CRANDON to FOWEY Race - Images & Results

[miamikiteboarding]

FOWEY RACE ROCKS !

The Race was on ! 16kts ENE . Ideal conditions for an almost-perfect Reach to Fowey Rock, 7 miles off-shore and back. At least in theory !
Below are the first pictures .


Riders meeting

For this Premiere Distance Racing in Crandon, a not-so-quick Riders meeting was necessary to explain the basic racing rules, starting procedures, and scoring points system.



27 riders signed in for this race, among them were the Adventure Sport crew, the Kiteshop, several local Instructors and a strong group of local riders who came to share this first Crandon racing experience.

Great attendance and such a blessed day!


Warming up before the start

The wind was perfect on the way out but an incoming tide kicked-in, making the way back from Fowey Beacon to Crandon North beach quite a challenging ride.
In those conditions, advantage was for light riders and those who choose the directional board. Definitely the best option in this type of long distance legs.


They're off!!!

At the end, only 12 made it up to the finish line after couple (dozen) of tacks .

Mention A to Crandon Park Lifeguards very cooperative and truly on top of the situation even when they had to land the kites of riders ending up close to the swimming zones. They had also prepared a Jetski in case of any urgent need during the race.
So I’m glad I had notified them of the race the days before, and they all admitted they were amazed by the show of such a fleet of kites passing all together offshore.

The 2 chase boats were also quite justified in recovering some riders still out at sea, struggling to get back to North Beach.

But on this day, everybody had a blast.


The finish

Special mention also to:
- Melissa Gil , 1st women, who finished 3rd overall.
- Damien Leroy turned on the show on the water after the race.
- Juan and Morgan from The Kiteshop brought the hamburgers, turned on the grill, and filled in the cooler with something else than sodas.

So far the result of Crandon to Fowey Race is :

1st - Kent Marin-Sonic , aka lightning speed U-turn ! the man, who is already on his way back when you are still trying to clear the start. ( Cabrinha) – Miami,Fl
2nd -Tyson Sullivan ( North )- Seattle,Wa
3rd - Melisa Gil ( Cabrinha ) & 1st women – Jupiter,Fl

Complete results and names in the next couple of days.

We had hired an Ultralight to shoot aerial images of the Event, so we expect a great video. We will put it up online as soon as we edited it.

A race will be scheduled every month in Crandon until the summer starts ( June 21st).
A High-points scoring system has been launched yesterday, to determine a ranking at the end of those races.
We will award a winner for each of the following categories: Men , Women, Youth ( under-18) and Senior ( Over 45 ) . Prizes will be distributed from the 1st to the 3rd in each series.

Each riders entering the races will receive Participation Points Bonus, whether they finish the course or not. This is to reward those who make the effort to attend all the races. It also takes in consideration the amount of riders for each race .

Therefore yesterday all of you get at least 10 points for participating.

Next race by end of March tentatively between the 23rd to the 29th .
April Race will be during MIAMI KITEBOARD MASTERS on April 12-13: the Sunday will be the amateur Open Race. We expect over 50 contestants on that day. From all over the USA.

Couples of long downwinders to the Keys are also on their way as soon as the wind cooperates . As usually : boat support and more.

Thanks again for coming .
Stay tuned to our next post. More kite events to come .

MKB team.

[ricki]

Congratulations to everyone and thanks Christophe for putting the event on. I embedded your images in your post. I heard about the ultralight filming, really looking forward to checking out the airborne images.

[kent]

Given that the water was pretty clear, I guess that the video from the air will be great. I'll bet we see some dark creatures swiming just under the surface this time of year. Can't wait to see it. Keep us posted.

Kent

[Lonny]

It was a great event. It is a rarity when we get a clear, sunny, warm and windy day from the E-NE. The rounding at Fowey was simply breathtaking! Definitely worth the 2 1/2 hour beat back to Crandon.

On my way back North to Crandon from Cape Florida I saw several schools of 4 - 6 ft sharks running parallel to the shoreline and in the shallows. It was an awesome sight especially when I spooked a few and 2 jumped 2 feet above the waterline about 10 feet from me. Quite a sight, especially since I was resting sometimes in the shallows while trying to beat upwind. I think my skimboard felt a lot smaller at that point :-)

I am also looking forward to seeing the aerial shots. Thanks to Christophe again for hosting the event.

Lonny

[kent]

Being the company guy that I am, it's important to note that Tyson was actually flying a CABRINHA!!! Come on MKB give the CAB's some props.

1st CABRINHA CONTRA 14
2nd CABRINHA SB3 12
3rd CABRINHA SB3 12
4th CABRINHA SB3 12
5th CABRINHA CONTRA 14

[cabdriver]

Killer race!! The top 5 finishers were all on Cabrinha - even Tyson was using a Switchblade 3 12m.

Lonny did the race on a skimboard - yes a skimboard! 16 miles is a long way to go on a plank... Nice job!!

I think the key to winning this race was staying powered up and heading upwind after rounding Fowey Rocks. Damien and I were neck and neck in 2nd and 3rd position about 4 minutes behind Kent at the lighthouse, but we rounded in lighter winds that precluded us from really being able to get upwind and out of the strong tide currents that were running east to west. Damien was on a twin tip and I was on a directional race board. My pointing angle was way better, but the wind was light and it was super hard for me to clear the weeds from my fins as a result. We ended up getting pushed downwind pretty far as a result. If we had been able to stay upwind and out of that current, it would have been a different race.

Tyson beat me by about 6 minutes at the finish, but I estimate that I rounded 8 minutes ahead of him at the lighthouse as I passed him and Garry 4+ minutes after rounding the lighthouse as they were on their way. The lesson I learned here is twofold: 1/ choose equipment based on the prevailing conditions and don't forecast for "better winds" like I did. Although the forecast called for winds shifting right and increasing, they actually shifted left a little and stayed steady at 13-16mph. A 14m kite rather than 12m would have made the difference for me. I could have made it upwind and away from that current and saved a lot of racing heartache!! 2/ don't match race your close competitor. Taking my eyes off of the bigger picture (finishing the race rather than beating Damien!!) really cost me - by the time I started to realize that Damien and I would need to tack at least twice in order to finish, Tyson, Melissa, and Garry had already closed the gap and were way upwind of where Damien and I were.

I was a great reace and I'm looking forward to redemption in the next one!!

Todd

[ricki]

Way to go guys! What sounded like a fairly easy jaunt turned out to be a challenging race for well experienced watermen. Lonny did the whole thing on a skimboard?! What was it like Lonny? Great summary Todd, appreciate the detail and observations!

What do you folks think the ideal setup for the run would have been?

[kent]

When is the famous video coming out from the Fowey rocks race! You have the footage, you might as well post it.

[kent]

chirp, chirp, chirp... come on chris, bring it on. just toss it up there.