Tuesday, 21 September 2010

New on Loveextremesports.com

It's been a busy few weeks in the world of British extreme sport and as usual Love Extreme Sports has been following the action from around the world. Mixed martial arts, snowsports, slalom canoeing and parkour have all been in the news, plus there have been some awesome extreme sports events taking place across the country. Here's a summary of what's been going on.

MMA:

London is gearing-up for UFC 120, which will be hosted at the O2 Arena in October. This massive event will see the hotly anticipated fight between Briton, Michael Bisping and Japanese fighter, Yoshihiro Akiyama. UFC 120 will coincide with the inaugural U.K. UFC Fan Expo, taking place at Earl's Court, which will give fans a chance to meet some of the world's leading MMA Fighters.

Snowsports:

Norfolk Snowsports Centre played host to opening leg of the British Snow Tour, an event that seeks to showcase and nurture homegrown British Skiing and Snowboarding talent. Glasgow was the location for the second leg and, with Milton Keynes and Castleford hosting rounds three and four. So far, the British Snow Tour has been a massive success, attracting record levels of participation and large numbers of spectators.

Parkour:

Giants of Parkour Malik Diouf and Charles Perriere made a rare appearance in the U.K. this month at the Out There Festival in Great Yarmouth. Diouf and Perrier, both considered founding fathers of Parkour, appeared in Fusion, a Parkour demonstration, which was put together by a group of British Parkour enthusiasts.

Windsurfing:

Hayling Island in Hampshire hosted the United Kingdom's National Windsurfing Festival and attracted star windsurfers from around the world, including Moroccan elite sailor Boujmaa Guilloul, plus teams from the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. Hayling Island is widely credited as the birthplace of modern windsurfing.

Kite Surfing:

Kite Surfing has been making a big splash lately with some amazing feats of talent, including Louis Tapper's incredible mammoth kite surfing trip along the entire coast of Brazil. The Kite Surf The Irish Sea Team also finally accomplished their mission to cross from Northern Ireland to England, after 3 years of preparation, training and planning. Unfortunately, Richard Branson's attempt to set the English Channel kite surf record did not follow the successful trend and the mission was aborted.

Wakeboarding:

A 17 year old sixth form student from Buckinghamshire made the Home Counties rightly proud, when he wakeboarded into the Guiness Book of Records. The intrepid public schoolboy became the first person to successfully cross from England to France on a wakeboard.

For more on all these stories visit www.loveextremesports.com.


Wednesday, 15 September 2010

U.K. Armed Forces Kite Surf the English Channel

A charity cross Channel Kitesurfing Challenge intended to raise funds for the Help For Heroes Campaign was a massive success. The event, which was organised by the Armed Forces, pitted the Army, Navy /Marines and Airforce against each other in this epic kitesurfing race from the Channel Islands to Poole. The event, which was named Kite For Heroes, aimed to raise £10,000 for the Forces' charity.

Starting in Alderney last friday, competitors set off at 11.00am to tackle the 70 mile race. This wasn't to be a solo crossing or team voyage. This was a relay. The team members of each team took it in turn to race stretches of the route across the English Channel, which made for a particularly interesting aquatic challenge. Inteprid participants were not only confronted with the difficulties of swapping mid-channel, but also the hazards of one of the busiest ship routes in the world. Support crews were forced to keep careful watch of the horizon as the contenders attempted their impressive feat.

It shouldn't come as much surprise that the race was one by the Royal Navy / Marines team, who proved adeptly that Britain's Navy still rules the waves of the English Channel. The Army followed in th Navy's wake and came a close second, with the RAF pulling off a respectable crossing time and coming in third. The challenging wind conditions actually meant the teams traveled much further than the scheduled 70 miles, but the actual distance is unknown. This is the latest in extreme sports feats undertaken by the Armed Forces in aid of the Help For Heroes Campaign.



