Tom was invited to kite alongside Ross Edgley as he swam around lands end on his mission to swim around GB. Tom Foiled alongside with Andrew Cotton, also a RedBull athlete. Check The full episode here
Tom was invited to kite alongside Ross Edgley as he swam around lands end on his mission to swim around GB 
My first time to San Fransisco was certainly an experience. The big city environment too the strong winds on the water with the wind blowing 25 knots plus every day. The biggest kite I used all week was my 11 and that was always fully
lit up!!
The competition was incredibly tight over the whole event with Johnny Heineken, Nico Parlier and myself battling throughout the whole event. exchanging top 3 positions making it really exciting.
local legend Johnny Heineken was very strong on home waters and also had the top speed recorded during the event of 48mph!!
A couple of big vessels passed through making it very interesting!!
Had a great event ended up finishing in 3rd place was really happy with my consistency during the event and was just 6 points of the top and 2 of second so overall, I felt it was a good event. Big thanks to Flysurfer kiteboarding for the continued support and Benni Boelli for the help during the event!!
The 4 day Hydrofoil Pro Tour stop kicked off with a 45 minute distance race around the bay of Montpellier. It was a British fight between Olly, Guy & Connor and the final leg Guy took an inside line near the shore to get the wind bend which enabled him to steal the lead & take the win. The next days were a series of 10 minute races in 5- 12 knots and superb close racing all across the fleet. A few mistakes on day 2, Guy sailed really consistently on day 3 putting hm a 10 point lead going into day 4. Meanwhile Olly took a different starting strategy on day 3 which put an end to his
We were super pleased to see the recent announcement of Kitesurfing in the Olympics 2024, and now Olly, Guy and Tom will likely be competing against each other to gain the honour of representing Team GB at the Olympics, so there will be some interesting times to come
Olly says – ‘I love the sport and it has always been my ambition to get to the Olympic games. Now this dream is closer and it’s going to be an exciting journey against my brothers to see who can qualify to represent Team GB. We train off Exmouth and are really lucky to have such a wide range of conditions to practice on.’
We already invest a huge amount of our personal time in training the next generation of British athletes to a world class level, all from our home in Exmouth, through Edge Watersports. Edge Youth Training scheme is already actively training and providing a pathway for up and coming youngsters, with support of FatFace.
But for us this decision is not only amazing for the sport, but has upped the pressure to try to secure funding. To keep Britain at the pinnacle of the sport, we need support from business. We won’t be able to train and have the right equipment without this funding. The sport offers many returns to sponsors, and we enjoy working with brands that have an emphasis on commitment to the environment, or to supporting youth. We are really keen to talk to any brands that would be interested in supporting our aims to bring gold home for Britain.
We really believe that Exmouth will become the Olympic training venue, complimented by the Grenadier planned new watersports centre, on the seafront. This isn’t just a proud moment for us as athletes, but it also is a great moment for Exmouth, and the South West. Exmouth provides a world class training location, and in turn this provide a positive boost for the economy in the region. It will firmly put Exmouth on the map as a watersports destination and also improve our tourism offering.
We hope to also be central to the expected 2020 Olympic kitesurfing demonstration event in Tokyo.
This decision followed lengthy discussions at a mid-year meeting of World Sailing at Stamford Bridge football stadium in London. The exact equipment and format will not be confirmed until later this year. The equipment and format will be officially confirmed in November at the World Sailing Annual General Meeting.
As many of you know, kitesurfing was at one stage due to replace windsurfing on the Rio 2016 Olympic programme before this decision was overturned. Kitesurfing is already due to feature at October’s Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. So we are super excited for our sport to finally be recognised. It has been a long time coming.
It is likely, but not yet confirmed, that the Formula Kite production model will be adopted in Marseille, with four foil kites and one hydrofoil used.
Watch this space.
The email came in around August to see if we, the full Team Bridge wanted to attend the best ever kite race in the southern Hemisphere: The RedBull Lighthouse to Leighton Race. August is always manic & never enough time to give the whole trip our total thought.
Olly and Steph Bridge take out the 2017 Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton race
Mother and son kiteboarders Olly and Steph Bridge won the eighth edition of the Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton race in Fremantle, Western Australia – a repeat performance of the 2014 race.
