Day 4:

The wind stayed light at the beetle kitesurf World Cup, in Saint Peter Ording Germany. Slalom racers and freestylers were ready to go at 11 AM this morning at the skippers meeting, but the wind was not cooperating. The freestylers were released for the day but the racers needing only 6 knots of wind to complete the course were hoping that in the afternoon the sea breeze would kick in. The wind never materialized and all the competitors enjoyed the kite village with the skate ramp, volleyball courts and many other activities planned around the event site. The forecast is to looking light for tomorrow but the slalom racers are still hoping for a light breeze to get some races in.

I caught up with 3 riders: Kevin Langeree(NED, Naish), Annabel Van Westerop(ABW, Cabrinha) and Adam Withington(MEX, ASV kites) and asked them questions about gear and how the season was going.

The big change for you at this event is that you went from straps to boots, how this change affecting your riding?

Kevin: I was one of the last one still riding foot straps with Ariel Corniel and Eudazio da Silva. I tried a few pairs of bindings and none of them were very comfortable and I could not understand why everybody was so stoked on them. Now I’ve got a pair of Ronix that is light and comfortable for my feet. It’s a new challenge to ride with them in competition and I’m hoping that I’ll be a land more tricks with more pwer and that it will pay off with a win.

Question for Annabel: How as switching over to boots changed your riding?

Annabel: If I look at videos of how I was riding before I started using boots to how I ride today. I feel that my style has improved, I have more power and I can land more tricks. I really feel that it has helped my riding.

Adam Whitington is one of the top slalom racers in the world and is currently 3rd on the PKRA. We asked him how the season was going and how he sees slalom racing evolve.?

Adam: This is the 1st year that slalom has a Pro tour and I pretty excited about it, I’ve been racing slalom for 3 years already. Have mainly been competing at home in a local race series and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a race that does not forgive mistakes, one mistake and you can go from 1st to last. The high-speed racing is really fun and it’s also fun for spectators that can follow it, because it’s always close to the beach. I really see slalom blossoming over the next few years and in Europe a lot of people already practice slalom racing. We have a pretty small fleet of this event but extremely competitive once you get to the semifinal it’s hard to know who is going to advance. I really hope that slalom booms the next few years and that we have large competitive fleets.

Day 3:

After 2 days of freestyle it was time to give way to the slalom racers at the Beetle kitesurf World Cup, Saint Peter Orting Germany. At 11 AM the skippers meeting was held, explaining the rules of slalom and answering questions the racers might have. This is the first PKRA slalom event in Europe and first event for many riders. By 2 o’clock the wind had filled in and the first race was started. Bryan Lake and Christine Bnunniger were the winners of the first slalom ladder, taking the points lead for the event.

The slalom ladder for the men is set up with 5 heats of eight-man with the top 3 advancing to the next round. The women have 2 heats of 6 with the top 3 advancing into the final. The winds were fairly light throughout the whole day, fluctuating between 8 to 10 knots, so racers that only had twin tips were at serious disadvantage. The 1st round was dominated by the season veterans with all the top seeds advancing. On the women side Winkowska, Lange and Van Westerop were the surprise of the event, with Karolina winning her first race.
The two men’s semifinals were really exciting, in the 1st semifinal, Kerneur took the win with Withington in 2nd and Gruber in 3rd. The 2nd semifinal Brian Lake won the race but Castel gave him a good run on the 1st reach. Gunnar Biniash eventually caught up to the pack and finished second. The men’s final was set with all the top seeds advancing.

"Slalom Racing is very fun, full speed, it is technical to keep the kite going during the jibes in the light winds" - Romain Castel

The women’s final was 1st on the water with Christine Bnunniger dominating the fleet and taking the win. Sysoeva finished second, Boese and winkowska had a close battle for third but Boese took the lead on the last mark and the last podium spot. The 1st men’s final was called back after Julien Kerneur crossed the line early. The race was reset and Castel had a great start and was 1st at the mark. However, Lake’s experience and great jibing got himself back in 1st until the end of the race. Adam Withington started in 5th place and fought is way all the way back up to 3rd and Florian Gruber finished 2nd after passing Castel. Castel finished 4th and Biniash 5th.

