What a weekend it was!!! 🤩 Rewa welcomed us royally! For four days, we enjoyed beautiful sunshine and conditions that allowed us to not only hold the planned races but also to carry out all other activities. The turnout exceeded our wildest expectations. Over 240 competitors registered for the event, and in addition to the participants, crowds of water sports fans flocked to Rewa. Everyone came with one goal: to spread passion and love for windsurfing, kitesurfing, wing foiling, SUP, and pump foiling! I'm still not fully recovered from this magical water sports festival, but the boost of positive energy and motivation we received, both myself and our entire EASY-surfshop team... It's simply indescribable! So much happened during these four days, and the event itself could be divided into two parts: racing and festival-market, which I'd like to briefly present to you.

King of the Bay was meant to be primarily a long-distance regatta, designed to bridge the gap between the professional and recreational, amateur sides of water sports. And let's not beat around the bush – despite the less-than-ideal wind, it turned out brilliantly! The organizers managed to hold one wind race and one main race, as well as all the non-wind-dependent competitions. The atmosphere was fantastic, with both a spirit of competition and a desire for shared fun. 

In the wind competitions, our "company" representatives participated: 

• our boss Bartek - wing NeilPryde FL SL 7.0, board JP-Australia X-WINGER PRO 111l, foil NeilPryde Glide Swift 10; 

• his son Michał – wing NeilPryde FireFly 5.0, board JP-Australia F-WINGER 77l, foil NeilPryde GlideSwift 10; 

• Adam “Surfer” – wing NeilPryde FLY II PRO 5.5, board JP-Australia X-WINGER PRO 88l, foil NeilPryde Glide Swift 10; 

• Bartek “Koza” – sail NeilPryde Speedster 7.2, board JP-Australia Slalom PRO 72; 

• Łukasz – sail GA-SAILS Matirx 6.7, board Tabou Rocket LTD 135. 

I would like to congratulate Michał on his second place in the U20 wing foil category! But that’s not all – our team riders Maciek Rutkowski (wind), Piotr Myszkowski (III place in wing), and Jacek Garncarz (wind) were also present at the start, where you could test your skills on the race course alongside them. 

However, it's not all about wind competitions. On the first day, there was the SUP Long Distance race from Jastarnia to Rewa (12 km), in which 37 competitors participated. From our team, Krycha signed up, deciding to race on the inflatable JP-Australia SportsAir 12’6 x 30" SE3DS, with a two-piece JP-Australia Carbon paddle of size 83. The northwesterly wind and choppy bay proved difficult to handle on typical race gear. The wide JP SportsAir allowed Krystian to easily maintain balance and focus on paddling. Ultimately, our rider finished the race in 11th place but was the first to reach the finish line on an inflatable board, earning him the title of King of the Bay SUP Freeride! It's worth noting that Krycha left 12 competitors on rigid SUPs behind, and the width of the JP SportsAir caused quite a stir among some participants. Congratulations again, Krycha!!! 

Races aside, that wasn't all that awaited those who decided to visit Rewa last weekend. The second face of King of the Bay was the festival-market-test village, where you could visit booths of the biggest water sports brands and partners. This included ours, dedicated to the latest collections from JP-Australia, NeilPryde, Loftsails, Exocet, Unifiber, and Ensis. Additionally, at the organizers' invitation, "stars" from our industry appeared: Sarah-Quita Offringa, Amado Vrieswijk, Taty Frans, Ben Proffitt, Arnon Dagan, Mario Kumpel, Wojtek Brzozowski, Przemysław Miarczyński, and the organizer of this whole event, Maciek Rutkowski!

On top of all this, there were windsurfing tow-in freestyle shows by Sarah and Tomek Wyrzykowski, NeilPryde RS sail rigging workshops with Maciek Rutkowski, SUP board tests, pump foil, and efoil races. In short, there was something for everyone. During the event, there were presentations of wind, wing, kite, SUP, and efoil equipment from the 2024 collections. I was very impressed with how many people attended my presentations. In the first one, you could hear about the 2024 freeride gear from JP-Australia and NeilPryde. The second presentation was dedicated to the latest Exocet board collection and Loftsails sails, which have become one company this year. The third presentation was an absolute hit, the previously mentioned rigging workshops, where together with Maciek Rutkowski, I had the pleasure to show you how to prepare and trim the sail before the competition.

The cherry on top was the Sunday testing of windsurfing and wing foil equipment from JP-Australia and NeilPryde. The slightly capricious wind from 10 to 20 knots allowed almost all the windsurfing and wing foil equipment we brought to hit the water. The full range of NeilPryde FLY II wings, NeilPryde FLY II PRO wings, as well as the latest FLY SL 7.0, and my new love, FIREFLY! There was a queue for the NeilPryde Speedster, V8, and slalom RS:RACING EVO XV sails. In addition, the wing boards X-Winger, R-Winger, and F-Winger, and the windsurfing boards Magic Ride, Super Ride, Super Sport, Super Lightwind, Slalom PRO, and the new Magic Move.

None of what I described would have been possible without two people who dreamed of organizing Defi Wind in Poland, namely Maciek Rutkowski and Ania Sokolenko! Guys, it was something totally out of this world, simply chapeau bas!!! Over these four days, King of the Bay offered much more than I could briefly describe, but it's impossible to fit it all into one short report. I'm convinced that this first edition of King of the Bay was the smallest, and everyone who wondered if it was worth coming, after seeing the reports, reading all the summaries, and talking to people who were there, will definitely join us next year! I invite you to view our entire gallery on Facebook and the album on the official event website www.kingofthebay.pl/media.

Jarek