Crandon Race Day...

[kent]

Well, it was almost great! Actually, tons of riders came out for the event in news of a pretty good forecast. 40 riders signed up for the race, but in the end the wind stayed a bit offshore to allow most riders to compete.

We did manage to get off 3 races, but unfortunately only 4 riders completed the races. This really does show the validity of having a directional board in your quiver given that 3 of these guys were on them.

Results for racing after 3 Races:
1st Damien Leroy
2nd Gebi
3rd Garry "special ops" Menk
4th Ken Russell (on a twin tip)


Even more of a bummer was that we had Andre Phillip in town to ride the new Cabrinha, ASM, NPX rail. This thing looks awesome. I'm sure photos will follow. We will keep this thing on hand for future events as I'm sure it will provide some interesting action.

We were able to get off a pretty cool SUP event that was very successful. My "mano o mano" format was killer and inspired some epic battles. In the end it came down to a classic battle of good vs evil (sorry Hamish, it sounded so good i had to use it). The final between Gebi "the raw food vegan" and Hamish the "Marlboro man" McDonald was nothing short of spectacular. After endless laps, nicotine seemed to ooze from Hamish and caused his triceps to seize. Everyone on the beach was pulling for Hamish to just make it a bit farther given that Gebi was probably running out of his carrot fuel. All of the cheering unfortunately couldn't stop the inevitable...

The SUP results:
1st Mike Gebhardt
2nd Hamish McDonnald

Girls:
1st Hot Amanda (someone please provide pics!)
2nd Catarina (sponsored by Brickel Chiropractic)

In all the event turn out was among the best I've seen, too bad the wind didn't work out.

A special thanks to:
Miami Kiteboarding for providing the location!
Dakine for the killer soft coolers that went to the winners
Cabrinha Kites for their support of the rail, racing, and grass roots events everywhere
NPX for the rail and support of the best riders wearing the coolest duds
Adventure Sports Miami putting Miami on the world kiteboarding map forever
and...
Garry "special ops" Menk for hammering hard on the rail and putting his heart into this project so that others can enjoy it for many seasons to come.


Thanks

[latino]

what happened, i cant beiieve i missed the race,i thought it was canceled we were going to enter but i guess in all the confussion i missed the post.

[ricki]

Hey Kent,

I put these up earlier today in the SE Florida Keys Forum. It would be great to get some more participation there. Have quite a few more still shots and video to process so stay tuned.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/re_1.jpg

Sunday, Adventure Sports Miami and Miami Kiteboarding put on the first ever Race Day at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, Miami, FL, USA. Winds were forecast to be side to slightly side off and strong at 20 to 25 kts. with a passing cold front. The winds were fairly offshore in the morning before ebbing in the afternoon unfortunately. Despite that a nice crowd showed up and had fun too!


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_3.jpg
Kent and the guys at ASM organized and ran a course race. Given the conditions it was well offshore to just beyond the wind line.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_4.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_2.jpg
Kent organized this bizarre race course for standup with perpendicular courses. Looks like Damo was setting up the same thing with the monohauls way offshore.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/Going_for_it.jpg
Jon and Damien go at it, pulling hard in the standup races


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_5.jpg
The women launched into the standup racing as well, coming in. Is this Amanda?

It was a fun day at the beach, despite quirky winds. Thanks guys and more to come!

[ricki]

Here are some more images from the day ...


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_29.jpg
Kent conducting the captain's meeting, or is he belting out a song?


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_40.jpg
Good turnout of riders


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_31.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_26.jpg
Garry shows off his most recent creation


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_25.jpg
Nice craftsmanship


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_24.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_22.jpg
Gebi does some board tuning


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_21.jpg
Helga is ready to rip


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_30.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_33.jpg
Had to run well offshore to catch the windline


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd29.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_34.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd28.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_20.jpg
Damo rides in


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_32.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_37.jpg
On to the standup race


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_38_001.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_35.sized.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_44.jpg
Not sure what is going on here, Dr. Paul is moving in, Gebi crossing out and Jon is reaching in?


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_45.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_36.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_41.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_43.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album365/rd_42.jpg
Ken and son move in