The Notice of Race for the 2010 North American Course Racing Championships has just been published and is available here for download.

You can register online for this event by following this link.

The event is hosted by Asociacion Mexicana de Kitesurf for and on behalf of Copa Mexico and the Mexican Sailing Federation and will be held from March 1st (Registration) till March 6th at Bucerias,Nayarit / Mexico.

20000 US Dollar are up for grabs and will attract the best course racers in the kiteboarding world.

The event will be based at the beach in front and to the south of hotel Decameron, in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico.

Conditions to be expected: Onshore to sideshore winds ranging from 8 to 25kts; water conditions are choppy with occasional small shorebreak on windy days.
Average water temperature in March is 24 degree celsius (75F) but sudden cold currents can drop it as low as 20C (68F) so a neopreme top or shorty is recomended. Air temperature ranges from a high of 27C (81F) to a low of 17C (63F) at night, averaging 22C (72F).

Provisional Schedule:
Saturday February 27th Amateur course racing & clinic.
-11:00 Riders meeting for amateur course racing clinic/qualifyer for intl fleet.
-12:00 First possible start.
-18:00 Opening Ceremony of Copa México as a whole at the Skybar of Marival Residences´ Penthouse.

Sunday February 28th Amateur course racing
-11:00 Riders meeting for amateur course racing clinic/qualifyer for intl fleet.
-12:00 First Possible start.
-TBA party

Monday March 1st Free day of competition
-17:00-20:00 International course racing registration.
-TBA party

Tuesday March 2nd International Course Racing
-11:00 riders meeting
-12:00 First possible start
-TBA party

Wednesday March 3rd International Course Racing
-11:00 riders meeting
-12:00 First possible start
-TBA party

Thursday March 4th International Course Racing
-11:00 riders meeting
-12:00 First possible start
-TBA party

Friday March 5th International Course Racing, National freestyle.
-11:00 riders meeting for international course racing
-12:00 First possible start
-15:00 end of international course racing, riders meeting for national freestyle
-15:30 first possible start for national freestyle
-TBA party

Saturday March 6th  International Course Racing Finals & National freestyle
-11:00 riders meeting for international course racing
-12:00 First possible start
-15:00 end of international course racing, riders meeting for national freestyle
-15:30 first possible start for national freestyle
-19:30 Prize giving ceremony for international course racing at Marina Riviera Nayarit.

Sunday March 7th National Freestyle finals
-11:30 national freestyle riders meeting
-12:00 fisrt possible start
-TBA prize giving ceremony/party

Air Mexicana is offering 25% reduced tickets, booking information is available at the registration page.

The organiser will provide shuttle from Puerto Vallarta Intl Airport. For details see the notice of race.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org

PREVIEW PICTURES: http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org -> Press Center
Hi-Res Pics and Videos available on request.

ClASS MANAGER: Markus Schwendtner

For more information about the International Kiteboarding Association, please do not hesitate to contact us at:

The International Kiteboarding Association
Rohrbecker Weg 43
14612 Falkensee
Germany

Fon: +49 1713819139

http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org
info@internationalkiteboarding.org

So the International Kiteboarding Association officially is working to get kiteboard racing added in to the 2016 Olympics!  I just got the press release below that includes a link to the brochure.  The thing that I noticed is how much the roots of our sport from here in the SF Bay come through in the images used.  Lets hope that we can get some of the local SF boys and girls on the podium in Rio.

So here is the Press release:

With the successful bid of Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Sailing Regatta 2016 held on the beaches of the Copacabana, Kiteboarding would perfectly suit  into this scenery and add a true highlight to the Olympic Games.

