Sport Reborn: Riders´ Union Take Over Germany and Gear Next Level
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| Image: World Kiteboarding League at Germany Pringles Stop broadcasting live and looking sharp |
What the hell is going on in the International Kiteboarding Circuit? We have no idea...but we are loving it! The World Kiteboarding League -organization recently created took over the most prestigious stop of the World of Kiteboarding...Germany. They not only took over the event but went live to the World! If you thought International Kiteboarding was ruled by IKA and the World Kite Tour you will have to rethink things.
On September 4 World Kiteboarding League reported that after 10 days of competition facing winds and no winds conditions all divisions saw the end. Foil and Women Divisions completed their ways to the podium but Men Freestyle Main Event could not complete due to lack of winds in Germany.
The Pringles World Cup Fehmarn -which runs every year from August to September is where the World’s Elite of Kiteboarding take to flying high. World Kite Tour usually runs this event but this year went completely silent....
We all know that the Kiteboarding Sport has had its ups and downs since its introduction. Lets face it the sport is barely born and even a few years back when we thought it was clearly established we had to rethink things.
For the past years top riders have been forced to decide where to compete to make their mark on the sport. There is the World Kite Tour, taken over by Virgin and the IKA International Kiteboarding Association. Both organizations have had their battles with ISAF World Sailing for recognition and obtained it. World Kite Tour had official Special Status to run a World Tour and IKA had official green light to give away top rankings but in the past months things have really shaken up.
The World Kiteboarding League jumped into the stage relentlessly. Formed by the Union of Riders they are riders from throughout the World that assure to work for riders. They came in strong and did real damage to the scene.
The World Kiteboarding League landed in Germany Pringles, installed large video screens, changed the judging and competition format and went live to the World. Thousands of viewers Around the World witnessed the rebirth of kiteboarding by the hands of World Kiteboarding League.
So if you say well I am confused...wasn't the Germany Pringles Stop part of a Virgin World Kite Tour? We would have to answer, yes it was or yes it is? And yes we are also confused. It seems that World Kiteboarding League made an arrangement with Virgin World Kite Tour which let's face it has been in a slump for the past two years.
“Chaos in the Sport” International Press reported a few months ago. “The International Kiteboarding Association IKA and the Kiteboarding Riders United KRU had signed a Memorandum of Understanding. But things changed,and the sport has now three international circuits running simultaneously. Chaos is still the best word to describe the status quo of kiteboarding. Athletes and fans are now even more confused. We had seen the birth of the World Kite Tour WKT the World Kite League WKL -also known as Kiteboarding World Championships, and now there's the World Kiteboarding League,” International Press also reported confusion.
It all came down to what Top Level Riders wanted. 60 riders including Annelous Lammerts, Alex Pastor, Youri Zoon and Liam Whaley, announced this year that they had had enough and that they would “run their own circuit."
With Big Name Riders, a clear vision of where they wanted to take the sport and how to get there, Really Big Sponsors like Mercedes Benz, the Ocean Cleanup, Best, Camp David, Cabrinha, Switchblade, North Kiteboarding, Red Bull, Airush and every other big name in the Kite Industry the new World Kiteboarding League took over the scene and blasted live to the World through Facebook the entire event, League style!
The League has set rankings for Freestyle and open rankings for Big Air, Wave, Slalom and Foil.
Those following World Surf League´s Events -criteria, judging, riders and heat format are not disappointed nor unfamiliar with the new format which the World Kiteboarding League chose to use.
The new format -which riders and viewers love alike is a heat-round format. In the freestyle format riders loop into a circuit under the heat clock and take to the air. The best 4 performances and tricks are kept on the scoreboard and that how competition plays out.
Riders into the air...judges putting the numbers on the jumps, tricks and live commentators...slow motions and an impressive logistics allowed for the World Kiteboarding League to bring a live show to the World. Finally someone pulled it off!
Current Freestyle World Champion Liam Whaley of Spain is one of the main stars of the League. His involvement moves from logistics to simply ripping it in the ocean. Five Time Champion Aaron Hadlow showed up for the Germany showdown along with the multiple European Champion Mario Rodwald from Rendsburg, Linus Erdmann from Hamburg and Marian Hund from Munich. Sabrina Lutz and other women riders from Brazil, Europe and the rest of the World shined bright at Germany under the League's command.
World Kiteboarding League reported on Day 10 and final day of the event at Germany. “The rush commenced to get prepared and try to complete as much of the Freestyle Main Event as possible. Heat 5 was intense, with so many top riders battling against each other, but it was Alex Pastor who put on the most solid display of riding and won the heat, followed closely by Liam Whaley and Youri Zoon. Unfortunately the Men’s main event was not completed as the wind dropped just at the start of Heat 6. This means that there was no Men’s result for this event in Fehmarn, Germany,” organizers explained why the Men Event had no winner this year.
