mmmm  ik krijg geen rapportje van laurel...:?

Round One of the Single for the men was completed today in what some riders called the worst wind of their lives. Yes, that’s right even worse than Leucate and Fuerteventura. Gusty, variable direction, and strong. But hey, that’s what competition is all about, right?? If you can do good in this challenging winds, then you really deserve and earn your place in the next round.

30 men battled it out, here is a quick heat by heat run down.
Heat one: Shinn, Grinali, and Jaujou -
Grinali was a no show, Shinn won, it was the first time I have ever seen Mark Shinn do a straight jump in a heat (or anytime at all for that matter) That’s when you know the conditions are challenging!

Heat two: Williams, Hadlow, Hoceini, and Boure
Herve Boure past the heat with his combonation of wake-style and no footed jumps. Aaron Hadlow performed amazingly, getting a triple loft during his heat on one of his jumps and managing to land perfectly.

Heat three: Miller, Dansell, Ciracao, Gonzales
Luciano Gonzales had hurt his knee landing in shallow water the previous day and has to take a couple days off. Marcus Damsell was lofted by a gust upon launching and spent the heat being examined by the doc. He’s ok. Jose Luis was killing it, powered up on a 12, going huge. Leeshi Miller was also pulling some smooth no foot rotations.

Heat four: Sudrat K. , Lhote, Baker, Koch
This was a tough heat, all the guys were doing great moves despite the hard wind conditions. Adam’s competition experience and training ensured him a place in the second round and young French rider Lhote also came through.

Heat five: Sudrat J., Fleury, Perez, Mariani
Betrand Fleury and Perez were no shows. Julien showed off his mastery of kite loops. Newcomer Mariani is improving showing a nice level.

Heat six: Roussin, Fernandez, Eloy, Solbach
“Frenchy”Jeremy Eloy sailed a great heat with some nice heart attacks and transitions. Mikael Fernandez has recovered nicely from his ankle injury in Brazil and managed to push past Sky who definitely did not have his best heat.

Heat seven: Argov, Lago, Romain, Seales
Ok, I admit it I did not watch this heat, but from the photos I am checking out as I write this article the boys were all doing great. For sure a tough one for the judges, but Abel Lago and Pierre Romain were victorious.

Heat eight: Warchol, Rubesch, Deleau
Last years 2nd place rider Charles Deleau came out on top showing he has not lost his magic touch on the water. Hungarian newcomer Gergely Rubesch also went through.

After the first round the competition was cancelled for the day due to the increasingly variable and off-shore conditions. Overall its not too bad, a lot of sun, fun people around, and hey, we have wind and more forecasted!

Agde is very beautiful and famous for its nudist and swinging resorts. No naked people on the beach today, but quite a few spectators enjoying the action and the sun. Hoping for some better wind for the next days to finish the single for the boys and start the girls round. We have 14 women here, a great turn out from the ladies kite community.

Round Two for the boys will be run in a 4 man heat - top 2 advance format
Heat 9 - Shinn, Miller, Koch, Boure
Heat 10 - Ciriaco, Jaujou, Hadlow, Lhote
Heat 11 - Sudrat J., Lago, Rudesch, Eloy
Heat 12 - Romain, Mariani, Fernandez, Deleau

The Womens Ladder looks like:
Heat 1 - D’Ortoli, Herpin, Lignieres, Maunier
Heat 2 - Eastman, Farkas, Laliberte, Parmentier
Heat 3 - Jansen, Perlerup, Steindl
Heat 4 - Pulido, Consorti, Goeschl

Best of luck to all the riders, hope its windy where you are and until next time, good wind and Aloha!
Laurel

k dan :)