News
PKRA Venezuela
Mens Freestyle1. Aaron Hadlow
2. Kevin Langeree
3. Alvaro Onieva
We got this from Aaron Hadlow's website as we were waiting for the final press release from the PKRA. Check out more on Aaron at www.aaronhadlow.com .
Today was the final of the doubles, in the first heat up against Kevin I had the harshest deals dealt to me that I have had in a while, first tack on my warm up 10 mins before my heat a line snapped or came loose on a transitions way out back, I had to rush back take an 11 which left me super underpowered, in the heat I ended up down wind, half way through my leash got stuck and sent me flying out the area with my kite looping out of control, that hasn’t happened for about a year.
I lost the heat.
After that I came back in and sorted out my 13, thanks to rest of the Brits and a few others it was pumped up and ready, all I had to do is switch lines, I had about 5 mins to relax and then I was straight back into the heat for my final chance to win.
I had a blinder, front mobe - blind heat entree straight to switch front mobe. I continued to have a great one, 5 switch, most thing regular, back mobe - wrapped, double S-bend - blind and ended on the buzzer with switchard raily blindside.
Was pretty sure I had done it coming into the beach, sure enough 10 mins ltr it was announced on stage.
Time to party!!!!
SAM LIGHT:
The event was held in two places this year, the trials and half of the single elimination where held at Coche, and the rest of the single and double elimination was held at El Yaque. This is done for the spectators really, as there's loads of people on the beach at El Yaque and Coche is a hard place to get to...as I found out!
Sam Light
My first heat was against fellow Naish rider Alex Pastor from Spain. Hes ripping at the moment so I knew I had to pull out the stops to go through. I had a good heat and landed about eight really powered passes, switch and regular, then in the last minute Alex landed a double which put him through. I was gutted but I new I rode well and had another chance in the doubles.
Tom Court was up next, he’s riding well at the moment getting consistent with his switch moves and progressed easily. UK women's champion Johara Sykes-Davies was up against Pauline Boussard from France. She got down down loops, kite loops and a railey-to-blind. Jo was schooling the French rider up until the last minute when Pauline nailed a blind judge and went through. Jo Wilson was back in action and took down Audrey Mayer from the Dom Rep with her power and style, landing down loop s-bends and powered raileys-to-blind.
El Yaque definitely has more to do than Coche. There are a few cool local bars, shops and restaurants. Normally has a bit more wind than Coche too, but it is gustier and choppy as well so it makes the change from Coche to El Yaque hard, but everyone was still killing it! I went through three heats in a row and then got stopped by Alvaro Onieva from Spain to take 9th place. I was really happy with 9th as it gave me my first taste of prize money!
Tom Court
Tom Court came in 7th, after having a blinder against Michael Shithofer, then being stopped also by Alvaro. He did well in both the singles and doubles.
Jo Wilson went all the way beating Karolina Winkowska, another Naish rider who’s ripping, and took third place! Johara had a tough heat against the Dutch destroyer, Jalou Langeree. They matched each other trick for trick but Jalou went through on power and technical difficulty.
So England had some great results. Let's hope we can continue that through the year!
Jo Wilson went all the way beating Karolina Winkowska, another Naish rider who’s ripping, and took third place! Johara had a tough heat against the Dutch destroyer, Jalou Langeree. They matched each other trick for trick but Jalou went through on power and technical difficulty.
So England had some great results. Let's hope we can continue that through the year!
MEANWHILE...HERE'S HOW THE REST OF THE FIELD WERE GETTING ON:
There were several crashes among the heats as some of the riders struggled to land in the choppy conditions. Heat 23B between Naish riders Maziek Kozerski (Poland) and Michael Schitzhofer (Austria) was notable as both athletes went move for move, displaying great variation. Shitzhofer had the edge with two regular and switch slim and mobe while Kozerski only had a regular and switch slim plus the Polish rider had less power in his moves.
In contrast, both Mario Rodwald (North, Germany) and Sebastien Garat (RRD, France) showed a lot of power in their tricks in heat 24B. Both riders landed switch moves and technical tricks. The German kiteboarder won with greater technical difficulty including a front mobe to blind and with slightly better execution – more speed and height throughout all his moves. After winning this heat, Rodwald defeated Madison Van Heurck (Naish, USVI) in heat 27A via a double back pass, a front mobe to blind, double s-bend pass, and regular and switch slim. Van Heurck managed to land a regular and switch slim, a kite loop handle-pass, mobe, blind judge and a big front mobe.
