PKRA Italy, TOUR STOP #3, May 29 - June 2nd: Bruna Kajia finishes second in Italy!

Pictures by Roberto Foresti/Canon

Posted Sunday June 3rd 2007

Congratulations to Best Team Rider Bruna Kajiya, for her 2nd place finish at the 3rd stop of the PKRA World Tour in Italy! After winning the first stop in Venezuela and finishing 2nd in Austria, the fight for first is clearly showing itself to be a fight between Bruna, 2nd in last year's PKRA, and Gisela Pulido, winner of the 2006 KPWT. With 8 stops left to go in the tour, the battle for Number One is just beginning.

The seaport city of Marsala, on the island of Sicily, Italy, was a new location for the PKRA this year, and after a 3-week break from the tour stop in Austria, the riders were ready to battle each other for the podium. Going into the event, current world champion Aaron Hadlow was in first place for the Men's Division, and Bruna Kajiya and Gisela Pulido tied for first place in the Women's Division.

In the Women's Singles, Bruna easily worked her way into the winner's final, beating Ola Tomkowicz (Best), and Angela Peral, before losing to Gisela. From the PKRA Press Release: "Pulido won in a close heat in the final round with greater technical difficulty and variety over Kajiya's solid style. Pulido came out strong with a raley to blind, 313, slim chance, and front mobe before finally finishing the heat with a 313 in the dying seconds.

Kajiya on the other hand, gave a great performance, landing an equally powered blind judge, s-bend to blind with air pass, raley to blind and a downloop with surface handle pass, but did not deliver enough for the win."

In the final's heat of the Women's Doubles between Bruna and Gisela, which took place on Saturday, "technical riding and variety was the winning factor. Kajiya rode more powered with a big kiteloop with aerial handlepass and a blind judge but fumbled several important moves such as a non-inverted slimchance and a downloop with surface handlepass. Pulido landed a 313, slim, blind judge, front mobe and a back to blind airpass to take the top podium spot."

With the level of riding skyrocketing this year, both for the men and for the women, Best Team Rider Alvaro Onieva is also in for a pretty big fight this year. Although in Venezuela, he was able to work his way from 9th in the singles to 2nd in the doubles, unfortunately he did not have that same chance in Austria. After again finishing 9th in the singles, the wind died for the remainder of the competition, and the results from the singles become final. In Italy, unfortunately, Alvaro also fell out early in the singles.

In his first heat in the Men's Singles, Alvaro beat out Alberto Rondina, from Italy. "The return of local kiteboarding champ Alberto Rondina was short lived courtesy of Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain). Although Rondina nailed a kiteloop slim, front mobe and switch slim, the superior technical riding skills and powerful moves of Onieva proved to be the deciding factors." In his second heat of the day, however, Alvaro lost to Mikael Blomvall, meaning he'd again have to fight his way through the ladder to have a shot at the podium.

In the Doubles on Friday, Alvaro got off to a good start, taking out Rocky Chatwell, who'd beat him in Austria, in an unanimous decision from the judges. "Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) won a close battle over Rocky 'Balboa' Chatwell (Crazyfly, US). Both riders displayed outstanding moves but it was Onieva who got the vote of the judges unanimously, edging Chatwell with a front mobe to a huge blind judge 3 and regular and switch front mobe." Alvaro's next heat, unfortunately, was an "upset heat," as German rider Mario Rodwald "managed to continue his run into the money with a close win over a disappointed Onieva. Rodwald's moves included more variety, landing a double s-bend airpass, an ole'd out of a mobe to wrapped, a front mobe to blind and a downloop slim. Trick master Onieva tried his best with a front mobe to blind and a switch KGB but went clearly haywire after messing up his landing on two back mobe attempts at the start of the heat."

Men's Freestyle Final Results:

1. Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK)

2. Youri Zoon (Slingshot, Netherlands)

3. Ruben Lenten (Slingshot, Netherlands)

4. Cesar Portas (North, Spain)

Women's Freestyle Final Results:

1. Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain)

2. Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil)

3. Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland)

4. Angela Peral (North, Spain)

For all previous Best-related news on the 2007 PKRA, visit Best's PKRA 2007 homepage.

