04-06-2014 - Kitesurfen, Nieuws

PKRA Red Sea World Cup – Dag 3 & 4

Na enkele jaren van afwezigheid keer de PKRA weer terug in Egypte. Vele jaren stond het evenement wel op de wedstrijdagenda maar was er sprake van financiële problemen of politieke onrust in het Noord-Afrikaanse land. De laatste edities van de PKRA in Egypte werden nog gehouden bij het bekendere El Gouna/ Hurghada maar nu zal men afreizen naar het zuidelijker gelegen Soma Bay/Safaga.

Christophe Tack is weer een stap dichterbij de wereldtitel gekomen. Anneloues Lammerts wist de derde plaats te behalen, een prestatie van formaat!  knap 3de geworden. Winkowska lijkt bij de dames onverslaanbaar maar onze landgenoten Annelous en Annabel strijden mee voor een plaats op het podium. Hieronder kun je de uitgebreide wedstrijdverslagen van dag 3 & 4 teruglezen, deze verslagen deelde de PKRA met ons. Voor de eerste twee dagen kun je dit artikel nog even lezen.

Day 3 

Riders woke to still palms oily waters and thick hot air, it was the type of day that if you were a regular tourist you’d likely have taken a picture and posted it to all your friends back home. The calm didn’t continue for long however as at 10am (as forecast) the breeze kicked in from practically no where. Some riders were taken by surprise but all were rearing and ready to get in the water, cool down and get some heats finished.

The comp kicked off with the continuation of round two mens and womens single elimination ladders. With a slight adjustment of the competition box riders were blessed with really flat water, a great arena to throw their biggest tricks and show everyone that they are no-doubt the worlds best riders.

The Womens ladder had a slight switch up again this event with Bruna Kajiya making a return to the 3rd place position, posting a very tight heat with Gisela Pulido and showing that she’s once again a force to be reckoned with. Bruna Suffered a Serious ACL injury in August last year and she’s just now starting to return to full fitness. A big surprise for most this event was the womens rookie Annelous Lammerts, she put on a series of hard fought heats between both Karolina Winkowska and Bruna Kajiya showing that her training this year has been paying off and that she too can keep up with the best of them. Lets see how she performs in the double elimination tomorrow and whether she can keep the ball rolling.

The Womens final was an all too familiar site with Karolina Winkowska from Poland coming up against Gisela Pulido from Spain. Both girls looked to be at home in the flat conditions with 313, Slim Chance and S-Bend to blind being common ground between the two. In the end it was to be Karolina Winkowskas day however riding a slightly more powered heat and winning by a margin of almost 4 points (30.76 vs 26.52).

Competition was fierce on the mens side the Brazilians showed that in such conditions they truly are a force to be reckoned with. The young Carlos Mario really stepped his game up this event and propelled himself into the 4th place position narrowly being defeated by his elder countryman Eudazio Dasilva. Both men had a technical approach to the loosers final with Double Heart Attacks and Double Backside S-Mobes being common ground between the two, in the end though it was Dasilva that edged Mario out with his comp experience and slightly more powered approach to trick selection.

The Mens final was an exciting one with both Alexandre Neto and Christophe Tack having a similar bag of tricks and the ability to put together a world class act. Both riders came out strong with massive Slim 540s’s, Crow Mobe 540’s and Front Blind Mobes making it almost impossible to pick who might actually be in the lead throughout most the heat. It was Tack however that brought it all home in the end with an impeccable Backside 315 and a KGB 540 that looked like it would be hard to beat. Neto answered back however with a Backside 315 and KGB 540 of his own but it just wasn’t enough to bring him back. Tack took the final out with an impressive heat total of (37.7 vs 33.21) and a single trick score for a KGB 540 of (8.4). All four men appeared really stoked to be together on the podium and it will be interesting to see whether this line up will hold fast in the double elimination.

Day 4 

The sound of wind whistling through the palm lined shores of the hotel was like an alarm clock for riders and crew starting the final day of competition here in the Red Sea. Surprisingly the wind was even stronger than forecast with some locals predicting a large sandstorm headed our way. The 9am briefing informed riders that the wind had been measured at 25-43knots and that the comp area would be adjusted to accommodate the more offshore direction wind compared to previous days. Thankfully the sandstorm held back and the event continued as planned.

Liam Egypt 2014

The men were the first to test the area with Michael Schitzhofer and Jerrie Van De Kop doing their best to make something out of the tough conditions, from there thankfully the conditions only improved with the wind swinging more side-shore making it less gusty and averaging a solid 25-30knots the whole day. The men were riding 7m kites whilst the women were mostly on 5-6m.

Jacobs Egypt 2014

The womens double elimination was one of the most hotly contested to date, with all girls giving it their all to improve upon their first round seeding. Manuela Jungo, Malin Amle and Annabel Van Westerop all had very credible heats but sadly were unable to make it back into the final four. It was Annelous Lammerts who once again surprised everyone with a great heat against Bruna Kajiya knocking her from the 3rd place and giving her a chance at the second place spot. She rode an extremely close heat against Gisela Pulido leading for most of it until Pulido managed to put together a few tricks in the dying minutes and keep her place.

mario Egypt 2014

The Womens final was once again an Pulido vs Winkowska affair and much like yesterdays final it seemed to be Winkowska narrowly leading for most of it due to slightly better kite positioning and power in her tricks. Winkowska also managed to land a nice backmobe towards the end of the heat that no doubt sealed the deal. Winkowska has now won a total of 3 events this year coming 3rd only once and showing that she’s truly motivated to once again reach for the world title.

Podium Egypt 2014

The mens double elimination was exciting to watch with the strong gusty wind giving riders a chance to throw some big tricks and some even bigger crashes. Everyone was riding well for the conditions but it would be right to say that today was no-doubt Liam Whaleys day. Whaley had a methodical approach to heats doing only what he needed to win but in a way that provided him with some of the highest scoring heats of the day. The young Spaniard came all the way from dead last position, through 9 heats including the Brazillians (Carlos Mario, Eudazio Dasilva and Alex Neto) to come up against the winner of yesterdays single elimination Christophe Tack.  Whaleys front blind mobes amongst other tricks were some of the nicest seen in competition so far and we’re sure that this kid still has a bright future ahead of him. However it was once again to be Christophe Tacks day. Tack didn’t ride as good as days previous, but he did enough to take the win and narrowly defeat Whaley by a .4 margin. Tack has also now won 3 events this year and has come second at another, showing that he’s well on his way to winning the world title this year.

Bron

 van