KTE News:

Full racing action continues at KTE Holland – Day 3



The scene was set on day three in Brouwersdam, Holland, as visitors and racers arrived around 10am to find out what was in store for the day. With light side-shore winds, race competitors pumped their kites for the first race of the of the day. At this time, winds measured around 12 knots on the water.

The horn sounded under a sunny sky with tropical temperatures and light wind conditions. Front-runners Riccardo Leccese (Columbia), Florian Gruber (GER) and Maxime Nocher (FRA) fought hard to gain a lead again. With most racers on their biggest kites, it was clear that every rider needed to take advantage of the best of their abilities in order to achieve top placement.

Moving onto the fifth race of the day and the 14 official race of Kitegatta 2012, Leccese finished clearly on first place. Nocher battled with Gruber and Kerneur for the following positions. As in all races, the angle of attack proved to be everything, allowing racers to edge up in placement and get ahead.

The first racer that crossed the daily finish line in all, after the wind dropped down and strong drift hedged about another sixth race, Riccardo Leccese came off the water with a big smile. Maxime Nocher proceeded to complete the current overall course ranking second, followed by Florian Gruber and Julien Kerneur (FRA).

For the women, Stephanie Bridge (UK) proudly finished first again, achieving a perfect placement for her first tour stop at the MINI Kitesurf Tour Europe 2012. Christine Bönniger (GER) earned second place shortly thereafter, followed by Katja Roose (NED) in third.

Despite the light wind conditions for freestyle, all riders took the opportunity to share in dutch holiday spirit by sharing a few laughs over a refreshing ice cream or some delicious cold drinks while conversing with friends and family about the new kiteboarding tricks and the new movie « Hidden Lines » by Kevin Langeree, Youri Zoon and Nick Jacobsen. A few multi-colored 2013 kites of many different shapes and sizes were able to lift off up into the warm air. As the day progressed around 4pm, the wind died completely. All riders were released for that third day. Thousands of visitors and all riders were finally chilling on the beach or refreshing in the water.

Tomorrow, join the MINI Kitesurf Tour Europe at Kitegatta 2012 on day four via Facebook for the latest information throughout the day and information about the prize giving ceremony. To view pictures of the day, check out the link below.

Daily pictures link HERE