The Battle of Trafalgar - kitesurfing style!

An old school battle, with new school weapons...
According to the all reliable Wikipedia: 
"The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805).The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost."

Not this one! This was a battle of a different kind - and this one was won by the Spanish with a different kind of weapon. Kitesurfing equipment. 

The Red Bull Batalla de Trafalgar was a new kind of kiteboarding contest run in Spain last week, just for a bit of fun. The format was simple - there's three teams, you choose a team and everyone begins racing to another beach. Once you get to said beach, grab a "doubloon" and return to the start again and get into a giant plastic tower (without your kite). First team with three people in their tower wins. Easy? Sounds like a recipe for disaster! It worked beautifully though, with Spain winning, France coming in second; and unlike the real battle, the UK came dead last. 

Tacked onto the end of the race was a good old fashioned freestyle comp, which was won by the Spaniards also. But nobody really minded, because apart from some freebies - this was just a fun event where everyone got a ride and had the chance to dress up like a pirate. 

Check out the video below, and for more info on the crazy kiteboarding competition, check out the Red Bull Batalla de Trafalgar website here. 




Opening in August 2007, Kitepower Australia Queensland, or KPQ, is the newest addition to the Kitepower chain. In September 2011, KPQ moved a few blocks down the road to a newly refurbished shopfront. The move allowed the shop to expand into other watersports like stand-up paddling and wakeboarding, as well as beachwear and toys. Across the road from the store is Pelican park and Bells beach, which are the perfect locations for flying kites and practising all kinds of watersports...