I wanted to compete after the trip to Turkey, so I just decided to go to Portugal after spending one night at home. I then got a comfortable place in Alvaro`s Vater`s Van and after a 6 hour drive we arrived in beautifull Portimao. A nice swell of 1-2 m welcomed us, so we went for a good surfsession untill the sun dropped totally.

One day before competition:

Just after the Breakfast we went in direction Contest area and already saw from far that there were at least 15 kites in the air. Once at the beach, we saw Kevin and Youri ripping hard, Kevin going for a flat 7 and Youri just going for huge kiteloops. After some heavy thoughts, we also went to the water to get to know the place and alvaro really ripped hard, I went underpowered on my 7 and soon returned to the beach to rest for the next day.

First day competition:

Again not enough people for trials, so the main event started at 11.00 o clock. Alvaro passed the first heat without having to go to the water. Phillip Br?ckmann was in the second heat and had to go against a polish Rider. He went for a Backmobe, aHasselhoff, a Loop 3 and a F16 handlepass. He won the heat with ease and then had to go against Alvaro. This time Phillip didn’t land much, while Alvaro went for most of his tricks, the winner was Alvaro.

I was in the fifth heat against Ezelsky, a local rider and had just a regular heat, landing a frontmobe, pete rose, 313 and Slim 5. Anyway I passed that one and was face to face against Cesar Portas in thenext one. In Cesar`s first heat I could already see that he was comfortable with the Tarifalike conditions so I knew that it was going to be a very hard heat. I went on the water pretty motivated and did areally good heat, but he was riding super hot two, and finally got the judges on his side with a backmobe to blind.

Cesar was against Etienne in the next heat but didn’t land much this time, so Etienne won and got fourth in the end, with a very good performance.

Second day competition / double elimination:

I got up at 9 am, went for a fast breakfast and then got to the contest place just in time to pump up my kites without a hurry. Paul Caswell was my first opponent, but in cause of an earlier injury he couldn’t compete, so I just checked out the conditions doing some high jumps and a frontmobe with a 360 before landing. Phillip Br?ckmann was against some polishguy again,and won this heat again. The second heat for him was against Van Heurck, while I was against Janek Korycki from Naish.

I was feeling perfect with my 11m at the beach, so I went to the water with it just before the green flag to go upwind. From one minute to another, a strong rain front made it to the contest area and we were all super overpowered on our kites. My kite then turned around the 5th line after a KGB which made it really difficult to keep doing tricks, so Janek passed with a solid performance. Phillip lost against Van Heurck after smashing his kite into the water pretty early in the heat and losing time searching for his 12m.

So this time I got 13th, still not a very satisfying result, but at least I’m climbing up the contest ladder slowly this year, in Venezuela 23th, in Belgium 17th and now 13th. I had a very complete heat againstPortas and bad luck with the rain front against Janek, so I’m motivated to go for it in Fuerteventura.

Third day competition / no wind:

The third day didn’t bring us enough wind to compete or free ride so everybody tried to make the best out of his time, some went surfing in Sagres, many people staid at the competition place to dry theirkites, wait for wind or have some smalltalk. I inscribed for the Best Trick Competition and hope for some wind tomorrow, lets see if I can land a Pete Rose 7, that would be too sick!!!

Fourth day competition / Final of the Doubles and Best Trick

Saturday started with some light onshore winds, but suddenly the wind got offshore and strong enough for 13m. Alvaro had to defend his 3 place against Bloomvall and arrived to do so, then he tried to beat Kevin but didnt land enough tricks. Now Kevin had a regular heat against Aaron, but won this heat which lead to the superfinal, a 2nd heat. This time Kevin ripped hard, but Aaron also did, so in the End Aaron won.

Now it was time for the Big Air Best Trick, height was counting 60% and technical difficulty 40%. I was against Holley, Meira, Langeree, Zoon and Koole in one heat. I went for a Slim flat 3 but didnt land that one, so I went for a Slim Chance to wrapped which I landed as the first person in the PKRA. Meanwhile Youri went for a Backmobe to wrapped and Kevin went for a double handlepass, so they passed with more altitude in their tricks.

In the Final then, Mallory de la Villamarque did a nice kiteloop Slim and got second with that one, while Aaron went for a High Handlepass to wrapped which made him win. Cesar Portas landed a Slim to blind and got third.

Tags: PKRA

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