Wakeboarders riding wave of good wishes

Wakeboarders and musicians put on a show for the public at a memorial event for a South Staffordshire father and son killed in a plane crash.

The second Ryan and Tony Birch Memorial Wakeboard and Music Festival at Chasewater Country Park saw 60 amateur and 20 professional wakeboarders, including world champion Nick Davies, compete over two days at the weekend, while local musicians showcased their talents.

Ryan, aged 15, and his father, aged 52, from Pattingham, near Wolverhampton, died along with fellow passenger Simon Marshall, 51, of Lichfield, and pilot Martin Rhodes, 48, of Stoke-on-Trent, when their Piper Cherokee light aircraft crashed into a field shortly after take-off on the Isle of Wight in August 2007.

Mr Birch was a microlight instructor and Ryan was a pupil at Codsall High School.

Last year an inaugural memorial event was held at Chasewater, near Brownhills, and proved so popular that it was expanded to two days this year.

Participants ride on boards over the wake created by a speedboat. Organiser Sean Poultney said: "The event started after we lost Tony and Ryan because Ryan was a very good wakeboarder and well regarded within the professional ranks.

"Part of the event is a flypast by clubs from various local airfields in recognition of Tony being a pilot.Because of the success of last year's event, we decided to expand it to two days and were able to attract bigger sponsors and more participants."

Lesley Birch, widow of Tony and mother of Ryan, said: "This means the world to our family. Wakeboarding was Ryan's life. It is a fantastic tribute that Chasewater and our friends and family are putting on to keep their memories alive. I hope it will continue to grow and it is great that local charities will also benefit. I think Ryan would have been overwhelmed by this and Tony would have been incredibly proud."

The event also gave visitors the chance to learn to wakeboard on the System 2.0 cable system, and also featured trade stalls, trampolines, a bouncy castle, inflatable obstacle course, tombola, barbecue and fireworks.