PKRA - Brazilie Youri en Bruna Winnen

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...

Brazilian rippers dominate the Trials on the PKRA

Sep-14-2011
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 (NED, 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 (NED, 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.

allright, over half uurtje gaan we van start!
Eerste heat: Fernandez vs Garat
Dan Langeree vs Da Silva
Tack vs De Souza
Da costa Souza vs Teixera gomes
.... Alles weer live te volgen op de link bovenaan het item. De ladders zullen ook te zien zijn onder de livestream.
Nu hopen dat het internet niet weg valt zodat jullie alles live kunnen volgen!
Wind ziet er goed uit

livestream doet t niet!

@Ostendlocal - Nurai komt pas vrijdag aan - want ze moest nog eerst een Spaans kampioenschap op Mar Menor winnen.

"Just got my new RRD Raceboard...I'm really excited about riding it, although I'll have to wait until Brazil to try it. I'm not even unpacking it so it doesn't get damage on the plane. Brazil next Friday!!" http://nuriagoma.blogspot.com/

maar wat heeft ze met de pkra te maken? we doen niet eens een race hier in brazil🙂 En de enige keren dat ik haar heb zien meedoen was ze onzichtbaar omdat ze te ver downwind uit de zone was🤡

Vandaag de eerste twee rondes afgewerkt van de singles en Kevin en Tack liggen er al uit.
Youri zit er nog in en die moet morgen tegen een braziliaantje👍

EddyC is verliefd😍

Die one-handed passes van Kevin zijn toch echt wel DIK hoor!!!

Kan ik begrijpen, beetje jong maar zoals ze hier in de kroeg zeggen zomers 2x16 is ook 32

@Wazaaah - Niet verliefd - in okt 2009 toen we (9 mannen) haar op strand en in de pousada nabij Taiba tegen kwamen had ik nooit verwacht dat zij echt PKRA zou meedoen - ze zag er goed uit en kon aardig kitesurfen. Haar toenmalige vriend was beter dan zij in golfkitesurf.
In nov 2010 weer tegen gekomen in Taiba - met hen een middag naar Pecem geweest voor golven die er haast niet waren.
En dan een paar maand later haar opgemerkt op een wedstrijd foto.
In 2004 hebben we Yourizoon leren kennen - en tegen zijn vader verteld dat die aardig kon kiten (wist ik toen veel) - en dan Nuria tegen gekomen.
Nu op de lagune van Taiba heb ik nog een heleboel bekende kiters ontmoet of in de weg gevaren (en van de video's afgekinpt geworden).

youri singles gewonnen👍

Youri singles gewonnen na een close heat met Alex Pastor!
Youri had wat cleanere landingen en meer snelheid. Maar Pastor ging ook echt goed!!
Marc Jacobs 3de
Seb Garat 4de

Voor de vrouwtjes toonde Bruna zich de sterktste door echt een super heat te varen!!!👍

Dat wordt 8 op een rij 👍

Start of the singles: the top 10 resists a Brazilian attack

Sep-15-2011
The start of the single eliminations was expected to be a good day of action as there was a Brazilian rider in almost every single heat for the PKRA tour stop in Barra Do Cunhau, Brazil. Most of the Brazilian riders are unknown and it was a surprise to see their level of riding going down today.

The first round is always an interesting show as the top 18 to 12 overall riders of the tour have to meet the best riders of the trials, who this week are mostly Brazilians. Mario Rodwald (GER, North) noted that there is a pack of unreachable riders leading the tour at the moment; Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot), Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush), Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) and Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch). But the rest of the riders from the 5th place to the 12th are all fighting hard to get up the rankings and are all pretty much at the same level. The arrival of a new fleet of challengers in this event makes the competition even more interesting because they can come out of nowhere to take on some of the big names.



Evandro Da Silva (BRA, RRD) who had his moment of fame three years ago in Piaui, Brazil when he came all the way back up from the last place to the finals of the double eliminations against Kevin Langeree (NED, Naish). He had a chance today to get his revenge in his first heat of the day. Both riders did a lot of tricks but Kevin’s experience in competition finally gave him the advantage as he secured the end of the heat by landing a one handed back kite loop 3. He performed most of his tricks with more height and speed than Evandro and took the win.

