The first day (Tuesday) at the SEAT kitesurf world cup started at 8:00 with breakfast followed by the skippers meeting and the opening ceremony. The judges, the race director and the marshals were introduced. The flags for each country represented at the event were then marched by the riders around the site and placed in front of the competition tents.
The wind was blowing from north north west at 15 knots and freestyle qualifications began. The local riders performed well to progress into the first rounds, but faced some fierce international competition. The choppy conditions made it difficult for the riders, but the wind later picked up nicely reaching 20 knots in the afternoon.
SKBUe team rider Stephan Permien (Germany) met strong competition from the WaveMaster World Champion, Mito Monteiro (Cabo Verde), but did enough to progress to his first freestyle final and face fellow German competitor Mario Rodwald (SKBUe) who had beaten Petr Tyushkevich from Russia in the semi finals! And what an exciting final it was, with Rodwald, taking the SEAT Kitesurf Freestyle Championship.
The women started with an exciting first round match between Gisela Pulido (Spain) and Kirsty Jones (UK), with Gisela moving through the rounds onto the final to face the 2007 World Champion, Kristin Boese (Germany). The scene was set for a spectacular final and the crowd, that had stuck out in the cold, were not disappointed! Gisela peaked at the right time and grabbed the title of SEAT Kitesurf Freestyle Championship.
The wind forecast for Westerland on Wednesday does not look good at the moment, but decisions will be made and announced at the skippers meeting to be held at 9:00. It has been a successful day on the SEAT Kitesurf World Cup and all are very excited for the days ahead.