Liam spoke about the final day of wrap up and also assured that it was intense. “Had a very intense last minute battle in the semifinal with Alex Pastor and Youri Zoon Kiteboarding! We all made it through to the final but shortly afterwards the event was cancelled as the wind died...Thanks to everyone that made this event happen and hopefully we get luckier with the conditions next year!” lack of winds did not discourage the top level rider who has big plans for the near future.
While Men Freestyle Main Event was incomplete and left open Women Division were more fortunate.
“For the Women, they luckily had just enough wind to complete the final. Bruna Kajiya from Brasil put on a powerful comeback display, after riding a disappointing heat in the last round. She was on fire, landing an impressive array of tricks and dominating her heat. Hannah Whiteley landed an impressive Back Mobe, scoring her 5.97 but not enough to beat Bruna’s scores. Annabel Van Westerop and Paula Novotna tried their hardest to land their best tricks, but finally it was Bruna who claimed her crown, and took yet another well-deserved victory,” World Kiteboarding League reported.
Another expected award was the GKA Rider of Year which went this year to Bruna Kajiya and Alex Pastor. The award is given for overall results from a variety of events including the Triple S, King of the Air, WKL Cabarete and WKL Germany amongst others.
Danny Galiart CEO of World Kiteboarding League expressed his excitement with the growth of the League and displayed his commitment to Ocean conservation by securing a 2,180 Euro Symbolic Cheque from the Clean Ocean Project -NGO which partnered with the League to assure the ecological aspects of the League are fully covered. .
“It was a week of challenging conditions, but none the less an exceptional set up and organisation once again here at the Pringles Kitesurf World Cup, the largest kiteboarding event of the year. Thank you to all the riders, crew, sponsors and the public for supporting this magnificent event,” CEO Galiart said.
“Our live stream was running throughout the event, and we thank everyone for tuning in, watching and adding their comments and questions. We look forward to seeing you all at our next event!” the League said reminding every single one of the thousands of Worldwide viewers that they are not done with the World Tour in fact they are just getting started and warming up their engines.
“KRU Kiteboarding Riders United is the union behind the WKL. KRU is the Union for professional kiteboard riders. The union was founded in 2016 by riders for the riders. The board members are Youri Zoon, Alex Pastor, Annelous Lammerts and Liam Whaley,” they hit it hard.
“After the 2015 season there were a lot of promises but also a lot of uncertainties about the future of professional kiteboarding; and sadly the riders were never able to be part of the discussions that would determine their futures. To be able to have more control over the direction professional kiteboarding would take, we decided to take responsibilities into our own hands. This lead to the founding of the World Kiteboarding League. Our aim is to bring the sport to the next level, to reach a larger audience, and to be more responsible!” riders assured.
CEO, Legal Department, Board Members, Social Media, Content Experts, Judges, and all aspect of the sport is present at the League. More than all they have quality riders from all pàrts of this beautiful Globe.
Foil Division ended on Day 5 in Germany thanks to good winds. The Podium was taken by leaders after 8 total races. Men Foil leaders ranked Florian Gruber 1st, Adriaan Geislinger 2nd and 3rd Benni Boelli. Women Foil lead was taken by Katja Roose followed closely in second position by Leonie Meyer.
Women Main Event ended with Bruna Kajiya 1st, Hannah Whiteley 2nd and Annabel van Westerop 3rd. The World Kiteboarding League made the most of low wind -laydays streaming live interviews from a wide range of riders and aspects of interest of the Kiteboarding International Industry.
Rankings at the World Kiteboarding League Freestyle are set. Carlos Mario from Brazil riding for Slingshot leads with 2.7 thousand points followed by Alex Pastor riding for Airush with 2.4 thousand points and Youri Zoon also riding for the Slingshot team third with 2.1 thousand points.
Women Freestyle Ranking is led by Bruna Kajiya with 2.7 thousand points riding for Red Bull and Airush, followed by Paula Novotna with 2.5 thousand points riding for North Kiteboarding and ION and third Hannah Whiteley with 2.3 thousand points from Great Britain riding for Best Kiteboarding.
The rest of the division's rankings are not listed and open for the taking...that is how young the League is!
“It's all about Power!” riders assure.
After completing the second stop of their new World Tour they already have a full 2016 Agenda. The World Kiteboarding League rode out the Maitai Cabarete Freesystel in July, the Pringles Germany Event and is now on its way to Confirmed dates and Stops in October at the Egypt Kiteboarding Freestyle Masters 2016 and the December New Caledonia Freestyle Stop.
