Once again, race day started with sunny skies and good wind condition,
averaging 20 knots in cross-shore direction. After the skippers meeting,
race one immediately got underway at approximately 11:40 am. Bruno Sroka
(Takoon, France) was struck by bad luck when he lost his kite shortly after
the start due to an equipment failure, taking out Rolf Van der Blugt
(Airush, Netherlands) in the process. The Dutch racer went on to finish 7th
in the race. Bock Jochen (Flysurfer, Spain) wearing Lycra #36 was first at
the top mark but it was Sean Farley (North, Mexico) who came in for the win
with Sami Gali (Best, Spain) hot on his tail. Farley expanded his lead in
second overall while Gali consolidates 3rd position.
Race two started around 20 minutes after the last man in race one crossed
the finish line. Sroka, unfazed by equipment failure, came back to
completely dominate the race. A port and starboard incident between Van Der
Blugt and Dirk Hanel (North, Germany) saw the Dutch rider trying to
overtake on port and admitted to being in the wrong. He gets a
disqualification in the process while Hanel got a redress after coming in
well below his normal finishing places at 11th. Alberto Rondina (Cabrinha,
Italy) made the most of bad starts and upwind legs by Farley and Gali to
come in second and edge closer to a podium finish.
There was a brief lunch break after the end of race two after which race
three started at about 1:30 pm. Sroka did a victory lap, in the lead as
usual and crossing the line well ahead of Van der Blugt who finished in
second after making amends for careless riding in the previous race. Farley
had a disastrous wing mark rounding, going out wide off the mark to cut in
tight and get a better angle for the inside mark but gave up room so Rondina
was able to sneak pass him. Gaining “buoy room”, Rondina was allowed to
be in that position but Farley miscalculated the turn and swooped his kite
into the Italian racer and luffed his own kite but luckily did not affect
Rondina, who went on to finish in third place. Farley re-launched and
passed by as many racers as possible to keep second overall and came in to
finish 10th.
In the women’s racing event, Angela Peral (North, Spain) won each races
followed by Steph Bridge (North, UK) who trailed the Spanish rider on each
race. In third place was Kari Schivebaag (Ozone, Norway). Peral, a surprise
race performer has won all but two races and even gave the blokes a good
run!
Race results:
Men:
1st Bruno Sroka (Takoon, France) – 4.9 points
2nd Sean Farley (North, Mexico) – 19.7
3rd Sami Gali (Best, Spain) – 19.7
Women:
1st Angela Peral (North, Spain) – 4.9 points
2nd Steph Bridge (North, UK) – 11.4 points
3rd Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, Norway) – 24 points
For a look at the current PKRA world rankings logon to
www.kiteworldtour.com. For up-to-the-minute live results and travel
information, visit www.extremeelements.com. Tune in to EETV
(www.youtube.com/extremeelementstv) for fresh, HD-quality videos and
highlights of the Fuerteventura PKRA Kiteboarding Grand Slam 2007.
Next stop is St. Peter-Ording in the magnificent North Sea coast of Germany
for the sixth leg of the PKRA World Tour 2007 freestyle event and the third
and final leg of the course racing event. Be sure to check out this 9-day
premium event which will run from August 18 to 26, 2007.