Have a first look at the 2009 brochure and learn more about what kiteboard racing has to offer to the Olympic Games

“Kiteboarding is the purest form of sailing and would be an awesome addition to the Olympic Family within the framework of the 2016 Olympic Sailing Event. Kiteracing is not weight sensitive and all of your equipment can fit in the back of a regular car. Its colorful, dynamic, inexpensive and super easy to learn… and can be done in water as shallow as 2 inches deep, opening up many places where no other craft can navigate.
As a five-time Olympic Athlete within the sport of Windsurfing and now a professional kiteboarder, I feel Kiteboarding would marry well within ISAF’s umbrella of international and Olympic Sailing events. Why not introduce the sport to the world for the 2016 Olympics. It is the most modern and efficient form of wind powered sailing on the planet.“, says two-time olympic medalist Michael Gebhardt (USA), member of the IKAs Olympic Commission.

• Kiteboarding perfectly suits the IOC strategy
• Kiteboarding is the best performing of all sailing classes
• Kiteboarding offers equal opportunities for any kind of athlete
• Kiteboarding is affordable and transportable
• Kiteboarding is media attractive
• Kiteboarding brings the sports top athletes to The Games
• Kiteboardings Olympic Campaign is supported by the major manufacturers
• Kiteboarding can help to make Olympic Sailing attractive again

Watch out for our regular updates on the development of kiteboard racing towards the Olympic Games !

The high-resolution version of the 2009 brochure “Kiteboarding and the Olympics” can be downloaded here

Men

1. Sean Farley
2. Chip Wasson
3. Johnny Heineken
4. Damien LeRoy
5. Bruno Sroka
6. Jesse Richman
7. Bjoern Rune Jensen
8. Dirk Hanel
9. Sky Solbach
10. Michael Gebhardt

Women

1. Steph Bridges
2. Kristin Boese
3. Melissa Gill
4. Sandy Parker
5. Katja Roose
6. Paula Sonnenberg

Silver Fleet

1. Eric Geleynse
2. Chris Brown
3. Bruce Johnson

Here are links to the scoring PDFs.

Qualification Series Results

Gold Fleet Results

Silver Fleet Results

Women’s Division Results

Men’s Division Results

Chip Wasson and John Gomes enjoy the night after a lot of hard work.

Pete Cabrinha and Jeff Headington at the Awards party.

Shawn Farley and Mike Gebhardt watch the slide show form the pictures take over the week.

Bruno and one of the International Judges inside the St Francis.

Evan and Stafaans top the charts for their home countries, Canada and South Africa. I will skip how many rider of each country there where

So here are some pictures of the boards and people at the beach.

Chip getting his kites ready for day 4.

Here is team Cabrinha boards

Nils and Shawn talk about what fins to run.

Eric Due happy after a good day of racing.

Martin Vari and Mike Zajicek

Nils hits up Eric's majic cooler.

Bruno Sroka and Steph Bridges sit before a long day of racing.

Frank and Stefaans. Protest ?!? No way man.

Shawn Farley getting ready to set up for the day.

Here is an video embedof the local ABC news interviewing Damon Leroy, Jeff Kindt and me.

Here are some more of my pictures of yesterday races.

Bruno heads up wind.

The blue fleet comes into the start of the race.

Shawn Richman and other getting ready to get off the beach for the second race of the day.

Here are a few links to local articles about the event.

Gabe Brown article in the Examiner

Local report for the SFappeal view on the event. It includes a photo gallery and on of my kite cam pics.

Kron 4 News video.

What I would report is that the score will be changing after today because we will get a throw out of our lowest score.  Notable Jesse Richman will jump into the top 10.  Also today Chip will be racing head to head with Bruno without Farley.

It was a great day for the start of the Kiteboarding Course racing world Chamionships.

Check out the Shot from my kite cam on the start of my first race. Not the Smoke of the gun coming off boat.

John Gomes get ready for his 1st race.
the view of the beach at Crissy Field.


The Richmans and Martin Vari talk about the day of racing at the St Francis at the kick off party.
To follow the race live here are some links.

The St Francis Race cam

The twitter feed

Our Wind Twitter feed

The last month or so Crissy Field has been a drag strip with local and international riders gearing up for the 1st ever Kiteboard Course Racing WORLD Championships.

After ever session I can’t help but think of one of my favorite sports photos where you see the Tour De France riders helping each other light cigarettes at the end of the race. 

I am not sure of the year of this photo but I am sure they where in a similar place.

