Monday June 25th

Today, best pro riders gradually arrived on the Italian event site for the traditional registration day of the first stage of the KPWT season. Among these professional men & women kiteboarding athletes, we may count eleven nationalities like the Italian team with Stefano Maselli, Giuseppe Esposito, Peter Geier & Erik Volpe among others for men & Roberta Raffaeta & Nicoletta Solda for women. The 2006 KPWT World Champion Sebastien Garat, Antoine Auriol, Vincent Tiger; the 2006 Junior KPWT World Champion Florian Daubos, Victor Hays, the New Caledonian Tom Hebert,Adrien Jaujou & Guillaume Mariani for men & Helene Barriere – 2006 French & European champion – & Celine Rodenas will compose the French team. Other nationalities will also take part in this kiteboarding world cup leg : the Polish riders Victor Borsuk & Michael Malinowski, the South African Clinton Bolton, Soufiane Hamaini for Morocco, the English Christian Holley, Boris Judin from Croatia, the Dutch rider Sander Lenten & Mitu Monteiro from Cabo Verde. Spanish girls also made the road to Lake Como like Noelia Nunez, the KPWT Wave World Champion Ainhoa Garcia & Paloma Guerrero. We may also notice that the well-known German rider Kristin Boese – Kiteboarding World Champion – is also registered for this first KPWT 2007 event.

Tonight, the opening ceremony with the welcoming cocktail & the presentation of riders to the press & other medias & after, a music concert on the event village. Tomorrow morning, at 10.00 Am, will take place the also traditional first skippers meeting with, we all hope, the start of the Freestyle competition if the wind is with us.

So I'm here now in Colico, Italy, the site for the first stop of the KPWT World Tour. I arrived yesterday in Milan, and met up with Sander who was waiting for me at the airport like a tour guide ... it would have been great if he had a sign with my name on it, though :) We caught the train to Colico, which takes an hour and a half, and isn't that bad of a trip.

Registration is today and it's cloudy with a few showers of rain from time to time, but at least it's warm. Kristin is here, but is barely able to stand on her feet. She has the flu and isn't feeling or even looking too healthy, and I thought I'd have to take her to hospital. After registering, she went back to bed to rest and hopefully get better for the competition, so all our wishes to her that she gets better quick.

For today there is no wind. The lake here in Como is as glassy as a mirror ... and the beauty just blows you away. I was here 3 years ago touring around Italy for Best and one of my stops was here at Lake Como, and nothing much has changed really, except for a few more new shops, but that's about it.

After a long day at the lake chilling and hanging with friends, it's an early night, to be ready for tomorrow. The skippers meeting is at 10 so it means getting out of bed early ... around 8am ... too early. It feels like being back at school.

Tuesday June 26th

After lunch, everybody was ready to launch the Freestyle competition; Unfortunately, the wind wasn't enough strong and then all riders have had to wait good conditions along all the afternoon… without success ! Nonetheless, everybody's enjoy to be here and many other activities are proposed during this waiting time : Beach soccer, Dj's set, various clothings and motorcycles stands among others,…Tonight, snack and animations on the event village and tomorrow the skippers meeting is scheduled at 10.00 with the start of the Freestyle.

Tuesday June 26th

I'm awakened by Sanders cell phone alarm blasting to the tune "Sean Paul." I finally made my way to breakfast after taking a cold shower to wake me up. Looking out the window, it's a beautiful day ... the sun is shining but yet Mother Nature is not wanting to co-operate, so there's no wind. The locals say that the wind picks up later in the afternoon, so it's back to waiting again.

So to make things short, the whole day was sunny but the wind never came, which was great news for Kristin as she still isn't better, and isn't looking like she's getting any better. So after the skippers meeting, I sent her back to her room to go to bed to get some rest and told her I'd call her if anything changed with the conditions. So we hope she's feeling a little better tomorrow. For the rest of us it was another chilled day doing interviews, site seeing, swimming, catching up on sleep and checking out the gorgeous Italian women everywhere ... aka bird watching. Hahah.

So tonight's the reggae party but I'm going to bed instead and waking up early, as right now it's blowing 15knots and hopefully it stays and blows throughout tomorrow.

