Especially impressive was the recently injured Alex Soto, who had to pass on the opportunity to defend his title during the national championship. His fellow competitors decided to give Soto the wild card in any case, and Soto justified the decision by beating the three times world champion Aaron Hadlow today.

There is no doubt that the guys are on a world class level, and it will be very interesting to see how far these two riders can reach.

In category female, Susi Mai and Audrey Meyer represented the DR through single elimination, but didn’t make it through to the semi finals. But all hope is not gone, as the two powered girls will get another chance in the double elimination. There are definitely possibilities if Mai and Meyer kick in and show their true calibre. Meyer did a good first heat and passed through, but met her match in the second round.

Mai and Meyer will hopefully get the opportunity already on the second day of this popular event.

Last year one of the 2007 newcomers arrived in Cabarete as and ended up going full time PKRA after spending time at the Kite Lounge training. Norwegian snowkiter Kari Schibevaag i(28) is once again back in Cabarete for the world cup event. She is currently ranked number fiv, but have potential to make it even further up on the lists. The Cabarete stage is a hard one as most of the top female riders find this event their favourite. Kari didn’t make it through the single elimination because of relaunch problems during her heat, but the blond Scandinavian gets another shot in the double elimination rounds this week.
But Kari is going for it, and the KL Team is there cheering her on. Good luck to miss Schibevaag!

photos: Hege Holt Words: Hege Holt

On the last day of the contest, the spectators got to see a caliber of young junior kiteboarders whom most likely is the future of kiteboarding. Already, these young riders are pulling tricks on a world class level, and with the support they saw through this first annual official kiteboarding championship, the possibilities are endless for future competitions.

It was hard to anticipate who would make it to the top in the junior finals, but both riders gave it their best and left it up to the judges to set the scores that would eventually crown the new champion.

Robinson Vasques is a 2007 newcomer in competitions and rocked his way all the way to the finals against long time favorite Ariel Corniel. Ariel holds an extremely high technical level and took it all the way this Saturday. The 13 years old Robinson got close, but is still very satisfied with his own accomplishments.

Ariel Corniel is now to be considered the best junior kiteboarder in the Dominican Republic.

Congratulations to them both and all the juniors, for their effort and hard work!

Price giving took place at Kite Beach Hotel Saturday night, with an introduction in Dominican power problems. There’s no such thing as 100% guarantee for power in the country, and unfortunately the local rock-and reggae band Open Minds had to struggle to get their music across to the public. It usually works out in the end, and the price giving was finally introduced in late night hours. Organizer Jose Armando Mieses got to hand out a wild card for the new Dominican champion Emmanuel Rondon (18), and some neat prices for in total six of the best national riders.

Partying in to the early morning hours, celebrating a new era in DR kiting, riders, staff and visitors completed the success with big smiles.

Thanks to all sponsors, staff, riders, spectators and media for giving this first annual Dominican Kiteboarding competition all their support and believes. ADK looks forward to a new year of progressive kiteboarding!

Word & photos: Hege Holt

Category Open was equally intense with extremely high level and hard competition. Through single elimination, quarter and semi finals, one by one had to retreat to the beach to watch some of the riders that can easily any day make an impression even in the world cup.

In the end, one rider took it all the way and can well deserved take place on the top of the podium at the price giving ceremony this evening. Fighting against the young and talented Luis Alberto in the finals, 18 year old Emmanuel Rondon is now to be considered the best Dominican kiteboarding athlete. Emmanuel is a local Cabarete rider who is always to be found on the water. In light wind, strong wind, gusty or whatever wind. This rider has progressed with the speed of light throughout his young career and will do his best to fight the best in the upcoming world cup event next week. Emmanuel is being given a wild card for the PKRA as a reward for his riding.

Congratulations to Emmanuel Rondon with his new title Dominican Kiteboarding Champion 2007!

I am very happy to finally make it all the way to the top, but I have to admit that I didn’t really know what my level would be compared to the other riders. For a long time I haven’t felt like I’ve had the right kite to help me give my best, but now everything has come together and I feel absolutely satisfied with myself.

The event has been very nice, and the wind has been good every day. The judging in particular has been good, and we have been blessed with fair and good judges. I don’t think they’ve made one single bad decision about any of the riders, and I think we all feel that way.

