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Day 2 - Kite Masters 2009

Jun-26-2009 Praia de Alvor (26 June 2009) – The morning started with a light drizzle on the beach but the rain clouds eventually dissipated. Overcast skies dominated the first half of the day with onshore winds which made the temperature seem quite chilly compared to the past few days.

The scheduled riders meeting of 1:00 pm went right on time and the start of the 4th race happened at around 2:00 pm which according to race director Olaf Van Tol, “turned out to be a good decision because we had a good window of an hour with wind.”

Excitement and controversy marked the second day of events. With the onshore winds, the riders started much closer to the beach, giving the crowd an impressive spectacle to watch as the 35 kites jockeyed for position. The first race was completed without incident. After the first race, the wind started shifting and after a little break, the wind continued to shift more so the race director announced a lunch break before the next race. The second race of the day (Race #5 of the event) got underway at around 4:15 pm. From the perspective of the people on the beach, it looked like another good race was about to unfold for the day. However, the wind gradually died down and by the end of the race, only nine guys and one lady crossed the finish line and many competitors had to be rescued in the waters. After much discussion on the beach about the validity of the second race due to less than 50% of the competitors finishing, it was decided the race would stand since the PKRA is now operating under ISAF/IKA racing rules and not under its own previous rules which the riders had become accustomed to in the past.

So after finishing another two races, the leader board still shows Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) on top with 2.8 total points followed by Abel Lago (RRD, ESP) in second with 13.7 points and Jesse Richman (Cabrinha, USA) in third place with 14 points.

EETV interviewed the 2007 world champion about his new kite from Cabrinha after winning yesterday’s three races. He is very much excited about Cabrinha's new line, describing them as “totally different and spectacular in performance.” This year, Bruno Sroka is back in action after much preparation off-season and is eyeing this year’s World Championship title.

“Last year we worked on improving the boards and I had a different goal last year so I lost a few events. You can say that last year was just for fun. But this year, I worked really hard. I went to Maui for one month to train before going to San Francisco (USA) for one month to meet my board designer and worked on developing the board and to test all the good kites. The new board is good because I don’t have to change board every time, so whatever the wind speed is, the board performs perfectly. I won one event in San Francisco, two European Championships and two KPWT titles,” explained Sroka.

Meanwhile, Sean Farley (North, MEX) who is currently tied with teammate Charles Deleau (FRA) in fourth place commented about the race conditions after finishing two second places and failing to finish today’s last race.

“The conditions are fairly good. Weird direction with a lot of thermal influence so there was a huge wind shift and was very on and off. The wind was light but good enough for a 14-m kite for all my races. Very big wind shifts but I was talking about this a while ago that I’ve never really seen a kiteboarder on the race really play the wind shifts. The fewer maneuvers you do to get to the weather mark, you’re better off, so overall, just head for the weather mark with the fewest tacks possible,” explained Farley.

Off-season, the Colima native said he spent quite some time at home before going to Texas to test and help with the design of the new boards. “We did that right before the US Nationals and the North American Course Continentals. The board works real well,” said Farley.

“Last week I got the first race against Bruno (Sroka). I think he’s been preparing all season in Maui. His board is really fast but we’re really close behind. I actually outpointed him but he moves a lot faster, always going at a faster speed. I was actually leading the first race, so that means I can beat him but overall, he’s just a bit faster. Either he screws up in the middle of the race or I have to be really on my stuff to beat him. I think a few more fine adjustments on the board especially with fins and we’ll be there,” remarked the two-time Mexican champion.

Farley recently came back from the competition in Sylt, Germany along with Sroka but based on what we’ve heard from our interview, the two riders were really not happy with the outcome of the events. “Things just didn’t happen correctly and we even ran into some rocks there in the last race that was right on the course. Bruno (Sroka) and I were protesting because we were upfront and the ones that hit that rock. That race shouldn’t have been held with such an obstruction in the course, but they claim it was our fault for going over there. Anyway, that wasn’t all too pleasant. In the end we got a redress and that was about it. So we just as riders hope for the best, but really hope for the Tours to take care of us and really mind the riders right now because I think that’s what’s gonna make or break them,” lamented the 2007 Champion.