The PKRA Press Releases in their entirety, Sicily Island, Marsala, Trapani, Italy

Tuesday May 29th

The PKRA 2007 World Cup moves for the first time to the beautiful seaport city of Marsala in the province of Trapani located on the island of Sicily, Italy with the Marsala-Kite World Festival. Marsala (derived from the Arabic word "Marsa el Allah" or Port of God) is situated on the western coast of the island of Sicily and is about 30 km. south of Trapani. This popular port city was founded in 379 BC by the Carthaginians and served as a major trade route with Africa during the Roman era.

For this event, a total of 45 men and women from 16 different countries will be battling it out in Freestyle and Sliders World Championships. Leading the pack is current world number one Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) for the men's division along with Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) and Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) for the women's division, who are both tied for the first place in the rankings.

The registration day was greeted by a warm, sunny day with good sideshore wind blowing from the west which gave the competitors, organizers, and the crowd a nice time at the beach. Several riders who showed up early were immediately seen training on the water using their smaller kites and showing off for the fans who came to see the competitors during the registration. Among those who gave the crowd a taste of what to expect included Mikael Bloomval (JN Kites, Sweden), Reno Romeu (North, Brazil), Etienne Lhote (F-One, France), Rui Meira (Naish, Portugal), Rocky Chatwell (Crazyfly, US) and Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland). Meanwhile, most of the arriving competitors took the time to assemble their equipment for tomorrow's competition.

Registration was held between 2pm – 4 pm after a brief one-hour photo shoot of the riders on the water. Tonight, the competition will be formally presented to the media by Aaron Hadlow and Mauricio Toscano, President of the PKRA. A welcome speech will be delivered by Maurizio Campo of RMC 101 which will be followed by a night of live music.

The 2007 Marsala-Kite World Festival is being sponsored by Budweiser, Windguru, MTG, Sorgenia, BT, Red Spot Surfcenter, Stance, Sea Store Sicily, Air Italy, Ostiensis Viaggi Network, Lastminute.sm, and in part by Le Rotte Dello Svillupo, Citta di Marsala, Ministero Dello Svillupo Economico, Provincia Regionale di Trapani and Regione Siciliana – Assessorato Turismo.

Wednesday May 30

The first day of kiteboarding competition for the 2007 Marsala-Kite World Festival in Marsala, Trapani, Italy was off to a good launch. The day started out with overcast skies and cooler temperatures, however, the sun eventually came out, providing additional heat to the already fired-up event. Temperatures held at a steady 20° Celsius (68° Fahrenheit) throughout the day, although the water was much cooler and many competitors wore shorties or full wetsuits. Meanwhile the wind was in full swing with an 18 knot (4bft.) average speed with only small fluctuations during the morning ...

The skippers meeting was held at exactly 8:30 am where the race director described the competition layout and the order of the heats for the men's qualifying event. The men's qualifiers were held with a shortened 5-minute heat duration and 2-minute transition time, a variation from the regular 7 and 3 respectively. After the qualifying round was concluded, there was a short 25-minute timeout for the judges to draw the names for the order of the main competition ladder.

Meanwhile, fresh from a three week break after the Austrian round, the competitors were all pumped-up and once again ready to battle it out to prove their rights for the PKRA throne. Although it is their first time to compete in the beautiful seaport city, the riders quickly got the hang of competing on the shores of this magnificent island. As opposed to the Austrian round, strong winds fueled the men's division battle during the morning with most of the men going out on their smaller kites. Heat #1 saw Cesar Portas (North, Spain) claim an easy win over team mate Kim Albrecht. Portas nailed a slimchance, an indy aerial back to blind, mobe 5, front mobe, switched aerial back to blind and downloop slimchance. Albrecht on the other hand, landed a very nice hasselhoff and slim. Meanwhile, German rider Philipp Brueckmann (Carved) won against local rider Lorenzo Giovannelli in the same heat, displaying more power and technical moves including a mobe, late pass mobe and slim.

