Kitesoul Magazine #13 English Edition

that it would be windy the next day and competitors were
anxious to get to bed.
Sunday, June 5th started out with a cool Southwest
breeze. My belly was full of butterflies as we headed
over to REAL for the 10am riders meeting, As expected,
the competition was on. 30 riders; 22 men and 8 women
would compete for a $50,000 prize purse and everyone
was hungry. The men were broken up into 4 heats and the
women into one heat. Two heats would be on the water
at the same time, each hitting one feature at a time, in a
criss-cross pattern, alternating between the two heats.
The ladies were up last. It was on.
The unfortunate thing about kiteboarding is that it’s
not a very spectator-friendly sport. Unless riders come
close to the beach, it’s hard to really see what’s going
on. During the Triple S, this is especially challenging
because most of the shoreline is head-high sharp grass
and swamp land. The majority of the action happens
in the infamous “Slick” an uber-flat water location 500
yards south of Real’s flagship store. The only access