The fourth day of the Gard Kitesurf World Cup 2007 kicked off with awesome
action and outstanding performances from some of the guys here in St.
Peter-Ording in the northern coast of Germany. As forcasted yesterday, the
wind finally arrived and although starting out very light, it gradually
picked up speed throughout the day maxing out at 21 knots. The thermometer
peaked at 19 degrees Celsius providing a moderate to cool weather condition
–typical of northern Germany climate which was made even cooler by a
passing monsoon at 4:00 pm.

The third day of the Gard Kitesurf World Cup 2007 kicked off with awesome
action and outstanding performances from some of the guys here in St.
Peter-Ording in the northern coast of Germany. As forcasted yesterday, the
wind finally arrived and although starting out very light, it gradually
picked up speed throughout the day maxing out at 21 knots. The thermometer
peaked at 19 degrees Celsius providing a moderate to cool weather condition
–typical of northern Germany climate which was made even cooler by a
passing monsoon at 4:00 pm.

Three races were held today but no Freestyle battles, as the wind condition
did not permit the race officials from doing so, as the Gard Kitesurf
Worldcup 2007 continues on its second day. There were clear skies in the
morning but did not last long as the clouds moved in around 10:30am which
also brought periods of light rain and some wind. The temperature still
pegged at 16 degrees Celsius.

Welcome to the beautiful German seaside resort of St. Peter-Ording located in the district of Nordfriesland in
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This magnificent setting in the North Sea coast will be the home of the PKRA
competitors from August 18 to 26 for the Gard Kitesurf World Cup 2007 – the 7th stop of the PKRA 2007 World Tour. St. Peter-Ording is the most popular holiday destination with the highest number of tourists of all German seaside resorts, with a seemingly endless 2-kilometer beach, plenty of sun and excellent wind condition.

The Fuerteventura PKRA Kiteboarding Grand Slam 2007 kicks off its fourth day at Sotavento beach with three course racing events after the freestyle was concluded yesterday. The weather was all bright and sunny with slight breeze in the morning. Race 1 was all set to get underway at about 12 pm when the wind totally died and switched onshore. The racers just managed to sail in or swim in and the start was postponed until about 3 pm when the wind came back in the usual cross shore direction and then the races got underway.
The first race was won by Sami Gali (Best, Spain) who is now using his own gear after starting the competition in the first day on borrowed gear. He gave Bruno Sroka (Takoon, France) his first taste of defeat of the event who had to settle for second place – a minor blemish in a perfect record.

The Fuerteventura PKRA Kiteboarding Grand Slam 2007 kicks off to an exciting start under an overcast Sotavento skies. The northwesterly wind blew at an average of 22 knots (6 bft) during most of the day creating choppy waters, while the temperature was a bit cooler compared to yesterday at 25° Celsius. Fresh from the Portugal stop, some of the riders were already hot on trail as some of them showed off their kiteboarding talents to the delight of the cheering crowd on the beach. After the skippers meeting at 11:00 am, kiteboarding action went underway at exactly 12:15 pm for the racing event. Bruno Sroka (Takoon, France) continued his winning streak, fresh from Portugal. Sean Farley (North, Mexico) still leads the race along with Sami Gali (Best, Spain) who went to the waters on borrowed equipment. With a friendly and fast course on nearly dead flat water, Sroka had a substantial lead by the first mark. The rest of the racers were left to battle it out behind the top three guys as they weaved their way through each other while rounding the marks and heading to the next one.

The Levante continued its full fury all throughout the night up to the third day of the Movistar Kitesurf Pro Tarifa 2007. Winds with sustained speed of 40 knots (8 bft) continued to hammer down Valdevaqueros beach which prompted the race director to postpone the competition until the conditions settled down in the afternoon as forecasted. Finally at around 3:30 pm, the men went to the waters to finish the single elimination and by the time the wind subsided to a mild roar, the day was concluded with the women’s single elimination which finished around 5:30 pm.
Heat #13a was to be the cancelled heat from yesterday, but in a show of good sportsmanship, Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) conceded to Ruben Lenten (Slingshot, Netherlands) given the same conditions as yesterday. In the second round of the same heat, local champ and North rider Cesar Portas was defeated by Danish Nick Jacobson (Slingshot) in an easy heat riding a 5-meter kite against Portas’ 7-meter kite in 40-knot winds. Jacobson landed big air tricks and downloops with grabs while Portas struggled with his larger kite and only managed a few smaller kite loops and jumps.

Like an answered prayer, Day 2 of the Movistar Kitesurf Pro Tarifa 2007 at Valdevaqueros Beach was greeted by strong winds that would leave most people sitting on the beach. In the morning, the winds were a consistent 30 to 40 knots (7-8 bft) coming from the east but by the time the competition was over, the wind was well over 50 knots (10 bft) with gusts of over 60 knots (11 bft).
Most of the riders were on their five- to six-meter kites and only two riders at a time were given time on the waters for safety and judging
purposes.

Wind Catchers is proud to announce their support to the first Junior Kite Camp that is going to take place in Portugal, starting next week!

Day 5 - PKRA - Cabarete World Cup 2007

The Cabarete World Cup 2007 drew to a close once again with a new men’s freestyle champion in the person of Ariel Corniel (EH, Dominican Republic) who has dominated much of the event with a display of new school kiteboarding tricks. Much of the event highlights came from this young kiteboarder to the delight of the local crowd. Current PKRA world number one Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) did not make it to the top three this year but Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) and Mallory de la Villemarque (North, France) managed to secure the second and third spot respectively, with local kiteboarding hero Alex Soto (Cabrinha, Dominican Republic) finishing in fourth place. Bruna Kajiya took the top spot for the women’s title.