Day five of the Iles de la Madeleine Kiteboarding World Cup 2006 got off to a promising start at 8am with riders taking to the water for continued action of kite course racing. Temperatures were higher, the sun was steady and the winds were onshore from 8-12 knots. The course, set in a triangle design, was reset from the night before as competitors warmed up on the water. Unfortunately, when all was ready to start the wind had dropped to 10 knots or lower and the official race was put on hold.
After lunch and more volleyball, at 1pm another course race was attempted. Smaller, lighter riders such as Madison Van Heurck, Jesse Richman and Shawn Richman were able to make a run of the course, while others attempted for fun and to show off for the crowd but were unable to make all the marks and the finish line, getting drawn downwind. Everyone enjoyed the nice weather catching up on rest and tans as well as small sessions on the water including Bruna Kajiya, Kristin Boese and Ania Grzelinska. By 4 pm everyone was off the water and the event was called for the day.
The goal of this first annual Kite Course Championships, hosted by the Professional Kite Riders Association (PKRA) in association with Caribbean Winds, and Cabrinha is to help firmly establish this relatively new discipline through the assistance and guidance of the kite course pioneers at the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco, USA, by establishing a standardized set of course racing rules that can be applied in all parts of the world. Two representatives from the St. Francis Yacht Club are present at this event and have been instrumental in helping set the courses and educating the riders on the rules of course racing. The hope is that this will provide incentive for many other kite course racing competitions to be held at various local and national levels throughout the year culminating in the Worlds once a year. Of course the ultimate goal is the eventual acceptance of kite course racing into the Olympics.
This evening is a free night for all the competitors. Forecasts look promising for tomorrow with increased wind in the afternoon and a goal of 13-15 knots for course racing to continue. Skippers meeting scheduled for 9:30am.