Now I’m going to rest and focus towards the PKRA CAberete world cup event in a few days, but first I will celebrate with a party and an Open Minds concert here at Kite Beach Hotel this evening.

- Emmanuel Rondon, the Dominican Kiteboarding Champion 2007

Copyright Hege Holt

Ariel Corniel has been in the game for a while and again confirmed through his aggressive riding that he is still progressing and on his way to the top. But several riders gave him hard competition during the heats, and there is no way to anticipate who will hit the top spot in the finals. Young talent Luis Alberto met Ariel in the semi finals and set the water on fire. Luis again pulled his high double handlepasses, but Ariel Corniel presented more variation that put him through to the finals.

Robinson Vasques especially impressed the judges with clean, aggressive and varied riding against Papito in the semi finals, and the judges gave young Vasques the pass for the finals. Head judge Luciano Gonzales was close to speechless regarding the impressive level of these up and coming juniors.

- The juniors show us that there is a great future in Dominican kiteboarding. They are giving everything and go big and ride hard. During these junior heats we have been especially impressed with Ariel, Luis and Robinson, and we are looking forward to seeing what these guys can do in the future. But in general, the level is very high from all the riders, he says.

The wind was light on the second day, but the forecast looks good for a final day of successful ADK Dominican Kiteboarding Championship. Category Open is ready for launch, and Kite Beach Cabarete will for sure continue cheering for the DR kiteboarders. Thanks to Nuestro Bar Cabarete, day two was celebrated all night with barbeque and chill out time to load up for todays finals.

The last day will determine who is the best rider in the country and send one more rider off to the PKRA World Cup stage here in Cabarete.

Copyrighs: Hege Holt

It has taken a long time, but the Dominican kiteboarding athletes have finally gotten their support. For three years the local riders have struggled and worked towards an association that will open new doors and make sure the future of Dominican riders will be improved.

Three years and an enormous amount of paperwork two weeks ago paid off when the newspapers finally proclaimed the Asociacion Dominicana de Kiteboarding official. Led by local rider and passionate supporter Jose Armando Mieses, the Dominican kiteboarding scene can now focus and grow towards a new era.

Through the association there have already been accomplished important goals. The issue of safety is being addressed, both regarding the beaches as well as for the riders themselves. Especially in Cabarete, the kiteboarding capital of the Dominican Republic, the beaches are crowded and in lack of rules. Although there is an organized system to maintain some order and safety, the association will now work progressively towards cooperation between schools, hotels and other establishments on the beach to make sure that this rapidly growing sport stays safe and healthy. And just as important, the association will help the riders to achieve their dreams and goals and support the many amazing talents. Through the years the kiteboarding world has seen riders like Luciano Gonzales, Jose Luis Ciriaco, Wilson Taveras and many more make it to high international levels in their sport, but new talents are growing up and facing harder times as the industry grows. The young riders will now benefit from these professional athletes’ experiences as all of them contribute through supporting the new association.

The first ever event in the name of ADK is taking place at Kite Beach Cabarete this week. On the 20th of June 27 riders enter the water outside of Kite Beach Hotel as the first official Dominican Kiteboarding competition shoots off. The competition will hand out two wild cards for the two best riders to enter the upcoming PKRA Cabarete World Cup stage next week. The level is high, and the favourites many, but most importantly the riders get a chance to show themselves before an excited crowd of spectators.

Unfortunately, the world cup rider and Dominican Champion of last year, Alex Soto, was recently injured in a motorcycle accident and couldn’t enter the competition. Alex was a top favourite for the competition and will be ready for the world cup event next week. All the riders decided to give Alex one of the wild cards and they are therefore now hunting down the last wild card for PKRA Cabarete.

Kite Beach Cabarete is ready. Let the show begin!

Copyright  Hege Holt

Here are some general guidelines to the weather during the seasons.

WIND, WEATHER AND WAVES:

But the best course of action in Cabarete is to enojoy more than one of Cabarete`s multiple sprots. There are many ways to get on a board, either kiteboarding, surfing, skateboarding, wakeboarding, tow in surfing…. that way every day is a chance to improve your skills!