JK gets some practice in…

World record holder to come to Battle for the Bay
May 30-31, 2009, Dublin

This June bank holiday sees the 3rd annual Battle for the Bay windfestival get under way, featuring the very best of Irish and international windsurfers and kitesurfers on Dollymount Strand in Dublin.

The festival will feature freestyle competitions and course racing and is a fantastic opportunity for the people of Dublin to see what kitesurfers get up to on their beach when the wind blows. This year’s festival will feature the presence of Alex Caizergues the fastest man across the water and triple world champion and Irish windsurfing speed champion John Kenny.

Kitesurfing is one of the fastest growing if not the fastest growing watersport in the world and Dollymount is home to the biggest community of kitesurfers in Ireland. Last year’s festival was a huge success and provided some great entertainment to visitors to Dollymount Strand between freestyle demonstrations and the comparatively new sport of kitesurf racing.

This year’s festival promises to be even bigger featuring action to suit everyone from young to old. The competitive schedule includes the Irish Kitesurfing Championship freestyle competitions which should see national champion Eamon Armstrong battle for the right to retain his title against young guns Sean Murphy and Ross Harte. This year will see the 2008 ladies’ champion, Dominika Kupciw fight to defend her title against Aleks Bondareva, the 2007 ladies champion after last year’s closely fought battles between the pair. There are also a number of speed races planned and if last year is anything to go by, these should provide much entertainment both on and off the water.

A star attraction this year will be a speed battle between Ireland’s speed windsurfing hero John Kenny and world champion kitespeeder, Alex Caizergues.

There will be plenty to entertain on the beach between stunt kite demonstrations, powerkite demonstrations, introductory lessons with qualified instructors and other beach games such as beach volleyball. This year there will also be stand up paddle demonstrations. For visitors it is a fantastic opportunity to get to know more about kitesports and the people involved in them.

Not only that, the sun has always shone on the Battle for the Bay!