Team Flame

Welcome to the home page of Team Flame.

Team Flame are a sport kite display team. The team provide demonstrations at kite festivals and other events, and compete in master class competitions in the UK and abroad.

Team Flame have been the UK National Champion Sport Kite Team in 2007, 2005, 2003 and 2002.

Contents

• Introduction
• Latest News
• Gallery
• Sport Kiting
• Team History
• Team Results
• Team Members
• The Kites
• The Sponsors
• The Ballet
• Thanks
• Contact Team Flame
• Links
• Version

Introduction

Flame was formed in 1999, by three members of Bath Kite Society, none of whom had ever flown as a team or in competition before. The team began competing in the UK from the year they formed. It has been a difficult, but (mostly) very enjoyable challenge. Members of the team also sometimes compete as individuals, and as pairs (Spark and Ember).

Currently Flame is competing and demonstrating as a four person team, two of whom are founder members. (Two other members have retired from competition, but still sometimes appear at demonstrations.)

As well as winning the 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007 UK masters class sport kite team championship, Flame have competed in the European Cup in 2001, 2005 and 2006, and attended the World Championships in Berck-Sur-Mer, France, in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008, and in Oregon, USA in 2005. They have achieved a respectable best placing of 3rd in Europe and 7th in the world.

They continue to practice and try to improve in what little spare time they can find.

Latest News

To see the latest news about Team Flame click here.

Gallery

To see the Team Flame picture gallery click here.

To see the Team Flame movie gallery click here.

Sport Kiting

Kites which can be actively controlled by the flyer are often referred to as sport kites. These may have two or even four control lines. There are many different aspects to sport kite flying. Some kites are designed to produce power, or traction. These are sometimes used to pull three or four wheel kite buggies. Kite-surfing, where a kite is used to power a board surfer (a bit like wind-surfing, but with strings), is becoming extremely popular. Delta wing kites are used for tricks or precision. Trick or freestyle flying pushes kites to their limits by performing tricks that require the kite to turn, flip or rotate in extreme ways - falling with style. Precision is about demonstrating control of the kite - flying preset patterns, or even interpreting a piece of music. Two or more flyers can fly together as a pair or a team, again demonstrating their ability to fly their kites in preset patterns, or in a ballet choreographed to music, but with the added complexity of the spacing and timing of multiple kites. In a mega-team a large number of flyers, anything from six to over thirty, fly together in a controlled (or semi controlled) way. Four line kites offer new degrees of control and complexity, again individually, or in pairs or teams. There are often competitions associated with these kites, such as buggy races, or precision competitions for individuals, pairs or teams.

Modern kite flying is diverse and rewarding, and members of Team Flame have a go most of these variations. However flying together as a team is their true passion.

Team History

The Early Years

The story of Team Flame starts with Zoë Hancock, Fran Burstall and Barry Savell, who were all members of Bath Kite Society. They were competing as individuals in local leagues, as well as attending festivals around the UK and organizing the Bath Kite Festival. The seeds of Team Flame were sown as they watched with amazement the routines performed by Airkraft and Skydance, when these two teams ruled the world - between them they took the World Cup three years running from 1995 to 1997.

But most of the blame for Team Flame lies with another team, Punchlines. At the 1998 Bath kite festival, Punchlines invited individual kite flyers with some experience to come and fly with Punchlines. Barry and Fran both had a go and were immediately hooked. Barry and Fran, together with Zoë, could soon be seen flying three Benson Phantom Elites together, this being the only kite they had three of! The Phantom is a fine kite, but is not ideally suited as a team kite, and it was here that Punchlines came in again. When they started, Punchlines were given a set of Northshore Radical kite sails by Airkraft, when Airkraft switched to flying Matrix kites. Punchlines, having acquired a brand new set of Northshore Radicals, generously passed the ex-Airkraft sails on to Barry, Fran and Zoë. These were the very sails with which Airkraft won the World Cup, and we knew we were going to have to enter the national team competition with them, despite having no experience - thus Team Flame was born.

The team started practicing as a three, but there were four sails; it seemed a shame not to use them, so enter Ewan Russell, a former Bath Kite Society member enticed out of kite retirement by the thought of trying team flying. Sponsors were found for lines and spars, and the next summer Team Flame contested the 1999 British National Championships for the first time, with a precision routine but no ballet.

The next year (2000), now totally hooked, the team moved onto Airdynamics T2 kites, passing the Northshore sails to STACK to be lent out to other fledgling teams, and used a ballet written by Jeanette Lummas of Skydance.

In 2001, Ewan took a year out and Team Flame competed as a three person team, with their first original ballet - March of the Toreadors. In late 2001 Flame competed in the European championships for the first time.

2002

In 2002 Flame switched to new Matrix kites provided by Carl Robertshaw Kite Related Design. Ewan returned to the team, but Flame continued to compete as a 3 person team, with Ewan and Zoë alternating at position 3. In April 2002 Flame were privileged to be one of the two British teams invited to represent the UK at the World Championship where they achieved a respectable eighth place. Flame then went on to win each of the three rounds of the 2002 UK Championships to take first place and become the UK National Champions, for the first time. They finished the year by appearing at the Bristol International Kite Festival.