Wednesday June 27th

Today, after the skippers meeting at 10.00, the local wind – called Breva – gradually picked up from 15 to 25 knots, perfect conditions to launch the women and men freestyle first rounds. See the results for this first day of the event below – in red, the rider names who won and goes to the next round .

We may already notice the good results of local riders Stefano Maselli, Arthur Catalani and Erik Volpe for men and Nicoletta Solda on the women side. At 4.30 Pm, the Breva suddently stopped blowing and race direction made the decision to stop competition for today only four heats before the end of the first rounds.

Tomorrow, we’ll continue the freestyle event but for tonight, a Thai beer and the “Night on the beach” parties are waiting for us…The next skippers meeting is already scheduled at 11.00 Am with strong wind conditions already announced.

Wednesday June 27th

Today we finally got wind, when everyone thought there was going to be no wind in the morning. It was light but it picked up and we got heats underway.

Kristin was in the first heat and still decided to go out, being still very sick and weak. So I'm glad to say she won her heat and is in the semi-finals of the first elimination.

The wind kept blowing the whole day till a storm came and killed the wind, so I never got to ride my heat, as I'm in the very last heat. It's been a long day of waiting. So they still need to finish the first round of the mens.

Thursday June 28th

FULL AFTERNOON FOR THE FREESTYLE COMPETITION ...
HELENE BARRIERE, WINNER OF THE FIRST FREESTYLE BRACKET

Today, the wind picked up at 1.00 Pm. Then we have had the possibility to finish the men first round. Thanks to the keep of good wind conditions, we immediately launched second rounds of the freestyle competition.On the men side, we assisted many huge fights between lots of talented riders.

The heat of Vincent Tiger against the South-African Clinton Bolton in the first round turned into the advantage to the second rider; the battle between Sébastien Garat and Christian Holley where Sebastien has had to show his wide range of technical moves to win this heat; The 2006 KPWT World Champion, in a great shape, kicked out the local rider Stefano Maselli and his friend Florian Daubos to obtain a ticket for the winner final of this first freestyle bracket. The 100French conflict between Adrien Jaujou and Guillaume Mariani, was finally won by Jaujou after a very tightened heat. The New Caledonian rider, Tom Hebert, made a demonstration during all the evening : First against Antoine Auriol in a very high level heat, then he kicked out the Dutch rider Sander Lenten –who previously defeated the French rider Victor Hays– to climb himself to the semi-final.

On the women side, we also assisted a great show for semi-finals between the Spanish Noelia Nunez and Kristin Boese; This kiteboarding fight turned into the advantage to the German rider. On the other women semi-final of the freestyle competition, the French and European kiteboarding champion Helene Barriere defeats the local rider Nicoletta Solda. During the winner final, the French made the difference and won the first freestyle bracket of this first KPWT event of the 2007 season.

We may one more time noticed the good shape of Italian riders Giuseppe Esposito and Stefano Maselli who, unfortunately should defeats his compatriot and friend Arthur Catalani to continue the freestyle competition. Esposito, on his side, consecutively defeats Boris Judin, Clinton Bolton and Louis Hutter to arrive in semi-final where – tomorrow morning–, he’ll have to face the New Caledonian Tom Hebert.

Tonight, everybody will join the event village to a great FMX show, the FIAT FREESTYLE TEAM one with international motocross stars and tomorrow, we’ll complete the freestyle first brackets if the “Breva” is still on our side … Next skippers meeting tomorrow at 11.00 Am…Further news coming tomorrow

Thursday June 28th

So finally I got to do my heat. I was up against world number 2, Vincent Tiger from France. The wind was up and down, or shall I say "gusty as hell." It's a gambling game out there to choose what size to take. I was on my 15 Waroo, which was a great choice, so that in the patches of no wind, I could still keep my tack, and it worked for me as I advanced to meet up with one of the local riders.

The wind picked up during our heat and i was hoping it might drop off a little for my 15, but it didn't. I thought I had the heat, but I didn't advance, so such is life ... it's a lottery out there ... have to see in the doubles.

