an O’Shea TT and Air Blast 11.8, and Kenny Carthy on a Brunotti TT and Naish Arx 15.5 had each polished their simple jumps in the past few weeks and found themselves in the semi-finals.

There was a disappointing performance from local Wipika dealer and rider, Graham Kelliher. Clearly comfortable holding down an Air Blast 16.4, Kelliher is developing reputation for his aggressive, powered-up jumps but a leg injury (not kite-related) had kept him off the water for 5 weeks, clearly affecting his ability to land cleanly.

One of the surprise improvers was Pearse Williams, a rider who, like most others, had been struggling in the Tramore event. Although he didn’t make it into the semi-finals, his jumping and riding ability were all the more remarkable for the fact that he can’t swim!

Saturday night saw a tired, unusually sedate crowd gather in Ned Natterjacks pub back in the main village. Many were paying the price, not so much for a tough day on the water, but for the two or three nights hard partying in the lead up to the competition. After all, when there’s no wind in Ireland what else are supposed to do?

The crew responsible for the kitetv.com web site had taped the event and many were content to just watch themselves on the pub screen.

Sunday morning brought rain and light winds and for as while it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. There were few spectators, most having headed home for the start of the school season.

Undaunted and buoyed up more by wishful thinking than a decent forecast, the competitors decorated the beach with their kites, hoping to attract the wind’s attention.

It paid off, and by 1pm a freshening onshore wind blowing in from Brandon showed promise. Stabilising at about 12 knots, and onshore, it wasn’t the greatest and the semi-final between the last six contestants was a lack-lustre affair with few surprises.

A torrential downpour delayed the final heat between the favourites but was soon followed by a 15 knot wind. However, the competitors agreed to delay the heat to give Dave Callahan time to dry out his rain-drenched Blade which was resolutely refusing to budge from the ground.

Flexing between 12 and 15 knots, and onshore, the heat kicked off when it became clear the wind wasn’t going to get any stronger.

With only one kite in his quiver, a Wipika 8.4 Air Blast, Jordan Allen was at a clear disadvantage, and was forced into long reaches to try and break out beyond the waves.

Having broken his Brunotti TT in an earlier heat, and clearly uncomfortable on a borrowed custom TT board, his jumps lacked the style and precision of earlier heats. Forced to jump close to shore, he seemed resigned to an third position, and when his custom board snapped in the final stages of the heat, there was no doubt where he stood!

Meanwhile the real joust was taking place between Callahan and Williams. With Callahan favouring the port tack to launch his manoeuvers, and Williams favouring the starboard tack, they were like two aerial knights in combat, using their speed as on-ramps to big air.

At first it looked like Callahan was going to take the lead. Well powered on his 9m Blade, and comfortable with his custom board, he was gaining height over Williams, performing inverted twists and spins and landing neatly on the waves.

But what Williams lacked in height, he made up for with a greater repertoire of tricks, and variety was what the judges were looking for.

Favouring his Naish 13.5 Arx and Olry TT 178, Williams concentrated on back spins, rail grabs, removing and returning his foot mid-flight and a couple of deadman maneuvers, taking the lead with an extra ten points. And, while his moves may lack the spectacle and smoothness of the world’s top riders, it’s clearly the highest standard in Ireland so far.

Overall it was a well organised event. A rescue boat provided by the local dive and accommodation centre, WaterWorld, provided a comfort zone but was never needed; the centre also took the trouble to talk with the local pony trekking companies to ensure they stayed off the beach for the day.

If there was one quibble, it was the lack of a P.A. system which the organisers could have used to co-ordinate activity on the water a little better. A few kitesurfers, although not competing, felt compelled to surf within competition zone, despite several miles of beach to other side. An event commentator would have also helped contribute to the atmosphere and given the crowd a greater appreciation for what they were seeing.

The area pretty much closes down for the Winter, reopening in April. If you’re travelling to Castlegregory then the top picks are:

Jamie Knox Watersports - Primarily a windsurfing centre and shop with a good B&B facilities:

Tel: +353-66-7139411

Fax: +353-66-7139011

Website: jamieknox.com

Waterworld – Primarily a dive centre with B&B facilities but considering a possible move into kitesurfing:

Tel: + 353 66 7139292

Fax: + 353 66 7139557

Email: dive@iol.ie

Kellihers — a B&B that has the advantage being in the village, close to all the pubs:

Tel: 066-7139295

The Celtic Wave – a local surf store in the main village, renting out boards and bikes.

Tourist Information: Dingle Tourist Office,

Tel: + 353 (0) 66-9151188