Christopher Tack (BEL, Liquid Force) who has been training in Brazil these past few weeks knew what the deal was going to be for this event and tried to pull his tricks with a lot more speed than Romario de Souza (BRA) however this resulted in bad landings. Romario landed a wider variety of tricks and advanced into the next round against Mario Rodwald (GER, North).

A full on Brazilian heat was next pitching good friends Tomas Gomez Texeira (BRA, RRD) and Rafael Da Costa Souza (BRA) against one another. Both riders come from the “Lagune of Cauipe” in Cumbuco and train together every day.

Today they had five international judging them and seven minutes to give their best. It ended in a very close 3-2 decision as both riders did the same amount of tricks but Rafael made the difference with a nice front blind mobe and a better overall execution of his tricks.

The Austrian riders Stefan Spiesseberger (AUT, North) and Michael Schitzhofer (AUT, Best) made a very good impression, especially Stefan who landed a perfect front blind mobe with a clean landing. On his side Michael had to verse one of the most technical riders of the competition, Brazilian Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD) who landed everything regular and switch giving him the win at 5-0.

The top 8 of the PKRA were automatically qualified into the second round of competition and had to verse the best riders who made it from the first.

Two Brazilian riders shone in these heats, firstly Romario de Souza (BRA) who beat Mario Rodwald (GER, North) currently ranked 7th on the tour and secondly Carlos Madson (BRA) beating Dominican Ariel Corniel (DOM, Ozone). Madson promises to be a serious contender, landing a kite loop 7 and twice as many tricks as Ariel in this heat!

Reno Romeu (BRA, North) who has been riding on the tour for years now had a bad stroke of luck and broke his leash during a trick which made him loose his kite on the landing. Unfortunately Reno couldn’t swim back to the shore as the current was so strong in the bay and left Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD) to advance into the third round.

We met with Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) after his heat against Kevin Langeree (NED, Naish) and he was happy to take the win as he got used to the spot and the chop resulting from the current going through the bay. Kevin wasn’t too happy about this choppy water as it reminded him of the conditions in which he landed on the back of a wave and tore his ACL last year.

Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch), Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) and Tom Hebert (FRA, North) made their way into the next round with a better kite position than their competitors and understood that the power of their tricks will make the difference in the river mouth of Barra do Cunhau.



The last heat of the day for the men was expected to be a good one since world champion Youri Zoon (NED, Slinshot) had to verse the best Brazilian rider and winner of the nationals this week, Eudazio Da Silva (BRA). But Eudazio commented that he didn’t have his best heat while Youri recognized that he tried to keep his kite as low as possible to keep the power that made his reputation.

Tomorrow he will meet another strong rider and definitely the revelation of the day, Carlos Madson (BRA).

We finished with three heats of women; Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile) was on form and landed her usual tricks to secure her heat landing a Blind Judge, 313 and a slim chance.

As for Lennartsson (SWE) and Bonzom (FRA) they made the difference with a railey to blind and advanced into the next round.

Tomorrow will see the end of the single elimination in the beautiful river mouth of Barra do Cunhau, Brazil.

This 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 Ministry of Tourism, the State of Rio Grande do Norte, the secretary of Tourism of Rio Grande do Norte and Emprotur.

Results Men
Results Women

Youri Zoon & Bruna Kajiya win the Single eliminations in Brazil

Sep-16-2011
Welcome to Brazil, Barra do Cunhau for the third day of competition and the end of the single eliminations. There were some very close heats due to the presence of the Brazilian champions in the quarter finals. The victories however went to Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) in the men’s and Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) in the women’s division, she was happy to take the win in her home country.



After one day of qualifiers and followed by a day in which the first two rounds of the single elimination were completed, today we were ready to see the best eight riders of this competition battling it out in the quarter finals.

We won’t keep you waiting, instead we’ll bring you straight to one of the biggest highlights of the day, the heat opposing Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot), 2011 PKRA World champion and Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD) 2010 Brazilian champion. Both riders went for a lot of tricks with power and clean landing. This was definitely one of the closest heats of the day as the Brazilian rider had already eliminated some of the best riders of the PKRA yesterday.

