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As the hot sun rose high over the downtown skyline, you could see the tension on the riders’ faces. Many of the athletes were hoping for a few more races to gain valuable positioning on the scoreboard. Talk of the Santa Ana winds overnight had put a somber spin on the wind forecast for the final day of the event. Before the day’s races began, we sat down with Race Director Robbie Dean to talk about this event, his involvement and where he hopes it could lead to in the future of competitive kitefoil racing.

By 1:15pm Robbie had the race course set and the riders circling around his boat waiting for the word on when and how many races would be held. Time was against them as the big boats made their way out on the water. The one minute whistle was blown and the riders lined up on the starting line. As the starting horn blew, a flurry of kites accelerated with  Johnny Heineken and Nico Landaur in almost equal positioning as Joey Pasquali followed in a close third. The remainder of the pack was within striking distance of the leaders at all times but failed to gain on the group out ahead. A few racers tangled on the downward leg, nothing too serious fortunately, as they were able to recover and get back into the race. By the time they rounded the course and reached the finish line, Johnny crossed first, Nico in second and Joey placed third. Axel Mazella had great success the day before placing fourth with Olly Bridge in fifth. 
The second and final race of the event had riders in a near frothing state, as this was their last ditch effort for them to make any strides in advancing up the results chart. Axel Mazella disappointed in his previous results, made sure to position himself at the front of the pack as they reached the starting line just as the horn went off. It was by far the most aggressive race of the whole event with everyone going for broke. At one point, the lead had changed hands a few times with masterful tactics by the riders as they jibed upwind to the top buoy. Screaming past us on the boat, you could feel the adrenaline flowing and the desperate need to go faster as they headed downwind.

Under the watchful eye of the US Navy aircraft carrier, just upwind of the racers, along with the huge crowd on hand to witness the final result of the race, we could see the fleet of kiteboarders crossing the finish line as the audience roared with excitement.

Axel Mazella finished first, with the veteran racer Johnny Heineken in second, Olly Bridge in third and Nico Landaur in a close fourth. When all the races were tabulated, Axel Mazella finished first overall in the standings, followed by Olly Bridge in second and Johnny Heineken finishing off the third position on the podium.