La Ventana Classic 2011

Girmantas | Windsurfing, Kitesurfing | January 25, 2011

This year La Ventana Classic event started way before January 19th. Town cleaning, burning bushes and many other activities set the mood before the official start of one of the biggest North American winter kitesurfing event. 20 manufacturers on the expo list, 130 participants, four exceptional parties, over $18.000 USD donated for La Ventana schools and other public projects and, of course, great atmosphere in the air.

Event was started officially by Neil Hutchinson and Baja Joe jumping out of the plane and trying to land as close as possible to the event site. Neil missed the mark by 154 feet 6 inches, while Joe still had 207 feet to go. The first day was perfect for SUP marathon from the island. 25 participants (including 8 women) unsuccessfully tried to overtake Kiwi who was leading the race for the third year in a row! The second day filled in with strong wind and windsurfers were leading the island crossing winning all three top spots.

Strong wind also allowed to run quite a few course racing rounds and complete Big-Air-OldSkool competition for kiters. That, like always, I’ve missed due to other activities and work. Last day wind was light, but organizers still managed to run SUP downwind from Hot Springs. I was watching most of the event through my camera lens. Still I managed to shoot the new RRD Vision kite with Shawn Richman on Sunday afternoon. More on that will follow soon.

As for now – enjoy the action, emotions and interviews direct from the event site: