[cabdriver]

For Immediate Release:

Cabrinha Stacks the Top Ten in Gulf Coast Kiteboarding Challenge

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The 2010 Gulf Coast Kiteboarding Challenge was supposed to take place early in the 2010, but was delayed by poor conditions and eventually left to run this Fall. The notice came on Friday Dec 4 that race was on for Sunday with a perfect forecast of strong NW winds. 45 competitors from all over Florida traveled to Sand Key Park in Clearwater to battle it out with their peers on the pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The finish is downwind at the Undertow in beautiful St. Pete Beach. Although the course starts out as a downwind reach, the coastline curves throughout the race to end nearly straight downwind.

The conditions were perfect with 15-20 knots of wind. Most competitors used stock kites and some type of directional board that is both comfortable to ride on a single tack for long periods of time, but super fast as well. Local Mike Hall won the race the previous year in under 45 minutes, so he was the obvious favorite for the 2010 running. But with racing veterans Damien Leroy and Kent Marinkovic in town, anything was possible.

After gaining a nearly insurmountable lead, Leroy struggled towards the end where the course goes almost straight downwind and the winds let up just a touch. Kent Marinkovic on a 16m Crossbow with 28m lines and a custom downwind board was flying through the bottom of the course. Mike Hall kept things interesting in the top three by staying close to Leroy and Marinkovic. Damo stepped on the gas at the end to hold off Marinkovic and preserve the victory in 51:40:07. Leroy is a world cup professional kiter and chose the Cabrinha Switchblade 12m kite with a custom downwind directional board. Marinkovic finished by himself in second position and the race’s favorite, Mike Hall (a native of the area), finished in third place also flying Cabrinha’s and using a custom directional.

Cabrinha riders tore it up in the Juniors as well with Naples’ own Jan Lucas Gianello taking top honors and 4th place overall on the Crossbow, while Chaz Lawrence grabbed 2nd and 6th overall. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Cabrinha riders once again shined in the Masters with Naples’ ripper Richie Gardner taking top honors and 8th overall and Enrique Gianello taking 2nd and 10th overall.

Once again Chris Moore, Steve-O, Jon and all the crew in the Tampa/St. Pete area put on a killer race and we’re all stoked for the next one!! Congrats to all the competitors, especially the 33 that finished the grueling race. There were a lot of new faces at the finish line and that is a good sign of things to come in racing. Cabrinha racers took 7 of the 10 top places in the overall standings – a big CONGRATS!!

Cabrinha Results
Overall:
1st Damien Leroy
2nd Kent Marinkovic
3rd Mike Hall

Juniors:
1st Jan Lucas Gianello
2nd Chaz Lawrence

Masters:
1st Richie Gardner
2nd Enrique Gianello