NEWS

May 2023

As the ISKF decided to have the French competitions under the very old rules, we consider it opportune to drop our French texts about the modern rules. It would get very confusing and could cause a lot of meaningless discussions on the flying fields. French pilots who seek for the rules and tricks should look for the ISKF website as of now.

April 2026

The period is from April 20 to 23, 2026. In Berck-sur-mer, France, a "world kite cup" was held with participants from various countries united behind a single flag.

For instance, there was a team with members from three different countries. Out of necessity, actually, as it was not easy to put together good teams.

After all, this "world kite cup" consisted of six different events, spread across two categories: individual, pair, and team, in both two-line and multi-line kites.

Ultimately, nine of the expected eleven teams entered the 100x100m arena to determine who would win the "cup." Every event was featured, with the lowest score per round being dropped.

There are quite a few videos on YouTube about the various performances; they are certainly worth watching.  See the video's on Youtube

The scores from the first round could be followed live, which was a great asset for the spectators and the thousands of home supporters. For some unclear reason, no scores were announced during the second round.

Ultimately, the French home team won, followed very closely by the Dutch combined team. Italy was the third. You can view the standings and scores on this screenshot.

R-sky events announce a Tricks Party that will be run by the International Federation and will deliver an European champion 2026, both in single en pair twoliners.

Here's the French message:

Les Natur'Ailes de Narbonne plage qui auront lieu du 22 au 25 Mai 2026, accueilleront l'Euro Freestyle Cup.

Le format Tricks Party, qui a déjà fait ses preuves de nombreuses fois et dans 18 pays, par le passé, sera officialisé par la fédération internationale, qui décernera les titres de Champions d'Europe de Freestyle, catégorie individuel et paire deux lignes.

Le règlement mise à jour, sera posté dans les prochains jours.

En attendant, l'organisateur R-SKY Events a mis en ligne un formulaire d'inscription.

Ne tardez pas, les places sont limitées

https://form.jotform.com/260316201226341

Bon freestyle à tous

English: use the link to enter that competition!

September 2025

"Masters and Tricks Party"

English:

I was recently asked about all those "masters" competitions and why Tricks Party isn't one of them.

Let me first point out that the term "masters" is a bit of an unfortunate choice. In the sports world, "masters" refers to participants aged 35 and older. There are also "seniors" and "juniors" categories.

In the kite flying world, "masters" doesn't really mean anything other than that it looks good on a poster because it's understood as "masters of kite flying."

There's also no connection whatsoever to the quality of the participants in these "masters," since they participate only by invitation (from the organizer). That's why you see few, if any, top pilots from countries like Germany, Great Britain, or the Netherlands at these competitions.

Anyway, we understand that the organizers are primarily concerned with the show and less with quality. After all, most spectators don't know the tricks or the difficulty of what's being demonstrated.

That's perfectly possible (why not?), but then it shouldn't be advertised as a competition with "masters."

Tricks Party is still the most honest way to compare and rank the qualities of trick pilots (= competition format). Unfortunately, the number of competitions has dropped to one per year (spread over two days).

In short, I always answer the question with, "Tricks Party isn't about the money, it's about the pilots; competitions are therefore only appreciated by the pilots themselves."

If you can go see one of these "masters" near you, you should definitely do so. Enjoy what you see (but keep an open mind about the format 

Dutch:

Recentelijk werd me gevraagd hoe het nu zit met al die "masters" wedstrijden en hoe het komt dat Tricks Party daar geen onderdeel van is. 

Laat me eerst aanstippen dat de term "masters" wat ongelukkig gekozen is. In de sportwereld zijn "masters" deelnemers van 35 jaar en ouder. Daarnaast zijn er de "seniors" en "juniors" categoriên.

In de vliegerwereld bedoelt men eigenlijk niets met "masters", anders dan dat het mooi op een affiche staat omdat men het begrijpt als "meesters in het vliegeren". 

Ook is er geen enkele link met de kwaliteit van de deelnemers aan deze "masters", vermits de deelnemers enkel op invitatie deelnemen (door de organisator). Daarom ook dat je bv geen of weinig toppiloten uit bv Duitsland, Groot Brittaniê of Nederland op die wedstrijden ziet.

Maar goed, we begrijpen wel dat het de inrichter vooral om de show te doen is en minder over de kwaliteit. De meeste toeschouwers kennen immers de tricks niet of de moeilijkheid van wat er getoond wordt.

Dat kan best (waarom ook niet?) maar dan zou men het niet mogen aankondigen als een wedstrijd met "masters".

Tricks Party is nog steeds de eerlijkste manier om de kwaliteiten van trick piloten te vergelijken en rangschikken (= wedstrijdvorm).  Helaas is het aantal wedstrijden gezakt naar 1 per jaar (gespreid over twee dagen).

Kort samengevat antwoord ik altijd op de vraag met " in Tricks Party draait het niet om geld maar om de piloten, wedstrijden worden dan ook enkel gewaardeerd door de piloten zelf.  ".

Als je zo'n "masters" in je buurt kan gaan bekijken, dan moet je dat zeker doen. Geniet van wat je zien krijgt (maar kijk met een open geest naar het formaat).

May 2025

We had another very fine Tricks Party at Zeebrugge, be sure to check out the competitions page!

 july 2024 

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Sylvie, the co-founder of R-Sky and co-inventor of the Tricks Party competition system. This is what Roger Tessa-gambassi wrote about her:
We started the adventure in 1994, on a corner of a table, abandoning a lucrative job to turn to kites, she said "what madness", but 1 year later we put down our suitcases in the south of France, to create together R-SKY, then R-SKY Events.
Since 1996, Sylvie has cut all your kites, made all your bridles, and carefully folded and stored them in the covers. She loved her job, which we had chosen to leave to move towards organizing large events.
Sylvie will have written 2 competition formats, learned all the tricks, dissected them, and recognized them. Regional, national, and world judge, she was proud to show that willpower allows everything, to the point of bringing together in 2005, 150 pilots and 18 nations for "The Freestyle World Cup" and this year almost 20 years later, The World Kite Cup Berck sur Mer. Nothing was too big, all the challenges were met!
It was she, in the shadows, and yet so important, who prepared your invitations, chose your rooms, booked your meals and gave you your welcome bag at all our festivals.
She was R-SKY, she lived R-SKY with passion and energy.
Sylvie did so much for the brand, a rigorous management of everything, which made the success of R-SKY, of which she was so proud.
She was "Pépète" for some, "La puce" for others, but she was the "Patronne" for everyone.

She will not be forgotten...

july 2024

To our delight, a Tricks Party competition has been held late June, in the UK, loosely based on the 2006 USA rules, with their own twists. That's ok, the spirit of Tricks Party is there: judge pilots on their ability to perform tricks in a fixed order and follow the trick guidelines. Two pilots competed, with Josh Mitcheson (80.9%) in 1st place, Belgian Stephan Fiers took 2nd Place, with an overall score of 57%. We do hope our UK brothers will continue to have a Tricks Party every year (or more). UK pilots should make an effort and support this honest format! Pass on the message!

February 2024

From 2024 we will make a change to the mandatory tricks: the Coin Toss now starts with a SPIKE. This was already the case, but now it is 'on paper' and counts for all Tricks Party competitions. The description of the Coin Toss has now been adjusted.

August 2023

At last we added a new trick to the Tricks Party list of tricks. It's the Cascade Multi Lazy, added to group 5. Thanks to the Dutch group to provide a video and the trick itself. Start practising!

May 2023

We had another fine weekend on the beach with the annual Tricks Party @ Zeebrugge, Belgium. Here's a recap video: VIDEO