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Flexifoils rapport från PKRA
Here we are in Coche/Venezuela at the 1st World Champs 2005.
Aaron has been here for the past few weeks training and getting ready for the competition and hopefully showing everyone what he and Flexifoil are made of.
65 competitors turned up on this beautiful island to show their skills and hopefully take it to the top. The 1st day was the qualifiers to see who made it through to the main event and it was clear to see the level was tough with some very impressive riders getting knocked out straight away, Sander Lenten from Flexifoil being one of them. Julie Simsar and the rest of the girls made the numbers up to a perfect 16 so no Qualifying needed (nice). Hadlow, being the no.1 seed, also had no worries for the main event. 32 Men and 16 Women went head to head to find out who could do who in the 1st PKRA World Tour. The wind was blowing a perfect 15 knots straight off shore on the Island of Coche making perfect conditions for the day of freestyle ahead.
Aaron made it through heat after heat with some very tough opposition and I have to say being the world’s no.1 rider everyone but everyone wants to kick your ass. The new 2005 kites and boards seemed to be doing the job extremely well thanks to all the efforts of the R&D team over the winter months.
Julie Simsar was also doing a sterling job making it through into her next heat, but then blowing out on a Slim chance up against the Russian girl and was denied.
Aaron was still on fire and now had the Spanish no1 to deal with, Ceasar Portas. For sure the best heat of the day with both riders going off and matching each other trick for trick. The beach was going off with wows and screams from all directions and I have to say it was a close one. Aaron and I waited for the judges call – it was a long wait… Aaron was through to the next heat 🙂
Changing down to his new 7m Firestorm as the wind picked up, he had Ettiene Lhotte next. As he sailed off for the semi Final his confidence was growing and I knew he had this one in the bag. Both riders were ripping but Aaron had the upper hand for sure so that meant Ruben Lenten and Aaron in the Final once again.
It was a fantastic show of both rider and friend giving their all to the crowds and pushing the limits of this amazing sport right to the edge. Ruben had some unreal unhooked kiteloops and slims, but Aaron just nailed everything and just stepped it up all the way with powered mobes and a whirlybird to blind, top job…
The following day meant Double Elimination for most and a long wait for Hadlow to see if anyone had it in them to knock him off the top.
Julie had a great start and took her 1st opponent down with a nice Handle Pass. She was pretty powered for her next heat and taking the 6m Storm 3 she went off, kite loops and sweet grabs all the way landing every trick she went for. I was sure she had gone through to the next but no, denied! 🙁
The rest of the day saw some amazing kiting and the best level yet by far. This sport is going off and the likes of Aaron, Ruben and Ceasar are the Future 4 sure. It was getting close to Aarons heat and the pumping began, 9m Firestorm, 7m Firestorm and a 6m Storm 3 just incase. The new 2005 Flexi AH Pro Board checked, the back up board checked, all lines on kites and he was ready. The Final heat of the day to decide who goes up against Aaron in the Double Elim was just about to kick off and Ceasar had made a come back to go up against Ruben. It was a cracking heat with both riders going off and going high but Ceasar Portas just had the edge over Ruben and it was not going to be easy to stop Portas.Aaron went out to warm up for the Final and knew he had two chances to keep his 1st place from yesterday but wanted to take him down in the 1st heat if he could. The heat was on and both riders came out with some sick moves but I could see Aaron was not quite on it, maybe he was just not in competition mode as he had been cruising all day. It was amazing to watch and everyone had their eyes on the water for this one. My heart was beating pretty fast for sure and at the end of the heat I just didn’t think Aaron did quite enough against Ceasar’s display.
Everyone waited at the Stage to hear the outcome… it was given to Portas. Well, as most people thought it would go down to the wire.
Final heat and Aaron knew it was now or never to give it 100%… A few final words from me before he left the beach and he was off to defend his title. Aaron kicked it off with a VERY high double handle pass and Ceasar came back with his opener, kiteloop handle pass, it was on. Aaron then came up with a list of tricks that were unreal one of them being a whirlybird to blind and a down loop slim. Ceasar just did not have enough tricks up his sleeve for this heat and I think everyone knew Aaron had just cleaned up.
Top eight riders to the stage to announce the winners! The Venezuelan crowed was great and every rider was there to check out who had won.
Sure enough Master Hadlow was the man and took a very well deserved 1st place in the 1st 2005 stop of the PKRA World Tour; I had a lump in my throat 🙂 Stoked
Well done to everyone at Flexifoil for their help and support. See you in North Devon this weekend.
Mens PKRA World Tour
1st Aaron Hadlow
2nd Ceasar Portas
3rd Ruben Lenten
4th Damien LeroyWomens
1st Kristin Boser
2nd Annya ( Poland )
3rd Angela PeralReport by Jason Furness
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