Dag 6-7 Tarifa Pro Kite Tour 2014

Wederom een verslag van de Tarifa Pro Kite Tour 2014 die wij graag met jullie delen. Dag zes was een dag met weinig wind en schommelende condities. Er waren momenten dat de wind daalde tot onder de 10 knopen. Hierdoor werd de organisatie gedwongen om sommige heats te annuleren.

Dag zeven stond in het teken van de Hollandse riders Youri Zoon en Annelous Lammerts. Zij plaatsten zichzelf voor de finales. Youri Zoon versloeg Aaron Hadlow in één van zijn beste heats dit seizoen. Annelous Lammerts behaalde de hoogste heat score van de dag in haar heat tegen Paula Novotna.

Morgen meer nieuws over de laatste dag van de Tarifa Pro Kite Tour 2014. Blijf de website in de gaten houden.

Day 6

In light winds and up and down conditions, the sixth day of the Tarifa Pro Kite Tour saw the beginning of the double eliminations with a total of two men’s rounds and one women’s round completed. High-level riding punctuated the men’s ladder in a close match up that came down to the last seconds of competition.

Today’s double elimination got off to a late start as the wind was slow to reach contestable levels. With less swell action and the wind blowing more side-onshore than the day before, the conditions proved more challenging, as the current along the beach became a factor. At times, the wind would drop from an average of 15-16 knots down to below 10 knots, forcing the cancellation of several heats.

The first round of the men got underway just after 3:00 pm and it was immediately clear that it is an accomplishment just to move through one heat. The second round of the men’s double saw the action get thicker, most notably, in the heat with David Tonijuan (ES) against Aaron Hadlow (UK).

As a new threat to the more seasoned tour riders, Tonijuan came out with determination going trick for trick, as Hadlow maintained a negligible lead in the early part of the heat. Mid way through, Tonijuan turned it on to gain a slight lead on the former world champ. Coming down to the last minute, Tonijuan missed a Blind Judge 5 attempt but was still in the lead. Hadlow then went for the same trick right at the horn, landing an impressive Blind Judge 5, earning an 8.37 from the judges, and taking the lead and the win at the last second.

In the last heat of the day, Felix Martinez (DO) met Jerome Cloetens (BE) in another close battle that came down to the last trick of the heat. Martinez again landed his one-handed Front Blind Mobe amongst others, but Cloetens was intent on putting solid scores down on almost all of his trick attempts, and maintained the lead in the final minutes of the heat. In the remaining seconds, Martinez finally landed a solid KGB that put him in the lead to take win by only .71 of a point.

The four heat women’s round saw good action from the ladies despite the wind not cooperating fully in some of the heats. With some close match ups, it was Sabrina Lutz (DE) and Kristin Oja (EE) putting down the highest heat scores for the day earning 20.12 points and 19.20 points respectively.

A notable upset occurred when Arial Corniel (DO) beat Reno Romeu (BR). Romeu seemed to be on a solid streak with two podium finishes already this year, but met his match as Corniel rode strong, landing a high scoring Front Blind Mobe and Crow Mobe 5 in only inches of water to take the win.

With three days remaining in the contest period, hopes are high for the wind to continue. West winds are forecast, but the wind strength will depend on local thermal conditions.  Tomorrow is forecast to be the same as today. Riders will meet at 12:00 with a first possible start at 12:30.

Day 7

Massive heats highlighted the seventh day of the Tarifa Pro Kite Tour that delivered amazing performances in both men’s and women’s divisions. An early evening lull in the wind forced the postponement of the competition only to return later as the sun began to set. The heats that followed showcased the best riding seen all day with Youri Zoon (NL) beating Aaron Hadlow (UK) and Annelous Lammerts (NL) winning over Paula Novotna (CZ) leaving the battle for the podium spots for tomorrow’s last day of competition.

For the better part of two hours riders were kept on hold, as the wind seemed to be finished for the day. After completing one round of men’s and one round of women’s heats, the wind fell into the single digits and it was looking like it would not return, but race director Erik Troostheide make the call to keep riders on stand-by. Suddenly, as the sun began to fall around 7 pm, the wind filled back in and five more heats were run in what were the best conditions of the day.

The women’s ladder saw great riding from Novotna who is just back after an injury that has kept her from competing the whole year. She defeated Sabrina Lutz (DE) in an impressive heat before succumbing to Lammerts who rode with intent. Lammerts rode well and had a very impressive heat against Novatna landing big powered tricks including a Slim Chance and Back Mobe amongst others, earning the highest heat score of the day for the ladies.

Commenting on her performance, “I had to give it my best because I saw the scores from the other girls and I knew that I had to land all of my best tricks and score 6’s with my execution, so I was just telling myself to keep my kite low. I did everything I could do, and it was enough this time!  Now I have to give another give it another shot for the podium tomorrow.”

In the men’s division, the last two heats of the day were some of the best seen all event and had live stream viewers and spectators gasping for air at the heats end and leaving no real degree of certainty of who had won. Stephen Spiessberger (DE) had a great day showing strong riding and proving he can be a force in the upper ranks of the ladder. Putting together a close heat against Hadlow, he lost by .3 of a point for his highest finish all season.

In the last heat of the day, it was the second time that Hadlow would meet Zoon in this event. Both had a lot of big tricks but Zoon was clearly on fire and having the best heat of his season. They were close in the points until Zoon landed two double passes, a Blind Judge 5 and 317 to give him the advantage. Hadlow answered back with a Blind Judge 5 but failed to land his usual Crow Mobe 5. In the last second, Hadlow launched into a S-Mobe 7 landing it clean, and earning 8.93 points for the highest trick score of the day.  After the points were all in, it was Zoon taking the win by only .2 points.

“I studied my papers from the singles and I took a little bit different strategy with how I started off the heat.  I usually always start with a Blind Judge 3 but they are not scoring that high anymore so I started with my Front Blind Mobe, and then managed to do two doubles” commented Zoon. “I got a little bit scared again when I saw Aaron landing that S-Mobe 7, but I was really stoked when I won because of course, winning against Aaron twice in one event is no small thing’’ he added.

The powered light wind conditions are expected to return for our last day of competition tomorrow. West winds are forecast, but the wind strength will depend on local thermal conditions. Riders will meet at 1:00 with a first possible start at 1:30. As always, stay tuned to the PKRA Facebook page and Twitter feed for live stream start times, updates and all the latest from the Tarifa Pro Kite Tour 2014.