The Wind Gods Have Spoken - Kiteboarding & Kitesurfing

Beginning with a big swell and more wind than the previous contest days, day five of the 2016 Lord of the Wind started with a bang. Athletes hit the wind head on as morning got started with a standup paddle race though the choppy waters.

The day continued with both pro and open class slalom finals. Riders crossed the starting marker and rounded five downwind bouys to reach the finishline (course shown on the right). After completing three races, in the men’s open class, it was Agustin Tapia who finished first followed by Harry Andrews. Billie Kipling and DJ Guacamole didn’t make their starts but, because they had qualified for the finals, tied for 3rd. For the men’s pro slalom finals, all of the men made their starts. Bruno Ferriera made his way across the finishline first followed by Mac Scaggs, Julien Kerneur and Reed Brady.

As for the women’s pro final. A few of the racers missed their starts or started prematurely which left the field wide open. When the races were over and the results posted, it was Justi Vonada who took the win, followed by Jennifer Friday in second, Vasilisa Zaytseva in third and Min Kim in fourth.

The afternoon was filled with big winds and even bigger airs. With winds averaging 25-30mph, riders put on a show for the rowdy crowd.

In the men’s pro finals, Julien Kerner’s WOO device registered the highest jump at 11.6 meters to land him in first place. Jacob Olivier was 0.1 meter from tying for first, but landed a respectible second. Anthar Racca came third followed by Drew Christiansen and Reed Brady.

For the men’s open class DJ Guac jumped the highest followed by Pete Rhymer, Matt Andrews and Agustin Tapia. As for the ladies, Cynthia Brown beat out the women with a men’s pro-worthy jump at 10.0 meters. Coming in second was Kris Kinn, Astrid Berz in third and Min Kim in fourth. The master’s class jumped to the moon and back, inspiring the audience and showing that age is just a number. Harry Andrews jumped the highest followed by Uwe Wessbecher, Brad Benter and Steve Chess.

The day ended with boardercross’s three classes: freestyle, race and strapless. In total chaos, athletes rode an extremely tight course jumping floating obstacles and rounding buoys within feet of the beach. Freestyle was out of control as contestants were required to do at least one handlepass over an obstacle before finishing the race. It was pure crowd-pleasing mayhem.

The event came to an end with a closing ceremony and crowning of the Lord and Lady of the Wind. After everyone gathered for a catered dinner by Buena Vista Resort, event MC, Grom Gormley took center stage to announce the week’s results. As usual, there were a selection of super fun special awards. Super Sunday Stud Awards went to Harry Andrews and Brad Benter. The Best Crash Award went to Andreas Santacruz, the Sportsman Award to Camille Salvinien, and representing Taylor Meehan better than Taylor Meehan himself, the Taylor Meehan enthusiasm award went to Mac Scaggs. Keeping their crowns, 2016’s Lord and Lady of the Wind went to last year’s winners, Julien Kerneur and Cynthia Brown!