Slalom World Championships Day 1

Day1 of the 2011 Kite Slalom World Championships kicked of with light and shifting winds, causing the course to be set a couple of times during the day but not making a start possible before 1700 hours.

In winds averaging 6 knots the 23 competitors from all over the world went out to the waters of Mar Menor for the first ever ISAF recognized Kite Slalom World Championships.

Six heats could be completed before the wind died down to less than 4 knots making it impossible for the riders to head out to the starting area again, so racing was called off for the day with the mens semifinals and womens finals of round one coming up tomorrow in a stronger (forecasted) breeze.

Round one of the men saw 4 heats, with all the favourites advancing so far. Heat one kicked off with Gunnar Biniasch (GER) winning after overtaking Garcia (ESP) on the last leg in close racing. Heats 2-4 were easily won by the favourites in their heats Brian Lake (USA), Bruno Sroka (FRA) and Damien Leroy (USA). Also advancing to the semifinals of round 1 are Garcia, Garijo, Boadella and Villar.

In the womens fleet, 2 heats were run with the second one being close to be abandoned as the wind started dying, but both heats seing the favourites going through easily to the finals tomorrow. These are Boese (GER), Guerguivera (BUL) and Adrien (FRA). Two riders from the second semifinal had to be disqualified for being out of the time limit for finishing, leaving the final only go ahead with the top 3 riders.

The forecast for the upcoming two days is promising, with winds around 12-15 knots for Friday and even more for Saturday, which should be good for another few rounds of exciting action at Mar Menor.