At the end of the heat there was a moment to remember when Youri heard the speaker announce the 30 last seconds of the heat and went for a Blind Judge 5 double handle pass. Youri missed the bar on the second pass and crashed so hard that he hurt his ribs. Youri was left injured after he did the exact same thing last year in New Caledonia during the finals.

Just after that Madson went for the same trick with the kite higher to gain more height, he completed the first pass, stabilized himself in the air, and amazingly managed to do the second pass and landed the trick whilst the kite came down.

Youri wins with a 3-2 decision and Madson is expected to be a great contender for the podium in the double elimination.

Back to the start, the quarter-finals saw the come back of Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD) who is having a bad year, ranking 13th overall. Today he had a very solid heat against the Italian rider Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) who is currently ranked third overall. Sebastien commented that he felt very confident with his riding and had one of his best heats while Alberto admitted that he crashed a lot and couldn’t get it together.

Sebastien advanced into the next round but got stopped by power machine and Vice World Champion Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush). Pastor is recognized by the judges as one of the riders who keeps his kite lower than everyone else on tour, this allows him to create one of the nicest styles and maintain perfect flow through his maneuvers. Alex advanced into the finals.

The heat between Tom Hebert (FRA, North) and Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch) who are ranked successively fourth and fifth on the overall ranking promised to be exciting. This was the second closest heat of the day; We met with Tom who was a bit frustrated after his heat since he felt like he gave everything he had to win, especially landing a massive back loop kite loop 5. Judge Ian Sleuyter later explained that Marc had a better overall execution with more power, speed and kite position than Tom through the entire heat.



In the girls division Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) and Joanna Litwin (POL, Nobile) logically made their way into the finals as they are the two best riders in this event. Both girls landed powerful wake style maneuvers such as Blind Judge’s, 313’s and mobes. Bruna Kajiya was very happy after her heat as she landed a couple of tricks which are very hard to pull off during a competition such as a powered back to pass and a low mobe. She secured her heat with usual 313’s and Blind Judge’s while Litwin crashed her attempts to land a slim chance and even a double S-bend to blind!

In the losers final Clementine Bonzom (FRA, JL) met Sofia Lennartsson (SWE, Ozone) who landed a railey to blind and took the third place of this single elimination in Brazil.

Official Results PKRA 2011 Brazil Freestyle Women:

1. Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil)

2. Joanna Litwin (POL, Nobile)

3. Sofia Lennartsson (SWE, Ozone)

4. Clementine Bonzom (FRA, JN)

The men’s finals started with the loser’s final opposing Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD) and Marc Jacobs (NZL, Swicth). A 5-0 decision went in favor of Jacobs who went for power moves and clean execution while Sebastien wouldn’t land all his tricks as cleanly.



Finally the long standing contenders Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) and Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) met for the fifth time in a final this year!

Zoon started with a massive crash on a NIS, which was worse than it should have been due to his accident in the previous heat. Meanwhile Alex kept pouring trick after trick which secured him the heat. In no time, Youri came back on his board and in one tack he scored a huge combo with three tricks to get back into the heat.

Judge Rui Meira explained how the combo is used by the riders: They usually start with the easiest moves to get them out of the way and then get into the more technical maneuvers. Since the handle pass leash gets wrapped around their bodies they usually do one regular move, one switch (to get the leash back to the normal position) and a regular move again. This way they don’t loose time detangling their leash and in two tacks they can score a lot of tricks. Youri is one of the riders using this strategy and it seems to pay off since he hasn’t lost a heat to date this year!

Judge Rui Meira was the only one who gave the win to Alex Pastor as he considered that the most important factor is to land the most difficult tricks. He commented that he saw Alex put more effort into landing a few tricks with very good execution while Youri did a lot of tricks but his five best ones weren’t as good as Alex’s. There is a rule being discussed at the moment for 2012 to change the format of competition and only take the five best tricks in consideration. If accepted this would push the riders into bigger tricks rather than securing all the basic maneuvers first, before approaching the technical aspect and difficulty.

