We’re headed into the weekend here at WSIKF, Friday morning greeted us with thick sea fog and good breezes… While not ideal weather, it was strangely enjoyable watching the highest kites ghosting in and out of view!
Events kicked off today with the Junior Dual Control Competition run by Mike and Teri Huff on field B, teaching and exposing several new young fliers to our sport with this precision event where entrants were required to fly a square, circle and vertical figure eight.
Around the same time they were having a Delta and Delta Derivative mass ascension on field A… Entrants received the first of 4 exclusive WSIKF cloissone pins which fit together to form a banner design!
Further down the beach, competition heats continued in the NAFKA Fighter Kite World Cup throughout the day… At 11:30 fliers were invited onto field B to fly any quilted kites they made at the World Kite Museum’s workshops.
Mark Reed from Prism and Lolly Hadzicki from Revolution were set up on their demo fields again, exposing tons of people to the world of dual and quad line kite flying while events continued on the the main fields.
Lisa and Carl Bragiel had their Llama pen set up, displaying great little llama banners inside faux electric fencing, complete with a dummy water and power hook up planted in the sand.
Ray Bethell continued to amaze spectators with his multiple kite flying, even landing them one at a time, each on top of the other… At 78 years old, he is still one of the best show stoppers in the world!
Between 12:30 and 2pm Anne Huston led the “Ft. Worden Fly” where anyone could fly kites they made at Fort Worden, with the announcer wandering the field talking a little bit about the maker, history, and workshops they originated from.
Around 12:30pm the Northwest Sport Kite League led the Hot Tricks event, where fliers brought out their wildest tricks and showmanship with quite an audience building on the north and east sides of field A!
A number of individuals displayed their skills with more sport kite ballet demonstrations today, captializing on the great winds we had pretty much all day.
Quad line sport kites also had a featured time slot, with several Revolutions, a Spirit or two, some foils and even a TC Ultra quad delta coming out to play… Fliers got together and experimented with various formation flights, and generally had a great time.
Events continued with a Circo Flex round up as the weather was deciding what it was going to do… Late in the afternoon solid sea mist started coming across the beach, which right after a solid burst of sun felt real good… It turned a bit ickier, but stopped quickly and left us to keep flying without any rain.
We’re very pleased to announce who was selected as the latest addition to the World Kite Museum’s Hall of Fame at their induction ceremony held this evening at their future 10,000 square foot location… For the first time ever, a sport kite representative was elected to this select group. Our heart felt congratulations go out to Ray Bethell!
The evening closed with a lighted kite night fly, dinner at any of the great food vendors along the strip, a fireworks display and a live band at the beer garden tent where a number of fliers had congregated to celebrate another all around great day of flying.
With another great set of events scheduled for tomorrow, this week is continuing to be one of the best events in the country!
See you tomorrow,
John Barresi
