Crissy Kite Days - US Nationals

[Toby]

Day 1:

Crissy Kite Days kicked off with the Wells Fargo US Kite Course Nationals on Wednesday, July 25 with a 9:30 a.m. race rules meeting which briefed seasoned and new riders about the conditions, course and rules for the three-day competition. The talent pool was impressive with some of the top North American and international riders in freestyle and course racing traveling from all corners of the world to participate in this first ever US National Kite Course Title event.

The races started at 2:00 p.m. after the fog cleared and the wind reached an acceptable 15 knots. The wind remained around 15 - 20 knots all day so the heats were able to run through the entire afternoon. 50 competitors registered for the Nationals and were divided into two fleets. Due to the later start and large field of racers, half ran three races and the other half ran two. While it's hard to compare overall scores for the day, it was pretty evident that Crissy local racers are some of the best. The top two locals, Jeff Kafka and Anthony Chavez, put up the best days with each finishing 1, 1, and 3 to put them both in the top spot thus far. Jon Modica, the Richman brothers and Damien LeRoy all sit in good shape after two races. International riders, Davey Blair and Mo “Gooseâ€Â

[Toby]

Day 2:

Day two of the Wells Fargo US Kite Course Nationals started with racers converging at the St. Francis Yacht Club and Crissy Field parking lot to share their experiences and strategies. Visiting racers were trying to help each other figure out how to keep up with the local talent, who has the home field advantage.

Maui’s Jesse Richman, who just recovered from an ankle injury, is proving to be the man to beat, with last year’s Cabrinha Race Series Winner Anthony Chavez hot on his tail trailing by just one point. Florida’s Jon Modica has come out of nowhere and holds third place going into day three, followed by current race series leader and local bay area rider, Jeff Kafka. Rounding out the top five is veteran pro, Damien LeRoy. The fleets made it through enough races to separate into a Gold and Silver fleet for the finals today. Local Sherman Island racer, Sandy Parker, is leading the women, and will be joined by six other female competitors to compete with the men in the Gold fleet.

Anticipated start time for the Silver and Gold fleets is 1pm with the final race estimated to end around 5pm. Upon the completion of the Wells Fargo US Kite Course Nationals, the Big Air Wind Jam qualifiers will start.

[Al-Kite-A]

2007 US Kiteboarding National Championship
Results - Gold Fleet

1 Chavez, Anthony
2 Kafka, Jeffrey
3 Richman, Jesse
4 LeRoy, Damien
5 Modica, Jon
6 Richman, Shawn
7 Morrison, John
8 Solbach, Sky
9 Wasson, Chip
10 Headington, Geoff
11 Marinkovic, Kent
12 Stolzlechner, Nils
13 Mark Bosta
14 Parker, Billy
15 Winner, Ken
16 Parker, Donny
17 Boese, Kristin
18 Steen, Kevin
19 Gomes, John
20 Parker, Sandy
21 Brown, Christopher
22 Wittke, Frank
23 Youngberg, Kris
24 Willis, Miguel
25 Sales, Aaron
26 Seth Besse
27 Greaux, Todd
28 Segura, Marcelo
29 Viljoen, Stefaans
30 Hempel, Clarissa
31 Gibson, Steve
32 Geleynse, Eric
33 Gabriel, Michelle
34 Gil, Melissa
35 Zaccai, Gail

[CaptainArgh]

Unless I missed it, we didn't hear much about that big giant water ramp that was hyped before the event.

Did it work out? Sounded like the design was pretty cool, anyway.

[fearlu]

I think the "alternative ramp" proved to be more spectacular (and then used again at the Delta last weekend.) I was only there one day though, so I may have missed something.

[Al-Kite-A]

The ramp was part of the "Big Air Wind Jam" these are the results of the US National Kite Course Racing event held the 3 days before the BAWJ.

[CaptainArgh]

The ramp was part of the "Big Air Wind Jam" these are the results of the US National Kite Course Racing event held the 3 days before the BAWJ.

Thanks for the clarification.

But the question still stands....there hasn't been any talk of the big honkin' ramp!!!! How was it?
I guess this belongs in another thread now, but since we're on the topic...

[CaptainArgh]

if there is another post on the Big Air Wind Jam, I apologize...I didn't see it.


Here is the answer I was looking for regarding the big ass water pumped ramp;

...While the course racing competition wrapped up, the Confluent crew spent Friday setting up "the ramp" and a slider within a few hundred feet of the beach, in preparation for the Big Air Wind Jam weekend event. Saturday, the 28th of July was the first day of competition and Mother Nature opened up her arms at around 1:00 pm, when the fog cleared into a beautiful day and the wind built up to 20 knots with gusts over 30. Conditions were perfect for a hang time competition, but as it turned out, the high winds made the water on the ramp slosh from side to side making it impossible to keep enough water on the ramp for the competitors to be able to take advantage of its boosting potential. The decommissioned ramp did not keep kiteboarders from breaking the hang time record....

Original story.
Too bad it didn't work out, but we learn from trial and error, eh? The next one will have to be stabilized somehow to prevent rocking....or need bigger pumps.

The rest of the results, if you're curious, can be found here;
http://www.bigairwindjam.com/results.htm

[Toby]

that ramp looks really sick!