Kite Foil League - Local Knowledge: Heffernan strong in warm up

Kite Foil League's California Triple Crown series © Kite Foil League

As the kite foil fleet descends on Ledbetter Beach for the final stage of the Kite Foil League's California Triple Crown series, conditions promise a tight sprint to the finish with a deeper field than ever before. Friday's warmup was sponsored by the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, with four challenging races bringing puffy conditions, current differences across the course, and loose kelp landmines making for dramatic racing.

California Triple Crown leader, Will Cyr arrived from San Diego just in time to make the first start. Cyr, who lives and trains in light air, San Diego, has found an edge in the first two events with excellent upwind speed on his Flysurfer kite creating a consistent scoreline. Relative to the last few events, however, Santa Barbara promises to be a lighter event, which could mix up the fleet and favor Cyr. Twos and threes at the first two events have been enough to put Cyr on top of the leaderboard, but he heads into this final event with only a single point separating him from the next two competitors, Evan Heffernan and Markus Edegran. This means that Cyr will likely need to put the hammer down for this final even and go for the win if he wants to take the overall series.

Currently sitting tied for second, Markus Edegran showed breakaway speed at the Seabreeze Invitational, where he seemed to be in a league of his own. Today he took the day to rest which might be a sign that he feels confident going into the final event - not wanting to show his cards too much - or may just be a way to ensure that he heads into day one fully charged. On the other hand, the sailors who got out on the water today undoubtedly learned some important lessons about the local conditions. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the bet pays off, as Markus looks to continue his winning ways from the Long Beach event.

Santa Barbara native, Evan Heffernan will be one to watch this weekend, navigating tide lines, kelp and puffy conditions today to show that - despite his 5th place finish in Long Beach - he's a serious threat for the top spot. With great speed and excellent starts, Heffernan will be looking to capitalize on yeas of training in this unique venue.

Kai Calder is back after a one day appearance at the Delta Pro at Sherman Island and could be the dark horse in this weekend's racing. After winning the US Open event in San Francisco last weekend, the other leaders know that Kai could be a spoiler in the overall Triple Crown standings. While his favored conditions are generally on the windier side, look for Calder to take races off of the leaders just to add one more layer to the challenge of winning the Triple Crown.

Amongst the rest of the fleet, some exciting developments will put a premium on the local knowledge picked up in training today. The Kite Foil League's growth over the last three months will be on display at the Ledbetter Classic with a more international field than ever before. Amongst the field of competitors are riders from Canada, Israel, Mexico and Venezuela. The women's fleet is also growing, with two female riders on the water today and more planning to be on the starting line tomorrow. The local Santa Barbara riders are sharp, looking to leverage their experience in home waters.

All in all, the weekend is shaping up to be a dramatic finish to the series! Stay tuned for all of the action on www.kitefoilleague.com and be sure to follow us on social media @kitefoilleague for live updates throughout the weekend.