In contrast, both Mario Rodwald (North, Germany) and Sebastien Garat (RRD, France) showed a lot of power in their tricks in heat 24B. Both riders landed switch moves and technical tricks. The German kiteboarder won with greater technical difficulty including a front mobe to blind and with slightly better execution – more speed and height throughout all his moves. After winning this heat, Rodwald defeated Madison Van Heurck (Naish, USVI) in heat 27A via a double back pass, a front mobe to blind, double s-bend pass, and regular and switch slim. Van Heurck managed to land a regular and switch slim, a kite loop handle-pass, mobe, blind judge and a big front mobe.
Rodwald, who’s been kiting for seven years now joined the North team only this January. He says he prefers light wind conditions typical of today’s weather. “I like pretty light winds because I only weigh 60 kilos. In the second heat (against Van Heurck) I nearly got all my tricks and I was very happy about that.”
On the roll, the North freshman landed clean, powered and technically difficult moves in heat 29A to defeat Mikael Blomvall (Nobile, Sweden). Although he won the heat, Rodwald thought he could have done more in the heat. “In the beginning I was kiting really good and landed some power tricks but went wrong in the middle of the round. The conditions got choppy and really gusty so it’s quite hard to land all the tricks. Luckily, Mike lost his kite and crashed a lot.” Both riders landed regular and switch slims but a mobe to wrapped, a big front mobe and KGB gave Rodwald the edge. Blomvall on the other hand landed a nice mobe, blind judge 3 and an indy KGB but wasn’t enough to defeat the North rider.
Rodwald is currently busy finishing school but will be joining as many tour stops as possible. “I will try to do 5 or 6 stops this year but I will definitely be going to Tarifa.”
Julian Hosp (Best, Austria) went up against Cabrinha-sponsored rider Petr Tyuskevich (Russia) in heat 27B. Both riders are very well known to perform several regular and switch tricks but Tyuskevich had the upper hand this time with greater power and variety. The Russian kiteboarder then went on to defeat Tom Hebert (Airush, New Caledonia) in a closely-fought match in heat 28B. Tyuskevich won with slightly cleaner execution and more power, landing a regular and switch slim, regular and switch front mobe, 313, blind judge with aerial handle pass, KGB and s-bend to blind airpass. Hebert on the other hand, landed a slim, front mobe, regular and switch blind judge, mobe and an indy back to blind airpass.
Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) came out guns blazing in heat 28A against Sam Light (Naish, UK) as the wind stepped up a notch for about five minutes. A huge blind judge right in front of the judges followed up by a mobe, non-inverted slim, KGB and tail-grab hasselhof sealed the win for Onieva. Light came in right behind Onieva and busted out his own blind judge but came unstuck in the landing and seemed a little rattled with the extra wind coming in, missing several moves.
Light, who’s been into kiteboarding only four-and-a-half years plans on joining 3 or 4 stops this year. The UK athlete is his first time here in Venezuela and here’s what he has to say about the spot: “It’s amazing! I really like Coche especially the flat water, totally opposite to El Yaque where it’s a bit gusty but it’s amazing.” Although he placed 9th overall in the Freestyle, the Naish-sponsored rider says he’s very satisfied at the moment. “It’s my best place so far, considering that I had a couple of hard heats against the locals, who are all used to the conditions.” Light also puts education before anything else and has two more months to finish college but says he’ll be back into kiteboarding afterwards.
The most notable was the heat in the women's was between Johara Sykes-Davis (Flexifoil, UK) and Jalou Langeree (Naish, Netherlands) in heat 12B. Johara opened up the heat with a raley-to-blind followed by a downloop, back to toeside surface pass and krypt but were not enough to beat Jalou this time. The Naish rider landed a krypt to surface pass, vulcan to surface pass, a raley to blind, downloop and kiteloop with more power and technical difficulty. “I landed my raley to blind and I was happy with my heat but I just know I was up against a strong girl,” said Johara after the game.