But Kristin made it to the final. The wind was up and down: 1 mintue they were overpowered on 13's and then totally underpowered, just sitting in the water like ducks trying to keep their kites in the air. But it was also not Kristin's day, as towards the end her heat, her leash activated and she lost her kite, so Helene from France won the singles and Kristin came 2nd. But let's hope she comes 1st in the doubles. :)

So now I just came back from the FMX that they had. The motocross guys did some sick stuff ... backflips with super man and other tricks so it was crazy stuff. I'm going to bed and get an early start tomorrow. I have a long wait again till my heat, but Best to watch what the others are doing in the heats before me, as I might be up against one of them, so I'd like to know what I have to do in my heat to win. :)

Hope there's wind. Will hopefully up date you tomorrow ... laters.

Friday June 29th

Sebastien GARAT, winner of the Freestyle men first bracket

Today, the Breva started to blow earlier than the previous day; then, after the skippers meeting, we directly launched the freestyle competition. First, we finished the Freestyle women first bracket with the loser final where the Spanish rider Noelia Nunez defeated the local one Nicoletta Solda. Then, the men final rounds: In the second semi final heat, the New Caledonian Tom Hebert defeats Giuseppe Esposito for a place in the winner final. The Italian rider also lost his heat against Florian Daubos in the looser final. The ultimate heat between Sebastien Garat against Tom Hebert turned into the advantage of the 2006 World Champion in a very high level battle ! On Garat’s side, he successively landed BackMobe 5, Blind Judge, FrontMobe, Late BackMobe, Slim Chance and SBend 3. Hebert answered with a Backroll to blind airpass, BackMobe, Blind Judge 3, Slim Chance and Kiteloop Backloop.

Here is the ranking of this first freestyle bracket :
Men
1st Sebastien Garat (FRA)
2nd Tom Hebert (NC)
3rd Florian Daubos (FRA)
4th Giuseppe Esposito (ITA)

WOMEN
1st Hélène BARRIERE (FRA)
2nd Kristin Boese (GER)
3rd Noelia Nunez (SPA)
4th Nicoletta Solda (ITA)

After the lunch, thanks to the keep of strong conditions, we launched the freestyle men second bracket. At 4.00 Pm, the wind suddenly picked down and the race direction decided to stop the freestyle competition before the 46th heat. All the riders were ready to continue this second bracket, waiting for good wind conditions, and at 5.30 Pm, the wind picked up again so the race direction made the decision to continue the competition until the end of the afternoon.

We may notice the good results of Sander Lenten faced to Antoine Auriol, Mitu Monteiro from Cabo Verde, Victor Borsuk from Poland and Adrien Jaujou, the French rider who defeats his compatriot Vincent Tiger in quarter finals. Tonight, we’re all invited for a party on the event site organized by our clothing partner “Misultine Zone”.

Next skippers meeting tomorrow at 11.00 Am with the end of the freestyle competition and the possible course racing competition.

Friday June 29th

The conditions were very challenging, with gusty winds that made choosing the right kite size a lottery: if you took the right size and the wind was on your side, you had luck.

Saturday June 30th

Sebastien GARAT and Ainhoa GARCIA winners of the Freestyle Italian event

Fabian HABELKORN and Helene BARRIERE, winners of the Course Racing!

Today, after the skippers meeting and the keep of strong wind conditions, we started the freestyle finals of the second bracket.

Here are few trick details of the freestyle men final: GARAT : KGB, BackMobe, Blind Judge 3, FrontMobe 5 double pass, Back Blind air pass. HEBERT : BackMobe, BackBlind air pass, Slim Chance, KGB, Blind Judge.

Here are few trick details of this freestyle women final: GARCIA : Blind Judge, Unhooked Backroll 540 with surface handle pass, Big Unhooked, Kiteloop Backloop. BARRIERE : Big Kiteloop with grab, Sbend to toe side with surface handle pass, Powered, Indy grab.

