PKRA - Langeree and Smunty win the Freestyle

The third day of competition at the kiteboard World Cup in Mexico was action-packed. The day started with a full round of slalom won by Bryan Lake and Warenka Smunty. After the 1st race the wind was strong enough to start the freestyle old school / new school competition. Kevin Langeree and Smunty won the single elimination but Anthar Racca the young Mexican was the standout. A large crowd came out to watch all the action and cheer on the riders.

The Slalom course was setup with 5 marks that were close together to force the riders to really focus on the jibing. The quarter finals ran smoothly with all the top riders advancing into the semifinals. The first semifinal was won by Adam Koch and the second by Bryan Lake. The Final was close with all the riders being perfect at the start. A tight group gathered at the start and Lake pushed to the front with a perfect start. Koch was second followed by Kerneur and Withington. After the 3rd mark Koch crashed and Julien and Withington were able to pass him. Lake won, followed by Kerneur and Withington.

The women side was shorthanded when Withington and another kiter were disqualified for being in the triangle before the start. This left the door open for Smunty and Raquel Arroyo to make a run at the podium. Veronica was also able to improve her rankings and finished 3rd in the womens fourth race.

With the wind blowing a steady 15 knots the race director decided to start the freestyle competition. The format was a mix of old school and new school. After a quick round of trials to work the ladder down to the top 12, it was time to start the show. Tapia, Molk and gonzalez were the stand out of the first round landing nice slim’s, 313’s and BJ’s. The next round the top four men Langeree, Pastor, Kerneur and Racca were the precedes and riders to beat. Kerneur Opened the round with some great handle passes, Board off’s and 1440. Next Kevin started the heat with a massive flat 3 and some nice old school tricks. Racca came out and landed some technical passes to move into the next round were he met Alex Pastor who also won his heat.

The semifinal between Langeree and Kerneur was really entertaining, with their mix of old school and technical handle passes, Kevin won with his perfect back mobe and flat 3 and advances to the final. Racca put on a good show but Alex was too good for the 12 year old and also advanced to the final with a flat 5 and solid front blind. During the final the wind was getting lighter and Kevin used his 17m kite to land some good old school and new school tricks to win the single elimination. In the losers final Racca was very technical but did not land enough Old school tricks to defeat Kerneur.

The women freestyle was between Smunty, Withington and Nuessex. The heat was extremely close and Smunty and Nuessex had to go another heat to decide the winner. In the end Smunty got a back roll kite loop in to get the edge and win.

Sunday will be the last day of the MINI kiteboard Wolrd Cup in Mexico on the Riviera Nayarit. Many more slalom races will be completed and winners will be chosen. Lake and Smunty have a commanding lead but things can still change.

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