Day 3 - Kevin Langeree & Gisela Pulido Wins Freestyle Event

The third day of the 2008 PKRA World Tour – Mondial du Vent 2008 drew to a stunning close and saw a particularly successful competition for both the Freestyle and Course Racing events. The weather was in good mood, providing a perfect setup to end the doubles and complete two course races. Clear sunny skies dominated the day with the northwesterly winds blowing between 16-25 knots (5 bft.) forming moderate waves, raising the bar for more challenging tricks and powerful moves.

It was a Kevin Langeree-Aaron Hadlow battle to the top podium spot once again as the two top-ranked PKRA athletes tried to stay on their feet and outperform each other in the dying winds. Although the wind was dropping out to a point where it was on the brink of being cancelled, Langeree managed to keep riding and landed several tricks on the outside while Hadlow struggled on the inside with a downed kite. The wind came in strong again for the second half of the heat and while Langeree managed to survive the lull and land tricks, Hadlow, however, had spent precious time trying to re-launch and get enough speed up for a trick. Even though the wind came back in and Hadlow stomped trick after trick, it wasn’t enough to sway the judges from their 5-0 decision and award Langeree the first place overall.

A surprising feat came courtesy of Russian kiteboarder Petr Tyuskevich (Cabrinha) who went out with a vengeance after being beaten yesterday by Michael Schitzhofer (Naish, Austria) in their battle for third place in the singles. Tyuskevich defeated crowd favorite Sebastien Garat (RRD, France) and simultaneously silencing the crowd before having his sweet revenge against Schitzhofer for a chance in the final. “I’m so stoked,” he said. Tyuskevich, who missed three stops in the 2007 PKRA World Tour but managed to stay in 13th place overall. His third place finish in today’s competition equaled his best performance of his PKRA career which happened in Chile last year when he grabbed the third podium spot.

In the women’s Freestyle final Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) pulled her big moves once again to defeat Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) in two final runs. Susie Mai (Cabrinha, Germany) settled for third place overall after loosing to Pulido.

In Course Racing, Sean Farley (North, Mexico) continues to dominate the event, winning both of today’s races. The Mexican racer now enjoys a comfortable 6.2 points lead over North teammate Charles Deleau (France) who is currently in second place. Currently occupying third spot is Sami Gali (Best, Spain) who still has a fighting chance to move up the rankings.

Freestyle Highlights

Having been knocked out early from the singles, Silvester Ruchdaschel (F-One, Germany) started a steady climb up the ladder by knocking out a powered up and much improved Ali Barrett (Slingshot, UK) in heat #18 via several powered moves.

Tom Hebert (Airush, New Caledonia) performed for the crowd exceptionally well. Boosting large right near the beach, very similar to the riding he has in his home spot at Meridian Beach, Noumea. He could boost right on the shore line as the wind carried him along the beach and away, far enough to land back in the water. Against Bjorn Viane (Flexifoil, Belgium) in heat #19, this worked well along with his powered moves while Viane struggled in the gusty, strong winds. Ironically, Hebert’s run was short-lived as he was stopped by Reno Romeu (North, Brazil) in heat #23 courtesy of several powered moves. Hebert went as big as possible, took too many risks and did not land enough technical tricks to stand a chance of winning.

Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) started his long climb up the ladder against Adam Withington (Mexico) in the 20th heat before tiring out and loosing to Alex Pastor (Naish, Spain) in the heat #30.

Rick Jensen (Naish, Germany) stomped some well powered moves to win heat #21 against Julian Hosp (Best, Austria), including a mobe, KGB, blind judge with aerial handle pass and a blind judge. Hosp landed a regular and switch blind judge and a higher kite mobe, slim and back to blind airpass.

Cesar Portas (North, Spain) lost to Alex Pastor (Naish, Spain) in the 29th heat and struggled at the deteriorating wind conditions. While Pastor managed to continue landing tricks and stay in the box, a very underpowered Portas had to work hard to stay upwind before the wind came back in the last few mintues. Portas attempted a comeback but only managed to land a blind judge with aerial handle pass and slim against Pastor’s mobe, s-bend to blind with airpass, raley to blind and a slimchance.

