The Big Send-off Session in Cabarete Paul Serin – Board-off board spin and product placement on point With the main even wrapped up yesterday, today it was all about the Best Trick competition. The riders would be released on to the water one at a time, with the chance to go for one old school trick and one wakestyle / new school manoeuvre to make up their score. There were two real standout riders in the men’s division – Luis Alberto Cruz and Carlos Mario. Carlos was going bigger than anyone and landed a beautifully clean ‘sent’ triple handlepass and he was gunning hard for a final shot at some glory after such a strong showing in the double eliminations. Luis Alberto Cruz goes for his triple handlepass – and sticks it! However, Carlos Mario then exploded on to the water with a kiteloop nine (a trick that could easily score him a ten from the judges in any heat) and then he landed a tweaked, clean double front roll board-off to follow up. High scoring tricks in both the new school and old school categories. Nobody match him today! Carlos ‘The Unbeaten Bebe’ Mario The men and women were …
Cabarete beach
GKA Air Games Cabarete 2018 – Final Day
Mika and Mario take on all comers to retain their podium positions in final day. At the end of four non-stop days of competition the Brazilians finished today atop the podium with the unstoppable Mikaili Sol taking her second event win of the season to make it ‘two from two’ before Carlos Mario topped his first GKA Air Games event podium. It’s been an incredible week here in Cabarete with perfect conditions everyday but one since the riders arrived in town and this afternoon was a fitting finale to the main event in pumping conditions on Cabarete Beach. The finalists on day five THE MEN HIT THE WATER AND JESSE LETS LOOSE By the end of play yesterday, the field had been narrowed down to just nine men and Robinson Hilario and Adeuri Corniel were first up. Hilario’s riding style suits the Air Games format. He’s very comfy with the old-school / big-air side of things, but Adeuri was matching him trick for trick on a bigger kite than anyone else and he stuck some huge board-off rotations which he trucked into at full speed. Adeuri on the advance Adeuri recently became the twintip racing Youth World Champion and will …
Antigua, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Venezuela win first direct Qualifier spots for Kiteboarding Youth Olympics in perfect Cabarete conditions
The first kiteboarding Youth Olympic Games qualification event for “The Americas” came to an end this weekend with what turned out to be an extremely successful and exciting regatta not only for the young riders from South / Central America and North America / Caribbean but also for the spectators along the shorelines of beautiful Cabarete, Dominican Republic. The final day of competition was a good one as we saw our young athletes put on a tremendous final showing, with finishes rarely seen so far – not only on the race course, but also on the overall leaderboard. In many divisions it all came down to the wire in the final heat of the 11 slalom / boardercross elimination series completed for each region and gender. Wind speeds increased to the highest we have seen this whole week, with most riders breaking out their 10 and 11m kites. With the wind being back to the normal side-onshore direction, the obstacles the riders needed to jump over during racing where brought into play again to mix things up a bit, and in the end, 4 young athletes clinched a spot in this year’s Summer Youth Olympic Games. In the South/Central boys …
Argentina continues to dominate Kiteboarding Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers for “The Americas”
Strong onshore winds brought a slight chill to the air in Cabarete for this fourth day of Junior Olympic trials, but the races continued! Competition started a bit earlier than previous days, with a shift in wind direction to a more onshore angle. Wind speeds started out similar to yesterday, but as competitors moved through the 8th round of eliminations, the wind kicked up a notch. We saw most of our riders switching from the 17m kites they’ve been on all week to 15m. With solid 20 knots today, vs yesterday’s 15, riders were able to demonstrate more of the speed and skill that brought them to these Olympic trials. It was exciting to watch! In the South/Central American Boys division, Argentina’s Geronimo Lutteral continued to hold the top spot. If he continues his performance tomorrow he will most definitely be representing his home country of Argentina in Buenos Aires. His teammate Martin Errazquin-Caldern has a good hold on second, followed by Manoel Soares Dos Santos Neto from Brasil in third. The Argentinian girls’ team also has shown themselves to be a formidable force in this week’s trials. In the South/Central American Girls division, Ona Romani of Argentina still sits …
Tight battle in three divisions for coveted YOG Qualifier spots, while Dominican Republic appears to have secured the Women’s spot
Contestants from around the world rocked the Cabarete beaches again today in what was another exciting and successful day of Youth Olympic Trials. The weather did not disappoint – it was a beautiful sunny day. Racing kicked off at 3:30 this afternoon local time. Riders brought their A game, causing shifts in the rankings in the North American/Caribbean boys division as Lorenzo Calcano of the Dominican Republic knocked Jacob Olivier and Cameron Maramenides, both of the U.S.A. into a tie for third respectively, while Tiger Tyson maintained his firm grip on first place. On the girls’ side Lou Marin held confidently onto the top spot with her consistently strong performance the first day continuing. Paula Herrmann and Faviola Collazo-Velez maintained their second and third place spots, showing everyone they have what it takes to compete at this level. In the South American boys’ division, Argentina’s Geronimo Lutteral held on to the top spot for the second day in a row as he had another stellar day of racing with multiple first place finishes giving him a strong hold on first place going into the final hours of competition. His fellow Argentinian teammate, Martin Errazquin–Calderon made a big jump in the …
Three tight rounds of racing see Argentina, Antigua and Dominican Republic taking the lead in “The American” YOG Qualifiers
Today marked the first official day of competition for our Junior Olympic hopefuls. On a picture-perfect day on Cabarete beach, 20 heats were completed over the course of 3 hours, showing just how fast paced this sport is. It was a very exciting day filled with super close finishes. Representing North America and the Caribbean, the top finishers for today in the boys qualifying were: Tiger Tyson of Antigua, Cameron Maramenides of the U.S.A, Adeuri Cornial of the Dominican Republic took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. For the girls division, Lou Marin of the Dominican Republic consistently took first in all of her heats. Paula Herma, also of the Dominican Republic finished in 2nd place followed by Faviola Collazo-Velez of Columbia. In the South/Central America division Geronimo Lutteral of Argentina held on to the lead confidently, taking first in all his heats. Close behind was Anthar Racca of Mexico followed by Manuel Soares Dos Santos Neto of Brazil. For the girls division, Ona Romani and Adela Mendoza, both of Argentina, finished 1st and 2nd followed by Maria Valentina Alvarez Villarroel of Venezuela who took a close third. The highlight of the day was certainly when Lorenzo Calcano of the Dominican …
