Sauble Beach Kite Jam on the Great Lakes

There's little doubt that kitesurfing is starting to feel pretty established nowadays, and it is surely one of the fastest progressing sports on the planet.  In fact 'kitesurfing' is starting to feel a bit too vague - a bit like calling windsurfing, sailing and land-yachting 'wind sports'.  There are plenty of ever more distinct styles of riding and a new crop of kiters who want to be pigeon-holed as freestyle, or wake, or wave, or racing kitesurfers.

The Sauble Beach Kite Jam on Canada's Great Lakes is a prime example of this and puts itself firmly in the Wake category.  With plenty of sliders and kickers to keep competitors happy, and with riders from Canada and some of the top guys from the US, the event was perhaps a sign of things to come with a 100% wake-style format (they had planned some freestyle but, hey, everyone was having too much fun on the sliders!).
 
The event saw Brian Smith come in 3rd, Eric Rienstra 2nd, and slider don Brandon Scheid take the top spot.  In true Kite Jam style, the Saturday night saw the action continue on the beach with bands and plenty of after-party action, and saw most competitors laying down moves to rival those that they'd been throwing down on the water.