Velocity Festival
The Velocity Festival is coming to the Lancaster district from June 22 to 24
The Velocity Festival took place on the weekend of 22 June to 24 June 2012 and celebrated the very best sporting activities the Lancaster district has to offer.
The festival built upon the excitement brought by the Olympic Torch Relay that passed through the district on June 22. This was the first ever Velocity festival, but its launch was hampered by appalling weather conditions throughout the weekend.
There were over 16 events planned including a city centre cycle race, sailing and kayaking taster sessions, kite surfing and jet ski demonstrations. The wet and windy weather meant some of the events had to be cancelled but the cycle race and most events on Sunday still went ahead.
Festival highlights
Friday night saw a city centre cycle race event
On Friday night, Lancaster saw its first ever city centre cycle race and over 50 riders set off in two races around the Dalton Square area of the city. The weather didn’t deter spectators and hundreds of people turned up to cheer the cyclists on. Matt Cronshaw, a local elite rider from Carnforth representing team Node4 - Giordana Racing won the national elite race and Steve Clarke from Kendal and Team Wheelbase/MGD won the regional race. Full results are listed below.
On Saturday the wet and windy weather offered great conditions for the Ride’n’slide kite surfing competition organised by local club, Morecambe Bay Kitesurfers. The main event was the ‘big air’ competition where riders from across the UK used their skills to jump as high as they could in the bay. The competition was won by Pete Jones followed closely by Hannah Whitley. Full results are listed below.
On Sunday, with better weather, many events took place and dozens of people took part in kayaking taster sessions in Morecambe Bay. Hundreds of spectators also enjoyed demonstrations of kite surfing, mountain biking trials, skate parks, jet skiing and were entertained by live music provided by More Music. A further ‘kicker’ and ‘slider’ kite surfing competition took place with kite surfers performing tricks using ramps and obstacles. Local kite surfer, Jack Brooks from Halton performed well against stiff competition and secured a third place in the ‘slider’ competition. Full results below.
Thank you
Live music accompanied all the sporting events in Morecambe
Councillor Ron Sands, Cabinet member with responsibility for Culture and Tourism said
“We were thrilled to see crowds turn out for our first ever Velocity sports festival. The dreadful weather meant that we weren’t expecting the crowds that we received. However with the Olympic torch relay on the same weekend and the obvious enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, its clear that local people were keen to celebrate sport. I’d like to thank all the clubs and volunteers who made the festival possible, without them we wouldn’t be able to run this event.”
“We are currently evaluating the festival with our sports clubs and volunteers to see what could be improved upon and hope to run a similar event next year. We really want the Velocity Festival to be a lasting local legacy for the London 2012 Olympic Games”
Photographs of the festival
A selection of photographs from the weekend. All phoptographs were taken by Andy Hockridge and are copyright Lancaster City Council.
Partners and sponsors
The Velocity Festival would not be possible without the support of the following sports clubs and organisations. Lancaster City Council would like to thank them for their support in making the festival happen.
• FNT Jet Ski Display Team
• Lancaster Cycling Club
• Lancaster District Canoe Club
• Morecambe and Heysham Yacht Club
• Morecambe Bay Kite Surfers
• More Music
• Salt Ayre Cog Set
Events on the day would not be possible without the support of the following sponsors.
• Air Rush Kites
• Approved Inspectors
• Bay Chemist
• Bay View Cars
• Bedland, Morecambe
• Bill Moore Lifting Tackle
• Bowker Ltd Building Services Engineers
• Brookbank Canoes
• Dalton Square Florist
• Destination Cycles
• Express Banners
• GF Property
• Gingham Kitchen
• Hartley Hire
• Just Dents
• Leisure Lakes Bikes
• Looping it
• Lothersdale Hotel
• Mark Horton Builders
• Mike’s Sportsworld
• Northern Pontoons Ltd
• Ozone Kites
• Pegasus Pets
• Surface Tension
• The Borough
• The Dalton Rooms
• The Fortune Star Restaurant
• The Gatehouse Restaurant
• The Hanging Basket
• The Sultan Restaurant
• University of Central Lancashire
• Vanilla Bikes
• Windscreens Direct
Results
Results from the Velocity City Centre Cycle Race
National B race
1 --- Matt Cronshaw (Node4 - Giordana Racing) 58:47:7
2 --- Jack Pullar (Wheelbase.co.uk/MGD)
3 --- Thomas Armstrong (Mountivation Development Academy)
4 --- James Gullen (Metaltek - Scott)
5 --- Jacob Tipper (Teamwallis CHH Racing Team)
6 --- Jack Waller (Teamwallis CHH Racing Team)
7 --- John Crellin (Teamwallis CHH Racing Team)
8 --- Lee Baldwin (Buxton CC/Sett Valley Cycles)
9 --- Francis Pilkington (Bill Nickson Cycles RT)
10 --- Dan Whelan (Maxgear RT)
Regional B race
1 --- Steven Clarke (Wheelbase.co.uk/MGD) 41:02.6
2 --- David Haygarth (Planet X)
3 --- Callum Young (Biketreks Racing Team)
4 --- Ian Rutherford (Lune RCC)
5 --- Sandy Lockett (Biketreks Racing Team)
6 --- James Lyon (unattached)
7 --- Robert Lockhart (Cyclesport International RT)
8 --- Alex Kinvig (unattached)
9 ---- James Chamberlain (Cyclesport International RT)
10 --- Mark Monkhouse (Lancaster CC)
Full details of the race and riders can be found on the British Cycling website.
Results from the Kitesurfing Competition
Big Air Competition
1 --- Pete Jones
2 --- Hannah Whiteley
3 --- Peter Whiteley
4 --- Holly Kennedy
Biggest Wipe-out
Darren Hargreaves
Kicker Competition
1 --- Jake Moore
2 --- Jack Daykin
3 --- Peter Whiteley
Slider Competition
1 --- Jack Daykin
2 --- Jake Moore
3 --- Jack Brooks (Local Rider riding Ozone kites)
A detailed description of the weekend Kite Surfing can be found on the Force Six website