In the third heat, new tour contender Rocky "Balboa" Chatwell (Crazyfly, US) went up against Slingshot rider Ruben Lenten (Netherlands) who knocked Chatwell out of contention with his powered and varied repertoire of tricks including a tail grab mobe, tail grab front mobe and his trademark massive L3. In the second battle of the fourth Heat, French rider Etienne Lhote (F-One) beat out napoleon dynamite Mario Rodwald (Carved, Germany) with a display of superb power and height in his moves. Rodwald's variety of tricks on the other hand, were more technical but were no match for Lhote's moves. After the battle between Rodwald and Lhote, Heat #5 went to the water next, between Paul Caswell (Cabrinha, US) and current world number 6 Rui Meira (Naish, Portugal). Caswell came out firing with a big kiteloop and laid out fronts but was no match for Meira's display of slightly superior repertoire of moves.

Meanwhile, the return of local kiteboarding champ Alberto Rondina was short lived courtesy of Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain). Although Rondina nailed a kiteloop slim, front mobe and switch slim, the superior technical riding skills and powerful moves of Onieva proved to be the deciding factors. Mikael Blomvall (JN-Kites, Sweden), on the other hand, was eager to make a comeback after succumbing to "holes" and gusty, lighter wind conditions in the Venezuelan round, knocked out Silvester Ruckdaschel (F-One, Germany) in a rock-solid display of moves including a regular and switch slim, regular and switch aerial back to blind, and big powered mobe 5.

In the following heat, Randy Hereman (F-One, Netherlands) using borrowed gear, struggled against a well- rounded Mallory De La Villemarque (North, Guadeloupe) and only managed to land a regular and switch mobe, slim and front mobe with a fairly high kite angle. De la Villemarque's solid performance included a slim, aerial back to blind, mobe 5, a huge blind judge 3 and switch mobe, a notable performance before finally bowing down to current world champ Hadlow in the 14th Heat.

Another notable performance during the day came from world number 3 Youri Zoon (Slingshot, Netherlands) who went up against Tomas Teisceira Gomes in Heat #9. Gomes went for the big moves hoping to beat Zoon's usual fast and powered tricks but eventually lost the round. Meanwhile, Meira went up against Austrian rider Michael Schitzhofer (Naish) in the 11th Heat, winning by a close margin. Schitzhofer landed several more moves than Meira but the agility of the Portuguese rider enabled him to deliver more speed and height in his moves with a lower kite angle. Blomvall also continued his run towards a more familiar part of the rankings when he surpassed Onieva after a rerun heat due to a tangle involving one of the Heat #11a riders with a non-competitor.

As anticipated before the start of the PKRA 2007 season, Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) is beginning to unleash some of his innovative moves. In the 12th Heat of battle, Julian Hosp (Carved, Austria) stood no chance against Hadlow even though he managed to valiantly land a blind judge 3, mobe 5 and an aerial back to blind. The young Hadlow unleashed some new tricks, which really do need a leash given their ultra high risk rating and has opened up a new world of possibilities for handle passing. Coming in from wakeboarding, "osmosis" is a bar pass where for a moment the bar is intentionally let go, allowed to hang in mid-air while spinning a 360 or 180 and grabbing it again. Although Hadlow only performed a surface osmosis in the heat, word is out that there are also aerial variations to this move. In addition, Hadlow also landed his NOB, a nuclear grab to ole to blind but also with an osmosis pass. The other osmosis move was a one-handed back to wrapped with his front hand up in the air for all the judges to see, passing from and to his other back hand after landing.

The heat that followed became a battle of the Dutch destroyers, between Lenten and Kevin Langeree (Naish), both displaying superb switch moves, only varying in power and technical difficulty. Langeree worked doubly hard at landing a double pass, either mobe 7 or front mobe 5 hoping to get the edge over Lenten and landed several mobes and font mobes but without managing the second pass. Meanwhile, Lenten was out with his usual form and busted out some big moves including a huge L5 and blind judge with aerial handle pass, eventually winning the heat. Also during the quarterfinals, Blomvall continued his charge to the podium ousting Meira with superior technical difficulties including a regular and switch double front to blind, slims and mobes. Meira worked hard but could only manage a powered slim and front mobe.

