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Welcome to the winterwonderland at Lago di Resia in Southern Tyrol and the fifth Snowkite Championships with Rollei Bullet HD as title sponsor. Within three days the best European snowkiters from ten nations showed their skills in the disciplines Freestyle and Race. After two days of snowfall, on Sunday the sun came up and Resia presented itself with perfect conditions at its best. Also the wind blew with 15 knots and provided exciting conditions for the freestyle heats.  

In the discipline freestyle the Russian boy Artem Garashcenko, 17 years young, showed his tricks with a lot of power and managed to win against Heinar Brandstätter (AUT) and Jan Schiegnitz (GER). Artem Garashcenko rode in superior style in all of his heats, landed some frontmobes, switch slim chances, 313 etc. and won the first European Snowkite title. The local hero Marian Hund from Germany showed an absolute steady performance on his skis. But couldn't defend his victory in the single elimination against Anton Uzhegov (RUS) and became second ahead of Daniel Schur from Austria. The womens' snowboard division was won by the Russian Tatiana Sysoeva ahead of Christine Bönniger (GER) and Anne Valvatne from Norway.

In the discipline race we witnessed the next russian surprise. Andrei Balyakin was able to beat the last year's winner Markus Pompl (GER) and Florian Gruber (GER) became third. In the snowboarder's race, Benjamin Nähter from Germany created a sensation. In his first competition he managed to win before Aliaksei Pimchanka (RUS) and Jörg Lammerskitten. Christine Bönniger could also win her first European title for the women's snowboard race, and Anastasia Ements from Russia won the women's ski races.

Thanks to the organizers for a great weekend with a lot of fun, good wind and snow!

The fascination of skating on water with the help of a stunt kite - we spoke with two talented Flysurfer team riders, Eduard Wieandt, 14-years old from Frankfurt and Volker Kremer, 32-years young from Kiel, who have been skating and kiting for years. They are the fore-riders of a new kind of trend sport on the water, equipped with a wake skateboard and a kite. No more straps or bindings - this is real freedom for tricks!  Rotations, spins, flips, everything is possible. Thanks to the combination of two kinds of sports, yesterday's „asphalt surfers" are the „wave skaters" of tomorrow, and are now called „kite skaters".

Kitesurfing has been developing consistently for the last 10-years. Various disciplines such as old school, new school to freestyle, wakestyle and kite skating continue to grow. In the 60's, skateboarding developed out of surfing, and skateboarders were called „asphalt surfers". The revolutionary development of polyurethane wheels really got the sport rolling. Today, a new generation of skateboarders are going „back to the roots" and skating with a kite. Wakestylers in Hawaii first came up with the idea to "skateboard" on the water. What was necessary to make this dream happen? A wake skateboard and a kite. Anyone with skating or kiting experience can pick up the sport easily. Thanks to the kite, wakeboard lift is no longer required.

„I got inspired a long time ago by videos of Jason Stone on Maui", explains Volker Kremer, „but the materials then were not as advanced as today's materials." In the last few years,  board development has come a long way. Wakeskates for kiters have less of an arc, so they have increased glide and upwind performance. Another advantage is: without a binding the impact after a jump is not quite as hard. „So the risk of getting hurt is less", says Eduard Wieandt. Thus, you can keep learning new tricks, high waves, spins (turning the board on the vertical axis) and flips (turning the board on the direct axis) in all of their endless variations. Volker has the optimal spot in Stein near the city of Kiel/Germany. Already an experienced skater, he lives for the mirror-flat water with constant winds. „With more wind, we get 2m high kicker waves. Landing tricks in these is just awesome", according to Volker. Since the obstacles (skating obstacles, e.g. kickers) are not stable in contrast to the ones built in urban jungles and training conditions are always changing, you have to approach tricks with a healthy respect. New moves can take a lot of effort sometimes, and you have to go step-by-step. „It just makes you happier when you finally nail the trick", enthuses Eduard.

Volker is currently training his flat3 and 180flips, and Eduard is hard at work perfecting his switch heelflip and nollie kickflip. You can improve your style from day-to-day - from speed, height, power slides to perfect landing. „You can have a lot of fun with a Speed3 kite from Flysurfer, since they cruise upwind so well", recommends Volker. Both of them enjoy meeting up with friends while skating and kite skating. They are both supported by Flysurfer as team riders - and we are certain that we will be hearing more about them in the future!

Bringing the Ponta Preta Kite Surf Pro to a close, today concluded the KSP's inaugural three-stop 2011 Kite Surfing World Championship Tour.

"We had insane conditions on tour this year,"" said KSP rider and Vice President Sky Solbach. "We scored the most perfect surf ever seen in competition in Mauritius and the longest waves on the planet in Peru. Unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate in Cape Verde, but we still had a blast in the Super Sessions here." Due to the bleak swell forecast for the remainder of the 10-day holding period, yesterday, the KSP rider's committee decided along with KSP organizers to end the competition early following the two Super Sessions in varying conditions.

According to the KSP contest rules all 24 men at this Cape Verdean tour stop received an equal number of points (4,365), which go toward the 2011 World Championship title. The 12 female riders each earned 5,265 points. Overall, 64 riders from 20 countries competed on the inaugural KSP Tour. Kicking off at 7 p.m. last night at the beachside venue of Odjo d' Agua in downtown Santa Maria, KSP officials awarded the Cape Verde Super Session winners and crowned the 2011 World Champions.

In the women's Super Session Overall, Kirsty Jones (UK/North) took first, with Adriana Harlan (Hawaii) placing second and Kristin Boese (Best/Germany) coming in third. On the men's front Airton Cozzolino (Italy/North) took first, with Bear Karry (USA) and local wild card winner Jose Djo Silva (Cape Verde/F-One) coming in second and third, respectively.

The prize giving then turned to the coveted World Championships, the culminated results from the One Eye Kite Surf Pro in Le Morne, Mauritius, the Pacasmayo Kite Surf Pro in Pacasmayo, Peru and the Ponta Preta Kite Surf Pro in Santa Maria, Cape Verde -- held at three of the best kite surfing locations in the world.

On the women's podium, 9-time World Champion Kristin Boese (Germany/Best) took third place, with Marie Gautron (France/Naish) coming in second and the young Portuguese rider Ines Correia taking the World Championship title.

The men's podium saw 2010 Kitesurfing World Champion and winner of the second KSP Tour stop in Peru, Guilly Brandao (Brazil), in third place and local Cape Verdean hero Mitu Monteiro (F-One) in second. However, it was Airton Cozzolino (Italy/North), winner of the first tour stop in Mauritius and second place finisher in Peru who stole the crowd's hearts. In an emotional interview, the native Cape Verdean could not fight back his tears of joy after being carried onto the podium by his local crew and graciously accepting his first ever World Championship trophy in front of his home crowd.    

"I am so happy. Thank you to everyone. It's a dream come true",  said the near-speechless Cozzolino.

The 2012 KSP World Championship Tour schedule will be released on February 1, 2012. Once again, the lineup of venues promises world-class exotic locations across the globe to showcase high-performance kitesurfing in the world's best waves by the world's best riders.

Thanks to the organizers and the riders of the KSP world tour for a fantastic season!

The last day of the Nissan Kitesurf Pro in Noumea, New Caledonia also signaled the end of a great 2011 PKRA freestyle season.  The Noumea stop was won by Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) and Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile).   After seven events on five continents all the results are in:  Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) and Gisela Pulido (ESP, Airush) are the 2011 world champions.  The wind never came up on the last day to run the best trick competition, but everyone enjoyed the beautiful New Caledonian weather and the closing ceremony.

The Noumea Kitesurf Pro was won by Alex Pastor, Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch kites) was second and Youri Zoon third.  In the womens division Asia Litwin was in first place, Holly Kennedy (GBR, North) second and Rachel Baglin (AUS, Cabrinha) was third.  The first four days of the event had amazing conditions, with perfectly flat water and winds up to twenty five knots.  This allowed the riders to show how far the ridding has come over the last decade. Some of the best freestyle moves we have seen all year were performed here.  The PKRA refined the live web-cast so that fans can watch their favorite rider live in action.  All the heats can be seen on the live page of the PKRA website.