2003

2003 was one of Flame's most succesful years. During the winter Zoë gave birth to a baby boy, but the team continued with Ewan taking on the number three position full time. The team again attended the World Championship, a week long event held at Berck-Sur-Mer in France, and this year took seventh place. In the 2003 UK Masters Class Sport Kite Team National Championship, Flame won three of the four rounds against stiff competition from the teams Matrix Management and the Scratch Bunnies, and became UK National Champions for the second year running.

2004

In 2004 Flame attended the World Championship in France for the third year running. The 2004 UK Masters Class Sport Kite Team National Championship was the most closely contested in many years. In the end, the winner's honours went to Matrix Management, who narrowly pushed Flame into second place, with less than 3% separating the winners from Scratch Bunnies in third place. During the winter Zoë and Fran had their second child, this time a girl. Ewan Russell announced that he would be retiring from flying in competition. Barry's son, Alex Savell, was given a trial and offerred the number 3 position for the 2005 season (fitting it in amongst his AS levels).

2005

For 2005, Flame switched to brand new, custom coloured, Fury kites, the latest design from Carl Robertshaw. This year Flame were determined to regain the UK title, and started well by winning the first two rounds. They then attended the fourth World Sport Kite Championship, this year in Lincoln City, Oregon, USA, where Fran was plagued by a cold, and Alex badly twisted his ankle during one of the very windy competition rounds. An overall result of 13th was slightly disappointing, though despite this the event was again greatly enjoyed by all the team.

Through travelling to the USA, Flame missed the 3rd round of the UK competition, allowing Matrix Management to take the lead in the home series. The fourth round was held at Southampton in very light winds, and Matrix Management held off Flame to retain the lead, leaving all to play for in the last round at Newbury. Here winds were again light, but this time Flame pulled out all the stops to win both the event and the national championship.

2006

The first event of 2006 for Flame was the World Sport Kite Championship, which this year returned to Berck-Sur-Mer in France in consistantly high winds; 16 teams competed representing 9 different countries from 4 continents. There were again some problems - Barry had a suspected cracked rib (from the previous week), and Alex came down with a cold-like viral infection. Alex was unable to make one of the precision rounds, but Robin Smith (from the team Scratch Bunnies) kindly stepped in as substitute to learn the figures and a simple routine, and gave a credible performance, the high point of which was Barry executing a centre landing after having fallen over! Despite these problems, and perhaps for the first time at the world level, all Flame's scores were consistant and up to their UK standard, and so a commendable ninth place was achieved in a tightly contested mid-field, separated from 7th place by just 2%.

At the UK season opener at Rougham, Flame took an early season lead with a clear victory. However Alex's A-level exams prevented Flame from competing at the next round in Southampton, where the Scratch Bunnies presented the UK debut of their new six man ballet, with ex-World Champions Carl and James Robertshaw joining the Bunnies' ballet line up. The Bunnies very strong ballet performances here and in the remaining rounds would make it a very close season. At the final round of the UK nationals in Newbury, a strong performance by Flame took the contest with the Scratch Bunnies all the way to the wire. When the results were announced, Flame took second position in the overall competition, separated from the winners, the Scratch Bunnies, by less than a tenth of one percent over the year, the tightest ever finish of a UK Championship!

In September, Team Flame attended the 2006 European Cup at Fort Mahon, France. After a strong performance in the precision competition, Flame were delighted to be in 1st place at the end of the first day. However, there were some strong ballet performances to come. On the second day the other UK team, Scratch Bunnies, took 1st place in the ballet, and a good performance by Flame gave them 3rd place overall. Unfortunately Flame were unable to stay for the presentations on the Sunday, because team member Alex, having achieved 4 As at A-level, had to move in to Imperial College, London, where he is studying Physics, that day.

2007

In 2007 Flame decided to compete as a four man team, and recruited Tony Shiggins, former member of team Matrix Management. They started looking for a piece of music and working on a new 4 person ballet. However, with Alex now in London at University, and Tony in Swindon, full practice sessions are fairly hard to organize, and the ballet was not finished in time for the competition season, so the team used the 3 man routine with Tony and Alex alternating in position 3. In another very tightly contested season, Flame were able to just snatch the UK title back from the 6 man team Scratch Bunnies, by the narrowest of margins.

