Ocean Rodeo Race Report 6.25 – The Worst Kite Tangle Ever? and 3 wins for the OR race board.

Last Thursday night’s racing in San Francisco was as exciting as it gets.  The fog broke just in time for the start and winds were 12m for most racers.  With a number of top riders, including Stefaans Viljoen(OR) and John Gomes, on race committee there was opportunity for the 35 racers in the field. (Thanks to Boriana Parvanova for the photos)

Jeff Kafka (Cabrinha) put a stop to Chip Wasson’s (Ozone) recent domination of the races with victories in all 3 races.  With his new custom board under construction Kafka was riding Stefaans’s Ocean Rodeo Custom Race to win his 3 races.  Wasson took second for the night and Adam Vance (Naish) rounded out the top 3.

Holes in the wind were a constant issue in all the races with fluky spots by the leeward mark and other inside locations.  The big news of the night was the tangle at the start of the second race.  A lull hit the start line right at the gun causing a domino effect of kites going down.  In the end nine kites were tangled and down in the water.  This could be the worst kite tangle ever seen in kiteboarding history.  Three riders were able to get their kites out of the mess and back in the air, but the other six ended up needing rescue with several trashed kites and a six bar spaghetti mess that was the worst I’ve seen.  This was not the only tangle of the night either, with several other 2 kite wraps. See the sequence of the tangle below.

Evan Stoltz,  Andrew Galbraith (the author), Jed Meade and Erin Loscocco were the only OR riders to avoid trouble and finished 10^th, 11^th, 14th and 19^th, respectivly, for the night.

An increasingly crowded field and tough starts has made staying out of trouble hugely important in these races.  If you haven’t experienced it you can’t imagine how tightly packed the kites are at the start.  When a lull hits and riders need to move their kites there is literally no where to go and tangles are bound to happen.

Close up photos copyright Nico Ostermann, courtesy F-One Kiteboarding

Thanks as always to the St. Francis Yacht Club, Cabrinha and Steve Gunn for hosting the Thursday night races.

Ocean Rodeo Race Team Report – 6/11 San Francisco

Sunny skies and decent wind prevailed for last Thursday's St. Francis Yacht Club/ Cabrinha Race night.  Most riders went on kites raging from 9m-12m, with 7 of 8 OR riders on the 10m Rise.  Winds backed off some during the first race and left many riders wishing they had their 12m.  (Thanks to Boriana Parvanova for all photos)

In an increasingly common scene Chip Wasson (Ozone) ran 3 strong races and swept the field of 37 racers.  Second place went to Stefaans Viljoen (OR, Windydevil), who went 3,2,2, with Maui resident and honorary Bay local Shawn Richman (Wainman) edging him out in race 1 and claiming 3rd overall. 

The remaining OR crew members finished as follows: Chris Brown 9th, Allen Chung 12th, Andrew Galbraith 15th, Eric Geleynse 16th, Jim Keenan 26th, Erin Loscocco 27th and Evan Stolze 33rd.  After a strong 1st race Evan was tangled in the downwind run of race 2 and should move up the rankings when his protest is resolved.  The other tangle of the night occurred at the start of race 3 involving Erin Loscocco and 2 other riders.

Racing here in San Francisco has gotten increasingly competitive as board and fin designs are honed.  With everyone pointing higher upwind look for good starts and smart tactics to become increasingly important. 

Thursday's race also marked the end of the first mini-series (series of 4 races).  Chip Wasson easily walked away with the win, followed by Stefaans Viljoen, John Gomes (Cabrinha), Jeff Kafka (Cabrinha), Adam Vance (Ozone), Geoff Headington (Ozone), Donny Parker (North), Sandy Parker (North), Marcello Segura (RRD) and Alex Smith (RRD) rounding out the top 10.

Thanks as always to the St. Francis Yacht Club, Cabrinha Kites and Steve Gunn for hosting the races and the after party. 

Ocean Rodeo’s Jeremie Tronet French Kiteboarder Cover!

Congrats to Jeremie Tronet who has once again been given the cover of a Kiteboarding or Surfing magazine!

Great Shot!!

Ocean Rodeo Rider 2nd Place Ukranian Kiteboarding Championships!

Congratulations to Alexander Nimenko who finished second this past weekend at the first stage of the Ukranian Kiteboarding Championships this past weekend.

He made the podium in the under 30 division while fellow team rider Vadim Cherenkov had to withdrawl with a broken leg.

Ocean Rodeo Race Team in San Francisco

Last week Ocean Rodeo team riders continued their march up the leader board in the St. Francis Yacht Club/Cabrinha Race Series at Crissy Field in San Francisco.  Seven Crew members were flying their 10 and 12 meter OR Rises with 2 others serving on race committee.  Racing conditions were challenging with gusty, holey wind under a thick layer of fog.

The team had a strong showing with six riders finishing in the top 15 in a field of 34.  Stefaans Viljoen and Evan Stolze finished 4th and 6th respectively, following perennial race leaders Chip Wasson, Geoff Headington and John Gomes who finished 1st ,2nd and 3rd.

The new Ocean Rodeo Custom Race board is proving to be a serious competitor with all of the top OR team finishers riding the new design.  Rounding out the OR Crew were Jed Meade (11), Chris Brown (12), Jim Keenan (14), Eric Geleynse (15) and Erin Loscocco (25), who suffered a tangle at the start of the 3rd race.

Special thanks to The St. Francis Yacht club for hosting the races and for their post race hospitality, and thanks to Cabrinha and Steve Gunn for their support.  Great job to everyone who raced and stay tuned for results from the next race on June 11th.

New Team Rider Davey Blair!

