| Bruno Sroka and Katja Roose are the 2010 European Course Racing champions |
| Tuesday, 29 June 2010 13:10 |
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After 14 races the 2010 European Course Racing Champions are Bruno Sroka (FRA, Cabrinha) and Katja Roose (NED, Airush). 66 participants from 13 countries celebrated their champions after six days at Westerland/Sylt, with plenty of wind for racing but not enough to entertain the more than 80000 spectators on the beach with some freestyle action. The event kicked off on Tuesday with light and varying winds and gave the competitors plenty of time to further prepare their equipment. Allthough race committee prepared both a course for racing and a competition area for freestyle to be ready whenever the wind would show up, it never became suitable to allow for any competiton. Wednesday showed off then with a solif 10 knots breeze all day long, and a total of 7 course races were completed. The first four races run back to back on a standard windward/leeward course, after the lunch break the wind allowed for one more race before it became too light for fair competition. Bruno Sroka was the man of the day, with three bullets in five races he was clear ahead of Rolf van der Vlugt and Julien Kerneur (FRA, Takoon) with one victory each. Katja Roose dominated the first races as well with three bullets and a second place. Caroline Adrien (FRA, Cabrinha) alwways close to her heels with three solid second places. Unfortunately the wind forecasted became worse from day to day, and Thursday the waiting game begun. With the first disard in the racing discipline already in the bag the race committee pushed for the freestyle discipline again, but with strong current close to the shore and the wind being blocked by the buildings on the beach, there was no chance to get freestyle underway. Friday surprisingly brought wind for racing again, although it was not forecasted. The first four races of the day commenced at 10:30 sharp, with a box course to test some different skills this time. Bruno Sroka was injured after an incident on the downwind leg and couldnt finish race number seven and missed race eight, giving Rolf van der Vlugt, Julien Kerneur and Abel Lago (ESP, RRD) a chance to chase up. After the lunch break the course was changed to a windward/leeward with a leeward gate, which proved to be a good call as racing immediately became even more thrilling with the fleet nicely splitting up for the second round. Three more races were completed on that course before calling it a day. In the womens fleet, Katja Roose extended her leed after this day, allthough Caroline Adrien came close and were able to win two races. Event day number 5 saw a chance for suitable wind in the morning hours to get the freestyle competition underway, and Race Director Markus Schwendtner called for an early skippersmeeting at 06:00 hours in the morning. The first heats of the mens competition were brough on the way but had to be abandoned due to non-suitable conditions. Further out on the race course there was enough wind so the decision was to go for another few rounds of racing, this time on a windward/leeward with a 50m offset mark. Racing commenced in app. 12 knots then with Bruno Sroka and Rolf van der Vlugt winning one race each, leaving them with only 0.3 points difference after 14 races. This seemed to be the best course now for 2009 world champion Steph Bridge (GBR, North), winning both races, but there was not change in the overall rankings for that. As the wind picked up at the end of race two, another attempt to start the freestlye competition was made, this time for the womens fleet, but unfortunately with the same result - abandoned heats. With 14 races and 3 discards in the bag the race committee then called for a freestyle supersession, with the best performance being rewarded by the Spielbank Westerland with a 250 Euro cheque each. Alexandre Neto (BRA, Liquid Force) won the mens competition with a pop to blind handlepass in the waves, and Nicky Rudd (GBR, Slingshot)/Sophia Lennartsson (SWE, Ozone) showed a nice team effort with a SUP-Board in the waves, doing a tandem surface handle pass. The final day brought no more wind for any kind of competition, leaving the freestyle riders without result at the SEAT Kitesurf World Cup Sylt, but with a great racing competition which after 14 races sees Bruno Sroka and Katja Roose taking the 2010 crown. Results after 14 Races (3 discards) Men: Women:
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