What can be expected for the League and for the sport of Kiteboarding is still uncertain but one thing is for sure...Kiteboarding keeps growing and taking new unexpected forms...true to its radical spirit it moves to the next level and the next level and the next after that.
It was about time that Kiteboarding Best World Riders Competition went live to the World! Transparency! Cleared for Take Off!
On September 4 World Kiteboarding League reported that after 10 days of competition facing winds and no winds conditions all divisions saw the end. Foil and Women Divisions completed their ways to the podium but Men Freestyle Main Event could not complete due to lack of winds in Germany.
The Pringles World Cup Fehmarn -which runs every year from August to September is where the World’s Elite of Kiteboarding take to flying high. World Kite Tour usually runs this event but this year went completely silent....
We all know that the Kiteboarding Sport has had its ups and downs since its introduction. Lets face it the sport is barely born and even a few years back when we thought it was clearly established we had to rethink things.
For the past years top riders have been forced to decide where to compete to make their mark on the sport. There is the World Kite Tour, taken over by Virgin and the IKA International Kiteboarding Association. Both organizations have had their battles with ISAF World Sailing for recognition and obtained it. World Kite Tour had official Special Status to run a World Tour and IKA had official green light to give away top rankings but in the past months things have really shaken up.
The World Kiteboarding League jumped into the stage relentlessly. Formed by the Union of Riders they are riders from throughout the World that assure to work for riders. They came in strong and did real damage to the scene.
The World Kiteboarding League landed in Germany Pringles, installed large video screens, changed the judging and competition format and went live to the World. Thousands of viewers Around the World witnessed the rebirth of kiteboarding by the hands of World Kiteboarding League.
So if you say well I am confused...wasn't the Germany Pringles Stop part of a Virgin World Kite Tour? We would have to answer, yes it was or yes it is? And yes we are also confused. It seems that World Kiteboarding League made an arrangement with Virgin World Kite Tour which let's face it has been in a slump for the past two years.
“Chaos in the Sport” International Press reported a few months ago. “The International Kiteboarding Association IKA and the Kiteboarding Riders United KRU had signed a Memorandum of Understanding. But things changed,and the sport has now three international circuits running simultaneously. Chaos is still the best word to describe the status quo of kiteboarding. Athletes and fans are now even more confused. We had seen the birth of the World Kite Tour WKT the World Kite League WKL -also known as Kiteboarding World Championships, and now there's the World Kiteboarding League,” International Press also reported confusion.
It all came down to what Top Level Riders wanted. 60 riders including Annelous Lammerts, Alex Pastor, Youri Zoon and Liam Whaley, announced this year that they had had enough and that they would “run their own circuit."
With Big Name Riders, a clear vision of where they wanted to take the sport and how to get there, Really Big Sponsors like Mercedes Benz, the Ocean Cleanup, Best, Camp David, Cabrinha, Switchblade, North Kiteboarding, Red Bull, Airush and every other big name in the Kite Industry the new World Kiteboarding League took over the scene and blasted live to the World through Facebook the entire event, League style!
The League has set rankings for Freestyle and open rankings for Big Air, Wave, Slalom and Foil.
Those following World Surf League´s Events -criteria, judging, riders and heat format are not disappointed nor unfamiliar with the new format which the World Kiteboarding League chose to use.
The new format -which riders and viewers love alike is a heat-round format. In the freestyle format riders loop into a circuit under the heat clock and take to the air. The best 4 performances and tricks are kept on the scoreboard and that how competition plays out.
Riders into the air...judges putting the numbers on the jumps, tricks and live commentators...slow motions and an impressive logistics allowed for the World Kiteboarding League to bring a live show to the World. Finally someone pulled it off!
Current Freestyle World Champion Liam Whaley of Spain is one of the main stars of the League. His involvement moves from logistics to simply ripping it in the ocean. Five Time Champion Aaron Hadlow showed up for the Germany showdown along with the multiple European Champion Mario Rodwald from Rendsburg, Linus Erdmann from Hamburg and Marian Hund from Munich. Sabrina Lutz and other women riders from Brazil, Europe and the rest of the World shined bright at Germany under the League's command.
World Kiteboarding League reported on Day 10 and final day of the event at Germany. “The rush commenced to get prepared and try to complete as much of the Freestyle Main Event as possible. Heat 5 was intense, with so many top riders battling against each other, but it was Alex Pastor who put on the most solid display of riding and won the heat, followed closely by Liam Whaley and Youri Zoon. Unfortunately the Men’s main event was not completed as the wind dropped just at the start of Heat 6. This means that there was no Men’s result for this event in Fehmarn, Germany,” organizers explained why the Men Event had no winner this year.