During the 2011 season the top riders were really pushing the limits of kitesurfing freestyle in the mens and womens division.  Youri Zoon won the overall title, after many years of competition and coming close many times.  Alex Pastor finished second overall, he was happy with his results and is looking forward to next year.  He wants to become world champion after being runner up two years in a row.  Marc Jacobs finished third, this was his first year doing the whole tour and was glad to reach his goal of making the top three. Every rider brings something to the sport and the competition format forces them to push each other through out the year.  Traveling together all year, they become good friends and always want to out do each other on the water.

Thanks to the organizers and riders from the PKRA tour for a great season! We are looking forward to next year already!

The last tour stop of the 2011 PKRA World Tour will be held tomorrow in New Caledonia, at the beautiful beach of Pointe Magnin, Noumea.

This event will give the opportunity to the new freestyle World Champion, Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) from Holland to make history in the kiteboarding world by becoming the only rider in competition history to win every single tour stop in a year. Youri already won a total of 6 events all around the world in a wide range of wind conditions.

The best kiteboarders in the world will be in Noumea to make Youri's goal a hard reach: Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) will be as usual the fierce competitor to the Dutch champion as well as Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) and Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch) who have proven great consistency throughout the year. With style and power, these riders will be fighting once again for their spot on the podium.

Moreover, the ever rising rider Tom Hebert will have the advantage to ride on his home spot and get his numerous fans cheering for him on the beach. Tom won the last event of the 2010 season and will try to reiterate this year on his home spot.

The PKRA has launched the very successful People's Choice online contest, and after 2 weeks of voting Sebastian Garat and Youri Zoon are in the lead, which will run a Super Session against each other, judged be the fans at home. This certainly represent an exciting ending for the season!

The wind forecast for Noumea looks quite good for the next few days with winds from 15-20 knots from easterly directions, so we expect to see a nice end of the season in New Caledonia!

In 2012 two dutchmen are starting a circumnavigation, sailing around the world with a super 50ft catamaran. In 5 years time they visit the best kitesurf, windsurf, surf and most remote places you can imagine. And they are sharing their dreams with anyone that wants to join them! This is the Dutch Ocean Challenge.

Starting in november 2012 from the Canary Islands in direction Caribbean where they will stay in 2013 to go through the Panama Channel in february 2014. Travelling to Tahiti via Galapagos and the Easter Islands. Towards all the super beautifull remote islands in the south pacific (Bora Bora, Rarotonga, Samoa, Fiji, Solomon Isl). In 2015 they go up to Micronesia to vist the Marshall Islands, Palau and down to Indonesia (Roti, Sumbawa, Bali and Padang).

In 2016 travelling further up to the incredible Andaman Islands (India) and Thailand west to the Maldives and down to the remote Chagos archipel. Visiting some well known kitesurf areas around Reunion and Mauritius towards Madagascar and Mozambique. They stay in Cape Town around new year.

2017 is about distance and classic sailing from Cape Town to Brasil, up to the Bahamas and back to Europe via New York and the Azores ending the amazing journey at party island Ibiza.

It 's about kitesurfing, relaxing, fishing, surfing, SUP boarding and super adventures. It's about a supernice yacht, with ambitious people who want to experience this once in a lifetime chance! It's about nice weather, comfortable temperatures, steady wind patterns and unthinkable good holidays.

The Dutch Ocean Challenge is searching for people that like to join them, they are selling shares. With one share you become owner of the boat and you have the opportunity to visit the boat (alone or together with a friend) once a year for five years. You can select the trip that suits you best or is the destination you always have been dreaming of.

Are you interested in this wind-adventure? Send an email to mail@dutchoceanchallenge.nl and visit the website www.dutchoceanchallenge.nl

French local Sebastian Garat and Polish rider Asia Joanna Litwin are the winners of the final stop of the Kitesurf Tour Europe in St. Gilles Croix de Vie, Vendée, France and were crowned European Champions 2011. Seven days of spectacular competitions,varying wind conditions and beautiful waves at the beach of St. Gilles Croix de Vie came to a fabulous end today when the European Champions in Kiteboarding Freestyle as well as the winners of the Kitesurf Tour Europe in Course Racing were crowned. 

