20th August – "Kites over Capstone” event at Gillingham.

As Colin and I travelled to this meeting and crossed the Medway we thought that perhaps we should turn round because it was bucketing down! By the time we had arrived the rain had turned to drizzle and we were directed where to park, which required a little “off roading” through a small forest section to an area reserved for kiting officials.

As we pulled up we met Dave and Vernon. We also bumped into a few members of the Kent and Brighton clubs. Colin and I decided to explore a little and discovered the festival in relatively full swing with a central arena occupied by a stunt display team giving the public an impressive show. As Colin and I wondered around the various kite traders, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We also came across a kite workshop for children, they were using the exact same design as us, except smaller and charging £2.50 each. (Obviously a wealthier part of the world!)

On the way back to the car I ran into Keith and Genie who had just arrived. Due to the improved weather we were inspired to do a little kite flying ourselves, so we decided to “fly the flag” and get out the club kite. Launching this proved more difficult than originally anticipated due to the trees at the end of the field. We did eventually manage to get it aloft and then anchored it down while we had lunch. By this time many people were flying (or attempting to) and airspace came at premium. I estimated a few hundred were attending the event, with most flying.


I decided to try and get another kite up and on my way back to the car saw Simon and Graham and his family. It emerged that Simon and Graham had been at the festival the day before (the Saturday) when apparently the wind was much stronger but not many people there. I did try (unsuccessfully) to fly my two-line parafoil, however being close to the trees made this difficult and I gave up when I went to retrieve our club kite which came tumbling down. Upon inspection it looked as if someone’s (I suspect the people flying the flexifoils near by) lines had cut through the bridling. Luckily Dave was on hand to help me gather it up and put it away.

We finished the day watching teddy bear parachute drops by members of the Kent Kite Flyers and while posing for a small club photo, a sudden and heavy downpour quickly ended proceedings with everyone dashing to gather up their belonging and hurrying for cover. So we felt that was a sign to call it a day and decided to head for home. Overall a good event which was fairly well attended by members of EKG.

Peter Jones