Olympic Sail Renegades Grand Slam Barra Grande
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| PKRA Source and Courtesy. PKRA Tarija Event one of the 10 Pro events per year hosted through the Globe. |
Two years since professional kitesurfing athletes saw
their doors closed to participating in the 2016 Olympics professional kite-riders
keep busy touring the PKRA World Cup, don’t seem to feel left out from ocean
sports and see much action.
PKRA World Tour -with over 10 yearly World Cup events spanning
through the continents from Panama to France, Morocco, Spain, Germany, Brazil
and even double dates in China reported from the Barra Grande Grand Slam.
On September 18th PKRA reported on Day Two directly
from the swells of Barra Grande Brazil. Local Brazilian riders were highlighted
by PKRA for their local knowledge of winds and waves, bringing to the Grand
Slam a “show-down”.
Day two was the start of the Freestyle main event.
PKRA praised the Brazilian Trade Winds which continued strong as expected
taking riders from surface to air. By mid-day the Men Division took to the
waters riding seven to nine meter kites, with options to “trim down-size down” kites
as the day stretched on.
“The level of
riding was as intense as in the trials…the Brazilians put on a graceful
performance in the harsh conditions but sadly it was to be only the youngster
Carlos Mario who would make it through to the next round,” PKRA reported
confirming rankings of international kitesurf riders who travelled to Brazil
for leadership.
The Women Division took to the ocean carried by five
meter kites. Harsh conditions challenged most of the riders. Local Brazilian
rider Dioneia Vieira had the best heat from the ladies posting up a nice “Backmobe”
and “Front” to blind in the tricky conditions.
“It’s no surprise to see that the training at her
local Brazilian spot Cumbuco has been paying off, it will be interesting to see
how she performs tomorrow,” PKRA stated adding promising more to come from Barra
Grand Slam which saved the best for the final days of kite-surfing raw and pure
competition
Professional Kitesurfers are riding out their chances using
fierce Brazilian Trade Winds poised for a shot at World Ranking and World
Titles. Christophe Tack and Liam Whaley and talented Brazilian rider Set
Teixeira were highlighted by PKRA as those digging into the World ride.
PKRA opened the Barra Grande Grand Slam days after
what they described as the “epic close of the Tarifa Pro Kite Tour 2014”.
On September 7th PKRA hosted the eighth and
final competition day at Tarija which ended with ranking for Men and Women Freestyle
and Big Air results. PKRA keeps international professional kite riders in the
ocean waters throughout the entire year organizing back top back World Cup events
across the globe.
While the sport continues to break limits of what can
and can’t be done with sails –pushing speed limits and continues to gain
popularity around the world embodied by new generations it is still remembered
by the media for the 2012 Olympic Game Controversy.
In May 2012 course racing style of kitesurfing was
announced as a sport for the 2016 Rio Olympics. For some reason organizers
aimed to replace in the Olympics windsurfing with kitesurfing. The General
Assembly of ISAF looked down on the decision and overturned the ruling.
Independent reported that Branson lead the
kitesurfers' revolt as the Olympic chiefs reversed course to leave sport out of
Rio 2016. Sir Richard Branson, who propelled himself on to the surfing scene
after becoming the oldest man to kitesurf across the English Channel, said it
was a "sad day for one of the best entertainment sports in the
world".
Kitesurfing remains therefore a non-Olympic sport
until 2020 at the earliest, not that young riders care much about that as they
get their kicks off in the ocean waters. New sports are rising driven by
innovation in design and can be considered new generation water ocean sports. Kitesurfing
while having years in the play is still considered an outsider to the local
establishment.
“With the wind in Barra Grande only strengthening
throughout the day…we hope this will enable the riders to perform at their peak
and we’re all excited to see the action un-fold tomorrow,” PKRA reported from
Barra Grande Brazil.
The World Cup Professional Kitesurfing organization
assures that there is still much more to come for the sport in the next years
and much more to come before 2014 comes to an end. PKRA next stop is China with
a double date for the Pingtan Kiteboarding World Cup 2014 in Pingtan Island, and
the 2014 PKRA Word Tour Haikou Event in breathtaking Hainan Island of China.