 

In men freestyle, the fight for the title was incredibly close. German rider Mario Rodwald won the KTE Germany in the challenging conditions of Sylt leaving competitor Seb Garat from France in 2nd place. The light conditions at the KTE Italy in Lamezia asked for completely different skills and it was again Mario and Seb meeting in the final sharing a first place to a lack of wind. Therefore it all came down to the KTE France in St. Gilles Croix de Vie in the Vendée region - the one who wins in France will be European Champion! In the single eliminations, Mario and Seb made their way to the final and with a view on the wind forecast, it was pretty clear that this heat would decide who is going to take the title. Seb showed an impressive front mobe, 313 and blind judge 3 while Mario perfomed a beautiful s-bend blind, 313 and backmobe but crashed his kite in the waves still leaving the judges with a tough decision. In the end, the French took the win in the singles and although the doubles were started on day 6, the wind dropped at the fight for 5th place. Congrats to Seb Garat, European Champion in Kiteboarding Freestyle 2011!

 

In the women division, Polish freestyler Asia Joanna Litwin travelled to France as the leader of the KTE ranking and was unstoppable and clearly dominated their fellow riders. In the final of the single eliminations she won against UK rider Holly Kennedy on her first start in the Kitesurf Tour Europe by showing a nice blind judge, slim chance and 313. After her win in Italy and second place in Germany, she is a well-deserved European Champion 2011. 

 

French local racer Julien Kerneur made his way to the Vendée region with the clear mission to win the Kitesurf Tour Europe in the Course Racing division. Julien won 2 out of 4 races but was defeated by Dutch racer Rolf van der Vlucht who scored a better overall ranking. In third place, Maxime Nocher demonstrated again his top European level and challenged his fellow racers. Nevertheless, Julien Kerneur remains the leader in the overall tour ranking 2011 and celebrated his victory on the podium in the sun of St. Gilles Croix de Vie. 

 

For Dutch racer Katja Roose, the 2011 season was a very successful one. At the World Championships in Sylt, she became second overall and then dominated the KTE Italy by winning every single race in the light wind conditions of Lamezia in Southern Italy. Here in France, she again left no doubt about who is the fastest European female racer by winning all races and clearly dominating the women fleet. As a result, Katja is the well-deserved winner of the KTE France and of the overall Kitesurf Tour Europe 2011 in course racing women. In second place overall finished Christine Boenniger (GER) and Ines Correia (POR) on third place. 

 

This was the Kitesurf Tour Europe 2011 with three very different stops that asked for a great variety of riding skills from large waves to choppy water and light to very strong wind conditions. The feedback of the riders has been very positive enjoying the atmosphere in the tour and the high quality, professional level during the events. For 2012, the Kitesurf Tour Europe has the clear aim to expand to other metropolitan areas and core European markets to push kitesurfing to the next level - with more riders, more stops and more spectators on the beach.

Following a historical and action-packed first stop of the KSP's World Championship Kite Surfing Tour -- the Mauritius One Eye Pro in Le Morne, Mauritius -- the town of Pacasmayo in northern Peru will host the second leg of the KSP's "Dream Tour."

During the Pacasmayo Peru Kite Surf Pro's 10-day holding period, which runs from October 19 to 28, the world's best kite surfers will once again congregate at one of the most mind-blowing kite surfing waves on the planet to compete for valuable points that count towards the 2011 World Championship title.

Featuring side-shore winds and exceptionally long, peeling lefts, the setup at Pacasmayo is the perfect venue to showcase the height of kite surfing's performance. With the event running within the optimal timeframe to receive long-period, south and southwesterly swells -- July to October -- the relatively unknown break will likely see tons of strapless riding, lots of aerial and other progressive maneuvers, as well as vertical top-to-bottom surfing.  

Beginning on October 19 at 9 am (PET), the Pacasmayo Kite Surf Pro will be broadcasted live online at kspworldtour.com/live. If you miss any of the action, the heat-by-heat broadcast will be archived for your on-demand viewing pleasure. And don't miss the video updates of the action that will be posted at kspworldtour.com, or follow the KSP World Championship Tour on Facebook at facebook.com/KSPworldtour or on Twitter at twitter.com/KSPworldtour. 

During the event be sure to check out the wind and wave forecast for Pacasmayo here: