Edge Hard Big Air Results: January 2007
Contest was held at Table View with 45 entrants in testing 10-20knot South wind with 8ft sets rolling in.
Edge Hard Big Air Comp Saturday 6th January 2007 – Table View in front of Primi, Cape Town, South Africa.Saturday dawned with cloudy skies, scattered showers and light onshore winds – not the greatest outlook for the organizers, but the barometer was rising and all the forecasts predicted 20knots+ for mid-afternoon.
Registration was completed at 13h00 and about 10 minutes later the wind swung around to South and started picking up. All the big names where there; the current Hang Time World Record holder with 8.87 secs Sebastian Cattelan of France (Genetrix, Xelerator), along with PKRA 3x World Champ Aaron Hadlow of the UK (Red Bull, Flexifoil, Kimsay), PKRA runner up Kevin Langeree of the Netherlands (Naish, O’Neill, Bloc Eyewear) and local hot-shots Greg Thijsse (Red Bull, Cabrinha, Oakley, Quiksilver, Kauai) and Tyrone Rawlins from Durban (North, Fox, Reef Brazil, Ion). All up 45 riders had registered as the wind kept picking up.
The swell was pumping, Windguru was calling it 4.5m at 14sec’s and first on the water was Kevin Langeree on a surfboard with his Torch 10m to test the conditions. The swell created some downwind current but the wind was perfect sideshore and it kept picking up. It was perfect waveriding conditions – and Kevin showed us he can do more than World Class Freestyle.
First start was announced for 15h15 and the single-elimination got underway with about 13-15knots and already in Heat 1 local Lanral “Bob†Ruddock (Best, Windsports) posted a fine 5.0sec jump.
In Heat 2, Renier Olivier of Langebaan (Naish, Reed, Cape Dr) posted a 5.66sec jump and the excitement on the beach started to rise. If the wind kept picking up the World Record would be in serious trouble.
Riders had been preparing for weeks testing best combination of linelength and kite types as there seems to be a big difference in the hang-time different kites generate. Most contenders were banking on flats, except Kevin and Aaron who stuck to the tried and tested C-kites. Aaron came straight from a 7km waveriding down-winder and entered his heat on 20m lines.
Heinrich Rohwer of the Strand (Cabrinha) went one up with a 6.03 in Heat 3. The wind was really light and the big ramps definately helped the guys extend the float down the back of the waves.
The following heats had fluctuating wind but the riders were still posting 4-6 sec hang-time up until Heat 9 when Swedens Maarten Bjoernsson (Ozone, Xelerator) boosted a 6.65sec jump. Seb Cattelan did one better in Heat 11 with 6.66secs.
In the Juniors division, Colin Heckroodt from Strand along with Jeandre from Cape Town (Cabrinha) showed the ou’tops that they were a force to be reckoned with, both posting jumps over 5 secs and advancing through a number of Heats. In the end Colin took the Juniors with a 5.4sec jump.
Only 2 ladies had entered, our own current Womens Speed World Record Holder and local diva Sjoukje Bredenkamp (Naish) and Jalou Langeree (Naish, O'Neill, Malibomba, Likeable, Bloc Eyewear) of the Netherlands and they had a very close contest seeing Jalou edge out her opponent with a 4.5sec jump vs. Sjoukjes 4.44sec’s.
The wind never quite came to the party - the highest gusts were probably around the 20knot mark so to get over 6 sec’s was a tough battle. In Heat 15 Heinrich Rohwer set the best time of the day with 6.78sec’s which put him into the quarter-finals. Aaron got knocked out in his second heat after posting a 5.7 secs and Kevin’s best was 5.41.
Local Allan Cox (Cabrinha, Long Ocean) best jumps were unfortunately not recorded by the judges but they saw a massive wipe-out and awarded him the Wipe-out of the day title.
A number of old local stalwarts, Gavin Spowart (Slingshoy, Cyclone), Grant Ross (Cabrinha), Shane Sheckle (Windsports, Best) did their best show that age and shop-keeping didn’t dampen their competitive spirits and put in some fine performances with Grant Ross taking the Kite-Importers title with a 5.8 sec jump.
Grants main man, Greg Thijsse, was on fire and went all the way to the final posting a personal best of 6.66secs in the process. Heinrich Rohwer and Lanral “Bob†Ruddock joined Greg T and Seb Cattelan in the semi-final. Seb has a cunning ability to sneak his way through all the heats, turning up the juice when required. He was so fired up he wanted the organizers to run again the following day because the wind prediction was better and he could smell a new record.
After the 2nd quarter-final he managed to tangle kites with Brad Symington (who also doubled as our very entertaining MC) with the result that his kite tore in half. Seb borrowed an Airush kite for the semi-final, advanced to the final where he then borrowed a Cabrinha and ousted Greg Thijsse for top-spot. Guess his thinking was: “If I use the same kite as my opponent – the best man will winâ€. And so he did.
The prize-giving was held Primi Studio and rumour has it that a number of kite-importers were unwillingly exported out of a late night Table View disco……
A big thank you goes out to our co-sponsor Primi for prizes and prize-giving venue, our judges Jeannie, Jemma, Iva and Zeno, MC; Brad Symington, Medic; Kassie and our water-patrol man Phillip – and last but not least, all the competitors, you guys did an outstanding job and we look forward to repeating the Edge Hard Big Air Contest same time next year.
Edge Hard Big Air Results Jan.06.2007
Best Junior: Colin Heckroodt (RSA) - 5.4secs – Primi Meal Voucher
Best Woman: Jalou Langeree (NL) Naish, O'Neill, Malibomba, Likeable, Bloc Eyewear - 4.5secs – Primi Meal Voucher
Best Masters: Maarten Bjoernsson (S) Ozone, Xelerator -6.65secs – Primi Meal Voucher
Best Wipe-out: Alan Cox - Primi Belt
Single Elimination Final:
1st Sebastian Cattelan (F) Genetrix, Xelerator - 6.0secs - R1,500
2nd Greg Thijsse (RSA) Red Bull, Cabrinha, Oakley, Quiksilver, Kauai - 5.07secs – R750
3rd Heinrich Rohwer (RSA) Cabrinha - 4.05 secs – R500
Best Wipe-Out: Alan Cox (RSA)
Best Hang-Time of the Contest: Heinrich Rohwer (RSA) 6.78secs – R2,500
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