Monday, 13 September 2010

Sergio Laus visits Gloucester

World record holding surfer, Sergio Laus, paid a trip to Gloucester late last week to surf the legendary Severn Bore. Laus, who holds the Guiness world record for distance surfing had never attempted this particular stretch of river before. It is an attractive location for surfers to test and hone their skills. The Severn Bore is cause by tidal waters being pushed up a narrow estuary. This causes water to become displaced into a wave formation, which can be riden by surfers.

Laus, who is from Brazil, is more used to surfing the amazon than a British tidal river. He was extremely diplomatic in his comparison, but clearly a British tidal river was not much match for the world longest. Laus suggested that the waves were not particularly big and that the thrill was slightly diminished by the absence of man-eating creatures lurking in the water. A particularly aggressive swan is no match for the snakes and alligators of the Brazilian Amazon. Nonetheless, Laus was clear that he had thoroughly enjoyed his experience in the U.K. and he was most certainly a very welcome guest.

Alex Reid Vs Tom Watson

Reality TV personality, Alex Reid is set to make an MMA come back in Birmingham. Alex, 32, had a successful Mixed Martial Arts career before this was overshadowed by his relationship with Katie Price and by his growing profile as a media celebrity. However, Alex trained at Zero Tolerance Fight Skool in Brighton, which is the same MMA club that has been responsible for the likes of John Hathaway, and anyone who does not consider him a serious fighter, doesn't know what they are talking about. He has always maintained that despite his stint as a reality star complete with celebrity girlfriend and cross-dressing scandal, he remained first and foremost a fighter.

In two weeks Alex will be going up against one of the U.K.'s leading Mixed Martial Arts fights, Tom "Kong" Watson. Watson, formerly of Southampton, but now training at Tristar in Montreal, Canada, is a seasoned cage fighter, having taken part is Cage Rage, The Ultimate Challenge, BAMMA and The Maximum Fighting Championship. Alex had been due to face Watson earlier this year, but was forced to pull out following a knee injury. Watson took umbridge, lashing out at Alex for "disrespceting" him. It is understood that the feelings of animosity are mutual, which should make this a particularly interesting fight.

Scarborough's 360 Festival Canceled

An extreme sports and music festival due to take place next week, has been canceled. Scarborough Festival was a combination event, offering audiences a range of professional extreme sports demonstrations, as well as performances from the likes of Madness and other up and coming artists. The festival was also due to host the UK Pro Surf Tour.

The event was canceled due to poor ticket sales and is yet another example of a small U.K. festival having to shut down due to poor attendance. Generally speaking, extreme sports events have coped well and resisted a trend which has felled some of Britain's most loved boutique music festivals, such as Brighton's Loop Festival. However, the format of mixing music with extreme sports seems to be a bit more tenuous. White Air 2009, for example, was a combination event, providing attendees with music and extreme sports entertainment. Although the event was executed with professional excellence, it failed to attract the desired audiences and is not returning in 2010.

The promoters of Scarborough's 360 Festival have instructed ticket holders to get in touch to arrange a refund. Anyone who purchased tickets using a credit / debit card, should be able to obtain a refund automatically according to the festival's organisers. Extreme sports fans and Madness fans alike are understandably disappointed. It is not yet known whether the Surf event will continue independently from the rest of the festival.

Saturday, 11 September 2010

British team wins World Wakeboarding Championship

A seasoned wakeboarding enthusiast from Sands End has pulled off a significant coup, snatching the bronze medal at the World Wakeboarding Championship in Germany. Despite being one of the oldest boarders participating, Larry Donaghey managed to impress all by taking the thrid place title in the veteran men's category. Mr Donaghey's victory, at the end of July this year, was enough to push the British Team into the lead, giving the U.K. an overall victory and pushing the German national team into second place. The result was very close, with the British team ending with 5440 points against the Germans Team's 5400 points.

Larry Donaghey, 47, has been wakeboarding for 30 years and was one of the first in the U.K. to take up the sport. His more junior team mates also put in a great performance, particularly Nick Davies, who took gold in the men's open category. The performance from the entire British contingent was strong and hopes for a repeat display of skill and talent at the next large wakeboarding event are high. Larry has been asked to participate in the European Championships in Turkey later this year. He's keen to attend, but first needs to find adequate funds to pay for the trip.