Mondial du Vent - Tack and Pulido win single eliminations

by PKRA on 29 Apr 2014 On day three of the Mondial Du Vent, PKRA riders turned up to the beach eager to compete in the lighter winds that the forecast had promised. At 10am, the green flag went up and the first round of the women’s heats got underway. Although the conditions were lighter than those of yesterday, the wind on the inside was gusty at times and ranged between 21-34 knots. With riders using kites sizes between 5m and 9m, the demanding conditions of the Mondial Du Vent continued.

The men’s ladder saw heat scores much higher than those of yesterday with most heats being won by a solid margin. One exception was a close battle in the semifinal between Aaron Hadlow and Marc Jacobs. Hadlow demonstrated impressive skills throughout the day riding with calculated precision and timing his trick attempts to make the most of the challenging conditions.

In his heat against Jacobs, Hadlow opened with an explosive 315 that earned the highest trick score of the day. Although Jacobs rode with his branded full- power style, landing numerous big tricks - including a high scoring S-Mobe and Hinterberger Mobe, amongst others, Hadlow took the win by 1.2 points, landing a solid variety of tricks such as a Crow Mobe and notable Double S3.

Christophe Tack climbed the ladder beating out Reno Romeu in the semifinals, landing him in the battle for the top spot against Hadlow. In classic Leucate conditions, both riders completed huge tricks in an intense fight for the win. However, Hadlow started to struggle midway through the heat, missing his attempts at a Blind Judge 5 and lacking the necessary execution on his Crowe Mobe 5 to score the extra points needed.

Tack continued to land tricks consistently, stomping amongst others, a Front Blind Mobe, Back Mobe 5, and lastly a massive Blind Judge 5. It was a close fight to the end but Tack took the win, earning the highest heat score of the day and winning the single elimination.

The women’s division was equally impressive. Notable upsets in the quarter finals came from Annelouse Lammerts, who rode well and beat out Bruna Kajiya, who struggled to find her groove. Also, Manuela Jungo won over Annabel Van Westerop who also had a difficult time with the conditions.

The winner’s final between Karolina Winkowska and Gisela Pulido was nothing short of impressive. Both riders landed big tricks worthy of any men’s heat. Going trick for trick, the ladies attacked the water with Pulido landing a nice Slim Chance and Wikowska pulling off a notable Back Mobe. In the end it was a very close heat with Pulido inching ahead by .29 points for the win.

The wind is forecast to continue throughout the duration of the event with tomorrow being the lightest forecast for the remainder of the event. Riders will meet tomorrow at 10am with a first possible start of the double elimination at 10:30 PKRA website