Meanwhile, in the women’s division, all is too perfect for Steph Bridge (North, GBR) who still dominates the scoreboard with 2.8 points after winning both races and beating a lot of the guys. Bridge is followed by Fabienne D’Ortoli (Naish, FRA) in second with 8 points and Nayara Licañao of Brazil in third place with 10 points after failing to finish the second race.

Asked whether she’s riding under pressure, Bridge has this to say:

“Yeah, there’s always pressure isn’t there? There’s even more pressure when you’ve won before. You’ve got to come back and win again. So there is pressure for sure, so I’m always striving to get better. I’m up front at the moment but anything can happen.”

Meanwhile, challenger Fabienne D’Ortoli who recently changed kite sponsor from Cabrinha to Naish also was quite happy with the results of her races.

“Yes, I’ve changed sponsor earlier this year, in March actually - after seven years with Cabrinha and it’s cool. I’m really happy. Changes are really good in life. It’s perfect for races and I had a pretty good results so I’m happy.”

The day wrapped up around 6:20 pm with race director Olaf Van Tol releasing the competitors for the day. Tomorrow’s riders meeting will be held at 12:00 pm with first possible start at 12:30 pm local time. Given the forecast, it looks like the Freestyle round robin will push to a finish tomorrow. Van Tol is also hopeful to get in as many races as well. The plan is to start with racing and switch over to freestyle as the wind is expected to improve as the day progresses.

Day 3 - Kite Masters 2009

Jun-27-2009 Praia de Alvor (27 June 2009) – A very exciting and productive day for the whole PKRA team wraps up as another thrilling day of events unfolded here in Praia de Alvor in Portimao.

The morning started out very clear with the sun warming the event area to about 20°C. Around 12:00 noon, a high overcast moved in but eventually moved out of the area after two hours where sunny skies prevailed for the rest of the day. Wind speed was between 10 to 14 knots and remained onshore for much longer than everybody was expecting because it usually switches directions between 2:00 – 3:00 pm.

The compulsory riders meeting went right on schedule at 12:00 pm with the first race starting at 1:00 pm under a constant south-westerly wind. By the second race, the wind picked up even more to a maximum of 14.5 knots. Lunch break was held at 3:00 pm after which Race director Olaf Van Tol saw the conditions were favorable for a freestyle event so the round robin continued from the previous day until the last 4 heats of the men and the last 4 heats of the ladies remain. The day concluded around 8:00 pm.

Once again Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) dominated all three races and now has a total 4.2 points. Still in second is Charles Deleau (North, FRA) with 20 points followed by Sean Farley with 26 points. Abel Lago (Spain, RRD) dropped to number 4 overall while Jesse Richman who only managed to finish 8th at best dropped to number 5 and is now tied with Renaud Madier (FRA) and Sylvan Hoceini (Optimum, FRA).

Meanwhile, there were some new faces in the top 10 standings while some of the veterans had troubles such as Sean Farley (North, MEX) being disqualified on the first race due to being over the startling line early. Charles Deleau also had his share of mishaps when he had a tangle with another racer in the second race but got a redress.

Michael Gebhart (Ozone, USA) made a strong showing today in the first two races and will be a competitor to watch out for in the future.

In the ladies division, Steph Bridge (North, GBR) is still strong on top of the scoreboard with a total of 4.2 points while European Course Racing champion Fabienne D’Ortoli remains in second place with 15 points. Nayara Licariao of Brazil completes the top 3 with a point behind D’Ortoli. So it has been a Bridge – D’Ortoli battle once again for the top podium spot as it was in the European championship. EETV asked Bridge what it was like during the competition:

“Fabienne beat me in the Europeans. It was quite close but I needed a slightly bigger kite out there really. It was under 12 knots - the wind was super light. But I’m super excited because we got this new board from North and the new Rebel kite – we also got some long lines and it’s making a big difference particularly when the winds are a little bit on and off. But the board is really nice to go sailing on. It’s not just like it’s for racing but a really nice, easy board to use, great in light winds and super comfy. I love this board! I would go around the world with this board,” exclaimed Bridge.

