Saturday, 08 January 2011 12:26

The 12th – 16th January see’s the return of the Kite Tour Asia to Mui Ne to one of the most popular tour stop venues of last year's Asian Tour.

In its second season the KTA is having to bridge the gap as full local sponsorship support could not be found for this years event and the KTA team wanted to ensure that local riders in Vietnam do not miss out on the 10/11 Asian Kiteboard Tour. There has been exciting news about the development of a Mui Ne based Vietnamese riders team, who will be using the 3rd round of the KTA tour as their launch pad into international competition, so as they say the show has to go on. With title brand sponsors Cabrinha and local support from Sankara, Wax and the Vietnam Kiteboarding School the third round of the 2010-11 continental kiteboard tour is full steam ahead and looking to top its rider entry level from last year.

In the first year of the Kiteboard Tour Asia over the 09/10 winter monsoon season, Vietnam provided the KTA with its biggest event, some 71 riders from 11 different countries that took part in a full four days of competition in freestyle, hang-time and course racing. This year we are hoping to do even better following the solid start in the first two rounds held Turkey and China. In China the KTA was to see over 80 riders taking part showing that the tour in its second year is growing in popularity and support.

With the renowned strong wind conditions in Mui Ne we are expecting not only a solid local entry but also greater numbers of riders from further afield. Pre-event entries already indicate that riders from Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, China and Hong Kong will be converging on Mui Ne for the event along with a number of riders from outside the region including New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

The stage is set for an exciting week once again for the KTA, but it’s not a show just for the competitors as kiteboarding is without a doubt one of the most visually exciting watersports to watch in the world right now. Whether it’s the freestyle explosions of gymnastic moves and tricks or the mass fleets of riders battling it out for top place in the course racing it will hold you captivated for duration. Plus if conditions allow we could all be in for the a further treat with the SPLOCS Old Skool trophy, which is the KTA’s ongoing tribute to the big air skills that first attracted many of us to this amazing sport.

So grab a train, plane or automobile and get yourself over to Mui Ne, after all Christmas is over, the New Year hangovers are done and there’s nothing good on the TV - so what have you got to lose…….?

http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org