Day 1 - Trials

The Kiteboarding World Tour started with Trials for the first day of competition in Barra Do Cunhau, Brazil. With ten Brazilian riders on form to enter the main event together with a lot of international riders, it promised to be a good day of action. Once the tide came up, the conditions changed from a flat spot in the river mouth to choppier waters. But that didn’t stop the Brazilians from giving the spectators a glimpse of their level.

According to Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil), the Brazilian riders come from a “champions factory”, the famous spot of Cumbuco, near Fortaleza. The spot is renowned for its flat-water lagoon, with perfect wind conditions all year long.

The Brazilians training has consisted of watching web videos of the pros and trying hard to land all their tricks in order to prepare for the PKRA tour stop this week. It’s a chance for them to compare their level with the best riders in the world and prove that they are not only the kings of their own spot, but also potential world champions.

After the first round of trials a very interesting competition for the rest of the week seemed to be on hand, as most of the Brazilian riders made an outstanding impression, winning most of today’s heats.

There were no major surprises as all the main riders qualified into the main event. Although competitors such as Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD), Michael Schitzhofer (AUT, Best), Christopher Tack (BEL, Liquid Force) and Nils Wesch (Ger, Naish) lost in the first round against the Brazilians and had to compete again in order to get qualified for the main event.

Two wild cards were given to Madson (BRA), and to Silva Eudazio (BRA). Eudazio, who won the Brazilian Nationals at the beginning of the week, promises to be a strong contender for the podium at this event with everyone talking about his incredible skills on the water.

The top 8 riders were pre-seeded into the main event and watched the action from the beach. Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot), current leader of the tour, said that with such a high level and a perfect spot that has different conditions depending on the tide, the event should be very interesting.

More than half of the 14 places left were taken by Brazilian riders.

Fernandez injured himself on a bad landing and there was no word this evening if he will be able to compete tomorrow. If not, his spot would go to Nils Wesch (Ger, Naish).

The single elimination is set to start tomorrow at 10.30am and the wind is predicted to be on for the rest of the week. Race Director Olaf Van Tol has decided to spread the competition over the four-day waiting period in order to kite in the best possible conditions every day.

This is event is organized by Dream Factory with the PKRA. The Kitesurf Wind Riders is sponsored by Volkswagen, co sponsored by the Kitesurf and Surf Association of Rio Grande de Norte (AKSRN), Viva Barra Association, the Ministery of Tourism, the State of Rio Grande do Norte, the secretary of Tourism of Rio Grande do Norte and Emprotur.



Registration

Brazil welcomed the cream of Kiteboarding’s freestylers for the PKRA World Tour this week on the beautiful spot of Barra do Cunhau, Rio Grande do Norte.

At this time of year it is one of the windiest places on earth and promises to produce an exciting week of competition.

Already hosting the national championships the previous week for the Volkswagen Kite Tour, some new talents have been revealed and are looking forward to taking on the top freestyle kitesurfers in the world. These include: Eudázio Da Silva (BRA) actual leader of the Brazilian tour, Carlos Madson (BRA), 2010 Brazilian champion, and Evandro Da Silva (BRA) who came 2nd on the last PKRA Brazilian event 3 years ago.

In total thirty-four riders from over ten different nations registered in this, the sixth freestyle tour stop of the season. It’s been an action packed season with the riders battling for the title all around the world from Thailand to Morocco and most recently in Germany.

Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush), Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD), Tom Hebert (FRA, North) and Ariel Corniel (DOM, Ozone) have been training here all week and all have commented that the conditions are perfect for competition as the spot offers perfect flat water and steady trade winds.

Recently crowned world champion Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) spent his time training up in the north of Brazil, in Cumbuco, Ceara and stated that the level of the local Brazilian riders was unreal. The Dutch rider hasn’t lost a single heat this year and is looking forward to defend his winning streak.

In the girls division, Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) won the nationals in Barra do Cunhau just last week, Karolina Winkowska (POL, Slingshot) injured her ankle in Cumbuco and won’t be able to compete in this event, leaving her Polish friend Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile) represent their home country.

This tour stop will be the second to last event of the year with 37000 dollars prize money up for grabs.

This is event is organized by Dream Factory with the PKRA. The Kitesurf Wind Riders is sponsored by Volkswagen, co sponsored by the Kitesurf and Surf Association of Rio Grande de Norte (AKSRN), Viva Barra Association, the Ministery of Tourism, the State of Rio Grande do Norte, the secretary of Tourism of Rio Grande do Norte and Emprotur.

More info on: www.prokitetour.com

Vandaag en gisteren hier al gevaren, en is best goeie spot als je een beetje upwind gaat.
Hangt heel veel af van de stroming, maar we zullen proberen de wedstrijd te doen tijdens de beste condities.
Morgen starten we met de trials en we zijn al zeker dat het niveau hoog zal liggen!!
Bij de vrouwen valt het op dat Gisela Pulido er niet is, en ook Karolina Winkowska komt niet. Karolina heeft haar ligamenten in de enkel uitgerekt een paar dagen terug op de cauipe lagoon.

Allrighty, klaar voor actie?
Hier de ladders voor de kwalificatieronde.
Als je je heat wint, ga je gelijk door naar het main event.
Indien je niet wint krijg je nog een kans in de volgende ronde. Win je die heat, ga je ook door naar het main event.
Check:

Wrom moet Kevin eerst kwalificeren?

Ja, in Duitsland kreeg hij een wildcard van de organisatie.

Het is op zich logisch, hij behoort niet tot de top 8 en de organisatie heeft zo te zien geen wildcard's uitgedeeld

zie net dat organisatie wel 2 wildcards heeft uitgedeeld hier
Aan de namen te zien gok ik op 2 brazilianen oid

Hele mooi spot daar zelf ook geweest en dream kite 2010 mee gemaakt. Hoop dat er mooie beelden komen.

de twee wildcards gingen naar brazilianen, en heb die gasten zien varen, het is impressive!!
Internet is hier een hele tijd uitgevallen, dus de livestream werkte niet.
Nu zou het weer moeten werken
over 7min laatste heat van de dag. Diegene die deze heat wint mag ook naar het main event.
Tack en Kevin zijn er al in. Kevin na ronde 1 en Tack na de tweede ronde

Check ook de daily pictures van vandaag! (zie bovenaan item)

@ wazzaah omdat alle riders zich gewoon kwalificeren die niet in de top 8 staan
riders die hetzelfde hebben gehad ....een enkeling zelfs 2x hebben dezelfde weg moeten bewandelen , zelfs zonder wildcards.

Nuria Goma uit Barcelona niet vergeten
Racing: #4
Wave: #3
http://prokitetour.com/event.php?id=114

http://nuriagoma.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-raceboardnice.html
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuria-Goma/111136348907942

Serieus???
Ze is hier niet hoor

Oke, vandaag regent het een beetje, maar er is genoeg wind! DUS skippersmeeting om 10.30 lokale tijd. Dat is 15u30 Nederlandse tijd!
We zullen starten met de Singles, dus Tack en Kevin moeten in actie schieten in de eerste ronde!
In ronde 2 moet Youri ook aan de bak!
Hopelijk doet de livestream het beter vandaag...