Results

The Competition Team Members

Here is the competition team (in flying order):
	Barry Savell At position #1 (usually the right, viewed from behind) Barry Savell is the team leader. Barry comes from Bath and is a manager in a software house (IPL). Barry sometimes competes as an individual and occasionally as a pair, Spark, with his son. Barry also enjoys freestyle and trick flying, and flying four line Revolution kites. He also field directs and commentates at STACK UK competitions. Barry is married with two children - his son Alex is also a keen kite flyer and competitor. E-Mail Barry Visit Barry's Web Page
	Fran Burstall At position #2, Fran Burstall is from Bath and is a Professor, researching Mathematics at Bath University. Fran sometimes competes as an individual and occasionally as a pair, Ember, with Zoë. Fran also enjoys other types of kite, such as fighter kites, but seldom has much time for this now he's in a team. Fran is the partner of Zoë, and has two children. E-Mail Fran Visit Fran's Web Page
	Tony Shiggins Former member of team Matrix Management, Tony joined Flame in 2007 at position #3.
	Alex Savell Alex Savell (Barry's son) has taken over the team's "tail gunner" position at #4. Alex is a student, currently studying Physics at Imperial College. London. He also competes as an individual, and won the experienced class in the 2003 UK National Championships. He also flies occasionally as part of the pair Spark with his father. E-Mail Alex

Former Members

	Zoë Hancock One of the founder members of the team, Zoë Hancock is Fran's partner. Zoë has two children, Michael and Phoebe, which pretty much explains why she had to stop flying with the competition team! Zoë enjoys flying many types of kite, and makes her own single line kites - Zoë also made the team's large red and black Flame banner, and some of the team's clothing. E-Mail Zoë
	Ewan Russell Ewan retired from competition flying at the end of 2004. Ewan also enjoys flying four line Revolution kites. Ewan is from Bristol. He is married with two daughters.

The Kites

Team Flame use various kites for displays, competitions and for fun:
	The Fury Team Flame use these splendid looking Fury kites, which are custom made for us by Carl Robertshaw Kite Related Design. These kites are the main work-horse of the team, and are used for demonstrations and for competition, in a wide range of winds. Each team member has three different Fury kites, an Ultra-light, a Standard and a Vented, each of which is optimized for a different wind range. The Fury was designed by former UK, European and World Champion Carl Robertshaw.
	The Warp Nine These small, introductory kites are flown by the team in stacks of 3 or more kites, usually with tails.
	The Revolution 1.5 These are four line kites, capable of hovering and movement in any direction.
	Benson Kites For individual flying many of the team use freestyle and trick kites made by Benson Kites. The Outer Space (pictured), Phantom Elite and Gemini are particular favourites.
	Previous Team Kites In previous years, Team Flame have used Matrix kites (pictured), made by Carl Robertshaw Kite Related Designs (under licence from Flexifoil), T2 kites, designed and built by Peter Taylor of Airdynamics, and Northshore Radicals.

The Sponsors

Team Flame is proud to be sponsored by the following suppliers:
	Carl Robertshaw Kite Related Design, who supplies the Fury kites, and coaching.
	Climax, who supply Protec flying lines.
	Sky Burner Kites, who supplies the SkyShark tubes that frame the kites.
	The Highwaymen, who supply Warp 9 kites, and various bits.

The Ballet

Team Flame's current competition ballet is performed to "City of Delusion" by Muse. The ballet was choreographed by the members of Flame.

Their previous two ballets have been set to a version of "Feelin' Good" performed by Muse (written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse and originally made famous by Nina Simone) and a version of the March of the Toreador, from Carmen by Bizet, played by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra.

Thanks

Team Flame would like to extend special thanks to the former teams who got them hooked on this, and have inspired and helped them greatly over the last few years, Punchlines, SkyDance and Airkraft.

Contact Team Flame

To contact Team Flame, either to book a display or for more information, please send e-mail to flame@teamflame.co.uk

Links

• STACK - The national governing body of competitive sport kite flying.
• The British Kite Flying Association - umbrella organization for all UK kite flying.
• British Power Kitesports Association - governing body for kite boarding, buggying, and racing.
• Carl Robertshaw Kite Related Design - A speciality kite maker of distinction.
• EmKay / Kites and More - distributor of Climax lines and kites.
• Sky Burner Kites - Distributors of SkyShark competition airframe tubes.
• The Highwaymen - kite shop on the web for all your kiting needs.
• Bath Kite Festival - alas, it is no longer with us.
• Bristol International Kite festival - one of the best festivals in the world.
• Kitelife - the internet kite magazine.
• Bristol Kitestore - local kite shop in Bristol.
• Benson Kites - Maker of Phantom, OuterSpace, Gemini and other fine kites.
• Airdynamics - Maker of the wonderful T2 and the legendary Dark Star.
• Revolution Kites - Maker of the the Revolution 1.5 kite.
• Avon Kite Flyers - Team Flame's other local club.
• The Kite Society - UK kite society.
• Midland Kite Flyers - club, with a very useful event diary page.
• White Horse Kite Flyers - hosts of the Swindon kite festival.
• Golden Valley Kite Flyers - hosts of the Tewkesbury kite festival.

Thanks for visiting

Thank you for visiting Team Flame's web site at www.teamflame.co.uk. We hope you found something of interest. This page is updated from time to time, so please call back again to see what's changed.

Version

Last updated: 1/04/08.