The speed going into the trick is what made the difference for the other judges who recognized that this was a very close heat. Youri landed all his tricks with a lot of power and cleaner landing than Alex. The front blind mobe from Youri was one of his biggest tricks, landing full speed and clean.

Youri wins the single elimination with a 4-1 decision, he commented: “My rib didn’t hurt that much and I was really happy about my heat. I had a few crashes at first but then I went for some nice power tricks and I think that’s what made the difference. It’s always tough to compete against Alex so I am stoked that I won again.”

Official Results of the Men’s single eliminations:

Freestyle Men:

1. Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot)

2. Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush)

3. Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch)

4. Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD)

Vergeet ook de dagelijkse foto's niet te checken he!!

Wopwop!

Ff vraagje; word youri tegenwoordig gesponsord door vw, of heeft ie alleen voor deze wedstrijd die sticker op z'n board geplakt?

De braziliaanse pokertour en de pkra in brazilie is gesonpsord door VW. :)

Riders hebben altijd event sponsors op t board en shirt.

Kevin er al snel uit in de singles, volgens zn facebook durft ie t niet goed aan. Omstandigheden t zelfde als waar hij vorig jaar zn blessure mee opliep.

Dagelijkse foto's met schitterende jury zoals Axel Tack en mijzelf👍

Stoefer 🤡

Day 4 - Start of the double eliminations in Brazil

Sep-17-2011
Fourth day of competition in Barra do Cunhau and perfect wind conditions welcomed the best freestylers in the world for the start of the double eliminations. Two Brazilian Madson (BRA) and Teixeira (BRA, RRD) together with Hebert (FRA, Airush) and Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) came out of the pack and get to the 7th place position. They will be the ones to fight for the top 4 places tomorrow.



The first highlight of the day was the heat opposing Kevin Langeree (NED, Naish) and Michael Schitzhofer (AUT, Best) who wanted his revenge from the last event in Germany where he lost in the doubles. Michael who is normally pretty sober and tries to secure his heat in the first place was on fire today and went directly for power and intensity surprising even Kevin who admitted after his heat that he wasn’t ready yet to be fully back on tour after his knee surgery when he saw the level that the riders have reached now.

Michael won the heat landing an impressive blind judge 5 closinf the decision by 5-0 in the judge tower. Kevin commented that it gave him a real motivation to go full on for his training this winter and is going to be on the water as much as he can to get back to the top.

Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) sitting in first place was watching the double elimination and commented that Ariel Corniel (DOM, Ozone), eliminated early in the singles, probably had the toughest mission to get back in the doubles. Ariel saw the same scenario that happened to Youri by beating two of the best Brazilian riders: Evandro Da silva (BRA, RRD) and Eudazio Da Silva (BRA, RRD). Those two heats were definitely some of the most spectacular of the event as the riders went for double passes and mobes combined with kite loops in order to score instead of securing their heat with basic maneuvers. Overall the judges recognized that the heats were very close with the same kind of execution but that Ariel went for more variety, as he is known for sticking an important number of tricks during all his heats. All of these riders also being very good showman, they didn’t hesitate to throw some of their best moves very close to the beach and often ended riding directly on the beach or landing their kite close to the public. Fortunately there was more fear than damages and we saw some of the biggest crashes going down today for the spectator enjoyment.

Tom Hebert (FRA, Airush) said that the conditions were much stronger today and therefore admitted that it was much harder to land all the usual tricks so he was impressed by the overall level of this double eliminations. He really liked to see the heats opposing the Brazilians riders since he didn’t know what their level was. Each trick was a discovery and a nice surprise. Tomas Teixeira (BRA, RRD) who have been doing a few PKRA tour stops in the past, comes out with a win in this first round.

Tom also added that Christopher Tack (BEL, Liquid Force) did a nice performance as he started his heat against Stefan Spiessberger (AUT, North) by mostly crashing and then progressively came back by landing some very powerful maneuvers. Stefan has been coming to a few of the last PKRA events and made a good impression. This heat resulted in a very close heat but Tack took the win as he had more speed and a better kite position.



The next highlight was a full Brazilian heat once again with Reno Romeu (BRA, North) versus Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD), the best Brazilian on tour against the current Brazilian champion title holder. Reno commented that he didn’t fear the Brazilians but the general level of the riders on the PKRA this year as we asked his impressions on the overall level of the Brazilian riders.