Garat continued storming his way up the ladder to the delight of the cheering crowd, ending Ruckdaschel’s run in heat #30 with a mobe, slim, blind judge with aerial handlepass and hasselhoff. Garat also made some nice moves in heat #31 including a blind judge, mobe, front mobe, and s-bend to blind with airpass to defeat Pastor. The tired Garat then lost to Tyuskevich in the 32nd heat ending his run.

Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK), with his eyes on the top podium spot ended Tyuskevich’s run in the 34th heat via power and consistency before facing Langeree in the final. Hadlow walked away with the win, landing a s-bend to blind with airpass, blind judge with aerial handle pass, mobe, slim and a couple of huge kiteloops. The Russian kiteboarder managed to nail a 313, blind judge with aerial handle pass, mobe and back to blind airpass.

An upset in the women’s double took place courtesy of Caroline Adrien (France, Naish) defeating current world number 5 and teammate Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland) in heat #11. In the 12th heat, Jo Wilson (Naish, UK) had a very close heat against Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, Norway) but a handle pass and several kite loops for Wilson were not enough to defeat Schibevaag’s kite loops, backloop to toeside surface pass and raley to blind.

Mai took out Angela Peral (North, Spain) in heat #17 landing a raley to blind, front to blind and several big airs with grabs against Peral who landed her raley to blind and downloop. Unfortunately, Mai got dispatched by world number one Pulido who busted out several handle passes and a big kite loop, easily taking the win in heat #18.

Freestyle Results:

Men

1. Kevin Langeree (Naish, Netherlands)
2. Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK)
3. Petr Tyuskevich (Cabrinha, Russia)

Women

1. Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain)
2. Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil)
3. Susie Mai (Cabrinha, Germany)

Race Results (after seven races – overall ranking)

Men:

1. Sean Farley (North, Mexico)
2. Charles DeLeau (North, France)
3. Sami Gali (Best, Spain)
4. Raphael Salles (F-One, France)
5. Herve Kerneur (France)

Women:

1. Steph Bridge (North, UK)
2. Gina Esteva (Best, Spain)
3. Fabienne D'Ortoli (Cabrinha, France)
4. Angela Peral (North, Spain)
5. Caroline Adrien (Naish, France)

###

Extreme Elements TV (EETV) is committed to delivering distinct, high-risk, live-action kiteboarding entertainment following the Professional Kite Riders Association (PKRA) World Tour (http://www.kiteworldtour.com). Founded by a renowned film editor from Stance Magazine, and the President of Extreme Elements Adventure Travel Company (http://www.extremeelements.com), EETV wants to be your online video authority for the PKRA World Tour, as well as other extreme sport events in the future. For more information, visit http://www.kiteworldtour.com or http://www.extremeelements.tv

Day 2 - A successful day for the event

Day 2 of the 2008 PKRA World Tour started with light winds as forecasted. The temperature was a little warmer than yesterday and saw the mercury rising up to 17°C in the afternoon. The mandatory skippers meeting was held at exactly 9:30 a.m. but the competition immediately went into a wind delay because the wind was below PKRA standards. Mother nature finally let the wind loose at around 2:00 p.m. with a sustained windspeed of 12 to 14 knots which gave way to the start of the course racing event.

There were a total three races completed but this time, the courses were longer than usual which challenged the competitors in endurance. Each race lasted roughly 17 to 20 minutes for the first person to cross the finish line and roughly another 20 minutes for the last of the women (who's start sequence is after the mens start). North Kiteboarding's Sean Farley (Mexico) won all three races in the men's division and is back on top of the ranking after finishing 12th in yesterday's second race. Sean's North teammate Charles DeLeau (France) dropped to second place overall after finishing third in todays first race and finishing second in the other two races. Sami Gali (Best, Spain) maintained his third overall ranking, trailing Charles in the last two races but managed to defeat him to the finish line in today's first race.

In the women's division, Steph Bridge (North, UK) won the today's last two races which maintained his overall lead ahead of Gina Esteva (Best, Spain) who won today's first race. Another North kiteboarder, Angela Peral (Spain) is still in a modest third position overall after finishing third in today's first two races but failing to start in the third race.

Tomorrow's skipper meeting is set to start at 8:00 a.m. with first possible start at 8:30 a.m. The wind forecast for tomorrow is very strong so the game plan is to finish the double elimination as the forecast for the rest of the week is not looking very good.

Race Results (After 5 Races - Overall Ranking):

Men:

1. Sean Farley (North, Mexico)
2. Charles DeLeau (North, France)
3. Sami Gali (Best, Spain)
4. Raphael Salles (F-One, France)
5. Mickael Fernandez (F-One, France)

Women:

1. Steph Bridge (North, UK)
2. Gina Esteva (Best, Spain)
3. Angela Peral (North, Spain)
4. Fabienne D'Ortoli (Cabrinha, France)
5. Caroline Adrien (Naish, France)

Yesterday Extreme Elements managed to interview a few competitors after the single elemination event and asked them how they faired and how they feel regarding the games. We started off with Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) who won yesterday's single in the women's division and got a really good idea at how professional these talented, young kiteboarders are.

"It was great, It couldn't get any better. The wind was blowing the whole day and it was really gusty. There are times that there's no wind, and then there's too much. It was hard, but you've got to ride in all sorts of conditions. At the beginning, my first and second heats were horrible, I couldn't get it together but I did some tricks that counted and then I advanced to the final. It was really difficult in the final but I landed a really powerful slimchance and I think that won my heat," said Bruna. A job well done for a first-timer here in France. Congratulations Bruna!

Extreme Elements also interviewed kiteboard racer Gina Esteva (Best, Spain) who is currently in second place overall in the race ranking. She's only been into kiteboard racing since last year and already making a name in the sport. "It was really gusty and the wind was switching a lot so it was just all the time trying to find the closest way to the buoy. In the first race, I got tangled with another racer before the starting line and I was very sure that I couldn't race because it was too late but the guys helped me and luckily I finished on time. I was more focused on everything in the second race and was fighting to stay upwind so I finished first." When we asked her about her plans for today's race, "We'll see, I don't know really. I'll just try to do my best and improve my skills and then if I will not make any mistake then I will feel happy", remarked this humble Spanish athlete.

Jalou Langeree (Naish, Netherlands) who was very nice, also allowed us an interview. Her brother Kevin, who's been kiteboarding two years more than her, took Jalou into the kiteboarding world and since then has been hooked into the sport. Extreme Elements asked how she felt regarding the competition. "Today was very nice, a lot of sun and good wind. I was pretty stoked. Everyone was riding very well. The weather here is my kind of condition, cold with strong winds. My first heat went very well but after that it didn't went so good but I hope I'll do good in the doubles." Extreme Elements wish you good luck, Jalou and to all the competitors in the double elimination.

Day 1 - PKRA Debut in France a Success

The start of the second leg of the PKRA World Tour in France was a huge success. The opening salvo couldn’t get any better. The weather cooperated all day with strong, cross-offshore wind packing an average speed of 20 knots. Even the sun was up all day but the gusty condition demanded a lot from the riders so most of them weren’t able to really perform to their maximum level. Most of the competitors struggled in the condition with only a few riders managing to land doubles and very powered moves. The men were on their 7m to 9m kites while the smallest kite for the women during the games was a 5m.

The competition started out early as scheduled. The mandatory skippers meeting was held at 8:00 a.m. under a biting cold weather condition so most of the riders had to endure the chill and go for glory. After an hour, the trials for the men’s freestyle event got underway.

The usual names made it through the top as expected, but there were a lot of notable heats worth mentioning plus several upset heats. The most notable performance during the game goes out to Lewis Crathern (Slingshot, UK) who landed several powered moves with really low kite angle. Kevin Langeree (Naish, Netherlands), who won the singles elimination, was also a stand out, driving really powered moves with low kite. In the women’s event, Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) and Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil), who won second and first places respectively were once again the stand outs from among the female riders. The crowd was very supportive too, cheering their hearts out whenever their favourite rider was on the water.

Overall, the competition saw a really good day, with the singles elimination wrapping up at 5:30 p.m. An awarding ceremony was held at the beach for the winners immediately following the conclusion of the freestyle event. After a short break, the riders for the course racing competition got into the starting line but the wind died down a little bit so the race went into a slight delay. The wind was very inconsistent during much of the heats but the riders managed to run two course races.

Men’s Freestyle Single Highlights

In the second heat of the men’s freestyle event, Silvester Ruckdaschel’s (Fone, Germany) return to the tour was short-lived, courtesy of Spain’s ace kiteboarder Cesar Portas (North) who went out with a variety of moves. Even Sweden’s Mikael Blomvall (JN Kite) who was sporting a new sponsor had a short-lived PKRA comeback courtesy of Ali Barrett (Slingshot, UK) who came out firing powered moves Aaron Hadlow style.