Technology is changing race to race.  Some riders are paid and some are not.  So here are a few pics of what has been going on at Crissy Field in San Francisco.

There are  a few ways the locals have been training.  I think you can see why the smart money is on Chip.  Not only do I think he is currently the fastest local,  I think he has a real shot of winning the whole thing.

Heading to the start of the last race before the Worlds.

Dylan found a new toy as Stefaans mourns the lost of his favorite board.

Paolo Rista tells Jeff Kafka and Gibby  about the board be built for himself and Bruno Sroka.

Mike Gebhardt working on some fins. I hear he has 7 boards right now including a few Zajicek boards.  You can also see Paolo working on a board in the background.

And here is what I am sure you really want to see the fins.

We will be post updates here though out the event and a recap at the end so check back.

As we have gotten faster over the years and have a greater  upwind angle  the rules are becoming more important. There are a few rules to know.

Starboard has the right of way.

This is the most basic rule and you should know it even if you are not racing.  The easiest way to know this is if you are moving to your right hand you have the right of way if you are moving to your left had you do NOT.

The highlighted kiter is on a port tack and will need to give way to any kiter tacking on starboard as they meet.

The rule that applies

10 Boats on opposite tacks

When boats are on opposite tacks, the port tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard tack boat. The starboard tack boat has the right of way over port tack boats.

Barging at the start line is totally illegal.

This rule is very hard to understand in regular sail boat racing so it that much more complicated with the speed of kiteboard racers and having the kites in the sky.

So first lets look at the sail racing rules.  I found some of the important detail on the yachting.org.au website.

	What is “barging” Barging is approaching the starting line from a point to windward of the lay-line of the starboard or committee boat end of the line. In the diagram, the blue and red boats are on the layline to the committee boat. The green and yellow boats are windward boats and are required to keep clear.
What is wrong with “barging”
	In order to sail through the start line the barging yacht must sail at less than close hauled. Any yachts with an overlap to leeward (i. e. forward of a line projecting to leeward from the transom, hence nearly all the fleet) have right of way and can push the barging boat to windward. This will cause the barging boat have to sail to windward of the windward end of the start line and miss the start. That can be extremely dangerous if there is no barging buoy. Note the overlapped boat can push the barging boat as high as head to wind, as long as enough room and opportunity is given. The barging boat has to respond immediately.
If you are thinking of barging – don’t
As you will put yourself in an indefensible position. At best, you may find a hole on the second or third row, at worst, you will be pushed to windward of the start-line and miss the start completely.
If you are caught in a barging position
	Firstly, recognise early that you are going to be in trouble rather than leave it to the last minute. Then all you can do is slow or stop the boat, wait for a gap in the fleet, which may mean waiting until all the boats at the windward end of the line have started, then proceed when it is clear. You do not have any rights at all, so do not try to force your way in. Alternatively it may be best to peel off, tack onto port, gybe back on to starboard, sail behind the fleet to find a hole and re-approach the start line from a safe position.

The rules that apply

Definition:Windward / Leeward A boat’s leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat. In the diagram, the red boat is the windward boat.
11 On the same tack, overlapped When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.
Note: The following rule is included to show why there is no such thing as ‘bouy room’ at the first mark 18 Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions In rule 18, room is room for an inside boat to round or pass between an outside boat and a mark or obstruction, including room to tack or gybe when either is a normal part of the manoeuvre. 18.1 When This Rule Applies Rule 18 applies when boats are about to round or pass a mark they are required to leave on the same side, or an obstruction on the same side, until they have passed it. However, it does not apply (a) at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water or at its anchor line from the time the boats are approaching them to start until they have passed them

Now that we see the rule with boats lets look at it with kites.  Note that in kite racing the kite is considered part of the boat when you read the rules.

Kiter A and kiter B will need to give way to any kiters coming up below them to the starting line as they come down wind so that they do not barg other racers at the start.

Kiter D will need to hold his course.  He can not tack down on to kiter C.  As they move though the start if kiter D can not hold his course he need to give way to C.

Jamy did a great job on this video.