With the winds never picking up over 12 knots, a full day of racing was the call for yesterday at the Beetle Kitesurf World Cup, Saint Peter-Ording Germany. The wind filled-in early, and the racers took to the water, motivated to get results. The battle was fierce. Kerneur and Lake each won a handful of races, while the rest of the fleet took turns finishing in 3rd. Boenniger dominated the women and solidified her lead in first. Kerneur is one win ahead of Lake overall.
The heats were reshuffled according to overall ranking, so top racers would not meet each other in round one. On the men’s side, 3 heats of 7 were run in the 1st round, with the top 3 of each heat advancing into the final. On the women side, one super final was run during every round, so every heat was critical for the girls.
Boenniger dominated every race; she was first at the first mark every time and first at the finish line. She’s had a perfect performance thus far. The ladies battled it out, however, for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Lutz had three 2nd place finishes and a 5th when she could not point enough to make the finish line and hit the beach. Tatiana kited very well but could not repeat her performance from yesterday and got a 2nd, two 3rds, a 4th, staying 2nd overall. Boese finished 4th and Bremer 5th.
On the men’s side, every final was intense from start to finish. The course was set with four marks, the first leg around 400m and the others around 300m. The first leg allowed racers time to spread out before the first mark, to minimize chaos and kite tangling. The second mark was set a bit off the wind so racers had to move their kites to achieve maximum speed. The last two legs were set for speed. The course gave competitors many passing opportunities and racers were constantly riding neck and neck.
Julien Kerneur won the first two races and Bryan Lake was a close 2nd behind him. The battle for third place in the first 3 races was intense, with the fleet going hard for a podium position. In the first race, Castel finished just a few centimeters in front of Smith. In the second race, Smith got revenge and took third place from Florian Gruber. In race two, Baumeister was on his way to a second-place finish when he got too close to the beach and touched the bottom, crashing hard and ending his chances at a top finish.
Video of men finals Race #4
Video of men finals Race #5
In race three and four, it was a different story with Brian Lake taking command of the top spots and Julien Kerneur crashing out. Smith took the opportunity to finish second. There was a good bit of tangling in the back with Biniash and Castel crossing lines in race 3. Adam Whitington placed third in the third race of the day after a few tangles and crashes in other races.
Video of men finals Race #6
Video of men finals Race #7
Julien Kerneur is now in the lead by only one win. If Bryan Lake wins another race he moves into the lead. The Battle for third place is open, with Gruber currently in third and Smith, Withington, Castel and Baumeister close on his heels.
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