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Girls lead Tuesday Night Kiter Cross

 
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Airnsails

Since 22 Jun 2005
104 Posts
Hood River, OR
Stoked



PostWed Aug 03, 05 10:10 am    Girls lead Tuesday Night Kiter Cross Reply with quote

Race around Wells Island

Recap from event organizer Aaron Sales

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only were there girls on the starting line, but they kicked half the guys asses. The Start flag went down and immediately Tonia Farman and Gail Zaccai were in the top four spots. I stayed close to the Event Site side of the river thinking I would go upwind better in flat water than in the four foot swell and when I looked at the other riders on the Washington side I realized they were making better upwind progress. Maybe it was the current. I headed back to the other side and found myself in the middle of the pack and to my surprise Tonia Farman was in the lead then Dan Gavere, then Gail Z. The girls were super fast and I couldn’t catch them. Fortunately, my 13 meter Fuel had a fifth line and I was able to trim in about ten inches and within 10 minutes, I made my way past Gail, Dan, and finally went at Tonia with a game of chicken and didn’t back down. That was the move that put me in the lead and gave me the advantage at the upwind mark around Wells Island. From there it was a mile and a half straight down wind to the Finish line where the Hood River meets the Columbia. After dodging about ten kiters at the Sandbar I crossed the finish with a victory. A few minutes later Dan Gavere and Alex Peterson fought it out for second place (Alex DQ’d for crossing the start line too early) then came Tonia and Gail. Eventually every racer made it to the finish and shared there race story of how they got passed or dropped there kite in the wind shadow of Wells Island. This was the first time women have competed in the Kiter Cross and was I truly impressed. It just goes to show anyone can race and you can never predict the outcome.

Top 5 Results

1. Aaron Sales (Slingshot)
2. Dan Gavere (RRD)
3. Tonia Farman (Slingshot)
4. Gail Zaccai (Wipika)
5. Richard Hallman (Slingshot)


On another note, the race events are starting to blow up world wide whether it’s Kiter Cross or course racing. What’s it going to take to get more than 15 riders on the starting line on Tuesday night? At the Slingshot Kiter Cross a few weeks ago, over 38 riders competed and King of the Bay already has over 40 riders registered for Kiter Cross in a few weeks. Should I continue the weekly races or just put on two main events each summer? Feedback is welcome and I hope see you out there.

Thanks,

Aaron

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railgrab

Since 29 Mar 2005
177 Posts
Seattle, WA
Stoked



PostWed Aug 03, 05 10:47 am     Reply with quote

Great writeup and thanks for all your work, Aaron. Was there ever a recap of the Slingshot Kitercross at the Event Site?
Ethan

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shastadogs2

Since 28 Mar 2005
336 Posts

Obsessed



PostThu Aug 04, 05 6:18 am     Reply with quote

Heya,

Man, I can write a quick recap of the kite-cross at the SS Demo Day at the event site a few weeks back. I don't know the names of the riders though because I am new and am still learning and yearning but that is another story. . .

The Saturday morning at the ES was just so cool. First of all the sun was smiling and the wind was solid, or as solid as I have seen it for a while in HR. After driving two hours into HR last year for the GGs and getting skunked, Saturday was great because it was on! And the grass and berm at the Site was like moving to a 5-star after hotel after a month at Motel 6. Man, those guys riding those pole-board things have it good! What up w/dat?

My teenage girls were with me, 19 and 17y/o, I have been trying to inspire them a bit. The crowds and dogs were well behaved, real carnival atmosphere. Did someone say free burritos? Man, that was over the edge-Taco del Mar (?) catered some 200 free vegie and chicken treats. Thanks, you guys.

Anyway, it was just the kind of morning that makes you forget your receding hairline. We sat back, watched the riders and watched the people watching the riders and had a great time. Mark Doyle ended up as the mens' winner, and threw down some jumps as his victory lap. I had the pleasure of taking a lesson w/him at SPI last year, and Mark John are friendly people and great reps for our sport. The lady's champ, if memory serves was a lady named Bri-can anyone else confirm? All the heats were exciting and very cool to watch from the elevation of the berm

And the ladies rocked. My kids came away with a new commitment to turn their wakeboard skills into KB skills.

Thanks a ton to the organizers and staff who put on a great show, and if you ever need any grunt support for such things in the future, I would be happy to lend a hand.

"When I forget who I am I serve you. When I remember, I am you." Ram Dass (Richard Albert)

Peace

Jimbo

P. S. As a sidenote: there was this guy riding a red Romulin space-craft looking thing before the heats started (CB?) Very cool looking.

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Onad

Since 04 Mar 2005
1435 Posts
Coast<<PDX>>Gorge
XTreme Poster



PostMon Aug 08, 05 2:43 pm    Re: Girls lead Tuesday Night Kiter Cross Reply with quote

Airnsails wrote:
Race around Wells Island

On another note, what’s it going to take to get more than 15 riders on the starting line on Tuesday night? Should I continue the weekly races or just put on two main events each summer? Feedback is welcome and I hope see you out there.

Thanks, Aaron


Aaron,
There are a lot of kiters who live too far away from HR to make it out on a Tuesday night. I would love to race, but driving up from P-Land just isn’t practical on the weeknights. A couple of weekend races would be great! I would definitely show up to race. You could still have Tuesday night races for training. I realize that weekend races are more difficult due to all the other water users, but many of us would really appreciate the chance to race.

Thanks for getting kite racing going in Oregon! Thumb's Up ~Dano

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