After battling it out with fellow Dutch rider Langeree, Lenten went on to face another countryman – Zoon, for a place in the final. Zoon also tried to oust Lenten on technical difficulties, nailing several front mobes and mobes trying to get the second pass which proved to be insufficient to defeat Lenten's usual variety of tricks. Blomvall on the other hand, trying to repeat his feat of being one of the few to previously beat Hadlow was unsuccessful in his bid (at least in this round). Blomvall went up with a solid performance including regular and switch mobes but Hadlow's speed, lower kite angle and a last minute mobe to wrapped proved to be the nail in the coffin for Blomvall's bid at the top slot.

As the green flag went up, the two friends and rivals Lenten and Hadlow went head-on, both riders stomping mega powered mobes. After landing, Lenten went straight into a slim while Hadlow did a front side 360 off the chop. It was an action-packed battle that wowed the judges and the crowd that gathered at the beach. Lenten rode his usual big powered style but with limited range. As expected, Hadlow once again claimed the top podium position with his new NOB, osmosis back to wrapped, regular and switch slims and a big blind judge 3. Meanwhile, the battle for the third place went to Zoon who rode more powered and did bigger tricks with a smoother non- inverted slim, big old blind judge 3 and mobe 5 against Blomvall's shifty front side 360, smooth KGB and a trusty back mobe.

Nine riders competed for the women's title in the singles elimination round, which had only a single heat in the first round between Ola Tomcowicz (Best,Poland) and unseeded Elana Pitoulis. As expected, Tomcowicz easily won the round with a solid raley to blind.

Meanwhile, Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland) beat out Pauline Boussard (F-One, France) with technical moves including a raley to blind, raley to wrapped, and s-bend to blind against Boussard's powered raley and krypts in Heat #5. In the same heat, Gisela Pulido's (Slingshot, Spain) blind judge, heelside raley with a frontside handle-pass 360 (313), and front mobe and slim easily won against newcomer Alice Bunacci's moves. In the following Heat, Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, Norway) went head-on with Angela Peral (North, Spain) who landed a back to wrapped, raley to blind, aerial back to blind, and a downloop to blind. Peral's technical variation proved superior against Schivebaag's solid raley to blind. Meanwhile, the second round of Heat #6 paired Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) against Tomcowicz which Kajiya easily won with a blind judge, downloop with surface handle pass, s-bend to blind with air pass and a big layed out front to blind.

Heat #7 started the semi-final round with Pulido winning against Winkowska with a raley to blind, slim, front mobe and a 313 against Winkowska's kiteloop to blind and her trademark big blind judge. In the same Heat, Kajiya edged ahead towards the final round beating Peral with a solid display of blind judge, raley to blind and a sweet slim chance to blind.

Pulido won in a close heat in the final round with greater technical difficulty and variety over Kajiya's solid style. Pulido came out strong with a raley to blind, 313, slim chance, and front mobe before finally finishing the heat with a 313 in the dying seconds. Kajiya on the other hand, gave a great performance, landing an equally powered blind judge, s-bend to blind with air pass, raley to blind and a downloop with surface handle pass, but did not deliver enough for the win. The battle for third place saw Winkowska narrowly claiming the last spot on the podium in a closely-contested battle against Peral. Winkowska demonstrated a solid display of moves over a rattled Peral who had to borrow Reno Romeu's kite after wrapping hers around a buoy between previous heats. She managed to land a raley to blind, back to wrapped, downloop to blind and back to blind while Winkowska displayed a greater variety of tricks that included an airpass and landing a blind judge, front and back to blind, raley to wrapped, downloop to blind and a big kiteloop.

The singles elimination was concluded at 3:30 pm while the doubles elimination will be held on Friday. Tomorrow's skipper meeting is set at 10:00 am with first possible start at 10:30 am.

Thursday May 31

After an action-packed opening day of the Marsala-Kite World Festival in Marsala, Trapani, Italy yesterday, the weather today seemed to have poured ice on the already fired-up event. Although warm temperatures and clear skies greeted the competitors and spectators, the day started off with very light winds from the west-northwest, averaging only 6 knots (2 bft.) which is below the PKRA standards. The mercury rose to 22° Celsius (71.6° Fahrenheit) and provided a bit of relief for all the people at the event site.