Here is below the ranking of this second freestyle bracket :

MEN 1st Sebastien Garat (FRA)
2nd Tom Hebert (NC)
3rd Florian Daubos (FRA)
4th Victor Borsuk (POL)
5th Giuseppe Esposito (ITA)
6th Sander Lenten (NED)
7th Adrien Jaujou (FRA), Mitu Monteiro (C Verde)
9th Vincent Tiger (FRA), Stefano Maselli (ITA), Louis Hutter (FRA), Antoine Auriol (FRA)

WOMEN 1st Ainhoa Garcia (SPA)
2nd Helene Barriere (FRA)
3rd Kristin Boese (GER)
4th Noelia Nunez (SPA)
5th Nicoletta Solda (ITA)
6th Paloma Guerrero (SPA)
7th Roberta Raffaeta (ITA), Celine Rodenas (FRA)

At 4.30 PM, thanks to the Breva, we launched the Course Racing with 30 registered riders. Here are the results of this world cup discipline :

MEN 1st Fabien HABERKORN (GER)
2nd Guillaume MARIANI (FRA)
3rd Tom HEBERT (NC)
4th Sebastien GARAT (FRA)
5th Mitu MONTEIRO (C Verde)
6th Soufiane HAMAINI (MOR)
7th Michael MALINOWSKI (POL)

WOMEN 1st Helene BARRIERE (FRA)
2nd Kristin Boese (GER)
3rd Celine RODENAS (FRA)

Tonight, Rock and Roll concert in the event village and tomorrow, after the skippers meeting, we’ll hold on this last event day the hang time and best trick competition. Further news coming tomorrow.

Saturday June 30th

Today was the last day … they got to finish the double elimination.

I ended up 17th not sticking a lot of my tricks in my heat so with that I did not advance.

Kristin got 2nd in the singles so she had to battle it out to meet Helene in the finals but being still very ill and weak she tried her best but didn’t have the energy to do a lot of her tricks that she can do, which you could see in her riding she was weak. But with a good show getting the crowd pumped and cheering for both riders on the water she lost against Garcia, placing Kristin in 3rd place.

After the doubles they did the course racing Kristin was in the lead for the women’s but with the course being so far out and tons of people out on the water being a weekend it was hard to judge who was in the lead and who was doing the course correctly.

In the end Kristin placed 2nd with Helene from France coming in 1st place and Celine Rodenas also riding with Best kites placed 3rd in the course race.

Sunday July 1st

HANG TIME COMPETITION ON THE LAST DAY OF THE KPWT EVENT IN ITALY: Tom HEBERT and Kristin BOESE winners!

In the morning of this last event day, the Breva wasn’t strong enough to launch the last discipline but from 1.00 Pm, the Italian wind gradually picked up. Then, the race direction made the decision to launch the Hang Time contest. More than 20 riders get prepared for this World Cup discipline. Here are the results :

MEN 1st Tom HEBERT (NC) 10’08 New KPWT Record!
2nd David JEHANNO (FRA) SLINGSHOT, CARNAC EVASION 6’05
3rd Clinton BOLTON (RSA) BEST 5’24

WOMEN 1st Kristin BOESE (GER) 5’60
2nd Ainhoa GARCIA (SPA) 3’93
3rd Roberta RAFFAETA (ITA) 3’71

At 3.00 Pm, the prize given ceremony took place and a huge crowd gathered around the event podium. Then, we held the closing ceremony with cocktail and snacks for all riders, KPWT staff, local organizers, photographers, cameramen and journalists. KPWT would like to thank all the event sponsors without whom nothing would be possible.

This first KPWT stage has been a real success once again thanks to the strong wind conditions and the well local organization.

See you in three weeks, on Burc Beach, for the KPWT Turkish stage, second event of the 2007 kiteboarding season.

Sunday July 1st

The final day as everything was completed they did a hang time competition, Christian decided to take my 15 Waroo but with 40 meter lines, man this kite looked like a 5m being so high up, with those long lines he got some insane boosts. Kristin was boosting big on the 13 Waroo pro looping it at the end trying to get the extra lift. I went out on my 15 trying to not take out the windsurfers that were in the competition area. We had 3-minute heats in which to do as many jumps as possible but try stay in the air the longest. So for the women’s Kristin got 1st place getting 5.60 seconds beating my time that I got which placed me 3rd for the men’s hang time with 5.24 seconds.

So it was a great event, awesome spot to ride except the conditions were not on our side, having to wait for wind at the beginning and rain but that’s Mother Nature for you. The next stop is turkey hope there’s wind there.