Marc Jacobs and Karolina Winkowska win the Freestyle event at the Beetle Kitesurf World Cup, in Saint Peter-Ording, Germany. With almost all the single elimination plus the full double elimination being run in one day, this was one of the most intense PKRA freestyle events ever. Heats started at 8:30 and finished at 20:20 with two champions and many amazing performances. The conditions were very good, with a 20 knot side-on breeze and small waves. Unfortunately, Youri Zoon dislocated his shoulder and Bruna Kajiya hurt her knee. Christophe Tack and Paula Novotna made an amazing run in the doubles, each coming all the way from last place to both finishing in the top 4.
In total 58 heats of men and women were run throughout the day. The action was fierce from start to finish. Some ups and downs throughout the day, beginning with Youri dislocating his shoulder in the single elimination, while shortly after, Marc Jacobs and Karolina Winkowska winning it. In a double elimination, DaSilva had an amazing heat against Aaron Hadlow bringing an upset to the five-time world champion. Christophe Tack won seven heats to make it to the podium. Bruna Kajiya hurt herself on a massive kite loop, but also still finished on the podium. Ultimately, Marc Jacobs won his first PKRA event after Pastor rallied hard in the double, and Karolina Winkowska regained a Tour points lead with her victory.
The single elimination started in round two where the freestyle had stopped on Sunday. Da Silva and Hutter set the tempo in the first heat with some big grab front blinds and blind judge 5’s. The first big matchup of the round was Zoon vs Hadlow. Both riders were very technical but Zoon showed more power and advanced. Alberto Rondina was riding well landing some big toe mobes to advance over Tack. In round three, all the favorites advanced. The Zoon vs Jacobs’s semi was a battle of powered moves, but it was clear that Youri was bothered by his shoulder and Jacobs advanced. The Pastor vs Rondina heat was an extremely technical heat, with Alex winning with more power and some nice doubles. In the battle for 3rd place, Youri was ahead but then dislocated his shoulder and lost to Rondina. The final was very close with Jacobs edging out Pastor in a close heat with perfect front blind mobes and KGB’s from both riders.
The women’s single elimination started with the top four women in the world advancing to the semifinals. The first semifinal between Winkowska and Kajiya was very close but Karolina was more consistent with a cleaner execution of her tricks. In the second semifinal Pulido was far more technical than newcomer Van Westerop and advanced easily to the final. In the end, Karolina defeated Gisela by putting a little more power in her tricks and maintaining a smoother execution.
The double elimination started with the men. Liam Whaley, local favorite Mario Rodwald and DaSilva were the three riders that embraced the double elimination and all moved up into the top seven of the Beetle Kitesurf World Cup. 317’s, BJ5’s, KGB’s, Front blind mobes are all some of the most technical moves that we saw being landed throughout the day. Christophe Tack came all the way back from last to 3rd after winning 7 heats and finally losing to a well-rested Alex Pastor. DaSilva and Rodwald also had brilliant performances with DaSilva defeating two former world champions and having the highest heat total of the day with a 37.37. Alex Pastor won the first heat against Marc Jacobs by .36 and a super final was run. This time Marc rode flawlessly,while Pastor could not land his BJ5 in the dying minutes of the heat. Marc upped his score to 37.01 to make sure to close the door on Pastor and win his first-ever PKRA events.
The women’s double elimination was marked by the success of Paula Novotna who competed in five heats and won four of them to move from last to 4th. Bruna Kajiya injured herself in the last 30 seconds of her heat against Gisela Pulido; however Bruna had done enough earlier in the event to defeat Gisela and finished 2nd. Karolina regained the points lead on tour after her victory; unfortunately no final was run due to Bruna’s injury. All the girls were charging hard. Sabrina Lutz the German champion landed one of the biggest blind judges of the day, Taabbel and Lammerts also landed some big moves.
Mens Results:
- Marc Jacobs
- Alex Pastor
- Christophe Tack
- Alberto Rondina
Womens Result:
- Karolina Winkowska
- Bruna Kajiya
- Gisela Pulido
- Paula Novotna
The freestyle competition concluded with 24 men and 12 women giving everything they had during the Beetle Kitesurf World Cup. We wish Youri and Bruna a quick and full recovery. Slalom racing ahead. More photos and a complete list of standings can be found here: www.prokitetour.com.