Friday, 23 February 2018 01:10
Lure of Youth Olympics Kiteboarding Glory Spurs National Teams to Up the Ante
The prospect of a place on the Youth Olympic Games’ (YOG) stage—or better, a medal—has seen a dramatic transformation in the way kiteboarding is viewed, with national teams pouring unprecedented resources into their efforts to secure a spot. The largest teams at the qualifying event for Europe and Africa being staged in Dakhla, Morocco, now all boast coaches to give their young riders the best possible chance of securing one of four coveted spots on offer for the Games in Argentina. The “Olympics effect” has already been seen in the dramatic upsurge in interest at a national level as young…
Thursday, 22 February 2018 09:49
Challenging Start for Youth Olympics’ Qualifiers as Dakhla’s Reliable Breezes Refuse to Build
Young kiteboard riders from Europe and Africa hoping to open their account to claim a spot at the forthcoming Youth Olympic Games (YOG) suffered a day of frustration when the breeze failed to build sufficiently to allow racing.On the first of five days of competition on Morocco’s Dakhla lagoon—a favoured kiteboarding spot because of its consistently steady winds—the light, shifty breezes toyed with race officials who continually altered the slalom course in the hope it would steady and fill in.But in the end the direction was neither consistent enough, nor strong enough to allow racing. The Twin-Tip:Racing (TT:R) format specially…
Tuesday, 20 February 2018 23:37
Leading Riders Set to Battle in Dakhla for Coveted Kiteboarding Spots in Upcoming Youth Olympics
Many of the top contenders for the inaugural kiteboarding medals at the upcoming Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Argentina have gathered to fight for places at the second qualifying event in the notoriously windy spot of Dakhla, Morocco. Young riders who have already shown their mettle at warm-up events in Italy and Brazil have been honing their Twin-Tip: Racing (TT:R) skills on the flat waters of Dakhla’s renowned kiteboarding lagoon ahead of the regional YOG qualifiers for Europe and Africa. The five days of competition due to start tomorrow (WEDNESDAY) will earn the winners—one girl and one boy each from…
Monday, 22 January 2018 12:49
Antigua, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Venezuela win first direct qualifier spots for Kiteboarding Youth Olmypics in perfect Cabarete conditions
The first kiteboarding Youth Olympic Games qualification event for “The Americas” came to an end this weekend with what turned out to be an extremely successful and exciting regatta not only for the young riders from South / Central America and North America / Caribbean but also for the spectators along the shorelines of beautiful Cabarete, Dominican Republic. The final day of competition was a good one as we saw our young athletes put on a tremendous final showing, with finishes rarely seen so far – not only on the race course, but also on the overall leaderboard. In many…
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Saturday, 20 January 2018 16:11
Argentina continues to dominate Kiteboarding Youth Olympic Games qualifers for "The Americas"
Strong onshore winds brought a slight chill to the air in Cabarete for this fourth day of Junior Olympic trials, but the races continued! Competition started a bit earlier than previous days, with a shift in wind direction to a more onshore angle. Wind speeds started out similar to yesterday, but as competitors moved through the 8th round of eliminations, the wind kicked up a notch. We saw most of our riders switching from the 17m kites they've been on all week to 15m. With solid 20 knots today, vs yesterday's 15, riders were able to demonstrate more of the…
Friday, 19 January 2018 23:42
Tight battle in three divisions for coveted YOG qualifier spots, while Dominican Republic appears to have secured the womens spot
Contestants from around the world rocked the Cabarete beaches again today in what was another exciting and successful day of Youth Olympic Trials. The weather did not disappoint – it was a beautiful sunny day.Racing kicked off at 3:30 this afternoon local time. Riders brought their A game, causing shifts in the rankings in the North American/Caribbean boys division as Lorenzo Calcano of the Dominican Republic knocked Jacob Olivier and Cameron Maramenides, both of the U.S.A. into a tie for third respectively, while Tiger Tyson maintained his firm grip on first place.On the girls’ side Lou Marin held confidently onto…
Thursday, 18 January 2018 15:49
Three tight rounds of racing see Argentina, Antigua and Dominican Republic taking the lead in "The American" YOG qualifiers
Today marked the first official day of competition for our Junior Olympic hopefuls. On a picture-perfect day on Cabarete beach, 20 heats were completed over the course of 3 hours, showing just how fast paced this sport is. It was a very exciting day filled with super close finishes. Representing North America and the Caribbean, the top finishers for today in the boys qualifying were: Tiger Tyson of Antigua, Cameron Maramenides of the U.S.A, Adeuri Cornial of the Dominican Republic took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. For the girls division, Lou Marin of the Dominican Republic consistently took first in…
Wednesday, 17 January 2018 15:01
Light winds and rain tentalize competitors on day 1 of the Youth Olympic Qualifiers for "The Americas" in Cabarete
The 27 young Olympic hopefuls waited for the classic Cabarete thermals to kick in today, but with the day's uncharacteristic cloud cover, there were just a few short bursts of wind not quite strong enough for even these young racers. Tomorrow we expect the amazing kiteboarding conditions that Cabarete is known for to return. Until then, we wait in classic kiteboarding fashion! Like surfing, kiteboarding is a sport for athletes with a zen like acceptance of weather changes and an appreciation that spending the day napping on the beach instead of riding is still better than almost anything else one…
Tuesday, 16 January 2018 15:07
Qualification for "The Americas" are underway in Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Today marks the start of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Quaifications in kiteboard slalom racing, the first ever in Olympic history. Twenty-Seven aspiring junior Olympians from 9 countries in North and South America (including Central America and the Caribbean) joined us in hopes of representing their home countries for a once in a life time opportunity. We have competitors from the USA, Antigua, Dominican Republic, Puerto rico, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia & Brazil. These fierce young athletes are up for a challenging week of competition. Those who come out on top will have a shot at glory in the 2018…
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