The wind was fairly light and only one round of racing was run, the forecast is looking better for the next few days so many more races should happen. All the lead changes in the final and semifinals were really exciting and the battle should keep heating up as the days go on and the competitors get more comfortable with the German conditions.

Day 2:

Sunday brought great winds to the Beetle kitesurfing World Cup in Saint Peter Ording, Germany. . The trials for the men and women were finished and the 1st rounds of men and women main event were also completed. The competition started at 8:30 in the morning and finished just after 8 in the evening. The action was nonstop with men and women battling to qualify for the main event. Every heat was very exciting with no clear favorites and every rider fighting to make it into the next round and main event.

With 48 heats being run today, it is very hard to give due credits to all the riders that entered the competition today. It is not possible to mention all the riders that took to the water today, but we can say that everyone was charging hard and giving it their best. In total 8 women and 57 men were eliminated from the competition, 12 women than 24 men remain to try to claim €52,000 in prize money and a chance to win the 2013 Beetle kite surfing world cup.

Here is how the trials finished:

in the 2nd round of the men’s trials, 9 heats of men were run, with the winner going straight into the main event and the 27 remaining riders moved onto the next rounds to claim the last 5 spots. In the 1st heat Paul Serin had a flawless heat and took the win. The 2nd heat hutter got and is grabs and stylish back mobes and S3 to also advance. Up next Ariel Corniel from the Dominican Republic landed a perfect front blind mobe to advance to the main event. In heat 22 Garashchenko surprised some top riders by taking the win. Next on the water Patrick Blanc was riding really well right from the start and also secured a spot into the main event. Aaron Hadlow was in the next heat and easily qualified my getting some nice toe mobes and mobes 5’s. Heat 25 at 2 Brazilians battling, Evandro da Silva upset Madson to advance. The final 2 heats of the round Jaspan and Rondina both advanced with some very technical tricks like the G-spot and crow mobe.

In the 3rd round of the trials, 9 heats of 3 men were run with the winner advancing to the next round and the 2 other riders being eliminated from the trials. In this round many top guys were eliminated like Garat.S, Burgers, Bakker, Font, Hays, Alcazar and many more excellent riders. In The 4th round nobody was eliminated but the winner qualified for the Beetle kite surf World Cup. The 1st heat had Umpierre, Neto and Spiessberger. The heat was very close but Spiessberger got some very solid tricks in and won the heat. Heat 38 Shitzhofer, Scholte and Garat.V had a great heat but Scholte put a lot of power in all his tricks and won. The last heat of the round Onieva, Madson and Suriel also had a great heat with Suriel landing some tricks with the kite super low, with lots of power.

The 5th round of the men’s trials only had 2 heats with the winner advancing. In the 1st Heat Umpierre defeated Garat.V and Onieva to qualify for one of the last two spots into the main event. The last heat of the trials was the most exciting with Neto and Madosn battling hard with Madson defeating Neto and Schitzhofer in the dying minutes of the heat with a perfect KGB 5. After that heat the men’s trials were finished and the main event was set. Just a draw was needed to seed the last 8 men.

The women’s trials were also extremely exciting with all the girls being able to land blind judges, 313, KGB’s and other technical moves. The girl’s format was a bit different than the men’s with the winner of each of the 7 heats advancing into the main event. In the first round Lange, Lammerts, Taabbel and tour veteran Jungo qualified for the main event. The next round it was do or die for the girls, with only the winner advancing. Valvatne upset Whiteley and Van der Snoek to qualify in the first heat. In the final two heats Novotna and Sloloveykina both qualified for the main event with some great handle passes.

After 8hrs of trials the main event was ready to start. The 1st heat on the water was Hutter vs Garashchenko, Hutter was riding very well and defeated the Russian. Next Blanc vs Hadlow was on the water with Aaron being extremely consistent and technical defeating Blanc who was riding well landing some great tricks. Hadlow’s victory sets up a rematch of France, with Youri Zoon in round 2. The following heats Jaspan and Spiessberger advanced with many technical tricks. The 5th heat with Madson and Umpierre was a matchup of the two men that had gone through 5 heats in the trials to qualify, even though they were both tired, they charge hard and Umpierre took the win. Up next Rondina was looking great landing many toe side mobes and a nice back mobe. The last 2 heats of the 1st round Rodwald the german champion advanced and Suriel advanced over his country man Corniel.

