Of the 19 total entries (16 men and 3 women), 2 men and 1 woman were to be selected as wildcards to compete against the world’s best slider riders at this year’s Triple-S Invitational. With the judging criteria that stated, “Videos will be judged solely on the quality of riding, editing and effects will not be taken into consideration, kiteboarding on sliders, kickers, park and/or natural/manmade features should be the focus of your video content, and cable park footage is considered ”˜lifestyle’ footage and will not be judged,” the Triple-S judging committee muted the soundtracks, blacked out any cable or lifestyle clips and began the difficult task of selecting winners from the talented pool of entries. Congratulations to Chris Bobryk, Tobias Holter and Annelous Lammerts who will now receive invites and head to Hatteras at the beginning of June to battle for the crown at the 2016 Wild Voyager Triple-S Invitational. It’s rare to hear the judges justify their decisions so give their wildcards a watch and see what the judges had to say about them.
1st Place Men’s Wildcard: Chris Bobryk
“Chris Bobryk’s video was not only a great fit for the Wildcard Video Contest criteria, but his riding was also next-level with a huge variety of slider and kicker tricks. Chris looks so comfortable on his kiteboard, the way he commits to tricks and his overall approach to riding are a joy to watch. Where some other entries ended early or were rounded out with additional cable or lifestyle footage, Bobryk keeps the pedal to the floor and continues throwing down behind his kite all the way to the end. With multiple impressive inverts and spins off the kickers, and a solid display of rail riding across a nice variety of features, Chris was able to edge-out the competition and claim 1st Place in the Men’s 2016 Wind Voyager Wildcard Video Contest.”
2nd Place Men’s Wildcard: Tobias Holter
“With his 2016 Wildcard Video Contest submission, Tobias Hölter solidified his reputation as a technical rail riding master. Clean, stylish rail hits were the highlight of Tobias’s entry, backed up with some solid spins and glides off the kickers. From Russia to Brazil to Cape Hatteras, Tobias made his mark on kite parks around the world in this edit, stomping tricks with speed and putting his best moves on display. As the Men’s Wildcard Video Contest 2nd Place finisher, Tobias will be awarded an invite to the Invitational division, adding to the already stacked field of competitors in the 2016 Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational.”
1st Place Women’s Wildcard: Annelous Lammerts
“With production quality/editing not being part of the judging criteria, Annelous emerged as a clear leader with high-level slides and presses on fairly advanced handrail features. Annelous also displayed some serious skills on kickers, throwing down a broad and stylish array of spins to earn her invite to the main event.”
Congratulations to the winners! We look forward to watching you kill it at the contest! Riders can battle for the last invitational spots in Hatteras before the event at the 2016 Triple-S Open. Scheduled for June 3rd – 4th, it is the final feeder event into the Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational where the top finishing female competitor and the top 2 male competitors will advance directly into the Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational.
More info here: https://kiteboarder3.wpengine.com/event-cal/2016-windvoyager-triple-s/