Day 4

The final day of competition at the MINI kiteboard world cup on the Riviera Nayarit had great conditions. The thermal wind picked up to about 15 knots and two races were run. The first race was won by Bryan Lake and Julien Kerneur won the second race. On the women side, Smunty won the first race and Arroyo won the second race. After the races Kevin Langeree and Alex Pastor put on a great freestyle show in front of the Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta. The day wrapped up with a beautiful prize ceremony crowning Bryan Lake and Smunty as the winners of the Slalom and Langeree and Smunty won the freestyle.

The slalom course was set up with long legs and four marks to push the riders to their maximum speed, while rounding the marks at full speed. The wind was a steady 15 knots and riders were riding their 11 and 13 meter kites. The first race was run in a quarterfinal, semifinal and final format with the top three riders advancing to the next round. Once again all the favorites advanced to the final. Lake had a great start along with Kernuer, Lake just seem to have more speed and reached the mark first. Adam Koch came back strong and overtook Kerneur to move into second. The two battled all the way to the finish line but Koch won the exchange and got his best finish of the event. Lake stayed in front and won his fifth consecutive race.

The final race of the event was set up with two half feet semifinals and an eight-man final. All three races were extremely exciting with all the riders pushing each other right from the start. Once again all the top riders made it into the final and had to prepare for a very competitive eight-man final. All the competitors were within meters of the start line when the green flag went up and were already going full speed to the first Mark. Brian Lake and Adam Koch arrived at the mark first but Bryan hit a wave and kart wheeled into Adam and they tangle kites, Bryan was disqualified and Adam given a redress. Julien Kernuer went on to win his first race followed by Adam Withington who got a second place finish.

"Slalom is a relax approach to competitive racing, going full speed, touching kites and being fair play. No harm, no foul approached to close racing” – Bryan Lake

Day 3

Langeree and Smunty win the Freestyle in Mexico



The third day of competition at the MINI kiteboard World Cup in Mexico was action-packed. The day started with a full round of slalom won by Bryan Lake and Warenka Smunty. After the 1st race the wind was strong enough to start the freestyle old school / new school competition. Kevin Langeree and Smunty won the single elimination but Anthar Racca the young Mexican was the standout. A large crowd came out to watch all the action and cheer on the riders.

The Slalom course was setup with 5 marks that were close together to force the riders to really focus on the jibing. The quarter finals ran smoothly with all the top riders advancing into the semifinals. The first semifinal was won by Adam Koch and the second by Bryan Lake. The Final was close with all the riders being perfect at the start. A tight group gathered at the start and Lake pushed to the front with a perfect start. Koch was second followed by Kerneur and Withington. After the 3rd mark Koch crashed and Julien and Withington were able to pass him. Lake won, followed by Kerneur and Withington.

The women side was shorthanded when Withington and another kiter were disqualified for being in the triangle before the start. This left the door open for Smunty and Raquel Arroyo to make a run at the podium. Veronica was also able to improve her rankings and finished 3rd in the womens fourth race.

With the wind blowing a steady 15 knots the race director decided to start the freestyle competition. The format was a mix of old school and new school. After a quick round of trials to work the ladder down to the top 12, it was time to start the show. Tapia, Molk and gonzalez were the stand out of the first round landing nice slim’s, 313’s and BJ’s. The next round the top four men Langeree, Pastor, Kerneur and Racca were the precedes and riders to beat. Kerneur Opened the round with some great handle passes, Board off’s and 1440. Next Kevin started the heat with a massive flat 3 and some nice old school tricks. Racca came out and landed some technical passes to move into the next round were he met Alex Pastor who also won his heat.

The semifinal between Langeree and Kerneur was really entertaining, with their mix of old school and technical handle passes, Kevin won with his perfect back mobe and flat 3 and advances to the final. Racca put on a good show but Alex was too good for the 12 year old and also advanced to the final with a flat 5 and solid front blind. During the final the wind was getting lighter and Kevin used his 17m kite to land some good old school and new school tricks to win the single elimination. In the losers final Racca was very technical but did not land enough Old school tricks to defeat Kerneur.

