PKRA Germany 2008 - Day 3

[Toby]

PKRA News

Day 3 - Colgate Kitesurf World Cup 2008

After two days of waiting, the weather finally cleared to kick-off the Freestyle events and continue the racing competition for the third day of the Colgate Kitesurf World Cup 2008 co-sponsored by We Love, TV Today, Gard and Chevrolet. The clouds came in during the morning and provided an hour of drizzle but it was all smooth sailing (or kiting) for the rest of the day. Wind speed was between 9 and 12 knots cross-shore left forming small waves with fairly frequent white horses, while the temperature was a bit warmer than the past two days at 18-19° Celsius.

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The mandatory skippers meeting went right on schedule at 10:00 am with the course races in the morning and freestyle in the afternoon. The first race of the day started as planned at exactly 11:00 am then the second race followed about an hour later at 12:00 pm. After that, there was a brief lunch break but the scheduled race after lunch was postponed because the wind didn’t really pick up so another race was held at 2:30 pm which by then, the wind started to show some strength. After the races, the freestyle event kicked-off at 3:15 pm with the men’s division and managed to finish five heats out of the planned six. The last heat had to be abandoned because the wind started to drop, the current got stronger plus the tide came in so the day was called off at 5:00 pm.

Course Racing Highlights

A total of three races were held at different time intervals during the day with none other than Fuerteventura racing champ Charles Deleau (FRA) winning all three races. Deleau came in second yesterday but swept the competition early on today to grab first place overall from Sebastian Bubmann of Germany. Bubmann finished 3rd, 2nd and 6th in races one to three respectively, dropping to second place overall. Local racer Ron Reimers (GER) remains in third place after finishing 5th in two races and 3rd in the second race.

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No change in the overall standings in the women’s event as Gina Esteva of Spain was the first to cross the finish in two races while Germany’s Kristin Boese celebrated her come back to the PKRA with a first place finish in the third race. Fabienne D’Ortoli grabbed two second-place finishes and a third place finish in today’s races.

Course Racing Results (after 4 races)

Men
1. Charles Deleau (FRA, North) – 2.1 pts.
2. Sebastian Bubmann (GER, Flysurfer) – 5.7 pts.
3. Ron Reimers (GER, North) – 11 pts.

Women
1. Gina Esteva (ESP, Best) – 2.1 pts.
2. Kristin Boese (GER, Best) – 4.7 pts.
3. Fabienne D’Ortoli (FRA, Cabrinha) – 7 pts.

Freestyle Highlights

Round 1 of the men’s freestyle event had a total of five heats (the last heat had to be abandoned because of lack of wind) with ten riders already advancing to the next round. Heat #1 was won by Mikael Blomvall (SWE, Nobile) with higher technical difficulty level and more variety against local kiteboarder Jan Erichsen (GER, Liquid Force). Blomvall’s indy KGB, regular and switch slim, front mobe, mobe, double front to blind won against the German’s 313 and blind judge.

Heat #2a was a tight heat in the light conditions between top-ranked Alvaro Onieva (ESP, Best) and Christophe Tack (BEL, Slingshot). Onieva won with a higher technical difficulty level and cleaner execution, landing a mobe, front side 360, KGB, hasselhoff and slim against Tack’s front side 360, blind judge, hasselhoff and 313. In the same heat, Stefan Permien (GER, North) knocked out PKRA tour regular Silvester Ruckdaschel (GER, Liquid Force) with a front mobe, slim, blind judge 360, mobe and 313.

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A super tough 3rd heat ensued between Mario Rodwald (GER, North) and Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD) with the latter emerging victorious dealing a hefty blow on Rodwald’s event hopes. The French athlete won with more tricks and more power in his moves.

Tour regular Jo Ciastula (ESP, Airush) had a shocker and went down to un-seeded Jan Schiegnitz (GER, Liquid Force) in an upset heat #4. A blind judge, slim, and front side 360 for Ciastula were not enough to beat the German’s mobe, slim, regular and switch KGB, raley to blind and flat 360. The last heats were easy wins for Tour regulars Cesar Portas (ESP, North) and Tom Hebert (New Caledonia).

Tomorrow’s forecast looks quite promising so the plan is to start the freestyle event early. Skippers meeting is scheduled at 10 am with a first possible start at 10:30 am.

Colgate Kitesurf World Cup 2008 is also co-sponsored by the local government of St. Peter-Ording, Quicksilver, SevenOne Intermedia GmbH, Naish Kiteboarding, Jever, and Kitelife. Media partner ExtremeElements.tv is the official webcaster of live results, high-definition event footages, photos and press releases.

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http://www.kiteworldtour.com