Ocean Rodeo Sports Inc, a world leader in the production and design of innovative, high quality kiteboarding and surf related equipment is today incredibly proud and excited to announce the addition of Davey Blair as its newest team rider.

The addition of Davey to the Ocean Rodeo Crew is phenomenal news for Ocean Rodeo. Davey joins our already incredibly strong team of Jeremie Tronet and Bryan Lake and brings with him an incredible career of experience and enthusiasm as well as amazing market recognition as one of the largest names in kiteboarding today.

Davey’s initial focus as the newest Ocean Rodeo team rider will be with Bryan Lake in Hawaii and on the East Coast of the United States, helping use his massive popularity and good will to further expose Ocean Rodeo’s top of the line equipment to these markets. However, as with Bryan before him and Jeremie before that Ocean Rodeo is committed to Davey for the long haul and very much looks forward to working with Davey for years to come and in a variety of new and innovative ways.

Davey was born and raised in Charleston ‘Chucktown’ South Carolina, has spent time living in Cabarete and most recently now calls the North Shore of Oahu his home. Davey’s first kite was a high school graduation present from his mother and in the time since Davey has translated his love for kites and boards into a full time passion that has brought him name recognition throughout the United States and, indeed, the world over.

Davey’s commitment to Ocean Rodeo will give him the ability to fulfill his goal of helping to shape the sport of kiteboarding now and well into the future by working with a dynamic and responsive team known for innovation, quality and customer support.

Ocean Rodeo, Performance Over Hype!

Memorial Day Weekend @ The Gorge!

Memorial Day Weekend in The Gorge

This past Memorial Day Weekend The Ocean Rodeo Crew rolled down to the Gorge to kick off the windy season in Hood River! The weekend was held in conjunction with our local retailer Windance and was a huge success!

Saturday was incredibly windy and saw a ton of riders out on our Rise and Diablo kites as well as our Mako and Zen boards. Evan, Dave and I are still digging sand out of our ears but the day's demos went very well! After a good 6 hours of demos on the beach the Crew rolled up to Windance in force and proceeded to enjoy a BBQ and Keg party complete with myself flipping burgers well into the night and our BMOC Carl D from Portland manning the kegs. The Windance ladies worked hard to make the party a success and had on hand 3 kegs, a ton of burgers and some appitizer sushi to get things started. A huge thanks goes to Amorete and Jackie from Windance for their help in making the evening a great time! 

Sunday got off to a decidedly slow start but was also enjoyable. The highlight of the day being a huge downwinder from Viento back to the spit! 

A hearty and healthy thank-you from Ocean Rodeo to the Portland Crew for coming out to help support the event and to the whole Hood River community for such an awesome vibe and warm welcome. Windance is your local retailer of Ocean Rodeo gear and, I promise, you can expect to see us back again next Memorial Day Weekend for another awesome start to the summer ahead!

John Z - Ocean Rodeo

Getting the gear ready early Saturday morning!

Nuking windy on the spit, most demos were of 6ms, couple 8s went out and one 4 was also on the water!

The lovely ladies of Windance.... 

John Z, Kevin and Carl, doing what men do well: Eating and drinking post session.

T Shirt toss! We threw roughly 20 shirts out for the crowd over the evening.

Ocean Rodeo Kiteboarding Team Member Bryan Lake & Kiteworld TV

Hey All,

   Check out this great 4 min video of Bryan getting interviewed for Kiteworld TV. Character for sure!

   http://www.kiteworld.tv/bilderback-series---brian-lake-interview/2/

   We hope to see Bryan at Windfest this summer for our annual Crew Event!

   August 15th and 16th....see ya there.

SBC Kiteboard Magazine Cover & Zeal Optics Athlete of The Month

Ocean Rodeo Team Rider Jeremie Tronet Kiteboarder/Cover Boy has done it again!!

SBC kiteboarding has chosen Jeremie Tronet as a cover boy once again. This is Jeremie's 5th cover in the last 4 months!! This combined with Linn Svendsen's cover shot on the latest The Kiteboarder makes it 6 covers in the last 4 months for the dynamic duo. Jeremie can be found flashing his pearly whites and showing off the Diablo in two more photos inside the magazine.

Take a moment ot check it out:  http://sbckiteboard.com/

In other Jeremie Tronet related news...he has also been selected as Zeal Optics athlete of the month!! Cograts Jeremie and keep up the good work!!

Athlete of the month: http://www.zealoptics.com/flex/bin/team.html

Ocean Rodeo Kiteboarding Neoprene Accessories! New Boots & Gloves.

New Ocean Rodeo Coldwater 7mm Boots and 5mm Gloves!! Your best choice for use with any drysuit or wetsuit!!

  5mm Coldfire Surf Goves:

      - Warm, flexible and tough.

    - 5mm neoprene all around for warmth.

    - Titanium Slick Skin(TSS) interior. Less smell, less weight. quick drying, great seal.

    - PU stick screen palm and fingers provide grip and abrasion resistance.

    - Ergonomically designed fpr the perfect fit with minimal seams.

  7mm Coldfire Boot

    - Split toe interior for improved balance and warmth

    - High top design lays over dry suit latex ankle seals enhancing dryness in the lower leg.

    - 3 layer laminated rubber sole protects your foot against rugged terrain.

    - Upper foot is supported with rubber reinforcements to provide a controlled fit in and out of water

    - Rugged Nylon 2 sided interior for easy on/off.

    - DSC seams! Glued, blind stiched, with external seam seal. No water is getting through!

    - Reinforced heel to allow easy entry and provide durability.

      http://oceanrodeo.com/surfing