The Kite Mansion Open, third and final stop of the Kite Park League, took place in Icapui, Brazil from the 24th of November until the 1st of December. Since Alex Maes and Annelous Lammerts got into park riding 3 years ago they dreamed about organizing a Kite Park League event at their favorite place, the Kite Mansion in Icapui, Brazil. Together with the help of Sam and Nico, owners of the pousada Kite Mansion they made their first KPL event happen, the Kite Mansion Open. This is the first time that a KPL event was hosted in Brazil and with the smooth wind and butter flat water the level at this stop was bound to be higher than at any other event.
The Kite Mansion Open started with a massive beach clean up. With the help of the local community, the KPL riders collected a truck full of waste. The riders also had the opportunity to plant new mangrove trees and in that way they could give back to this beautiful kite spot.
This event was different a bit different than the first two KPL events. Instead of having sliders made out of plastic, the Kite Mansion Open park only has (metal) handrails. Beside the ”˜sketchy’ set-up there was also a different format for the rails. Instead of hitting 1 rail that gets a score from 0-10, there was a ”˜line’ of two rails which the riders had to hit straight after each other. On both rails the riders are getting scored from 0 to 10 and there is an extra 5 points for the ”˜flow’. The flow is all about getting a good line without hooking back in, switching stance, keeping good speed and spinning both ways so you don’t have to change your leash. This format was a pleasure to watch and it was great to see all the riders putting down completely different lines.
For the men, there were two heats in round 1 with the top 4 advancing to the final. No second chances, no double elimination, so it was straight into an insane level of riding with everybody frothing to showcase their best tricks! Not only were the riders battling for the podium, there was still the battle for the 2018 Kite Park League title between Brandon Scheid, Ewan Jaspan and Noè Font. Round 1 saw some insane riding and every single one from the 8 men final could make it to the top spot on the podium.
Christophe Tack’s 900 scored a 9.5
Alex Maes, favorite for this year Kite Mansion Open after getting the highest score in round 1, couldn’t find his left foot line due to a kite problem but still managed to come back to 5th place with the biggest rewind we have seen on the kite park league scoring him 9 points. Christophe Tack just missed the podium at this year Kite Mansion Open, but scored the highest kicker trick of the event with the biggest and cleanest heelside frontside 900 we have seen in competition.
The battle for the podium was extremely close and there was only a 1.03 points difference between 3rd and 1st place. Brandon landed another huge Mobydick 540 in the final which secured his 3rd place. Ewan Jaspan made it to second place with his very last line attempt on the right foot forward line that gave him the highest scoring line of the final with 22 points. Argentinian Shredder Ramiro Gallart created the biggest surprise of the the competition by winning his first Kite Park League event! Despite the difficult conditions for left foot forward line he managed to get a really high score which gave him a big advance over the other riders. Rami managed to land solid hits both kickers and another good scoring line on the right which made him win this year’s Kite Mansion Open!
Ramiro Gallart (1st KMO/6th KPL)
Thanks to his 3rd place here in Icapui, Brazil, Brandon Scheid claimed his first Kite Park League title. Ewan Jaspan has been a fierce competitor throughout the whole season and ended up with a second place in the overall ranking with a consistent 2nd place at every event. Noè Font secured his 3rd place overall, followed by Alex Maes who climbed up 3 spots to 4th place and Christophe Tack moved up to 5th place in the overall ranking.
In the women final we had Sensi Graves and Colleen Carroll from the USA, Annelous Lammerts from the Netherlands and Julia Castro from Spain. Karolina Winkowska unfortunately had to withdraw from the event after getting injured while getting ready for the this final event of the year. Julia Castro ended up 4th with only 0.15 points behind Sensi Graves who ended up 3rd. Colleen Carroll grabbed second place with solid and consistently good hits on all the features. But it was Annelous Lammerts who showed she was right at her home park with the best lines of the contest, a toeside backside 540 (double handlepass) and a crowmobe of the Duotone kicker to seal the deal and win the first ever Kite Mansion Open.
Colleen Carroll (2nd KMO/4th KPL)
Thanks to her two event wins, Karolina Winkowska still became the 2018 Kite Park League Champion, followed by Julia Castro who made her first overall KPL podium and Annelous Lammerts in 3rd. Colleen Carroll ended up 4th this season and Sensi Graves 5th.
This year Kite Mansion Open was nothing short of amazing, with some of the most innovative tricks and plenty of NBD’s (never been done’s). Congratulations to this year Kite Park League champions, Karolina Winkowska and Brandon Scheid rode extremely well throughout the whole season and deserved this year Kite Park League World Title. Congratulations to our new champions and see you all for the 2019 season with already three events confirmed including the 2019 Triple-S Invitational, the 2019 Patagonia Hood Jam and the 2019 Kite Mansion Open.
Official Results:
Kite Mansion Open – Men
1st place – Ramiro Gallart
2nd place – Ewan Jaspan
3rd place – Brandon Scheid
Kite Mansion Open – Women
1st place – Annelous Lammerts
2nd place – Colleen Carroll
3rd place – Sensi Graves
2018 Kite Park League – Overall Ranking Men
1st place – Brandon Scheid
2nd place – Ewan Jaspan
3rd place РNo̬ Font
4th place – Alex Maes
5th place – Christophe Tack
2018 Kite Park League – Overall Ranking Women
1st place – Karolina Winkowska
2nd place – Julia Castro
3rd place – Annelous Lammerts
4th place – Colleen Carroll
5th place – Sensi Graves
Best line contest powered by Picture Organic Clothing
1st place – Alex Maes (22 points)
1st place – Ewan Jaspan (22 points)
3rd place РNo̬ Font (20.25 points)