Report From Day 5 At The 2015 VKWC Youth Cup

Anthar Racca and Adeuri Corniel fought hard in the U17 final.

Champions have been crowned in each age category at the 2015 Virgin Kitesurf World Championship Youth Cup in Costa Brava, Spain. Competitors finished the double elimination while demonstrating a level of riding that could match the world’s top riders. Continue reading the press release below for more exciting details.

Young riders impressed the judges and the crowds at the 2015 VKWC Youth Cup.

Day 5 at Virgin Kitesurf World Championship- Youth Cup 2015 – Costa Brava (Spain)

Costa Brava, Spain (Wednesday, July 1st, 2015) – Amazing performances from all riders on the last day of competition of the Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC) Youth Cup 2015. All winners from the single elimination managed to secure their first positions. Mexican Anthar Racca (U17), Brazilian Mikaili Rocha, Frenchman Oscar Pirreneau (U13) and British Tom Bridge (U15) all claimed the title of their respective categories.

The 5th day of competition offered by far the best conditions for riders to show their most impressive tricks to the crowd and judges. The day started with another clinic where VKWC staff presented to the young athletes the code of behavior they should follow as ambassadors of their sponsors as well as professional athletes.

The young competitors at the VKWC Youth Cup put on an impressive show of their skills.

The young competitors at the VKWC Youth Cup put on an impressive show of their talents.

Competition resumed at 12:30 p.m. (GMT +2) with the double elimination. The 15 years-old Dominican Adeuri Corniel was the boy on form of the day in the U17 category. While he had a poor first heat against Chase Hasch (United States) on the first day of competition, he managed to climb up the whole ladder in the double. Showcasing impressive skills, he dispatched Lazare Gournay (France), took his revenge against his home spot mate Hasch and then eliminated Louka Pitot (Mauritius) to make his way to the final. There he was be up against Mexican rider Anthar Racca – a heat that everyone was waiting for.

Onlookers were on fire, cheering at every trick the two athletes threw to each other. But after so much effort Adeuri Corniel started to show signs of fatigue. He still landed his usual powerful Back Mobe, Front Blind Mobe, Heart Attack and KGB but could not land his Back Side 317 and 317. Meanwhile Racca pulled off a perfectly executed Back Side 317 that gave him the win by 0.7 of a points.

“I am so happy I won my first championship here. I felt a little bit nervous before the final against Corniel because I saw him competing today. When I started my heat I crashed two tricks and got really stressed but then I landed a Blind Judge 7 and relaxed a little bit”, explained Racca. “The wind was perfect today and I liked it. My plan now is to go to a windy place to train and get prepared for Germany’s trials and try to pass them in August.”

Adeuri Corniel: “Thanks a lot to the VKWC crew for giving me the opportunity to grab this second place. Thanks to the clinics about competition strategy I learned a lot and now I know how to put my heat together. I will stick to it and train back home. I’m heading to Dominican Republic to study and hopefully I’ll manage to get my long term visa to go to the trials in Germany. My manager Jacobo is really helping me to get it so that I can travel and compete wherever I want”. He also said: “It was amazing today. I’m very happy with my second position, I would have loved to finish first but I was very tired and Anthar is very tough to beat. But it’s ok, we’ll see what happens next year”.

Anthar Racca going big at the VKWC Youth Cup.

In U15 category Nino Liboni (France) stood out from the crowd coming from 9th position to 4th. The Frenchie performed well-constructed heats eliminating Jason Van Der Spuy (South Africa) and local boy Alec Mur today. His promising ascent was stopped by Maxime Chabloz (France) who performed better, but couldn’t beat Christian Tio (Philippines) and stayed with his 3rd position.

U15 final opposed again Tom Bridge (United Kingdom) with Christian Tio (Philippines). Both friends did an excellent performance but Bridge was untouchable. While Tio crashed a number of tricks and fell behind, he achieved victory by nailing a perfect 10 with a powered and clean Backside 315.

“It feels really good to win this championship for the third time, it is the best year of my life! This is the main competition of the season but hopefully I will do the trials in Germany and pass them so I could participate in the next VKWC stops”, Bridge stated.

Girls put on a display of great action as well, with Spanish rider Claudia Leon dispatching Anna Hashem (Egypt), Nina Font (Spain) and Anaïs Desjardin (France). Leon did a good job and rode cleverly but got finally stopped by Hanna Twarog (PL). Polish rider and Mikaili Rocha (Brazil) replayed yesterday’s final. The young Brazilian started her heat smartly by doing different trick categories in order to secure her score before starting to risk. Twarog did her best but could not match Rocha’s game who took the title.

“It feels very cool, because it’s the first time I got here and I didn’t really think I would be able to win. I am really happy”, said Rocha. “The whole family kite and she has been begging for a kite since she’s probably 6 years-old. Every year I made her wait and finally, when she was about eight and a half, I said ok and I let her try. She just got it immediately”, continued Jodie Thompson, her mother.

As for U13 category, the boy who most climbed up the ladder was Joan Mir (Spain). He rode well and won against Hiro Karamon (Japan) as well as Kiko Peiro (Spain) but was stopped by last year’s winner Karim Mahmoud (Egypt). The final was the same as in the single and both riders did well until Pirreneau nailed three handle passes in the last seconds, allowing him to secure his first position on his first VKWC Youth Cup.

“I am super stoked! I didn’t know if I had won or not because it took me a while to get into my heat. I have been a bit sick and had not much energy, but at the end it went well. The wind was really steady so it helped. I was a bit nervous at the beginning but also quite confident and I managed to focus better”, said Pirreneau.

Athletes participate in clinics about different facets of competitive kiteboarding at the VKWC Youth Cup.

Tomorrow, another clinic will be held but this time with pro riders and former PKRA competitors Ruben Lenten and Alvaro Onieva. Ruben Lenten, renowned as the most extreme rider, is nowadays involved in many projects related to the sport and will give a talk to the new generation of kiteboarders about the importance of their image as professional athletes. As an entrepreneur, Alvaro Onieva will address the opportunities that athletes can have after their competitive career. They will also discuss about the importance of physical training beside kiteboarding in order to prevent injuries.