Johara says, “Coche is really good. It’s pretty steady winds with a few gust coming through and just amazing flat waters so it was really, really amazing. I really enjoyed that, it’s a bit like a deserted island and it was awesome. A bit of a mission to get all the stuff over and all the stuff back but when you get there the spot is totally worth it. Over here in El Yaque, I like the vibe and there are so many people on the beach watching. It’s really good and the people are great.”
On the roll, the North freshman landed clean, powered and technically difficult moves in heat 29A to defeat Mikael Blomvall (Nobile, Sweden). Although he won the heat, Rodwald thought he could have done more in the heat. “In the beginning I was kiting really good and landed some power tricks but went wrong in the middle of the round. The conditions got choppy and really gusty so it’s quite hard to land all the tricks. Luckily, Mike lost his kite and crashed a lot.” Both riders landed regular and switch slims but a mobe to wrapped, a big front mobe and KGB gave Rodwald the edge. Blomvall on the other hand landed a nice mobe, blind judge 3 and an indy KGB but wasn’t enough to defeat the North rider.
Rodwald is currently busy finishing school but will be joining as many tour stops as possible. “I will try to do 5 or 6 stops this year but I will definitely be going to Tarifa.”
Julian Hosp (Best, Austria) went up against Cabrinha-sponsored rider Petr Tyuskevich (Russia) in heat 27B. Both riders are very well known to perform several regular and switch tricks but Tyuskevich had the upper hand this time with greater power and variety. The Russian kiteboarder then went on to defeat Tom Hebert (Airush, New Caledonia) in a closely-fought match in heat 28B. Tyuskevich won with slightly cleaner execution and more power, landing a regular and switch slim, regular and switch front mobe, 313, blind judge with aerial handle pass, KGB and s-bend to blind airpass. Hebert on the other hand, landed a slim, front mobe, regular and switch blind judge, mobe and an indy back to blind airpass.
Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain) came out guns blazing in heat 28A against Sam Light (Naish, UK) as the wind stepped up a notch for about five minutes. A huge blind judge right in front of the judges followed up by a mobe, non-inverted slim, KGB and tail-grab hasselhof sealed the win for Onieva. Light came in right behind Onieva and busted out his own blind judge but came unstuck in the landing and seemed a little rattled with the extra wind coming in, missing several moves.
Light, who’s been into kiteboarding only four-and-a-half years plans on joining 3 or 4 stops this year. The UK athlete is his first time here in Venezuela and here’s what he has to say about the spot: “It’s amazing! I really like Coche especially the flat water, totally opposite to El Yaque where it’s a bit gusty but it’s amazing.” Although he placed 9th overall in the Freestyle, the Naish-sponsored rider says he’s very satisfied at the moment. “It’s my best place so far, considering that I had a couple of hard heats against the locals, who are all used to the conditions.” Light also puts education before anything else and has two more months to finish college but says he’ll be back into kiteboarding afterwards.
The most notable was the heat in the women's was between Johara Sykes-Davis (Flexifoil, UK) and Jalou Langeree (Naish, Netherlands) in heat 12B. Johara opened up the heat with a raley-to-blind followed by a downloop, back to toeside surface pass and krypt but were not enough to beat Jalou this time. The Naish rider landed a krypt to surface pass, vulcan to surface pass, a raley to blind, downloop and kiteloop with more power and technical difficulty. “I landed my raley to blind and I was happy with my heat but I just know I was up against a strong girl,” said Johara after the game.
Johara says, “Coche is really good. It’s pretty steady winds with a few gust coming through and just amazing flat waters so it was really, really amazing. I really enjoyed that, it’s a bit like a deserted island and it was awesome. A bit of a mission to get all the stuff over and all the stuff back but when you get there the spot is totally worth it. Over here in El Yaque, I like the vibe and there are so many people on the beach watching. It’s really good and the people are great.”
Final freestyle results:
MEN:
1 Aaron Hadlow (UK) Flexifoil
2 Kevin Langeree (NED) Naish
3 Alvaro Onieva (SPN) Best
WOMEN:
MEN:
1 Aaron Hadlow (UK) Flexifoil
2 Kevin Langeree (NED) Naish
3 Alvaro Onieva (SPN) Best
WOMEN:
1 Bruna Kajiya (BRA) Best
2 Gisela Pulido (SPN) Slingshot
3 Jo Wilson (UK) Naish
The next event is in Cabarete 25 - 29 June
Hit up: www.pkra.info for all the news on the tour.