The UK's biggest big air kite event, run by riders. It only ever runs on a Saturday or Sunday, and only when the storm shows up — no wind, no contest. We call it on a traffic light system across the event window, mid September through late October.
Join the standby list How the call worksPUKL doesn't run to a fixed date. It runs to a forecast. Every Saturday and Sunday across the event window is a possible contest day, and where we stand is called midweek on a fixed schedule: Amber on the Tuesday, Green confirmed the Wednesday or Thursday before. Storm-force big air needs storm-force wind, so we wait for it.
PUKL is the British Kiteboarding National Championships and the biggest kite event on the UK calendar — organised and run by riders, for the community. Entry is £60, and every penny of it goes straight back out as prize money. PUKL doesn't take a cut.
The whole event is triggered by the storm, not the calendar. When the forecast holds 35 knots or more for a Saturday or Sunday between mid September and late October, the traffic light flips to green and the heats run — extreme big air, the way it's meant to be sailed.
Last year we paid out £5,000 in total prize money, ran equal prize money across the open and women's divisions, and had 200–300 spectators lining the shingle to watch.
Launch is Billy Winters car park on Chesil Beach Causeway, on the Isle of Portland, where the shingle bank meets open water. It's a two-and-a-half-hour drive from London, with parking right at the launch.
This stretch of coast is exposed enough to hold the 35kn+ trigger PUKL needs, though the shingle break can be unforgiving on a low tide — check in with the safety team before your first session, whatever division you're riding.