Hydrofoil Pro Tour 2017 - Registration and Day 1

by Playa Central Kiteboarding on 28 Mar 2017 Registration took place at Casa Tara Retreat on March 25th with a sunset view and steamy jacuzzi, a different venue to kick off the event. Riders and manufacturers have flown in from various corners of the world to attend. At times, there are half a dozen languages being spoken at the breakfast table.

The Hydrofoil Pro Tour has quickly become the most followed kite racing circuit to date. The riders meet every morning at Playa Central event site for breakfast, before the Skipper's meeting. La Ventana's wind provided five good races yesterday, March 26th 2017, on Day 1 of the Hydrofoil Pro Tour with Rob Dean running a flawless day with low onshore winds, compared to nuking 25-30 knots weather in the days leading up to the races.

WOW! what an amazing turnout and big surprise in the standings, 1 - Olly Bridge GBR, 2 - Maxime Nocher MON, 3 - Axel Mazella FRA, 4 - Riley Gibbs USA, 5 - Riccardo Leccese ITA, 6 - Florian Gruber GER. Gibbs is the only USA Sailor in the top 6, the rest being from countries in Europe. This shows the strength of the Europeans and how seriously they take the sport of competitive Kiteboard racing, whether it be on a flat board or a foil, said Joe Kool - safe to say he is the biggest, most consistent and loyal fan of kiteboarding.

Since kitefoil racing began in San Francisco during the summer of 2012, in just a few short years the sport has grown worldwide luring great athletes, designers and manufacturers to many kite destination venues, some competing and others for the networking opportunities, R&D and the Tech Talks. The birth of kitefoil racing has brought high speed and excitement in to the industry. The conversations had during these events are what allow the manufacturers to push their design teams to master the skills and knowledge in order to build high quality protective gear, stronger masts, lighter boards and bars, better safety systems, resistant materials, improved bridals and much more.

To follow more on the tour, check out the Hydrofoil Pro Tour Facebook page for more information on 57 riders from 23 countries. Our race committee Cristina Ortiz and Tania Calles are assisting race director Dean. We have Elias Gonzalez international judge with World Sailing, Paul Zupa from St. Francis Yacht Club and Francisco Jauregui of ISAF.

On Day 2, March 27th, we have light winds coming from the Northwest and the bay is struggling to keep its wind line. There have been some exciting events happening on the water. More information will be released post races today.