Barra Grande Kiteboarding Grand Slam Dag 3-5

Day three competition started earlier than the days previous with the lighter winds making the first Womens heats really impressive, all top four women, Pulido, Kayjia, Lammerts and Winkowska had excellent heats. Backmobes and Front to Blinds were the flavour of the day with all top four women executing one or both in their heats. Kayjia came out riding solid in her first heats shaping up for a possible final appearance, sadly she couldn’t keep it up against Pulido. Both Women having a somewhat average heat with Pulido making it through to the final. The tour rookie Lammerts once again came up against the tour leader Winkowska in the semi finals, Lammerts tried her best to overpower Winkowska but in the end she couldn’t land enough tricks falling short of Winkowskas powered consistency. The final was another classic Pulido Vs Winkowska match up, with both girls coming out strong. Pulido took the more technical approach whilst Winkowska tried to keep it solid with her kite low. The tricky conditions seemed to favour Pulidos heat approach however as she managed to land a few more tricks than Winkowska with a nice Front to Blind narrowly edging out Winkowska for the win.

The Mens competition started in a similar fashion to the ladies with the lighter less choppy morning conditions being favoured by most. The level of riding was intense as the days previous with Backside and Frontside 317s being a pretty common sight as the heats rolled on. Arguably one of the closest heats of the day was between the Brazilian Carlos Mario and the Spaniard Liam Whaley. Both Whaley and Mario went out hard with Mario landing a Backside Frontside 317’s in the heat whilst Whaley posted a 317 and an amazingly powered Backside 315. The result however came down to the lesser scoring tricks of the heat with Whaley posting a really solid Backmobe 540, Front Blind Mobe and Crow Mobe 540 scoring above those of the young Brazilian.

Whaleys rise to the top continued in the next heat where he came up against team mate, training partner and tour rookie David Tonijuan. Whaley proceeded to dissect his team mate with a methodical approach to his heat. Whaley finished the heat on a high note with one of the best KGB 540’s ever witnessed in tour history and posting up a heat total into the 40’s.

Christophe Tack on the other hand appeared to be riding injured with his tricks hardly representative of his previous competition level. Tack had a fair heat against Youri Zoon but it wasn’t enough to match the solid heat Zoon had with both Backside and Frontside 317’s and a Slim Chance 720 putting the final hammer in.

The final was a Whaley, Zoon extravaganza with both riders coming out all guns firing. Whaley opened with another his huge almost trade-marked Backmobe 540 whilst Zoon hit back with a solid Backmobe himself. Those first tricks seemed to set the scene for the heat with Zoon never really getting to stick the bigger tricks he was gunning for. Zoon tried a few 317’s but it just wasn’t happening for him as even though Whaley had what could be considered a rather average heat for him he still glided through to take the win.

Tomorrows forecast is calling for more of the same, with the double elimination set to take place it will be interesting to see if some of the Brazilian riders can make it back up to the podium. Stay tuned into the PKRA Facebook page and Twitter feed for all the latest results and info!

Day four – more wind, more sun and more great riding. Riders were once again greeted with friendly sunshine and the steady trades winds that Brazil is well know for, to say that Barra Grande delivers as a top class kiteboarding destination would be an understatement!

Day four signalled the start of the double elimination and the beginning of the climb for some riders up the elimination ladder. The women all seemed determined to improve upon their positions, powered S-bend to Blinds were the trick to have with this trick making the difference for most ladies in todays heats. Oja, Novotna, Lange and the Local Brazilian Vieira all advanced respectively and their heats tomorrow should prove to be tight competition. When asked about their performances today none of the ladies seemed overly excited about their heats, it will be exciting to see how they improve upon their performances tomorrow and prepare themselves for competition against the top four ladies.

Today was another impressive day for the men with riders pulling out all the biggest tricks we’ve seen thus far, 317’s have become a common sight this event with some riders consistently completing these technical tricks now every heat. The Brazilian Ivanildo Fernandez had what judges agreed to be one of the most impressive Front Blind Mobes and Backmobe 540’s seen in competition history, sadly he didn’t advance past his countryman Eudazio Da Silva but we’re certain we will see him at a few more events in the near future.

Today was a good day for the Brazilian men with both Set Teixera and Carlos Mario making it into tomorrows elimination rounds. Both Brazilian riders rode hard with the powered consistency that they have been become renowned for, Mario throwing one of the nicer Backside 317’s seen thus far. Their match ups between Tack and Martinez tomorrow should prove to be challenging but without doubt a spectacle not to be missed. The winners of those two heats will have a hard job, first having to compete against each other and then against the top four, it will be exciting to see how far these underdogs can go.

With more steady wind and flatter morning conditions predicted for tomorrow this will surely be a spectacle not to be missed. Make sure you tune into the PKRA Facebook page and Twitter feeds for all the updates and info.

Competition got underway at 11:45 with the first heats having the pick of the conditions, flatter water and lighter wind saw the Men riding eleven meter kites whilst the Women on nine meters.

The Womens competition was fierce as all riders fought to better their positions. The Brazilian Vieira did well advancing two heats only to fall a little short against Novotna. Novotna also wouldn’t make it much further however loosing the next heat to Lammerts. Lammerts fought hard against Kajiya but sadly her kite deflated in a large crash leaving her far from shore and with little chance of winning the heat. Kajiya looked to be riding strong and continued that way against Wikowska, narrowly defeating her with a slightly better execution on a few key tricks. It would be a Kajiya Vs Pulido final, something that we haven’t seen this year on the PKRA. Kajiya didn’t have a great start to the final and it didn’t really seem to get any better, crashing out pretty hard on a few tricks. Pulido also had an average heat in the final, not riding as well as she had in the singles but doing enough to take the victory. With the win Pulidos world title hopes will be kept alive, she will now have to win the next two stops in China if she wishes to take it home.

The mens competition was exciting to say the least, the locals were hungry for the win with both Brazilians Teixera and Mario had amazing days respectively riding strong and advancing a considerable amount of heats. Teixera advanced 4 heats only to come up against a fresher Mario who had advanced two heats himself previous. The heat between Teixera and Mario was an exciting one with both friends giving it their all, as one threw a massive trick the other would reply with his own, these guys kite together most everyday and it was obvious they knew what they had to do to take the win. It was super close but in the end Mario had a slightly better heat narrowly advancing through to face Tonijuan and afterwards countryman Alex Neto. It would after taking out those two that Marios four heat winning streak would be brought to an end by Youri Zoon. Zoon brought his A game to the plate and showed everyone that he’s still got what it takes to win a world title. Zoon produced nice Backside and Frontside 317’s and finished it all off with an impressive Slim Chance 720.

The Final was a Zoon Vs Whaley affair with both riders going out big. Whaley appeared a little nervous, not landing the tricks he typically would have. Zoon on the other hand looked like a man on a mission banging out a heat that resembled his previous against Mario. It would be Zoon that would take the win and send Whaley into a Super Final. The air was thick as both riders looked a little nervous to take the win, neither rider had an exceptional heat but it was Whaley who held it together enough to back up his single elimination win. Whaley would be the Barra Grande Kiteboarding Champion and keep his chance of taking the world title over the next two stops alive!

Trick (and possibly heat) of the day can not go un-noted however, it was Martinez who produced an amazing heat against Carlos Mario landing the first ever Hinterberger into a Frontside 720 done in PKRA history. If Martinez had only landed his 13th trick (Slim Chance 720) instead as his 12th trick he un-doubtably would have taken the heat win!

With both titles still on the line make sure you tune in for the Pingtan and Hainan PKRA events in China in a months time! Keep up to date on the PKRA Facebook page and Twitter pages.