Each athelete chose a different strategy, Reno going for security and variety, landing most of his tricks and Madson going for speed and power, which paid off as he won the heat in a 5-0 decision. If you happened to be in the judges tower when Madson landed his kite loop slim chance you could also understand one of the last judges criteria’s: the “wow” factor!

We met with Madson after his heat and he commented that he loved these strong wind conditions and hopes to go a lot further tomorrow during the end of the doubles.

Up next was Mario Rodwald (GER, North) who was followed by the Media team to host the video of the day had to verse his team mate Tom Hebert (FRA, North). Both riding on a 7 meter kite, Mario was confident going into this heat as he won the first two rounds landing a few massive tricks such as a downloop slim chance against Rafael Da Costa Souza (BRA).

Tom decided to concentrate on a few tricks to make the difference and managed to land a perfect NIS grab and a very powered kite loop handle pass. His tricks were so powered that he managed to break his board, for the second one in this event! On the other side Mario couldn’t match the power and risk that Tom put into his moves, he crashed a couple of moves mainly due to the chop. Tom was very excited about his win and is now very motivated to meet Madson tomorrow for what promises to be a nice heat to start the day.



Two of the best Brazilians went out completely over powered on a 9 meter when the rest of the riders went out in 7’s: Tomas Teixeira and Romario De Souza. Judge Antoine Jaubert commented that :They had a hard time landing their tricks but when they did, it was very clean. Teixeira landed some tricks with power and when he landed a trick you couldn’t do it more powerful than that today”. Teixeira won the heat with a 5-0 decision.

The last heat of the day was Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) against Ariel Corniel (DOM, Ozone). There was a clear difference with Rondina’s riding, much more powerful and clean than Ariel who was more disorganized trying a lot of tricks but crashing very often. Alberto advances into the next round against Tomas Teixeira.

In order: Garat (FRA, RRD), Jacobs (NZL, Switch), Pastor (ESP, Airush) and Zoon (NED, Slingshot) are waiting for the winners of today to get back to them tomorrow in what should be a very exciting day of action in Barra do Cunhau Brazil.

We only ran on heat of the girls, won by Argentinean rider Agustina Cerutti (ARG, F-ONE) against Polish rider Helena Brochocka.

Tomorrow for the finals, Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) in first , Litwin (POL, Nobile) in second and Lennartsson (SWE, Ozone) are waiting for the rest of pack to get back to them.

allrighty, wind is net opgekomen! 10u30 lokale tijd skippersmeeting met start om 11u.
Gisteren viel de livestream al minder vaak uit, dus we hopen dat we jullie de finales live kunnen tonen!!

Voolopig houdt de livestream het goed uit

Ik geloof niet dat ik dat had moeten zeggen. Meteen zwart scherm🙁

spannundd

Youri wint van Pastor met 5-0
Madson is 3e

youri weer 1ste, hoe geniaal! 🙏

Wat een baas !

Bam alles gewonnen die sloerie👍

Gefeliciteerd weer! Wat een prestaties toch he! 👍

echt kikken dit 👍

Topperrrrr! Ook mooi om Kevin weer te zien knallen 👍

Youri Zoon and Bruna Kajiya win the doubles

Sep-18-2011
Strong winds blowing in the bay of Barra Do Cunhau, Brazil, welcomed the top ten best kiteboarders in the world for the end of the double eliminations. The Brazilian rider Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD) made an impressive comeback all the way to third place, winning four heats in a row and taking down some of the best riders in the world, one after another. In the women division Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) kept her first place followed by Joanna Litwin in second (POL, Nobile).



We started with two of the most anticipated heats of the day, local star Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD) against the best French rider on tour this year, Tom Hebert (FRA, North). As the wind got stronger, the riders were going with a lot of speed into their tricks and often “butt checked” their moves, meaning that they couldn’t pull off a clean landing and touched the water.

Christopher Tack (BEL, Liquid Force) explained that the judges took the wind conditions into consideration and rewarded these tricks anyway. The speed when going into the trick is one of the most important factors, therefore butt checking a trick is usually rewarded more than going for less power with the kite higher.

