troep: robbynitroz

As witnessed by the growing pile of shredded kites, snapped boards, and piles of spectra spaghetti gracing the lawn of the beautiful Indian Hotel and Resort at Le Morne, the conditions during the first week of the inaugural Mauritius Kitesurf competition/expression session could only be described as “world class” with competitors pushing their equipment and themselves to the maximum.

Opening day, Sunday September 24th witnessed moderate winds and huge swell in what were undoubtedly some of the largest, longest waves ever kitesurfed.

A notable performance Sunday was put in by perennial darkhorse, South African surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who exhibited the same flawless wave selection that allowed him to win the 2006 Maverick’s big wave paddle surf contest, by riding the enormous lefts of one eye without incident, for over 5 hours, without ever breaking for lunch.

Equally impressive on Sunday were local Mauritians and contest organizers Patrick Desvreaumigny and Laurent Lebolloch who showed that local knowledge counts for everything on the notoriously fast end section of One Eye, by catching some of the biggest waves from far up the point and riding them with ease through the end bowl before kicking out.

While Monday’s conditions were mellow in comparison to the wild, out of control speed runs of Sunday, the sets were still consistently rolling in and the waves cleaned up to the point where competitors were getting barreled with a frequency before unseen at any venue ever before.

Martin Vari, by all reports, was getting the most barrels of any rider, pulling in with a stylish backhand approach on a 6 foot yellow towboard. Although paying his dues with several spectacular crashes, he made it through many of the winding bowls to the amazement of photographer Stephane Fournet during the watershooting and videographer, Elliot Leboe.

Perched high over the reef in custom made 5 meter metal chairs, the media team has literally the best seats in the house, and are burning through memory cards and video tapes at an amazing rate.

Will James, also experienced a first, three consecutive barrels on one wave, which he could only describe as “highly, highly unusual….I just got out of one, saw the next, barely made it through, and then got one more right after that on the end section. It was unbelievable”

Jeff Tobias also put a fantastic performance on the first several days of the event, picking off some bombs on Sunday, some tubes on Monday, and some stylish off the tops later in the week.

Airrush’s Felix Pivec and Pete Peterson were out to prove that even with the extremely offshore conditions prevalent at one eye, it was still possible to ride unhooked. And prove it they did with some of the best top to bottom combos of the event.

Oahu’s John Amundson began Wednesday by pulling into a sickeningly late full-speed backhand closeout. “It looked like it was going to be wide open”, he was overheard telling fellow competitors. Despite the full scale yard sale, which saw his kite completely ripped in half, and a full scale mashing by the second wave of the set, he returned an hour later to score some great waves, including several legitimate in and out barrels on one eye’s tricky end section.

Jamie Herraiz, who began the week jetlagged and suffering from a stomach infection, along fellow North R&D’er Sky Solbach put in consistent backhand performances with their next generation hybrid/flat kites, consistently stepping up their levels with each wave caught.

Local competitor, and charter boat operator, Pascal Henry really surprised many of the pros with his wave selection, and took the prize for the most spectacular kickouts of the event….some of them well over 50 feet high in the stiff offshore breezes of Le Morne. Pascal was a late addition to the event, but has shown great turns, and a flair for being able to spot and catch the biggest and best set waves each session.

Frenchman Bertrand Fluery, having overcome the initial shock of extremely offshore winds during the first several days of the event, was even seen to cracking an uncharacteristic smile after blasting through the curtain of a One Eye barrel after several days of adjusting to the very difficult conditions.

The competitors have a rest this weekend as the conditions are to wind down, and enjoy VIP seating at Friday’s Boney M concert before a new swell arrives on Monday. Stay tuned.