Aj philipsen is a legend in his own lifetime, there are few people as easily persuaded to do dangerous things. When I taught AJ how to kite it was not a case of pushing him further and saying you must kiteboard, you must persist, you must kitesurf. It was always more a case of trying to restrain him, like a caged beast bashing around inside as  the scared keepers wonder what they are about to unleash!

When AJ got his first Flexifoil Blade, He phoned me to tell me he was at the beach and about to set it up. He'd bought a Blade III 4.9m with super Hydro lines, as in typical AJ fashion he is not content with anything standard! The wind was howling about 34-40mph and I pleaded with him to stop, to put it away and to try another day. It was clear AJ had no intention of doing this so I bunked off work and drove straight to the beach where he was all set up ready to go. I said, let me show you one jump and then decide. I knew I'd go big, but I had never been before or since higher on a blade, and we never rode with harnesses or aids. I remember after clearing the entire group of friends huddled next to the trees I'd just flown over and redirected the kite for about the 4th time that I was able to see over the roof tops along frinton sea front. I was used to holding onto large kites so I had no fear my finger tips would give way but I was concerned about the rapidly approaching access road. fortunately after 8 redirections of the kite I came down quite smoothly just infront of the road and instantly collapsed the kite. The adrenaline was pumping so hard my extremities were pulsing and I layed back and laughed hard. A few seconds later AJ reached me, Guess what, he still wanted a go but had now realised he might die. I was completely not convinced AJ wouldnt set up the kite again so I waiting with him while he put it away.

Aj is now trying these handle passes on land which most people struggle to attempt kitesurfing, and yesterday with just a small chat we decided he needed to add board grabs into the pass. I've no doubt that by the end of the week he will be nailing handle pass board grabs!

Dont try flying power kites without lessons, they can be very dangerous, get kite lessons in clacton now!