Over at the Kite Masters Freestyle event after Day #3, Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA) and Michael Schitzhofer (Naish, AUS) had 2 points each in Group 1. In Group 2, Alberto Rondina (Cabrinha, ITA) and Kevin Langeree (Naish, NED) both had 2 points after defeating their respective opponents. Abel Lago and Jesse Richman (Cabrinha, USA) had 2 points each in Group 3 while Charles Deleau and Randy Hereman (NED) both got 2 points in Group 4.

In the ladies division, Karolina Winkoska (Naish, POL) and Steph Bridge qualified into the semifinal as well as Jalou Langeree (Naish, ED) and Pauline Bousard (FRA) who will be battling each other in the second semifinal slot.

Overall, a very productive and spectacular day for racing and freestyle completed day #3 of the Portimao Kite Masters World Tour 2009. Tomorrow's skipper meeting is again at 12pm and first possible start at 12:30pm local time.

Day 4 - Kite Masters 2009

Jun-28-2009
Praia de Alvor (28 June 2009) – Partly cloudy skies and light winds prevailed during much of the day at the event site where a significantly larger crowd gathered to watch their favorite kiteboarders in action. The day was noticeably warmer compared to yesterday. The lighter wind conditions only made course racing possible as freestyle requires a lot more wind to power the kites and propel the riders in the air to do their maneuvers.

The riders meeting was held at 12:00 pm as previously scheduled. However, the 1:00 pm first possible start was reset because the wind faded which made it quite impossible to launch the kites. At 2:15 pm, race director Olaf Van Tol signaled the start of the first race which quickly went underway followed by another one as soon as the 1st race was finished. There was a slight variation of the race course which was straight up, straight down with additional buoys on the water so the riders were much closer to the shore to the delight of the spectators at the beach.

A fifteen-minute break followed the two quick races followed by another longer break as the racers waited for the wind to pick up speed. After nearly 40 minutes, Van Tol signaled the start of the third race at 4:40, after which a final race was planned for the day but after several restarts, the final race was cancelled because the wind was quickly dying out and was too light to continue the event. By the end of the day, the wind was only blowing at around 4 – 6 knots. The day concluded around 6:00 pm.

Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) is still the current leader in the men’s races, winning race #1 and #3. With a hefty lead from current second placer Charles Deleau (North, FRA), Sroka can almost smell the 2009 Championship title ahead. Meanwhile, another French rider Renaud Madier have been steadily climbing up the ladder with his Eclipse kite, winning today’s race #2. This put him to third place overall after 11 races and a mere 2.7 points away from Deleau. Weather permitting, if tomorrow’s races push through, the battle for second place position between these two countrymen will be an event to watch out for.

No change in the women’s standings as Steph Bridge (North, GBR) dominated all of today’s races and increasing her chance of bagging the first place podium position. Fabienne D’Ortoli (Naish, FRA) trails in second followed by Nayara Licariao (Brazil) with a mere 2 points separating the two.

The day was concluded around 6:00 pm while tomorrow’s riders’ meeting is set at 12:00 pm and a first possible start of 12:40 pm local time. After the conclusion of tomorrow’s races or freestyle, there will be an awarding ceremony at the beach.

Tonight’s party is at the Sports Bar where it is almost sure that most of the athletes will be out tonight to celebrate given the wind forecast for tomorrow which does not look promising – only about two hours of 13 – 14 knots wind speed with 60% cloudy conditions.

An interesting note today is that there were a lot of discussions about the performance and possibilities of kiting in light wind conditions. Most of the athletes had added extra kite line to the standard stock line length (average 25-27 meters). The longest lines used today was 43 meters because longer lines make the kites feel bigger thus giving more power to kite in lighter winds.

Wat een foto:

evenement is afgelopen helaas.. geen wind meer gehad om de freestyle af te maken.. Vandaag weer naar huis.....