In 17kn winds and clear skies, Olly was ahead of the pack for most of the race, sailing seamlessly on the open ocean from Rottnest Island to Leighton Beach Fremantle in 19 minutes 34 seconds, 42 seconds ahead of second placewinner Theo De Ramecourt from France.
This was Olly’s second Lighthouse to Leighton win (he won in 2014) and his fifth attempt at the race. The 20-year-old competed in 2015 and 2016 but had mishaps in each of those years so it was a case of third time lucky.
“I didn’t have any crashes this year, I was in front from the start line and managed to get away from the other guys early,” Olly said.
The race was delayed for about an hour while the wind picked up.
“At the start there wasn’t enough wind, only the guys with the hydrofoils could have raced. But thanks to the delay there was enough wind for everybody to ride. It was a good decision.”
Olly’s mum Steph Bridge won her fourth successive Lighthouse to Leighton convincingly, in 25 minutes 12 seconds, more than three minutes ahead of the next fastest female, and 12th overall. This year her whole family was over from Devon, UK and racing – husband Eric and sons Olly (20), Guy (18) and Tom (16). She said with the whole family racing she was definitely in a different mindset to when she races on her own.
“I was thinking Guy or Olly could have won, both were in a position to do well. Poor Tom had a kite tangle at the start so he was out for the race so I was disappointed for him, Eric just wanted to get from A to B, and myself – I was borrowing a foil and a board. We’re sharing kites and I got left the little kite! I wanted to make sure everyone had left the beach before I took off. It’s a race which is about taking part. Of course, we’re all in it to do our best and it’s great to have everyone racing. I’ll be back next year to get a better time again,” she said.
Winner of the Mens Twin Tip category was New South Wales kiteboarder Jordan Girdis in a time of 28 minutes 8 seconds, and Womens Twin Tip winner was Colleen Carroll from the United States who finished the race in 33 minutes 7 seconds, her first time in the Lighthouse to Leighton.
This year’s Marc Sprod Memorial Trophy, awarded to the fastest West Australian, was presented to 17-year-old Mani Bisschops from Nedlands. Mani finished fifth overall in a time of 21:40. It was a special award for him as he knew Marc through his dad when they all regularly kited in the same area.
Last year’s Twin Tip division winner and five-time world champion Aaron Hadlow placed second in the Twin Tip this year, finishing 29:39. He said the light winds created a challenge.
“I had a good start but it was tough in the middle and I was having a battle for wind with another competitor. It gets a bit frustrating when you are going as fast as you can but you can’t make the kite go any faster. It was good fun though,” he said.
140 local, interstate and international kiteboarders took on the 19km open ocean race – the largest number of competitors in the event’s history. Winners shared more than $9000 in prizemoney. The race record of 19 minutes and three seconds, set by Frenchman Nico Parlier last year, still stands.
The Formula Kite World Championships were held in Oman in a show down of 21 races with crazy speeds in a massively competitive fleet which saw 60 riders from 22 countries make the journey to do battle in Al Mouj, Muscat
Tom becomes British Freestyle Champion 2017
A few events back to back where Olly went to San Francisco & finished 4th then to the Europeans in Turkey where Olly took 3rd Place & Hydrofoil Pro tour stop in Germany where Olly took 3rd.
A few words from Guy:
” The Europeans in Turkey were really frustrating for me. I started really well getting 4th in the Bosphorus Race- this was 44Km on all points of sail down to the Famous Stretch of water linking Europe to Asia. I messed up the finish which meant I missed my 3rd place which I had held all the way. I realised that I had pushed things hard & by evening my Lower Back had completely seized up & I was unable to move. This was the first time anything like this had happened to me. I tried to race the next day but was unable to push and was in so much pain. The rest of the regatta I tried to get my back better since the following week I had the hydrofoil Pro tour stop in Germany.
Arriving in Germany, Mum had drove from the UK & had all sorts of stretching, TENS machine & excercises. I also was lucky to be looked after by Dr.Wake who is a really talented Physiotherapist & also passionate kitesurfer. On site physio meant morning & night heavy pressure point sessions. Incredibly, I was starting to kite pain free. This made a huge difference to my results & I was happy to come away with 4th place overall with my older brother- Olly in 3rd place.
Back in the UK for a few days where I have turned age 18 & am preparing to head to China for the Gold Cup stop next week
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