The 2008 Professional Kiteboard Riders Association World Tour officially kicks-off with 48 riders from 16 different countries competing.
With winds averaging 15-20 knots, the 2008 season is off to a successful start as forty eight professional kiteboarders registered to compete for the opening games at Playa Del Carmen in Mexico for the Movistar Kiteboard World Cup.
Registration for the event started at 4:00 pm and lasted until 6:00 in the evening. Earlier during the day, the wind blew at a steady pace under sunny, clear skies which allowed some of the competitors to hit the waters for some practice runs. Later in the afternoon, the wind subsided and a high level of cloud layer moved in from inland finally shutting off the wind for the day.
The event site at Playa Del Carmen or “Playa” as it is locally known, is one of the fastest growing towns in the Caribbean side of Mexico. It is right in the heart of Riviera Maya with astonishing white sand beaches and great accommodations.
Mauricio Toscano, PKRA Tour Manager and President said, “Since Playa Del Carmen is a popular tourist location we are expecting thousands of spectators to be on the beach to witness the action.”
Event organizer Erika Sastré of Photopro Media Productions commented, “We feel very excited and honored that the PKRA allowed us to bring this event here and hopefully Mexico will become part of the world tour in the upcoming years as well. This is a place that is awesome for the riders because of the great beaches and wind condition which is ideal for kiteboarding.”
“The people in Mexico are very hospitable and everybody is excited to have the PKRA event here. Kiteboarding is a very young sport particularly in this region and the local government realized that it is a great sport which promotes tourism and camaraderie, so we want to bring it to a whole new level.”
A whole new level means bringing in fresh new talents to challenge the pros. Among the new faces who will be seeing action in Mexico include 19-year old Jadie De Lille Wright and 29-year old male rider Paco Chan. Both riders hail from Cozumel, Mexico. Jadie started kiting in 2002 and is currently in her second year of University studying Environmental Science. She started out at windsurfing but changed over to kiteboarding when her father started kiting.
“I ride with Slingshot and Jimmy Lewis boards and my favorite kiting spot is “Wave Ranch” in Cozumel but Donald Trump has closed down the spot to build more hotels,” said Jadie. Asked about a place she would like to kite if given the chance, and this young Mexican female rider quickly answered, “Indonesia.”
Paco Chan on the other hand, is considered the newbie among the two and was only hooked into the sport more than three years ago. Riding with a GK kite and Litewave board, this Lenten and Hadlow fan saw Litewave Dave kiting in Cozumel one day and knew he wanted to try the sport. When asked about his kiting aspirations, this Cozumel local said, “To be the best.”
Aspiring to become the best means that these two promising riders will have to face the toughest competitors from among the thirty four men and fourteen women who will be competing in Mexico. These include freestyle world champion Aaron Hadlow (UK, Flexifoil) and thirteen-year old Gisela Pulido (Spain, Slingshot) who won their fourth and first PKRA freestyle world title respectively last year. Tour veterans and freestylers Kevin Langeree (Netherlands, Naish), Lewis Crathern (UK, Slingshot), Bruna Kajiya (Brazil, Best) and course racing veterans Bruno Sroka (France, Takoon), Sami Gali (Spain, Best) and Sean Farley (Mexico, North) will be joining the pack as well.
The Mexico event will feature both freestyle competition and the new and exciting course racing discipline which will run until March 9, 2008. Over US$40,000 prize money is at stake plus additional prizes. Major sponsors include Movistar Telefonica, Red Bull Sports, Riviera Maya Tourism and the Tourism Board of Mexico.
For HD-quality videos and more of the 2008 PKRA, you can visit http://www.extremeelements.tv. If you are an extreme sports enthusiast and you wish to travel or simply looking for a good accommodation , check out http://www.extremeelements.com.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment