Christophe Tack became a World Champion in 2014 and we haven't heard much of him since. After watching 'Mowgli's Jungle 2', the situation becomes much clearer and for those who had the opportunity to observe the tour organizers' actions, Christophe's decision seems fully justified. Luckily everything ended well and today's video proves it.
Sunday 25 September 2016
The final day saw a split of racers from their three coloured fleets into just two fleets (gold and silver), this placement was based on their combined results from racing the days previous.
Today was the real test of all the competitors skills and determination, as previously it was possible that their direct competition had in fact been racing in a different fleet parallel to them. This had certainly been the case with Mens racers Yo and Kerneur, who would now be competing head to head, whilst in the Womens fleet it would be yet another battle royal between Chen and Magaji for the 1 st place overall.
Magaji managed to beat Chen to the line in the very first race of the day, Magaji was determined and it looked very possible that she could go all the way through the four heats and take Chen out for the overall first place. Chen however came back strong herself in the second race, showing Magaji that she wasn’t going to give up. After Chen took out the third race as well it was clear that Chen would be our overall Womens TT Race champion this event. Magaji having the consolation of beating Chen to the line in the very last race of the day. Thai rider Jantawan was also heavily in the mix for all four races, taking out a solid 3 rd place just behind the top two Women and securing herself a deserving 3 rd place overall.
Mens Swedish racer Kappel managed to hold onto a very consistent lot of 2nd place finishes narrowly edging out Frenchman Lhotis who had some very good results early on. Lhotis possibly could have taken Kappel out had he kept his speed up, but it wasn’t to be as he faded in the final races of the day, the pair finishing up in 3 rd and 4 th place overall (respectively).
Mens Thai racer Yo had a hard time this event, injuring his ribs whilst competing in the big air, he was rushed off to hospital and it was uncertain if he would participate in the TT races at all. Amazingly Yo came back to the beach the next days, taping up his ribs with clear packing tape and competing in every single race. Surely this must have hindered Yos racing speed a little but the Thai terminator somehow managed to continue pushing the eventual winner Kerneur hard until the very last race.
Kerneur managed to take the first race of the day, with Yo coming back strong in the second at which point it still looked like it could be anyone’s game. In the third Yo had what looked like a bit of bad luck with a boat blocking his fastest route to the finish line making him change course slightly and possibly costing him the race. In the fourth it looked like the pain may have got too much for Yo as he narrowly managed to hold on for a respectable third place finish securing Thai racer Yo the 2 nd place overall for the TT race class. The Frenchman Kerneur once again used his excellent experience and gear choice to propel him to the front of the fleet, securing him the coveted 1 st place finish overall.
At 7pm the awards ceremony took place on the fifth floor of the riders hotel where management had organized a massive banquet for the competitors and our special guests. The Chinese riders were awarded their National rankings first with the international IKA champions awarded their respective places in each discipline soon after. Good vibes filled the air as the competition commentator Willy played his eclectic selection of world music, everyone having a great time late into the night.
It was amazing to see yet another hugely successful event here in Pingtan, surely this is mostly testament to the consistently contestable conditions they get in this region and the great staff the event has had on board each year helping to make sure things run so smoothly.
Click here for full results and elimination ladders with heat scores BIG AIR
Click here fore full results and elimination ladders with heat scores WAVE
Saturday 24 September 2016
2016 IKA Kiteboarding World Championships Pingtan - Day 4
Day four, groundhog day! Twenty knot winds again prevailed across the entire course area with a small 2-3ft chop adding an extra element of excitement to otherwise smooth racing conditions. Race officials had a challenging long day on the water with the strong winds and short chop whipping spray up onto the deck of the start boat and making it difficult to keep the race results dry.
A five rider tangle ensued second race of the day (yellow heat 4), a dangerous situation that the well trained safety crew did amazing job of cleaning up, luckily no one was injured and all the racers continued to compete in the following races.
10 year old Huang Qi Bin had a great first day of racing, missing the previous day his overall standing isn’t the best at 36th, but otherwise he came in a surprising 11th,13th and a 10th places respectively. It’s great to see new youth entering the sport, especially with such a talent for racing. We hope Bin continues to progress through the gold class tomorrow, which he just scraped into!
In the Womens division Magaji had an amazing first race of the day (race 4) as she finally managed to push ahead of local Chinese rider Jingle. Magajis excitement wasn’t to last long however as Jingle won the next two races and ended up two points ahead of Magaji in the seven race total (with one discard). It will be interesting to see if Magaji can push hard enough to give Jingle some more competition again tomorrow for the final races.
Yo and Kerneur were once again on the top of their game with 1st place finishes in every single race they entered. After seven races both competitors now have one dropped result and as such both Yo and Kerneur sit tied on a 6 point total. If Yo and Kerneur manage to end up tied again after tomorrows gold fleet (where they will race head to head) a count-back will occur, in such a scenario Yo would take the win, there’s no doubt Kerneur will fight hard to make sure this doesn’t happen. Tomorrow will tell whether or not it will come down to the wire, but we’re sure it wont come easy for either of them!
The top ten racers are still in very close quarters overall and it could well be anyone’s day, all the athletes will need to be on the top of their game tomorrow to make sure they don’t make any fatal mistakes, this should indeed keep things interesting and make the racing tighter than ever! We wish all the racers the best of luck tomorrow.
With a great forecast for tomorrow we’re expecting another prompt start after the 10o’clock skippers meeting. Stay tuned for all the results tomorrow!
Click here for full results and elimination ladders with heat scores BIG AIR
Click here fore full results and elimination ladders with heat scores WAVE
Day 3
Day 4
Matoz and Correia take the wave titles in Pingtan,
while Crathern and Magaji climb the top of the leaderboards in the Big Air discipline.
Day two at the 2016 Pingtan Kiteboarding Grand Slam got off to a somewhat lazy start - as the tide was still very low early on, the decision was made to hold back the competition and wait for better water and wave conditions later on. By 11am the conditions were looking great and the Big Air finals for both Men and Women commenced followed by the Waveriding discipline.
The Womens Big-Air losers final (for 5th place) saw a notable absence of the Brazilian Ferreira who said she was saving her energy for the Waveriding finals. The heat commenced without her and the three Women all fought hard for a place. It was however to be Korean rider Youngeun Lee narrowly inching out the other two Women (Tien and Jantawan) with some lofty big jumps towards the end of the heat securing her an overall 5th place finish.
It was assumed that the Womens final (heat 8) would be an easy win for Magaji given her performance the day earlier, she however got off to a slow start with both Correia and Chen gaining a lead early on with some high jumps and spins off the 4ft waves. Magaji only got things happening around the half way mark showing some nicely controlled Board Off tricks and clean Double Spins. Correia answered back again late with a few nice Kiteloops but it wasn’t enough to match the clean style and height of Magaji, landing Correia in a second place finish with Magaji claiming her first Big Air win for the year.
The Mens semi finals (heats 13, 14) were also exciting to watch, with both heats having a stacked field of riders. The rankings changed many times throughout the heats but there was to be one common factor in both heats and that was; that the two riders who advanced to the winners final were the two riders who both managed to execute high technical jumps in combination with kiteloops, Handlepass and Boardoff maneuvers.
The riders were guided in the skippers meeting that this would be a big factor in close scoring situations and it was clear that the judges decisions today were certainly influenced by this.
The bottom half of the semi finals made up the loosers final (heat 15). There was a notable absence of the Thai rider Yo who sadly injured his ribs during his heat 14 semi final. We hope that Yo is ok and that he can still compete in the Twin-Tip race class in the days to come as he’s been know to do very well there in the past.
It was the two Frenchman however who would battle down to the wire for a 5th place trophy. Both Kerneur and Lhostis went hard with big Kiteloops and Onefoot / Board Off maneuvers, Kerneur getting serious towards the end trying some handlepass manuvers that he hadn’t tried in any heat previous, perhaps trying to swing the judges opinion his way. We’re not sure if it worked but in the end Kerneur narrowly defeated Lhostis by just three points taking out 5th place for the event.
The Mens final was by far their most exciting heat of the day with all four men going massive and looking like it was possible that any of them could take the win. Young Carew from Australia put up a massive effort for his first international event, throwing some of the biggest kiteloops but coming unstuck on some of his other tricks landing him in a 4th place finish.
Posito also looked great in the beginning starting out with a huge couple of handlepass jumps but later crashing out on some big spins and failing to produce a big Kiteloop, which likely aided his 3rd place finish.
The top two men were a step above the other two, noticeably going higher more often and pulling out some wild Kiteloops and large dynamic jumps. One particular Kiteloop had the crowd thinking Crathern may end up in hospital once again, getting caught very late by the kite wowing both spectators and judges alike.
Hoppe on the other hand pulled what was likely the most technical trick of the day, a massive Kiteloop front roll, which we must assumed scored high, but it just wasn’t enough to take out the variety and risk displayed by Lewis. Crathern making some huge Jumps with a Handlepass that Hoppe did not, landing him in a deserved 1st place with Hoppe in a close 2nd, with Posito and Carew in 3rd and 4th respectively.
The Wave-riding discipline saw conditions very similar to yesterday, with no noticeable increase in wave height or wind strength.
The three-women final was up first, hotly contested by both Correira and Ferreira with Hou trailing behind but giving it her best shot. The Portuguese and Brazilian riders have both been in many events together and no doubt were keen to take out the win today.
Correira had some what of an advantage riding on her frontside down the line while Ferreira was on her backhand making it harder for her to quickly attack the lip. Ferreira gave it her best shot, producing some nice linked together turns but looked less comfortable in comparision to her heats the days previous.
Correira showed a dominant attack from heat start to finish with powerful smooth bottom to top turns which no doubt sealed her 1st place finish, with Ferreira and Hou trailing behind in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The mens loosers final (heat 15) saw the return of the young Australian Carew once again who was no doubt keen to better on his 4th place finish in the big air just a few heats earlier. It wasn’t to be however as the seasoned Frenchman Ribeiro used his superior wave selection and repertoire, narrowly defeating the Australian by a margin of just over a point.
Heat 16 (the Mens Wave final) was no-doubt the closest heat of the entire competition, with both men swapping positions throughout the heat and continuing to challenge one another to deliver a world championship worthy performance.
Both Men delivered a clinical backhand attack with very little difference between them. Matoz very narrowly had better wave selection and repertoire pulling off the only smooth backhand 360 cutbacks seen in the entire competition. Ferreira however was trying his best to solidify a first place finish claiming at the end of some rides and attempting some unique tricks of his own; the stand out being what can be described as a backhand backflip off the lip (down the line).
Ferreira tried hard to pull his backflip move off throughout the heat getting super close on two occasions but very un-fortunately only pulling it off on his 13th wave (which was outside his allowed wave count and thus not scoring). Had Ferreira pulled off his backflip he likely would have taken the heat win, as such it resulted that Matoz narrowly took the 1st place victory over Ferreira by a super slim 0.04 points!
With another amazing round of action today the whole team is excited for the great forecast for the rest of the week and the start of the Twin-Tip race category tomorrow. We’re expecting the races to be exciting with such a big field present so make sure to stay up to date with the latest reports!
Final Results Big Air Men:
1. Lewis Crathern (GBR, North) - 94.3pts
2. Marius Hoppe (GER, Core/F2) - 90.7pts
3. Posito Martinez (DOM, Da Silva) - 75.7pts
Final Results Big Air Women:
1. Bibiana Magaji (SVK, Flysurfer) - 89.3pts
2. Ines Correia (POR, North) - 80pts
3. Jingle Chen (CHN, Ozone) - 57.3pts
Final Results Wave Performance Men:
1. Pedro Matoz (BRA, North) - 14.47pts
2. Filippe Ferreira (BRA, F-One) - 14.43pts
3. Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA, North) - 13.67pts
Click here for full results and elimination ladders with heat scores BIG AIR
Click here fore full results and elimination ladders with heat scores WAVE
Here's a splitboard from Flysurfer: FlySplit 2. Just in time 'cause as we all know, absolutely every kiter from the north is packing right now in order to move to the south. With FliSplit 2 you'll save some space in a catamaran or a Volkswagen trunk.
FlySplit2 out NOW! ...for travel addicts
Right on time for the start of the travel season – when kiters in the northern hemisphere fly to sunny places, we have the perfect gadget for you! The FLYSPLIT2 is an all-round board, which can be divided into two parts making it perfect for travel. It fits into any regular sized suitcase and thereby saves you money on sports luggage.
The Zig-Zag-Interlocking is the key to our FLYSPLIT series. It is a tongue and groove principle, which is locked in place by a metal pin on each side. The fins can be taken off without the need for a screwdriver thanks to the Click’n’Ride System. No concessions need to be made on convenience or riding pleasure. The FLYSPLIT2 is the lightest, easiest to carry and assemble board in our line up.
The FLYSPLIT2 will soon be available at your trusted dealer in sizes 134x41cm and 139x43cm. Enjoy the ride and benefit from our split kiteboard technology. Put the FLYSPLIT2 into your suitcase and take it with you on every adventure!
I think we haven't posted any video from Israel yet. It's time to fix it. Kevin Langeree and Leeshai Miller decided to put some of the 2017 Naish collection equipment to a test and guess where? That's right! In Israel! If the new equipment by Naish is at least half as good as Kevin and Leeshai's moods in this video - here's my money. Take it!
IKA Kiteboarding World Championships Pingtan - Day 1
Day one started early for both riders and staff with a first skippers meeting at 830am and the opening ceremony straight afterwards. The Chinese don’t do things in small measures, they always go all out in celebration and this opening ceremony was no exception, top delegates came to sanction the event and show their support for the field of world class athletes.
With low tide in the morning the choice was made to begin with the big air. This was decided open as the waves are generally shaped better throughout the higher tide on Pingtan beach which would better suit the requirements of the Waveriding division.
A solid 20 knots of wind provided a great platform for the Big-Air riders to showcase their skills, with an over-all impression format in use it was imperative that riders show the judges a well-rounded approach to their heats in order to advance to the later rounds.
Round one for the men saw Crathern, Martinez, Kerneur and Hoppe all winning their respective heats and posting up some solid scores. Crathern, Martinez and Hoppe all reached the 80 point mark (out of a possible 100), with Martinez pushing hard to score an 88.3.
All of these men showed a solid combination of big jumps, kiteloops and handle-pass maneuvers to place them at the top of the pack. We shouldn’t underestimate the underdogs but it looks fairly likely that it will also be these four men battling it out for a spot on the podium in the later rounds tomorrow.
On the Womens side of the big-air local rider Chen put on an artistic display in heat one to come in tied for first place with rider Hou. Both Women will advance to the Finals tomorrow coming up against Magaji and Correia from heat two.
It was undoubtedly Magaji though who stole the show for the Women, posting up a 76.6 putting even some of the Men to shame. Magaji showed a well rounded performance with not only High Jumps but also both Boardoffs and big Kiteloops filling out her repertoire and setting her apart from the rest of the field.
As the tide came in so did the Waves and the decision was made to put the Big-Air on hold in favor of the Waveriding discipline.
The waves were hotly contested with a sporadic beach break prevalent through out the competition area. Riders were tested on not only their board skills but also on their ability to read and choose the correct wave to catch in order to maximize their scoring potential.
Riders Matoz, Ribeiro, Ferreira and Kerneur all placed first in their round one heats respectively advancing straight to the semi-final round. With all three besides Kerneur posting a score in the 14s (for a two wave total) it was clear that it would be tight in the final rounds.
Carew and Brito were the two lucky riders who pushed through the second chance round two to meet the four winners from round one.
Heat 13 saw a super close battle between Matos and Ribeiro with both surfers exchanging blows wave by wave, however it would be Matos taking out Ribeiro with what can only be described as his signature clinical vertical backhand attack.
In Heat 14 Carew as the underdog managed to better his position by narrowly edging out the competition vetran Kerneur by half a point for a place in the loosers final and a chance at a third place finish tomorrow.
However Ferreira got the upper-hand in the heat 14 exchange with his smooth approach pushing him into a final round match up tomorrow where his skills will be tested against the precise vertical attack of Matos. There’s no doubt that these final two heats will be exciting to watch!
Over on the Womens side the Waves were largely dominated by both Correira and Ferreira the Portuguese and Brazilian duo. These two Ladies showed a rail game that some of the men could even learn a thing or two from and they no doubt will have their eyes set on the prize in the final heat tomorrow.
Hou came through the consolidation round to meet the two in the final tomorrow but will have a hard time against these veteran athletes. It will be interesting to see how they all perform in the one heat and whether or not they can continue their form with the added pressure on their shoulders.
Overall Day One provided competitors with conditions that were about as good as it gets here in Pingtan.
We hope that these conditions continue into tomorrow so we can finish both Wave and Big Air disciplines concentrating on the competitor heavy Twin-Tip field in the days to come.
Click here for full results and elimination ladders with heat scores BIG AIR
Click here fore full results and elimination ladders with heat scores WAVE
Today the north hemisphere is saying goodbye to the summer season as the fall inevitably starts. To cheer up those of you who feel really down 'cause of this fact, we present a video full of breathtaking views straight from Madagascar.
Alright then, chins up - summer will be back in just 9 months!
A five-time world champion Aaron Hadlow makes waves on a perfectly flat Sicilian water surface with unusual ease - that's all I have to say.
Just shut up and watch the video - it's a great one!
The International Kiteboarding takes place once again in Italy. From October, 16th to 22th, 2016, Porto Pollo, an authentic Kiteboarding paradise in the district of Palau, Sardinia, will host the Grand Slam, final leg of the World Kite League 2016, organized by GLEsport under the aegis of IKA (International Kiteboarding Association) and with the contribution of Regione Autonoma della Sardegna together with the Department of Tourism and the Municipality of Palau.
The Sardinia Grand Slam will be the final act of an international championship that has previously brought the best kiteboarders of the world to El Gouna (Round 1, Egypt, March, 20th-27th 2016) and Leucate (Round 2, France, April, 15th-22th, 2016). In September, 20th to 25th, the Round 3 of the World Kite League will be run, scheduled in Pingtan (China), as last act before the Sardinian Porto Pollo final.
Registrations open officially on September 15th 2016 and the organization expects the participation of more than 70 athletes from 20 nations. The Sardinia Grand Slam is open to Freestyle and Big Air categories, both Men and Women, and offers a total money prize of 50,000 Euros. Great expectations obviously for big international riders like the Brazilian Carlos Mario, currently first in the world ranking, the Dutchman Youri Zoon, and Spaniard Alex Pastor.
www.worldkiteleague.com
Your IKA Team
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