PKRA - Day 4 PKRA New Caledonia

Freestyle double eliminations kick off

Heaps of spectators made their way out to the beach today to enjoy the lovely Saturday afternoon weather and to catch a glimpse of all the kiteboarding action here in Noumea, New Caledonia. It has been a super successful competition thus far, you could not ask for better wind or weather conditions.

Race director Olaf Van Tol announced this morning at the skippers meeting that this afternoon would be packed with kiteboarding entertainment. The start of the freestyle double eliminations would commence at 12:00pm followed by a fun and exciting discipline known as the big air/best trick. The judging criteria for this competition is 70% height and 30% technical difficulty. Local riders started off the first round of heats competing against each other today. Michael Dinclaux (Takoon, FRA) eliminated most of the local riders, however was later defeated by Brazilian rider Reno Romeu (North, BRA). Alex Pastor (Airush, ESP) will be advancing to the next round following his win over Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA) in a 5/0 judge’s decision. Alberto Rondina (Cabrinha, ITA) eliminated Sebastien Nguyen (Slingshot, FRA) and will be moving into the next set of heats tomorrow as well as Mario Rodwald (North, GER) who defeated Julien Kerneur (Takoon, FRA) in the last double elimination heat of the day. The double eliminations will resume tomorrow on the final day of competition here in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The big air/best trick discipline was held after a short intermission. Riders made there way out on the water with their kite sizes ranging from 7m to 9m. In the first heat, Marc Jacobs (Switch, NZL) advanced moving him directly into the final heat. Maxime Landreau (Takoon, FRA) and Youri Zoon (Slingshot, NED) also joined Jacobs in the final round. Jacobs was really on top of his game today, jumping extremely high and performing with great technical difficulty enabling him first place in the discipline followed by Zoon in second and Landreau in third.

Tomorrow’s skippers meeting is scheduled for 11:30am with a first possible start for the freestyle double eliminations at 12:00pm.

The Teri Kitesurf Pro 2010 was made possible in part by the Kiteboarding League of New Caledonia, LVLNC with official partners Orangina, Le Meridien, Nissan, Teri and SeaDoo with special support from NRJ, Air France, RFO Nouvelle Caledonie and Total.

Big Air/Best Trick Results

1. Marc Jacobs (Switch, NZL)

2. Youri Zoon (Slingshot, NED)

3. Maxime Landreau (Takoon, FRA)