That said, Tom went for some big tricks but didn’t have the best heat and crashed a lot of his moves. This resulted in only five tricks counting for him versus more than a dozen for Madson, who went for technical difficulty and speed, thereby winning the heat.

Carlos Madson put up an incredible fight to get back to a podium finish. He managed to beat one after another of the best riders in the world. No mean feat considering this was his first international competition.

Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha), ranked third in the world, and one of the most consistent riders on tour, was his first challenge. Madson went for kite loop tricks combined with mobes. He had more amplitude and more power than Alberto, but also took more risks. The heat was close, as Alberto did a wide variety of maneuvers with his usual technicality, but overall the decision of the judges went to Madison for his powerful moves and cleaner landings.

Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil), hosting the video of the day, interviewed Madson at the end of his heat. He said that he had injured his ankle in the last heat, but was very excited to win against some of the best riders in the world. He expressed hopes that he could compete at more PKRA tour stops in the future.

Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD) was up next, battling for fourth place. Sebastien, having witnessed the previous heats, decided to go for a dangerous strategy: try power tricks only and risk everything to land a few of his best tricks. Unfortunately he didn’t land most of the maneuvers while Madson landed a wide variety of all the basic mobes cleanly.

Moving on to Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch), fourth overall in the world, the bets were open. Marc has a reputation for being consistent in strong wind, but Madson (BRA, RRD), having just beat the third best rider in the world was not intimidated by his opponent. While Marc crashed a lot of tricks, Madson did twice as many tricks with clean landings, definitely going for variation.

After the heat Marc said he saw a huge potential in Madson’s riding skills.

At this point Madson (BRA, RRD) was sitting in third place and feeling pretty confident, considering that this was his first PKRA event. Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) went out for his first heat of the day, ready to defend his second place. Both riders kept an eye on the other during the heat, countering every move of his opponent with an equal or better trick. Considering how wide the repertoire of each rider is, the result was a non-stop trick spectacle for 7 minutes. Both riders showed off the same variety of tricks, so in the end the difference came down to the kite position. Pastor always went with the kite lower than Madson and landed one of his most powered front blind mobes and a NIS 5. Madson lost the heat on a 4-1 decision, but made an outstanding impression today by winning so many heats in a row and is definitely a rider to look out for in the near future.



In the girls division, the strong wind conditions made life hard, but the riders still managed to pull off a nice show. In battle for the third place, Clementine Bonzom (FRA, JN) managed to beat Sofia Lennartsson (SWE, Ozone) and went against one of the best rider of the PKRA, Joanna Litwin (POL, Nobile).

Joanna easily won the heat by landing her usual 313, Blind Judge and slim chance. She did the exact same tricks in the finals against Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil) who was on form and won by landing five of her best moves, including a back to blind air pass, 313, Blind Judge and switch Blind Judge, NIS and a S-bend pass.

Bruna commented: “I had a nice heat against Asia (Joanna Litwin) and I’m stoked to win here in Brazil, my home country. It’s nice to see all the people cheering me on from the beach. They were all stoked to see the Brazilians ripping at this event.”

Just before the finals Alex Pastor broke his board and had to borrow a new one. It wasn’t the best start to a final heat, but Alex was focused on getting his revenge and finally defeating Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) currently leading the tour.

We met with judge Rui Meira (POR) after the final to get the judge point of view and sum up the heat: “Youri had an insane KGB, super well executed with the kite very low. Then the second highlight was his kite loop 3. A move he landed clean with lots of height and power. Overall Youri had so much more speed and amplitude in all of his tricks than Alex that it was clear that Youri had dominated the heat.”

With a wide variety but less power in his moves, Alex Pastor looses on a 5-0 decision.



Officical Results of the double eliminations:

Freestyle Men:

1. Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot)

2. Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush)

3. Carlos Madson (BRA, RRD)

Freestyle Women:

1. Bruna Kajiya (BRA, Flexifoil)

2. Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile)

3. Clementine Bonzom (FRA, JN)

THE FINAL DAY . . . YOURI GEFELICITEERD MAN ! ! 👍 ALWEER TOP GEDAAN ! !