Kevin had an easy win over Tom Hebert (Airush, New Caledonia) in the fourth heat. Tom really struggled in the condition and crashed a lot of his big moves, giving Kevin the advantage.

“My first three heats are quite easy. My first heat against Tom went pretty well and I landed everything but it was very cold. My hands were so cold that I can’t hold on to the bar sometimes,” says Kevin during our interview after the games.

Also in the same heat, Bjorn Viane (Flexifoil, Belgium) had a short-lived comeback as Crathern took him out with more powered and technical moves. Some of Crathern’s moves even saw the kite almost skimming over the water.

A big disappointment came in the sixth heat, with an upset game courtesy of Sebastien Garat (RRD, France) who was playing on his home turf. Garat defeated current world number 5 Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) in a crash-packed heat under gusty conditions. Onieva crashed heavily and his kite bridle became tangled, effectively ending his heat a minute or so early in the game.

In the ninth heat, Blomvall had a close one with Portas with the Spanish ace going for huge moves in the gusty wind hoping his strength would pay off. Unfortunately, Blomvall is also a fairly good strong wind rider and had a different thing in mind. His new sponsor was able to perform and beat the top ranked North rider, landing a blind judge with aerial handle pass, front mobe and mobe over Portas’ higher kite blind judge 3, back to blind airpass and slim.

In the next heat, Kevin once again took the heat against Crathern who had super low kite moves, but so low that it usually crashes and it can’t ride out of the moves. Kevin on the other hand, just busted out his regular repertoire of tricks, even lowering his kite to take the easy win and continue his push towards the final.

In the thirteenth heat, Michael Schitzhofer (Naish, Austria) continued his charge to the podium, taking down a renewed Blomvall. The Austrian rider eventually fought his way into the top four, landing a regular and switch slim along with a 313, blind judge 3, back to blind airpass, front mobe and nose grab slim.

Russian Petr Tyuskevich (Cabrinha) knocked down Tom Court (North, UK) in the next heat in a very close, evenly-matched battle. Alex Pastor (Naish, Spain) went up against Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) also in the same heat and lost. The current world champion was riding very strong moves, landing several regular and switch moves.

In the final event, Kevin came out firing and never looked back. Aaron had a little difficulty along the way, nearly crashing with the jet ski at one time, managing to secure only the second spot as he struggled to keep up with his closest rival to the PKRA crown. Kevin landed a front mobe to blind, blind judge 3, front mobe, non-inverted slim, kiteloop 5 and a regular and switch back to blind airpass. Aaron’s moves include a blind judge 3, regular and switch slim, mobe and back to blind airpass. In the battle for third, Schitzhofer came through with his highest ever finish in the Tour, nailing a regular and switch slim, blind judge 3, 313, non-inverted slimchance, back to blind airpass, and a front mobe. Tyuskevich struggled early on in the game and but managed to land a slimchance, 313 and front mobe.

First Round Results:

1. Kevin Langeree – Naish, Netherlands
2. Aaron Hadlow – Flexifoil, UK
3. Michael Schitzhofer – Naish, Austria

Womens Freestyle Single Highlights

In a near upset, Ania Grzelinska (North, Poland) nearly took down Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) in the second heat. Although Ania landed more moves and had more variety, Gisela had much higher technical difficulty and took the win. The third heat however, was a different story. In a huge upset, Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland) was taken out by French rider Claudine Podvin (Best). Winkowska was going for her bigger tricks while Podvin went for the less technical but more consistent moves which eventually paid off. Karolina struggled in the conditions and missed several landings which gave the win to Podvin. In the battle for third place, Susi Mai (Cabrinha, Germany) landed a railey to blind and a superior variety of spins and big air tricks to take the win over Podvin.

The winners final was a close heat which saw similar moves from both Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) and Gisela. Bruna landed her moves with better style and more power. A non-inverted slimchance and s-bend were the deciding factor for the win.

“It was pretty hard in the final but I got to do some nice tricks. I landed a slimchance that was really powerful and I think that won my heat. I’m super happy, really tired but happy. It’s all worth it, and let’s see how it works tomorrow,” says Bruna during our interview following his heat.

