Portsmouth Kite Festival

This weekend is the Portsmouth Kite Festival, which featured some crazy kites and even crazier kite flying. We made it down for the afternoon and, as well as The Flying Fish, saw quite a few teams flying routines, including a couple of nine kite displays. (The photo below features French team, Cerfs-Volants Folies.)

Highlight of the day had to be the last set, however, which consisted of various quad line kite displays. “Revolution” four-line kites can do ridiculous things in practiced hands, including flying in basically any direction and spinning on the spot. The Japanese pair, Team Karasu, did a couple of very entertaining displays (one to a Captain Scarlet/Thunderbirds medley). The Decorators were also really impressive, with their “Come Together” routine.

Craziest of all, however, was the final 24 kite Mega Fly (below). I’m still not really sure how they managed to keep so many kites up in the air at the same time. Having said that, Carl Wright (I think) from Team Spectrum flying three kites in formation by himself might have been even more impressive!

(There are a few more photos on Google Plus if you want to see some more. You can also read Flying Fish's take on the festival.)

Impressed with Cafe2u Coffee at the Southampton Kite Festival

I thought I should balance out my last post giving out about coffee on the Jonathan Swift by endorsing some surprisingly good coffee on the go. Last Saturday was the Southampton Kite Festival. Our friends, the Flying Fish Kiting Team, were performing so we went down to lend some support. (And a good performance it was too! Sadly, the weather was not quite so good, so no pictures this year.)

As well as the kite skills of Flying Fish (and their four-man team, L-Katz,) one of the impressive highlights of the day was the coffee from the Cafe2u mobile coffee van that was there. (Last year's culinary stand-out, Biggles Donuts, were not there, sadly.) Proper, freshly made coffee, and not ridiculously overpriced. (I also like the smiling running coffee bean on their logo!)

Well done, Flying Fish and L-Katz!

Last weekend was the Southampton Kite Festival and the Flying Fish Kite team were performing their first public routine. I'm always a bit nervous when I go to see friends perform because, well, I'm not very good at lying and so I worry about how I will respond if they turn out to not be very good and I'm asked for my opinion. On top of that, I know that the weather of late has been pretty atrocious and so they probably have not had the chance to practice as much as they would have liked. On top of that the conditions on Sunday were a bit windy (although better than Saturday) and one of the pairs performing earlier in the day (the pairs team ranked 10th in the world, no less) had to restart their routine after one of their lines snapped in the wind!

Happily, all such worries were totally unnecessary and the Flying Fish were really good. For a pair that have only been formation flying for about a year, they were amazingly well synchronised and, given that this was their first public performance (including having friends watching), they showed no nerves at all. The routine was well structured and fun to watch.

There was a slight hiccup at one point when the kites got a little too close and experienced a tangle but, to be honest, I was really glad it happened because it meant that they started their routine again and we got to watch the first half of it for a second time. And they nailed it.

The Flying Fish also returned to field a bit later in the day as part of their other team, the L-Katz. This time, it was a four kite display. The first time I saw a four kite display, I think my jaw may have literally dropped. It's not just what the kites are doing, although that is impressive enough: it's a bit like watching the red arrows and as the kites swoop after and around each, performing fly-bys etc., you sometimes almost forget that there are people on the ground controlling them. The red arrows, though, are not attached to ground with strings. As well as the aerial ballet, making sure that the kites themselves do what they are supposed to in the air, there is a second ballet going on down below, with the flyers moving forwards, back and around each other to make sure that the kites do not get entangled in the wrong way. (The lines are so silky that they can actually control the kites well even when the lines have crossed each other a few times but it can still limit the range of motion and enforce some maneuvers that "unwrap" the kites.)

Anyway, just as with the Flying Fish pairs effort, the L-Katz turned out a great routine, especially when you consider it was their first public performance as a team too. Well done, guys (and gal)! You can read their take on the event here - if nothing else, it's worth a visit for a video of some crazy 11 kite action near the end of the day. (We missed that, unfortunately.) I also have a few more pictures at my Picasa Album of the event.

The rest of the Kite Festival was also a success, I think. It was raising money for the Air Ambulance and we got a little visit from their helicopter during the Flying Fish routine. There was the usual array of funky (and sometimes disturbing) kites and some great demonstration flying. The stunt kite demo was particularly impressive this year. We also got to see the British national champion team at work, which was extremely impressive: the precision and synchronisation of these guys is unbelievable.

Last, but not least, I have to mention Biggles Do'nut van. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid: it's hard to beat freshly cooked donuts, still warm and coated in cinnamon sugar. Mmmm.

Let's go fly a kite...

...or two. In formation!

I've already posted on flying squid and flying squirrel( suit)s, now it's the turn of Flying Fish! This picture is my ArtStudio homage to The Flying Fish Kiting Team, who joined the Blogosphere this week. Unlike their biological namesakes, however, these guys really do fly. The kites do, at least. (Unless things go a bit wrong in high wind, the humans stay firmly on the ground.)

I've dabbled a little in flying kites - and no doubt will again when the sun decides to grace our fair isle with its presence again - but I'm at the level where I consider it a success if I don't crash. Getting one kite to do roughly what you want is not too hard if the conditions are right. Getting it to do exactly what you want is something more of a challenge. Doing it to music, synchronised and in formation with a partner... that's not easy. It looks really good, though: there's something very relaxing about watching a pair of kites swooping around after - and sometimes at - each other.

The Flying Fish are currently practicing for their first public routine at the 16th Southampton Kite Festival next week, so if you're in the area, come along and give them some support. The festival is always fun (if the weather behaves) and features some crazy kites - as well as rather fine donut van. This year, it's raising funds for the Air Ambulance Service, do that's another good reason to go if you can.