What a weekend.
The Bay of Puck in early June. Wind on the water, music in the village, 535 riders from across Poland and beyond. Garnier King of the Bay 2026 came and went, and left the kind of feeling that's hard to put into words but easy to recognise – that specific mix of salt, sunscreen, and stoke that only happens when the whole watersports community lands in one place at the same time.
The wind didn't always cooperate. But honestly? KOTB has long outgrown being just about the racing. It's a gathering. Four days where people who share the same obsession finally get to be in the same place, on the same beach, talking about the same things. The numbers back it up – 535 registered riders across windsurfing, wing foil, kitesurfing, sup, pump foil, e-foil and parawing, more than ever before. The event keeps growing. And we keep coming back.
We were there the whole time – with the EASY TEST ZONE on the beach and the EASY CHILL ZONE in the festival village. Here's how it went.
Day 1 – Thursday, 4 June The event wakes up
Registration, the official opening, the first riders' meeting – and then we took the main stage for our own presentation, walking people through what we had brought and what was waiting in the Test Zone. The first wind race went off in the afternoon. The breeze had other plans eventually and the race was classified as a fun race, but nobody on the water was complaining. Smiles all round.
When the sun dropped, the festival village came to life properly. Free grill by Inne Beczki, the first round of the Grand KOTB Raffle, charity auctions for Aniela, and the night wrapped with Mozaika live on stage and DJ Ricoo keeping things going until late. Day one did everything it was supposed to do.
Friday brought clouds and a steady drizzle. Not ideal conditions, but KOTB doesn't stop for weather. The SUP Technical race found its window, gear presentations and the Airbank Pump Challenge under the tent pulled a proper crowd – people competing hard and laughing harder. In the evening Mc Glennskii took the stage and reminded everyone that this event runs on more than just wind.
Day 3 – Saturday, 6 June When the wind finally arrives, everything moves at once
Saturday was the day everything clicked – though it made you wait for it.
The X15 wing race and SUP Long Distance race kicked things off in the morning. Then at 13:00 we took the main stage for a live presentation of the new NeilPryde Speedster EVO with Matteo Iachino. No wind yet, but it didn't matter – the sail had been generating conversations since Thursday, and having Matteo there in person to walk people through the details made it something else entirely. Real experience, knowledge and enthusiasm from someone who actually races at the highest level. The session was streamed live and will be up on our YouTube channel soon.
At 15:00, Sam Esteve took over the beach. The Tow-In Freestyle Show needs no wind – just a speedboat, a rope, and someone who knows what to do with the momentum. And Sam definitely knew. One of those performances where the whole beach just stops and watches. Pure mastery.
Then, around 15:30, the wind arrived – and the beach split in two directions at once. The EASY TEST ZONE went from standby to flat out in minutes. Every board and wing we had went straight onto the water and didn't come back until the next person was already waiting. JP wing foil boards, NeilPryde wings and foils – RS Pro, XR, Swift HA and EF, FLY IV, Firefly PRO SL – tested back to back. Something would come in off the water and be rigged again before it had time to dry.
At 16:30 came the skippers' meeting, and at 17:15 the wind race finally got its proper start. Conditions were on the edge, but the race went ahead and delivered exactly what everyone had been hoping for since Thursday.
The evening brought the Light Race by Play, BSK live on stage, and Hamer Kot closing the night.
Day 4 – Sunday, 7 June The grand finale
No wind on the last day. Didn't matter. Nobody was leaving early.
We opened Sunday with our final main stage slot, the MAG Pumpfoil show went off on the water, and then came the moment the whole beach had been quietly waiting for all weekend – the EASY-surfshop MonstAir SUP Race powered by JP-Australia. Chaos, laughter, absolutely no dignity, and a crowd that was completely on board with all of it. This race has become one of the things people genuinely look forward to at KOTB, and this year was no exception.
Then we had the fourth and final Grand Raffle – the biggest prizes saved for last, more charity auctions for Aniela, and the official closing ceremony of Garnier King of the Bay 2026. The beach was still full. Of course it was.
The weekend closed with one by one, the Kings and Queens of KOTB 2026 were crowned – winners across every discipline and every category, from the youngest riders to the most experienced. The moment the whole competition had been building towards.
EASY TEST ZONE – what we brought and what happened
The Test Zone ran on the beach throughout the entire event, fully equipped with JP-Australia boards across both the wing foil and windsurf ranges, paired with NeilPryde wings, foils, and sails. On the windsurf side: Super Sport, Magic Move, and Hydrofoil Slalom boards with Speedster EVO, Apex HD, and Dragonfly sails. On the wing foil side: the full current lineup, with RS Pro, XR, Swift HA and EF foils, FLY IV, and Firefly PRO SL wings.
Saturday afternoon was the real test – when the wind finally came in properly, the zone was running flat out. The feedback across the board was genuinely good, with the newer products in particular attracting a lot of focused attention and real conversation after time on the water. Not every tester is a buyer that day, but every good experience counts.
EASY CHILL ZONE – the village tent
Our tent in the festival village ran two zones side by side: a full NeilPryde accessories and NeilPryde Waterwear display, and a dedicated Unifiber accessories section. A place to browse, ask questions, and have a proper conversation away from the beach noise. Some of the best gear discussions of the whole weekend happened right there.
Sam and Matteo – a proper mention
Two people made this event something more than the sum of its activations. Sam Esteve and Matteo Iachino were present for the entire weekend – not just for their scheduled appearances, but genuinely there the whole time. Talking to riders on the beach, answering questions at the tent, staying after the show. No distance, no entourage, no "I'll sign autographs for ten minutes then disappear." Just two world-class athletes who clearly enjoy being around the people who love this sport as much as they do. We're proud to have had them with us, and grateful they gave the weekend everything they had.
See you at KOTB 2027
Garnier King of the Bay is one of those events that's hard to explain to someone who hasn't been. You have to feel the Friday rain turning into Saturday sun. You have to watch the water go from flat to alive in an hour. You have to be there when Sam does something on a board that shouldn't be physically possible and five hundred people go silent at once.
We'll be back.
Massive thanks to Maciek Rutkowski and Ania for building something this special, year after year. It takes real dedication to make an event that people keep coming back to – and the 535 riders at KOTB 2026 are the proof.
See you on the water.