In the 1st round of the women’s main event all the favorites advanced. Novotna defeated Soloveykina in a close heat, with both girls landing some technical passes. Lange upset the German champion Lutz at home. Jungo and Lammerts had a very close heat with similar tricks but Jungo just got the edge. The final heat of the day the two girls Valvatne and Taabbel had a hard time finding their rhythm but Taabbel did enough to win.

The 2nd day of the PKRA beetle kite surf World Cup was truly action-packed. The trials were some of the most competitive we have ever seen on the PKRA and the rest of the competition should be even better. The wind forecast is looking light for the next few days, so it looks like we will probably be switching over to slalom and have to wait until the weekend to finish the freestyle competition.

Day 1 - Trials

The first day of competition got underway at the Beetle Kitesurf World Cup in Saint Peter Ording, with very competitive heats of 4 and light winds. 11 heats were completed out of the 41 men’s heat of the trials. The wind was slow building all day, but by 4pm the conditions were suitable. The wind was light and men were riding kites between 12 to 17 meters. All the favorites advanced to the next round with no major upsets taking place in the early heats of the trials.

The 1st round of the men’s PKRA trials is set up with 18 heats of 4 men, with 2 advancing to the next round and 2 being eliminated from the competition. During trials riders are usually given 2 chances to qualify for the main event, however with so many competitors having registered for the PKRA Beetle Kitesurf World Cup the format had to be altered to be able to choose the top 14 riders out of 71. This format puts a lot of pressure on the riders; they must perform flawlessly in the 1st heat if they want to remain in the competition. The trials are full of extremely talented riders like 5 times world champion Aaron Hadlow, Sebastian Garat, Forrest Bakker, Carlos Madson, Alex Neto and many more.

The 1st heat of the day Serin and Font advanced to the next round, Serin landed a nice blind judge 3 and slim chance. The 2nd heat Forest Bakker was riding really well, landing a 315 and stylish back mobe. Next, Victor Hays got in a nice front mobe and 315 to win his heat and advance the next round with Sotov. The 4th heat was probably the best one of the day with Louis Hutter getting some stylish grabs on his mobe’s and Unpierre from Uruguay landing some very solid tricks and finishing a close 2nd behind Hutter, but it was enough to advance the next round.

A This point the wind started dropping and getting a bit more gusty with the tide starting to go out and riders needed to put up their big kites. In heat 5 and 6 the Austrian riders Spiessberger and Schitzhofer easily advanced along with the Aruban Burgers and the South African rider Oswald Smith. In heat 7 Ariel Cornell was looking really comfortable, landing a nice front blind mobe and powered low back mobe. Heat 8 Neto from Brazil showcased some powerful riding and qualified for the next round. The next heat Borisov used a 17 m SS Turbine to make sure he had the power to go upwind and get in as many tricks as possible. Rick Jensen was also in this heat and was unable to match the other riders performances and was eliminated from the competition.

The next heat Hadlow got in his repertoire of tricks, to get the win, but the battle for 2nd was very close between a Alcazar and Leleu. They had almost similar tricks but in a close 3/2 decision Alcazar advanced to the next round. The final heat of the day Patrick Blanc was dominating and Chris Bobryk got a nice front blind with a tail grab to also advance. Heat 12 went on the water but the wind was getting too light and the race director called the competition for the day.



The trials have been very exciting to watch, with the riders knowing that they cannot hold back and need to give a great performance to advance into the main event of the Beetle kitesurf World Cup. The forecast is looking much more favorable for Sunday, and the competition will start at 8:30 AM. The main event will start in the afternoon after the trials. The live with David Tybursky will be on tomorrow afternoon when the main event starts.

Day 0 - Registration:

The registration day of the PKRA Beetle Kitesurfing World Cup, Saint Peter Ording, Germany brought the biggest PKRA fleet since the tour started in 2001, with 134 riders registered from 24 different countries. 81 men and 20 women are registered for the freestyle world cup and 39 men and 8 women are registered for the slalom world cup. The wind forecast is looking good for the week and especially good for Sunday. The organizers put on a beautiful opening ceremony with all the riders being called on stage carrying the flags of their nations.