Liam spoke about the final day of wrap up and also assured that it was intense. “Had a very intense last minute battle in the semifinal with Alex Pastor and Youri Zoon Kiteboarding! We all made it through to the final but shortly afterwards the event was cancelled as the wind died...Thanks to everyone that made this event happen and hopefully we get luckier with the conditions next year!” lack of winds did not discourage the top level rider who has big plans for the near future.
While Men Freestyle Main Event was incomplete and left open Women Division were more fortunate.
“For the Women, they luckily had just enough wind to complete the final. Bruna Kajiya from Brasil put on a powerful comeback display, after riding a disappointing heat in the last round. She was on fire, landing an impressive array of tricks and dominating her heat. Hannah Whiteley landed an impressive Back Mobe, scoring her 5.97 but not enough to beat Bruna’s scores. Annabel Van Westerop and Paula Novotna tried their hardest to land their best tricks, but finally it was Bruna who claimed her crown, and took yet another well-deserved victory,” World Kiteboarding League reported.
Another expected award was the GKA Rider of Year which went this year to Bruna Kajiya and Alex Pastor. The award is given for overall results from a variety of events including the Triple S, King of the Air, WKL Cabarete and WKL Germany amongst others.
Danny Galiart CEO of World Kiteboarding League expressed his excitement with the growth of the League and displayed his commitment to Ocean conservation by securing a 2,180 Euro Symbolic Cheque from the Clean Ocean Project -NGO which partnered with the League to assure the ecological aspects of the League are fully covered. .
“It was a week of challenging conditions, but none the less an exceptional set up and organisation once again here at the Pringles Kitesurf World Cup, the largest kiteboarding event of the year. Thank you to all the riders, crew, sponsors and the public for supporting this magnificent event,” CEO Galiart said.
“Our live stream was running throughout the event, and we thank everyone for tuning in, watching and adding their comments and questions. We look forward to seeing you all at our next event!” the League said reminding every single one of the thousands of Worldwide viewers that they are not done with the World Tour in fact they are just getting started and warming up their engines.
“KRU Kiteboarding Riders United is the union behind the WKL. KRU is the Union for professional kiteboard riders. The union was founded in 2016 by riders for the riders. The board members are Youri Zoon, Alex Pastor, Annelous Lammerts and Liam Whaley,” they hit it hard.
“After the 2015 season there were a lot of promises but also a lot of uncertainties about the future of professional kiteboarding; and sadly the riders were never able to be part of the discussions that would determine their futures. To be able to have more control over the direction professional kiteboarding would take, we decided to take responsibilities into our own hands. This lead to the founding of the World Kiteboarding League. Our aim is to bring the sport to the next level, to reach a larger audience, and to be more responsible!” riders assured.
CEO, Legal Department, Board Members, Social Media, Content Experts, Judges, and all aspect of the sport is present at the League. More than all they have quality riders from all pàrts of this beautiful Globe.
Foil Division ended on Day 5 in Germany thanks to good winds. The Podium was taken by leaders after 8 total races. Men Foil leaders ranked Florian Gruber 1st, Adriaan Geislinger 2nd and 3rd Benni Boelli. Women Foil lead was taken by Katja Roose followed closely in second position by Leonie Meyer.
Women Main Event ended with Bruna Kajiya 1st, Hannah Whiteley 2nd and Annabel van Westerop 3rd. The World Kiteboarding League made the most of low wind -laydays streaming live interviews from a wide range of riders and aspects of interest of the Kiteboarding International Industry.
Rankings at the World Kiteboarding League Freestyle are set. Carlos Mario from Brazil riding for Slingshot leads with 2.7 thousand points followed by Alex Pastor riding for Airush with 2.4 thousand points and Youri Zoon also riding for the Slingshot team third with 2.1 thousand points.
Women Freestyle Ranking is led by Bruna Kajiya with 2.7 thousand points riding for Red Bull and Airush, followed by Paula Novotna with 2.5 thousand points riding for North Kiteboarding and ION and third Hannah Whiteley with 2.3 thousand points from Great Britain riding for Best Kiteboarding.
The rest of the division's rankings are not listed and open for the taking...that is how young the League is!
“It's all about Power!” riders assure.
After completing the second stop of their new World Tour they already have a full 2016 Agenda. The World Kiteboarding League rode out the Maitai Cabarete Freesystel in July, the Pringles Germany Event and is now on its way to Confirmed dates and Stops in October at the Egypt Kiteboarding Freestyle Masters 2016 and the December New Caledonia Freestyle Stop.
What can be expected for the League and for the sport of Kiteboarding is still uncertain but one thing is for sure...Kiteboarding keeps growing and taking new unexpected forms...true to its radical spirit it moves to the next level and the next level and the next after that.
It was about time that Kiteboarding Best World Riders Competition went live to the World! Transparency! Cleared for Take Off!
