Day 5 of the 2019 Hood Jam presented by Wind Voyager Authentic Apparel started with glassy, hot weather as everyone converged on the Hood River Marina for a 10 am riders meeting. After a quick adjustment of the features, the wind started filling in and before they knew it the riders were stacked on 11-13m kites for the start of the Men’s and Women’s Finals.
The Men’s Final kicked off with the port tack kicker hit. Drop after drop the level of tricks steadily increased until Ramiro Gallart stomped a clean Heel Front 9. Christophe Tack followed right behind with his own Front 9 but was a little shaky on the landing. Then on their last drop Ewan Jaspan and Brandon Scheid stomped a KGB 5 and Moby Dick 5 to stay within reach of Ramiro.
Next on the starboard slider Christophe took the lead while Ewan and Brandon made up a point on Ramiro. Sam Light would take the top score though with a massive Toe Back 270 Gap Transfer.
The port tack slider proved to be a challenge for Christophe and Ewan with Noe Font making up some points to bring him almost even. Brandon and Ramiro moved into 1st and 2nd with some of the highest scores before the final feature.
After that the men were put on hold and the women hit the water. From out the gate Karolina Winkowska was on fire taking more than a point lead over Annelous Lammerts on the port kicker. She would then take the top score on the starboard slider to extend her lead by another 0.2. Sensi Graves also moved into 3rd just ahead of Katie Potter with a solid hit.
The starboard kicker was the last feature left and tensions where high. Katie comfortably took 3rd with a Tootsie Roll, turning all attention to Annelous and Karolina. Annelous drew first blood with a solid Crow Mobe leaving Karolina needing at least a 6.1 on her final attempt. Everyone held their breath as she switched to toeside and launched a massive Tootsie Roll, stomped it clean, and rode away the 2019 Hood Jam Women’s Champion!
Finally the men retook the water to get their last feature scores. Brandon had a comfortable lead but was unable to land his usual Mobe 7, settling for a Mobe 5 instead. This left the door open for Ramiro but after landing a Back 5 Melan he was unable to step it up to the score he needed. Ewan Jaspan copped the opportunity and made a huge comeback landing a Front 9 to move ahead of Ramiro into 2nd but it was 0.3 short of catching Brandon who would take his second KPL victory of the season!
The KPL and all the riders would like to thank all the sponsors and crew that make this event happen. Also thanks to everyone that worked out on the sandbar all day; judges Alex Lewis-Hughes, Ian Daly, and Eric Rienstra as well as James Ropner on the live feed, and Jackson Lebsack and Vincent Bergeron on the cameras. Also thanks to Brandon Scheid for managing the park setup throughout the week, Rich Sabo for managing the Slider Project and permits, and to Colleen Carroll for managing the entire event. And last but not least our biggest thank you goes to Charlie McKinney and everyone at Wind Voyager Authentic Apparel for making this event possible! Stay tuned for more videos and media from the event to be dropping soon.
