Men:

The trials for the men were done half way trough the afternoon and the conditions were awesome, constant wind and a lot of action!

Handle passes, grabs, high jumps and a small amount of board off moves were shown in front of the judging area.

For some riders the trials were not the best beginning of an event, very good riders that follow the tour or to be seen a lot during the year weren’t able to enter the main event.

Will James (USA) was one of those riders, he and Sky Solbach (USA) went man on man in the last heat for that 1 place in the main event, Will didn’t sail his usual as he’s been sick since he arrived here in the DR, Sky did some really good moves, powered up handle passes and nice and powered unhooked back loops with a grab. Marc Ramseier (SUI) didn’t go on to the main event either; he’s still injured on his wrist. Leo Rafael Estredo (VEN) lost against Ruben Lenten (NED), though the heat was super close but Leo sailed out the competition area most of the time. Alex pages (ESP) had a tough heat against youngster Daniel Anderson (KA) and Daniel took the place for the main event. Another though heat was Marcelo Cunha against Nacho Yuste, both men are very good riders, Nacho landed more consistently but Marcelo did some really hard moves, close call! Sebastian Cattelan (FRA) lost against Melvin De Leon Paulino (DOM REP), Melvin has been doing really good in the last events, he’s been riding consistent and landing good moves.

The 16 riders going trough to the main event:

Guilherme Brandao (BRA)

Antoine Jaubert (FRA)

Nacho Yuste (ESP)

Alex Tritten (FRA)

Jojo Carneiro (BRA)

Ben Meyer (USA)

Andy Hurdman (USA)

Christian Dittrich (SWE)

Daniel Anderson (KA)

Ruben Lenten (NED)

Julian Kidd (KA)

Melvin De Leon Paulino (DOM REP)

Jason Stone (USA)

Mikael Blomvall (SWE)

Alex Soto (DOM REP)

Sky Solbach (USA)

Main event

Right after the trials of the women the first heat of the first round of the main event went out on the water.

The first 3 heats of the first round got finished and already some major action went on, bad and good one! Andre Phillip lost his kite after 4 min of the heat, his leash broke but still won the heat from local superstar Luciano Gonzales. Andre was more technical and advanced because of that. In the third heat also Mark Shinn broke his foot strap screw and took another board but was too small for those conditions and lost his heat from Ben Meyer, Ben rode very good and made a lot of handle passes and powered moves.

Jose Luis Ciriaco felt good at his home spot and advanced to the next round from Jeremy Eloy.

The rest of the heats from the first round will be on first thing tomorrow morning!

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Women:

The women went when the trials for the men were over! In the first round, 4 heats of 4 women, the winner of each heat had a place direct in the main event and second and third place had a second chance in the second round. Like with the men some good riders lost their place in the main event, CJ Jones (KA) and Fabienne D’Ortoli (FRA) both sailed really good but didn’t got through to next round, neither did Kristina Karlsson (SWE) and Elsa Saintville (FRA). In the second round Aurelia Herpin (FRA) lost to Jo Wilson (UK), Aurelia had a really good heat in the first round with kiteloops, surface handle passes and a lot of different moves. Michelle Glazman didn’t advance from the heat with Julie Simsar (FRA); Michelle arrived late in the heat. The same with Emma York (UK), she was too late for her heat and didn’t went out anymore. Anne Sparre took advantage on that one and went on to the main event. Angela Peral was on a 6 meter and was rather underpowered but she did the best kiteloop of the day!

The 8 women advancing to the main event:

Michelle Baillot (GUA)

Jo Wilson (UK)

Morgan Skiperdene (USA)

Julie Simsar (FRA)

Bri Chmel (USA)

Anne Sparre (SWE)

Ania Grzelinska (POL)

Angela Peral (ESP)