Battle for the Bay event report on Monday as the wind never showed .......big shame .... with a great turn out by trade and kitesurfers alike the event was quite a spectacle, and true to the Puremagic ethos the event wasnt detered by heavey downpours. Infact despite the torrential rain at times the people on the beach started what can only be described as an aerobics class to Black Eyed Peas - I got a feeling.

We have finally got our hands on a short video edit from Battle for the Bay from the students we took over to Ireland with us. It has been a longtime coming as unfortunately the students have had a number of issues with equipment (cameras not liking salt water and sand) as well as University deadlines and other jobs they undertook after Battle of the Bay, which pushed our project behind schedule.

Anyway, at last here is there interpretation of the Battle for the Bay better late than never!!!

Dim lights

So Friday and the trip to Ireland was ok. With the camera crew who came with us to the KBO we had a team of four for the trip over to the Battle for the Bay. A leasurely drive to Holyhead, a three hour boat trip and a forecast of nothing meant that this could be a long drive for a part,. except this is Dublin we are talking about and as per usual the wind before the Battle something that is becoming a bit of a joke in Ireland kicked in at around 20mph ..... hmmmmm will it be the same again ?

So we were filming off the ferry as the riders on Dollymount used the wake from the ferry as waves to surf. Off the ferry and the short drive to the beach had to be done just so we could get some action images just incase the wind disappeared over the weekned.

Dan Sweeney, Francois Cullossi, Fred Diaw were a few of the faces we recognised below around 20 kites that were fighting their way up and across wind. A quick change into wetsuits and both a film camera and still camera were in the water to capture the action. We managed a few nice shots before the wind became inconsistent and we headed of to find our host for the event.

That evening a 'staff meeting' at the Bay introduced us the French Team who had travelled over for the event as well as a few Irish drinks and nibbles beofre it was time to hit the sack.

Saturday morning and 6.45am we were queuing to get ionto the beach whilst the tractor made a track for the heavier vehicles to cross the soft sand. By ten most of the site was up and running and by midday the event village was in full swing for the crowds to browse, chat and demo.

With the wind not filling in activities to keep the competitors and the observers occupied and amused. A strong man event, a tug of war, and a football match all added to the atmosphere and people managed to forget for few moments at least that the wind was just not strong enough.

With the party at Barcode in Clontarf this evening and a slideshow of the funniest images Saturday will draw to a close with happy people.

Finally The party at Barcode was a big hit with huge screens displaying the images from the photo competition and the ExPix slideshow kiters mingled with the rest of the people in the club as they discussed the weather for the next day...

The winner of the photo competition produced a stunning image of Eamon Armstrong on take off with great colours and fantasitic cloud formation the detail was impressive whilst the action was strong producing a great overall image. We later discovered that the image was post processed using a 3D image processing program which obviously did the trick giving depth and texture the the picture ... Well done Andrew Merjeris.

Sundays weather was horrendous and we felt really sorry for the Puremagic team who were almost drowned in the heavy downpours that battered the event site throughout the day, but in true Puremagic style the trade tents, and event vilage was up and ready to go early, the team, a few were a little delicate, were still in good spirits, and this resulted in some fantastic video footage more akin to High School Musical, or Grease than an extreme sports event and you'll be abe to see this later on. We did however do some images for the guys from Watersports World who believe it or not have their warehouse very close to us back home. They have now started stocking mystic clothing and wetsuits alongside their other ranges so heres an image that we took despite all the bad weather. In achill we will be doing some stuff with Frazer from Best so hopefully we will have some more great images for you to see in another report.

So by the time the presentations were upon us the weather had cleared somewhat and again in Puremagic tradition there was yet another twist. Now with no competition the normally the prize money is shared by the pro's and the ams usually go home empty handed. Not at Battle for the Bay, everyones name is put into a hat (or envelope in this case) and names are picked out in reverse order, the last three getting the prizes set aside for the winners.... simple!

With the draw done riders, volunteers, partners and the Puremagic team it is now time to set off for the Village Club in Dublin and the final part of the PureMagic begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting Battle for the Bay with DJ Danny Rampling.

The evening was great with the Puremagic room in the club with access to the dance floor and DJ Danny Rampling the night went off with a bang. A shot war between the Irish and the French caused much amusement for those watching as various ways of drinking shots were tested in competition format. Then it was on to the dance floor to finish the night and weekend off to the best mix in Dublin that night.