| Bruno Sroka and Steph Bridge dominate the 2009 PKRA Germany |
| Tuesday, 28 July 2009 09:17 |
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A lot of the fans were out on the beach this morning in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite kiteboarder in action. Day 3 of the Palmolive Kitesurf World Cup in St. Peter-Ording, Germany was a very successfully day under a bright, warm and beautiful blue sky. Today’s weather was just what the doctor ordered, lots of Vitamin D for everyone to share. The temperature reached a high of 22 degrees Celsius, with nearly cloudless skies and fluctuating winds averaging 12 knots. Smiling, happy people surrounded the event site today and the joyous atmosphere was extremely contagious. Organizers have made it possible for everyone wanting to shake the stress away by providing fun evenings of music and dancing with live DJ’s every night of the week. The mandatory riders meeting was held exactly at 10:00 am as scheduled. However, the Freestyle competition, which was scheduled to start at 10:30 am was cancelled for the day by race director Olaf Van Tol because of light winds. Instead, Van Tol announced that the Racing event will be held in place of the Freestyle as racing requires less wind to run. In effect, the Freestyle riders were released early in the day, which gave them the opportunity to catch up with old friends, share some laughs and have a little bit of stress-free fun before the continuation of the freestyle event tomorrow. Ruben Lenten (NED, Slingshot) was yet again “On The Loose” making an appearance today at the event site in St. Peter-Ording. He warmly greeted old friends as well as eagerly excited fans. The course racers had nearly perfect conditions today, enabling them to glide gracefully across the North Sea with much ease. The races ran smoothly with no major problems other than a disqualification due to line entanglements. Once again, Portimao KiteMasters Racing champ Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) powered his way through the finish line in the only race held during the day. This time wearing jersey number 3, Sroka is beating an old drum once more, commanding a well-deserved victory and is now at the top of the scoreboard. Local rider Eddy Lansild finished in second place followed by French racer Sebastien Salerno (Gin Kites). This ties Salerno in second place overall with fellow French rider Oliver Dansin (North) with 7 points each while Lansild moved to number 3 position with 9 points. In the women’s division, racing powerhouse Steph Bridge (North, GBR) crossed the finish line ahead of the other women putting her in lead position with 2 points overall. Kristin Boese (Best, GER) finished in second while Portimao Kitemasters race runner-up Fabienne D’Ortoli (Cabrinha, FRA) finished in third. The day’s result did not change the overall standings as Bridge still maintains top position. A total of 23 racers competed in today’s event and all managed to finished within the time limit except for James Johnsen of Denmark who was disqualified because of line entanglement. The event was called off for the day around 3:30 pm because the wind died down to a grinding halt. Tomorrow’s forecast looks a bit more promising and hopes are still high for the Freestyle competition. The skippers meeting is set for 10:00 am with the first possible start at 10:30 am. Course Racing Results (after 2 races) Men: 1. Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) Women: 1. Steph Bridge (North, GBR)
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