With no notable recreational areas and no Internet access at the beach, the competitors didn't have much of anything to keep them busy. Instead, some were seen basking in the sun to catch up on their tans while the others hung out in the relaxation lounge instead. Brother and sister Madison and Charlotte Van Heurck along with Kevin Langeree and Kari Schivebaag played a game of beach paddle ball but the biggest congregation of people was at the snack bar. The DJ also did his best to amuse everyone with his super loud music.

Tomorrow's skippers meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am with a first possible start at 10:30 am. With wind permitting, the doubles event for the men and women's division will take to the waters and is expected to stir up another day of action-filled and exciting competition. Fierce battles are once again expected, especially, from among the top-ranked riders. As of this writing, Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) still leads the pack for the men's ranking followed by Kevin Langeree (Naish, Netherlands) in second. Youri Zoon (Slingshot, Netherlands) and Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) in third and fourth place respectively, are closely contesting for the third rank position with only 25 points separating the two as of the moment. Meanwhile, Cesar Portas (North, Spain) and Rui Meira (Naish, Portugal) are currently tied in points with 1,235 each and makes up the fifth and sixth ranks respectively.

In the women's division, the battle for the throne is currently tied between Slingshot rider Gisela Pulido (Spain) and Best rider Bruna Kajiya (Brazil) both with 1,885 points a piece. Polish riders Karolina Winkowska (Naish) and Ania Grzelinska (North) currently occupy third and fourth place respectively while Jo Wilson (Naish, United Kingdom) completes the top 5.

Friday June 1

Light winds greeted everyone during the morning at the start of the third day of competition of the 2007 Marsala-Kite World Festival in the Sicilian city of Marsala, Italy. However, the sun showed up in full force, warming up the surroundings including the event site. The thermometer recorded a temperature of 23° Celsius (73.4° Fahrenheit) all throughout the afternoon. The scheduled start was delayed for about half an hour until 11:00 am when the starting sequence went under way. Although the wind started out light at an average of 8 knots, it gradually picked up speed blowing from the north-northwest direction until the middle of the day, averaging 15 knots thereon, before finally coming to a slow gradual decreasing during the rest of the afternoon. Most of the riders went to the waters using their larger kites (12-14 meters). During the start, there were even very few competitors having to run up the beach in order to get back upwind. The competition was called off at 3:30 pm because the wind speed fell below the competition standards.

Even though the wind did not provide the much needed energy to fuel a smack down competition, the riders did manage to deliver a good show for everyone at the beach. In the men's division of the doubles elimination, Silvester Ruckdaschel (F-One, Germany) went up against local champ Alberto Rondina in a closely contested Heat #20. Ruckdaschel gave a stunning performance with his regular and switch KGB, mobe and slim but lacked power and overall variety while Rondina gave a solid display of power moves including a huge kiteloop slim, switch slim, a KGB, mobe 5, blind judge, and s-bend to blind airpass. Rondina emerged the victor in this round which proved to be the start of his assault, beating out two more riders along the event before finally being brought down by world number 6 ranked Rui Meira (Naish, Portugal) in the 29th Heat of the fourth round. Coincidentally, Madison Van Heurck (Naish, USVI) was also one fully-charged rider and came to the competition like a raging bull, eliminating all who crossed his path going up against Dutch rider Randy Hereman (F-One) in Heat #21. Van Heurck landed awesome regular and switch KGBs, a hasselhoff, mobe and slim which favored the judges against Hereman's slim, mobe 5 and front mobe but with less power and speed. This Heat proved to be the initial assault for Van Heurck, beating out three more guys in three consecutive rounds before ironically hitting a brick wall against teammate Meira in the fifth round.

In Heat #22, Austrian rider Julian Hosp (Carved) ended Italian rider Lorenzo Giovannelli's aspiration for a freestyle win. The Italian put on a strong performance to the delight of the spectators but execution and power proved insufficient to win against the moves displayed by Hosp. In the heat the followed, Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) won a close battle over Rocky "Balboa" Chatwell (Crazyfly, US). Both riders displayed outstanding moves but it was Onieva who got the vote of the judges unanimously, edging Chatwell with a front mobe to a huge blind judge 3 and regular and switch front mobe. Also in the same heat, German rider Mario Rodwald (Carved) was in his usual super mario status with a fired up display of power, variety and smoother overall style beating Naish rider Michael Schitzhofer (Austria) with a powerd blind judge and regular and switch kiteloop handle pass. In fairness, Schitzhofer rode very well and landed several regular and switch slims and mobes.

Meanwhile, Rondina continued disposing off some big names including Brazilian Reno Romeu (North) in Heat #24 by landing a powered KGB, 313, blind judge and a powered s-bend to blind with airpass to take the win. Romeu was not in his usual form and was unsuccessful in performing a couple of his signature moves including the kiteloop, slim and KGB. Lewis Crathern (Slingshot, UK) lost to Philipp Brueckmann (Carved, Germany) in the 25th Heat. Although managing to land a slim and hasselhoff with plenty of style and power, his performance did not include enough variety in landed moves to beat Brueckmann's.

In the ensuing heat, Hosp ended Tom Court's (North, UK) ambition to the podium with a varied display of power and technical difficulties that matched Court's slim and front mobe and edged him with a big blind judge 3, mobe 5 and a back to blind airpass. Then in an upset Heat, Rodwald managed to continue his run into the money with a close win over a disappointed Onieva. Rodwald's moves included more variety, landing a double s-bend airpass, an ole'd out of a mobe to wrapped, a front mobe to blind and a downloop slim. Trick master Onieva tried his best with a front mobe to blind and a switch KGB but went clearly haywire after messing up his landing on two back mobe attempts at the start of the heat.

After that exciting Heat, Rondina and French rider Etienne Lhote (F-One) went on a head-to-head battle in a well rounded display of power, variety and technical difficulties. Rondina eventually claimed the win with a big blind judge and switch slim to blind. Lhote tried hard but his powered front mobe to blind and kiteloop handle pass were not enough. In Heat #28, Rodwald certainly proved that he had his Fire Flower power with him by winning over an uncharacteristically poor performance from Kevin Langeree (Naish, Netherlands). Perhaps a fraction underpowered and without a chance to warm up with the reverse wind from day one, Langeree was not his usual energizer bunny form. Fiery Mario Rodwald however rose to the occasion and stomped over ten powered and technically difficult moves including a double s-blind airpass, front mobe to blind, non-inverted slimchance, mobe 5 and downloop slim, adding extra style points with an indy back to blind airpass.

It took a well-rested Rui Meira, who is also a light wind specialist, to stop rampaging Rondina. Meira opened the heat with one of the most powered front mobes of the day going straight into a back to blind airpass and following up with a powered slim before finally finishing off the heat with a front mobe to blind. Rondina on the other hand, landed several solid moves but the power angle and variety was clearly not there to match the moves of Meira. After several Heat wins, Van Heurck continued his assault to the podium through a win against Mallory De La Villemarque (North, Guadeloupe). In one of the best Heats of the day, Van Heurck landed a KGB to blind, a huge blind judge 3 and slim and topped it off with a switch KGB. De La Villemarque nailed a few nice moves including a mobe 5 and s-bend to blind with airpass but the lack of power and speed gave the game away to Van Heurck, who, after a tiring game eventually missed a few mobes and slims in Heat #30 to succumb to Meira. Also in Heat #30, Rodwald's super mario-style assault finally came to an end when he came face to face with the Spanish powerhouse Cesar Portas (North) who landed several regular and switch moves and a slim to blind. Rodwald only managed a front mobe and a double s-bend to blind with airpass.

In the women's division, French rider Pauline Boussard (F-One) won an extremely close Heat over the riding left and right specialist, Elana Pitoulis, narrowly beating her with a back loop, a raley and a raley to toeside. In Heat #14, Polish rider Ola Tomkowicz (Best) and Kari Schivebaag (Ozone, Norway) both maneuvered huge kiteloops, raleys, fronts and backs but Tomkowicz sealed the win with a raley to blind. Finally, local rider Alice Brunacci also won a close heat over Boussard in the same Heat, landing a big kiteloop front loop, an unhooked triple front spin, an unhooked indy grab front roll and a raley to blind. Boussard managed her best but her raley to blind and other moves were insufficient to take the win. Brunacci also sealed a win in the 15th Heat against Tomkowicz with a huge big kiteloop front loop and a raley to blind before the race was called off for the day due to lighter wind conditions.

Tomorrow's skipper meeting is set at 10:00 am with a first possible start at 11:00 am.

Saturday June 2

It's the fourth day of competition for the Marsala-Kite World Festival in the beautiful seaport city of Marsala in Trapani, Italy and everyone was excited to watch the concluding event of the men's doubles finals. The day started with overcast skies and light winds but by 10:00 in the morning, it appeared that the wind would pick up enough strength for a competition to take place, shifting direction coming from west-south west which meant the wind was more side on to onshore. The wind averaged between 12-18 knots which made it difficult for the riders to choose the correct kite size, while the temperature dipped to 19° Celsius (66.2° Fahrenheit) making it cooler than yesterday. It took approximately two hours to complete the remaining Heats of the doubles elimination. By 2:00 pm, the competition was wrapped up, just in time before the wind died completely.

Today's opening Heat was a re-sail of yesterday's abandoned heat between big names Rui Meira (Naish, Portugal) and Cesar Portas (North, Spain). The Spanish rider came out victor with a big and powered blind judge 3, regular and switched aerial back to blind, and a double s-bend to blind. Meira nailed a big front mobe and KGB as well as a front mobe to blind in the dying seconds but the lack of switch moves and less power overall gave the edge to Portas. After facing Meira, the Spanish powerhouse went up against Swedish rider Mikael Blomvall (JN-Kites) in the 32nd Heat. Portas opened up the heat with another big blind judge 3, a ‘kite on the water' back to blind airpass, regular and switched mobes and a huge front mobe against Blomvall's front mobe, regular and switched slims, double s-blind and blind judge 3. Portas obviously won with superior power plus a lower kite angle.

After winning two successive heats, the Spanish rider succumbed to the power of current world number 3 Youri Zoon (Slingshot, Netherlands) in the 33rd Heat. Zoon gave a display of huge, fast and powered moves including huge ‘board-breaking' blind judge 3, front mobe, KGB, mobe and a nose grab slim for a topping. After beating Portas, Zoon eliminated fellow Dutch rider Reuben Lenten (Slingshot) with bigger moves including a blind judge 3, KGB, front mobe, nose grab slim, a 313, double s-bend and mobe to advance to the final. Lenten managed to give a good fight landing a big kiteloop 5, blind judge 3, slim and mobe 5 and only managed to gain a chance to fight for the third place.

In the final round, Aaron made it look like he had put on a kiteboarding clinic, landing several powered, technical moves including regular and switched slims, regular and switched KGB, a superpowered s-bend to blind with aerial handlepass, a kiteloop handlepass and his new NOB move. Zoon struggled to put up a show in the fluctuating winds but managed to ride very well nailing a front mobe, KGB, blind judge 3 and a slim. However, his lack of switched moves and a limited range of technical difficulties managed to land him in second place only, giving Hadlow another score for the top podium position.

In the women's division, Angela Peral (North, Spain) went up against Alice Brunacci winning with a downloop to blind and a big back to wrapped. Brunacci's moves had plenty of variety landing a double front mobe, one-handed tail grab front mobe, a pop to blind surface pass and a big kite loop front loop. Peral won via technical difficulties. In the ensuing Heat, Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland) managed to beat Peral's run through a variety of powered moves. A front to blind, raley to blind, and a big 313, in fact, one of the biggest seen in the event so far, sealed the win for the Polish rider. Peral did eventually land a raley to blind, downloop to blind and a back to wrapped

Meanwhile, the battle in Heat #18 between Winkowska and Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) was interrupted by a non-competitor who tangled his kite with Winkowska's while trying to recover her board in the competition area. In the end, the Heat win was claimed by Kajiya with a blind judge 3, downloop with surface handlepass, non-inverted slimchance, s-bend to blind with airpass, and a back to blind airpass. Winkowska on the other hand, struggled to land any moves.

In the final event between Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) and Kajiya, technical riding and variety was the winning factor. Kajiya rode more powered with a big kiteloop with aerial handlepass and a blind judge but fumbled several important moves such as a non-inverted slimchance and a downloop with surface handlepass. Pulido landed a 313, slim, blind judge, front mobe and a back to blind airpass to take the top podium spot.

For all previous Best-related news on the 2007 PKRA, visit Best's PKRA 2007 homepage.