You see them ripping up the shore break or roaming the beach at Kite Beach Cabarete. You even see them hanging out at the Kite Lounge from time to time. For the past month, the Fantastic Four from Cabarete have roamed the beaches, ruled the sky and put DR style kiteboarding back on the agenda during their stay in Cumbuco, Brazil.
Ariel Corniel, Alex Soto, Jan Marcos Riveras and Emanuel Rondon make the perfect Dominican Team of freestylers and wave riders, and it is just the beginning… Add a couple of highly skilled female DR representatives and things look pretty bright for Cabarete kiteboarders. Audrey Meyer and Susi Mai are both in the top level of world cup kiting, and they are not about to stop either.

Cumbuco is located on the North-East shores of Brazil, and has through the past couple of years had it’s reputation growing as one of the best kiteboarding spots in the world. In the high season, which is kicking off right about now, until the end of January/beginning of February, terms as no-wind-days and rain are close to non existing. It’s windy every day in Brazil, and it’s best to leave even the mid size kites at home. “Lit on my 7″, was the usual answer to any question regarding the wind conditions. No, definitely no complaints about the wind. If any complaints at all, it must be the lack of good waves in the Cumbuco area. But no reason to cry, just get on a beach buggy and go find them. There are good wave spots around, but Cumbuco is more about flat water kiting at the Barra do Cauipe lagoon or the chop in the ocean. One thing about Brazil though… Whatever conditions you’re looking for, go find them. Hundreds of miles of coast line and every day wind, you just have to move a bit. And Brazil is big.

For the DR crew, the Brazil trip was all about competitions. As there are two world cups in kiteboarding, and both events being organized on the North-East shores, the guys took it upon themselves to enter both the PKRA in Parnaiba and the KPWT in Cumbuco. All but one being totally unfamiliar with kiting outside the DR, Parnaiba turned out to be a small challenge for the guys. Strong and gusty wind in choppy conditions, heats against some of the very best freestyle riders out there gave the four a run for their money. It didn’t really come together for the team during the PKRA event, although kicking some butts in the qualifying heats. Ms Meyer really kicked butt and finished fifth after breathing the top four heavily in the neck.
Some experiences richer and relieved about leaving the deserted beaches of Luís Correia, Piauí, where the donkeys rule the streets and Dominicans have to do without chicken, rice and beans, the scheduled 8 hour ride on extremely bumpy roads back to civilization didn’t have a bad sound to it. Being denied from the shuttle bus because of lack of space, directed to the local taxi service, having to take a big chunk out of the tight travel budget, ending up in Fortaleza surrounded by Brazilian military police after scaring a poor Parnaiba taxi driver into thinking he wouldn’t get paid. As always, the guys made friends with both the taxi driver and the police, found their motivation as no-mans land faded away in their memories. Time to go kiting again!

Cumbuco! Not that different from Cabarete, even the guys felt right at home. The wind might be stronger, and the blessing of having the reef outside the door was missing, but all in all not at all that different. Like in Cabarete, it is the wind that makes the every day life work. Without the wind this place would probably have been just another fishing village too, but then kiteboarding came along.

While Cabarete shares its excellent conditions with both surfers and windsurfers, Cumbuco is 100 % kiteboarding. Perfect for a world tour stop, no doubt about that. And as the DR crew got their motivation back, the KPWT got ready for the first event in the history with Dominican participation. Which turned out to be quite a success. Not only in the event, but as the showmen and warm hearted guys they are, the whole community will probably remember the Dominican mentality for a while to come. Jan Marcos even threw a party for the local Capoeira group for children to help motivate towards achieving their goal to one day organize a world championship event for capoeira in Cumbuco. The finances were taken care of with the price money the boys won in the competition. Because they did win, and they won big. Impressing big through all the four disciplines and conquering several spots on the podium, the KPWT Superkite Brazil 2007 was definitely in favor of the DR.

These are the DR results:

Freestyle:
1. Ariel Corniel (EH Kiteboarding, Grupo Consolidado, Lifestyle Holidays)

2. Alex Soto (Cabrinha)
13. Emanuel Rondon (EH Kiteboarding, Stonefish)

Waves:
5. Jan Marcos Riveras (Starkites, Stonefish, L’Agence, La Campaña, Nilsen&Skjaergaard Invest)
9. Emanuel Rondon (EH Kiteboarding, Stonefish)

HangTime:
1. Emanuel Rondon (EH Kiteboarding, Stonefish)
6. Jan Marcos Riveras (Starkites, L’Agence, Stonefish, Nilsen&Skjaergaard Invest, La Campaña)
7. Alex Soto (Cabrinha)
8. Ariel Corniel (EH Kiteboarding, Grupo Consolidado, Lifestyle Holidays)

Course Racing:
4. Alex Soto (Cabrinha)
14. Emanuel Rondon (EH Kiteboarding, Stonefish)

Women Freestyle:
2. Susi Mai (Cabrinha, RedBull, Animal)
5. Audrey Meyer (EH Kiteboarding, DaKine, Dare2Fly)

Women Course Racing:
2. Susi Mai (Cabrinha, RedBull, Animal)
7. Audrey Meyer (EH Kiteboarding, DaKine, Dare2Fly)

Womens Wave Masters:
5. Audrey Meyer (EH Kiteboarding, DaKine, Dare2Fly)

Womens HangTime:
5. Susi Mai (Cabrinha, RedBull, Animal)
7. Audrey Meyer (EH Kiteboarding, DaKine, Dare2Fly)

The boys are now back in town and ready to rip the shorebreak apart again. Although Brazil is one of the most popular and best kite spots in the world at the moment, for this crew there’s nothing that beats home turf in Cabarete. Home sweet Home, and stay tuned for the next DR move.

Congratulations to all the riders for fantastic results, and a big thank you to all the sponsors and the contributors that made this trip possible.

Text & Photos: Hege Holt

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