The Animal Poole Windfest this last weekend saw ExPix making the long trip down to the South Coast to cover the event. With all the usual demo's, Animal pro riders and the legendary party, this is one event on the calendar we'd  hate to miss. So with Wakeboarding, Wakeskating, Windsurfing, Bike Demo's, Thundercats, Stand Up Paddle Boarding, Skateboarding, VW's, stall and loads of other stuff we had plenty to do !

Friday morning and athletes and media were arriving and stalls were setting up ready for the crowds. A few guys were out on kites and Martyn Ashton and Sam Pilgrim gave demos whilst getting use to the new flooring they were using for the Animal Relentless Bike Tour.

Over in the bike arena and the Animal Relentless Bike Tour had Martyn Ashton and Sam Pilgrim showing just what can be done on a bike. Huge jumps and flips, balance skills and bike control illustrating just how crazy these guys go when there's a crowd cheering them on.

Check out a video teaser from the event below Dim lights

Friday night kicked off with the usual charity event, the Animal Windfest Ball. With it's obligatory uniform of black tie and boardies for the guys and evenning wear for the ladies the night got everyone in the mood for the weekend.

The sun shone on Saturday morning bringing with it a huge crowd. The various demos got underway early with riders eager to please the crowds even if they were nursing a few hangovers!

.For some of the riders, especially the wakeboarders, the gruelling season was beginning to take it's toll. This 'risk' element always attracts the crowds and despite riding with broken ribs, busted knees and a multitude of cuts and bruises from previous events, the guys and gal (Animal rider Steph Caller) didn't disappoint.

With Jonty Green as always going big on his first jump of each session, Dan Jordan spending much of his time upside down, Lee Debuse and CK doing the technical stuff both with busted ribs, Max Main, just about the only rider that wasn't injured, pulling off some awesome moves, Louis Floyd riding on both wakeboards and wakeskates, wakeskaters Liam Smith and Ollie Moore showing what can be done on a water version of askateboard and then Steph Caller representing the women and showing its not just the guys that can do this sort of thing, this was a real crowd pleaser.

So the poolgap what is it? how does it work? Well at Windfest there are two pools connected by a set of different sliders and rails. A flat box, a gap rail, a nessy or dragon , and an A frame. The object - to transfer from the first pool to the second in the most stylish way possible using any of the obstacle to complete the transition. Sounds easy, doesnt it?

Over at the far end of the beach the Thundercat Tour proved as exhilirating as ever. The speeds that these boats reach is unbeliveable and the fact that the pilot and co - pilot stay in the boat at all is amazing!

Back on the promende the mini ramp was attracting the skaterboarders. They took some heavey falls over the weekend but still managed to get back up and back on their boards to entertain the crowds.

The wind didn't really pick up enough for the kiteurfing and windsurfing but there were a couple of demonstration competitions, best trick in the kitesurfing and a slalom race in the windsurfing, just to show the huge crowds on the beach what the sports are about.

Now one of the things that Animal Windfest is famous for is the legendary Saturday night Animal Party and this year was no exception! Bands played to a sell out crowd dressed in an aray of costumes ranging from a bit of paint to full on eighties style leggings and vests based on the neon fluro theme.A special shout out has to go to our friends RedRoots who managed to whip the crowds into such a frenzy with their ska beats that they had them screaming for an encore !!

Newly added:

We thought we'd treat you to another video from WindFest - the Pool Gap crashes.
Dim lights

To view a small gallery of images click here

To view all the images click here but you'll need to be registered

For more information about the event go to the event website www.animalwindfest.co.uk