81 men registered for the freestyle discipline, with the top 8 being qualified for the main event along with 2 wildcards, 71 riders will have to battle for 14 spots remaining to complete the 24 men ladder. The men’s trials will take close to 8 hours to complete and will be geared towards finding the best 14 riders in the trials. The women will also have to go through trials with 20 women for 12 spots. The top 4 girls are already prequalified but the rest will have to earn a spot into the main event. With winds forecasted to start picking up Saturday afternoon the trial should get underway soon after the event begins.

The top two men riders on tour at the moment are Alex pastor and Youri Zoon. Alex pastor is the current point leader on tour but Youri Zoon won the past two German events and is looking for a hat-trick. On the women’s side Gisela Pulido is the girl to beat, having one the past two events and being the point’s leader. The trials will be extremely exciting with riders like Aaron Hadlow, Rick Jensen, Seb Garat, Micheal Schitzhofer and 66 more extremely talented riders.

The slalom discipline will be very intense with a very competitive fleet. Top riders like Bryan Lake and Julien Kerneur are here to advance their lead in the points ranking and showcase for the first time in Europe what slalom racing is all about. The slalom races will be going throughout the week because they need very little wind to get underway.

The opening ceremony took place in the village that is built on the beach of Saint Peter-Ording, during the kitesurfing world cup. This village will be hosting all the competitors and thousands of spectators throughout the 9 day event. The riders were called by their nationality and were all brought together on stage. This event shows how truly diverse kitesurfing has become and is being practiced throughout the world.

The main event will be broadcast live with Dave Tyburski covering all action heat-by-heat. Toby Bromwich will be taking pictures all week, providing a great opportunity for many riders to get some amazing shots. Make sure you check out www.prokitetour.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest pictures, videos and photos.

Foto's Reinout Smit / Kitesurfpics

Bam, hopelijk wind en zon!

kan geen foto's uploaden van de C wainman

18 heren qualifer heats en 4 dames, druk programma dus in een week die vrij windloos lijkt te gaan verlopen. Hopelijk komen ze nog toe aan de singles en doubles.

Goeiemiddaag
nog geen wind.
Nu afwachten en vanaf er wat wind komt gaan we trials doen.
morgen ziet er goed uit dus dan bammmm actie.

vandaag 11 heats van de trials gevaren, morgenochtend om 08:00 skippersmeeting met mogelijke start om 08:30 voor het vervolg van de trials

slaapzacht

Ondertussen over redelijk tot zeer slom internet wat foto's op facebook.com/kitesurfpics gezet

tralalala, wereldrecord jureren gebroken vandaag. van 8.30 tot 19.30.
Helemaal kapot!
Goeie heats en actie.
Jammer dat Annelous haar laatste heat verloor tegen Jungo.
Haar tricks waren beter, maar Jungo deed een back to blind meer, terwijl Annelous volgens mij te weinig tricks had. Echt kak, maar volgens mij komt ze wel nog ver in de dubbels!

Mooi, eindelijk s aan t werk daar

live.prokitetour.com is op het moment onbereikbaar, maar de livestream is wel te volgen op Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7LK6SeGk8M&feature=c4-overview&list=UUP3bCLN5Lv79Al8VqgAampg

Ian: trick list gisteravond gezien.
Annelous zat op 4 trick die telde.
Jungo vaarde wel als een laffe dame met een lelijke stijl (dat gene wat ik zag tenminste)
Was gisteren inderdaad een lange dag. stond rond 07:15 op het strand met Jerrie en Dylan om hun materiaal al klaar te leggen en stapte rond 20:00u ofzo in de auto richting restaurant om wat te gaan eten. Ondertussen zelf weer thuis na een kleine 2 weken in DE vertoefd te hebben voor verschillende wedstrijden.
Trials van de PKRA waren inderdaad erg lang, waarbij er toch wel een behoorlijk aantal mensen aanwezig was die eigenlijk geeneens thuis horen op een PKRA maar eerst eens moeten gaan varen in een nationale wedstrijd van hun land.
Onze oosterburen weten echt wel wat een PKRA neerzetten inhoud. Strand staat echt bom en bomvol met publiek en bouwt nog een aardig feestje ook na afloop van de dag

Hoe staat het er nu voor. Geen wind meer?

Hoop dat de voorspellingen beter worden, dan ga ik donderdag rtijden.