Day 3 on the KPWT SUPERKITE here in Brazil and as to be expected, the wind was at a good 20 knots. After a spectacular day yesterday for the freestyle riders at the lagoon, today was a day for Waves at the spot, Pico das Almas.
Abel Lago (SPA, RRD): “Every time I come to Brazil I love it! The weather is super, the wind is great and the waves are really good so I am happy. This is a true paradise for kiteboarding.â€
Conditions were a little choppy, but the waves were pushing 1 meter on the low tide in the morning. The riders were certainly making the most out of the conditions on offer and doing their best in selecting the finest waves and turning as much as possible.
The race director ran 10 minute heats with 3 minute intermissions and the riders will be scored on their 2 best waves.
A big result early on was the elimination of the 2008 Wave Master World Champion, Mitu Monteiro (CV, F-ONE) by the local rider Ian Owczarzaw (BRA, MORMAII). He is a powerful rider and performed some strong turns, to the delight of the locals on the beach.
Kirsty Jones (UK, NORTH) looked good in her heat against Olga Fita (SPA, FLEXIFOIL) and progressed to the semi final to face Gisela Pulido (SPA, AIRUSH).
A great heat today was in the second round between Abel Lago (2007 Wave Master Champion) and Eli Zarka (ISR, F-ONE). Both were riding the conditions excellently and were turning as hard as possible on the smaller waves. Abel tried a few variations on the waves, with a superb air to reverse, but Eli had a strong heat and scored high on his waves with good selection in these variable conditions, edging Abel out of the single elimination.
The tied came in around 2pm and brought with it some waves to give the riders a little more to work with. Unfortunately the wind was not accommodating and looked to be dropping off a little. It eventually dropped below competition standards and had turned on-shore around 4pm.
The race director stopped the quarterfinal heat between Cameron Dietrich (HAW, CABRINHA) and Gustavo Foerster (BRA, NAISH). This will continue tomorrow and the Wave riders will get another day to run their heats and hopefully finish the double elimination before the end of the day.