Day 2

The mornings started with small glassy waves in front of the Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta. By the afternoon the thermal winds had kicked in and two full slalom ladders of men and women were run at the MINI kiteboard World Cup. Bryan Lake won both of his finals on the men side and Smunty and Withington each won one final. The course was setup by the race director with shorter legs and more marks to make the course more technical.

The first slalom ladder started in the building thermal winds and riders needed to use their bigger kites to get off the beach in the on-shore winds. The first round was run with no upsets and the top riders advanced. The first semifinal Adam Koch and Gunnar Biniasch both crossed the line early and were disqualified and the race was rerun without them, giving two unseeded riders a chance at a final. The ladders were setup with six riders in the final and semifinal. This made the start more challenging because riders really wanted to be ahead of the pack before the start, so that they could have more room at the first mark and the lead. The final was won by Bryan Lake who was perfect right from the start. Julien Kerneur from France tried to challenge him but Bryan was too strong.

For The second slalom ladder the wind had picked and some riders decided to go down to their 11 and 13 meter kites. This time all the starts were perfect and no one was disqualified. All the riders were getting their timing better on the starts and started pushing each other. The final had all the top riders except Koch who broke a line on his way to the starting line, they were all within meters of the start line when the green flag went up and the race was on. It was a close battle to the first mark with Kerneur and Lake battering for the lead, in the end it was Lake who took the win with Kerneur second and Whithington third.

The womens racing was very exciting with all the girls getting a better feel for the course and starts. It was too close to call right from the start with a tight race to the first mark. After a few exchanges it was Warenka Smunty who won the first womens final. The second final was won by Jessica Withington was on fire with her 17m kite and dominated the whole race.

Kevin Langeree and Alex Pastor put on a great display of freestyle close to the beach while the racers were on the water. The light winds did not stop them. They both put up their 15m kites and played on the kickers and flat water in-between the waves. A few more knots are still needed to run the freestyle, but the conditions are perfect for the light wind Slalom.


Day 1

The first day of competition at the MINI Kiteboard World Cup was slow building, but by four in the afternoon the thermal winds had turned on and the slalom was set to start on the Riviera Nayarit. Bryan Lake and Warenka Smunty both won their first finals in spectacular fashion. The heats were close in the beginning but by the end of the day both finals were decided on the last leg of the race. All the riders were happy about the new format and are looking forward to more racing tomorrow in front of the Hard Rock Hotel.

The 22 men ladder was set up so that the top 4 men of the first 4 heats would advance out of the first round, then the top two would advance through the quarters and semis to make a 4 men final. In the first heat of the day the favorites, 2012 world slalom champion Julien Kerneur and Sean Farley both advanced. The next heat Adam Kock and Kevin Langeree also advanced. Kevin was on a twin tip and was perfect on the start but Adam just had more board speed and easily advanced to the next round. Heat 3 Adam Withington and Gunnar Biniasch battled for the lead and Alex Pastor came in third. In Heat 4, the last heat of the round Bryan lake dominated the field and advanced.

The quarter finals had no major upset except for Farley who was disqualified for taking out Basave in the second heat, all the other favorites advanced to the semis where the competition started heating up. The first semifinal Kerneur and Kock easily qualified for the final and had to wait for the very competitive 2nd semifinal to finish. Ramirez and Biniasch gave Lake and Whithington a good run but could not finish in the top two to advance to the final.

The Lake, Kock, Kerneur and Withington final was close right from the start. All four men had perfect starts just a couple of meters apart. Adam Kock took the lead from the start and had to hold off Lake for much of the race, with Bryan trying to cut inside at the marks to try to get a lead. Their kites made contacts a few times but unless you are reckless you can push the limits in Slalom racing. Kerneur had some troubles at the first mark and Whithington capitalized on it to secure a 3rd place finish. Lakes aggressive kiting paid off when he was finally able to take the inside line at the last mark and accelerate to the finish line, Adam held the lead most of the race, but Bryan’s strategy paid off with a win.

The 7 girls had a winner take all race. The girls were a little slow at the start but once the race was underway it was very exciting. Erika was just a couple of meters early and had to be disqualified. Then it was a close battle between Warenka and Arroyo all the way to the last leg when Warenka was able to grab the lead and win the first women heat and final of the day.

Tomorrow the ladders will be a little different with two six men semifinals and one six men final.



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