First Round Result:

1. Bruna Kajiya – Best, Brazil
2. Gisela Pulido – Slingshot, Spain
3. Susie Mai – Cabrinha, Germany

Course Racing Event

Two races were held after the awarding ceremony for the Freestyle singles elimination. The wind was on and off which made for a difficult race for the riders. Sean Farley (North, Mexico) took the first race while Charles Deleau (North, France) was the first rider to cross the finish line in the second race. Local racer Raphael Salles (F-One) came in second while Spain’s Sami Gali, who is also judging the Freestyle competition, took the third spot.

We managed to interview Sami after the competition and got his feedback regarding his race.

“On the first race I used a totally new board which I had never tried before and it turned out to be a very good one. After about two minutes into the race, I got tangled. I was behind Sean, starboard tack when all of a sudden Marc crossed my path and didn’t give me the right of way so we tangled and I protested. On the second race, I was second on the last buoy but Raphael was totally blocking me and the buoy so I only managed to finish third.”

Men’s Race Result:

1^st Race

1. Sean Farley – North, Mexico
2. Charles Deleau – North, France
3. Raphael Salles – F-One, France

2^nd Race

1. Charles Deleau – North, France
2. Raphael Salles – F-One, France
3. Sami Gali – Best, Spain

Women’s Race Result:

1^st Race

1. Steph Bridge – North, UK
2. Angela Peral – North, Spain
3. Gina Esteva – Best, Spain

2^nd Race

1. Gina Esteva – Best, Spain
2. Steph Bridge – North, UK
3. Fabienne D’Ortoli – Cabrinha, France

Tomorrow’s skippers meeting is scheduled at 9:30 am with first possible start at 10:00 am for the conclusion of the Mondial du Vent – PKRA 2008 World Tour in Leucate, France.

PKRA World Tour debuts in France

It’s registration day for the second stop of the PKRA 2008 Kiteboarding World Tour in this beautiful city of Leucate, situated at the southwestern coast of France. The weather was very cold with the temperature dropping to 9° Celsius particularly during the early morning hours. There were periods of light rain but the most prominent about the weather in this side of France is the wind, blowing between 19 and
21 knots (5 bft) during most part of the day but was a bit stronger in the morning.

There was a photo shoot session in the afternoon participated in by some of the competitors. Five riders braved the conditions and went into the waters with the most notable being last year’s world tour runner-up Kevin Langeree who was on his 6m Naish kite. Local French racer Sebastien “Catman” Catellan also went out on his 7m kite. Both riders gave the media a glimpse of the intensity of tomorrow’s competition and beyond by boosting huge air tricks using the power of the wind.

The registration proper started at approximately 5:00 pm and lasted for a few hours because of the record turn out of competitors. A total of 54 world-class, professional kiteboarders representing 19 nationalities registered for the Freestyle competition while a total of 35 young athletes from 12 different countries will be competing in the Course Racing event.

This leg of the 2008 PKRA Kiteboarding World Tour is joined by the oldest ongoing kiteboarding event in the world, Mondial du Vent which is also the most prestigious kiteboarding and windsurfing games in Europe. This is the very first time that the PKRA will be holding its competition in France and the addition of Mondial du Vent to the roster of tour partner events proves the PKRA’s authority as the leading kiteboarding event in the world. The organizers expect to have a crowd of more than one hundred sixty thousand people viewing the contest live so a full week of activities, shows, exhibitions, and exhilarating kiteboarding and windsurfing action were put in order.

Tomorrow’s competition debut will have trials for both men and women in the Freestyle competition, after the mandatory skippers meeting which is scheduled to start nice and early at 8:00 am. Wind permitting, the plan would be to try and run all trials and complete the single eliminations plus two course racing events at the close of the day. So it’s a huge day tomorrow as the competitors get ready to clash it out one more time for a piece of the €45,000 purse plus the title of being crowned as the first ever PKRA France champion.

The Mondial du Vent 2008 and the PKRA 2008 France is made possible thru the efforts and kindness of the Office de Tourisme de Leucate with VW Utilitaires and Portail Orange as official partners. Foster's Beer, Veolia Eau, Cool Shoe Corporation and Julbo sunglasses are official sponsors. ExtremeElements.tv being the official media partner of the PKRA will provide HD-quality video footages of the event. To view the event’s live results, simply login and register at http://www.extremeelements.tv as well as commentaries and press releases of the previous PKRA World Tours.