PKRA officials postponed the racing event until 11:00 am when the wind was strong enough to go for an 11:20am start.With the light winds the racers were required to rig their largest kites
otherwise they stood no chance against the running tide and small wind holes
which made for a slow race that took 30 to 40 minutes for everyone to cross
the finish line and tackle the sailing distance. The race course was a
triangular shaped track with two laps.
Second race got started at 12:30pm and the wind filled in topping out at 17
knots coming from the east-south east direction. By this time, the current
was just starting to get strong plus the cross-offshore winds resulted in
more difficult kiting conditions which all of the racers eventually
overcame. However, the third and final race of the day caught some
competitors off guard by deciding to rig smaller kites or change equipment,
which was definitely a mistake. Several racers missed the top marked because
they were dragged downwind by the current and had to do multiple short tacks
to round the mark in order not to get disqualified. As some competitors
found out, the trick was to stay on the outside, out of the current and with
the wind, which eventually backed off and became very light for the
remaining part of the day and not up to PKRA standards. The overall weather
condition prevented the running of the men’s trials for the Freestyle event
which was originally schedule
d to start at 3:00 pm. The competition wrapped up at 5:00 pm.
Sami Gali (Best, Spain) won all three races with Bruno Sroka (Takoon,
France) finishing 6th in all three races compared to his outstanding
performances in Fuerteventura and Portugal. Team North had a good showing
with Americans Sky Solbach who finished 2nd overall and Ken Winner along
with Sean Farley (Mexico) showing outstanding performances. Germany’s Armin
Harich who is racing under the Flysurfer banner finished 2nd overall.
Defending Freestyle world champion Kristine Boese (Best, Germany) in Lycra
#58 also raced well and finished 3rd overall after three races with teammate
Gina Esteva (Best, Spain) and another North racer Steph Bridge (United
Kingdom) finishing 1st and 2nd overall respectively.
Tomorrow’s forecast shows no signs of the wind providing a good run of the
events but PKRA officials are still hopeful that the weather will change and
permit the running of the Freestyle competition. Skippers meeting is
scheduled to start at 10:00 am with first possible start of 10:30 am.
Race results:
Men’s race (Race 1, Race 2, Race 3)
1. Sami Gali (Best, Spain) – 0.7, 0.7, 0.7
2. Sky Solvach (North, US) – 2, 3, 2
3. Armin Harich (Flysurfer, Germany) – 3, 4, 4
4. Sean Farley (North, Mexico) – 5, 5, 3
5. Ken Winner (North, US) – 4, 2, 8
Women’s race (Race 1, Race 2, Race 3)
1. Gina Esteva (Best, Spain) – 1, 2, 1
2. Steph Bridge (North, UK) – 4, 1, 2
3. Kristin Boese (Best, Germany) – 2, 3, 3
4. Angela Peral (North, Spain) – 3, 4, DNF
5. Sabrina Lutz (Carved, Germany) – DNS, 5, 4
The Gard Kitesurf Worldcup 2007 is brought to you by Gard and We Love Active
Summer, supported by TV Today, Suzuki, Colgate, the St. Peter-Ording local
government, Jever, Naish and Kitelife. Live up-to-the-minute results for the
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