Wednesday 2 November 2011

Garat and Kerneur crowned European Champions


French local Sebastian Garat and Polish rider Asia Joanna Litwin are the winners of the final stop of the Kitesurf Tour Europe in St. Gilles Croix de Vie, Vendée, France and were crowned European
Champions 2011. Seven days of spectacular competitions, varying wind conditions and beautiful waves at the beach of St. Gilles Croix de Vie came to a fabulous end today when the European Champions in Kiteboarding Freestyle as well as the winners of the Kitesurf Tour Europe in Course Racing were crowned.



In men freestyle, the fight for the title was incredibly close. German rider Mario Rodwald won the KTE Germany in the challenging conditions of Sylt leaving competitor Seb Garat from France in 2nd place. The light conditions at the KTE Italy in Lamezia asked for completely different skills and it was again Mario and Seb meeting in the final sharing a first place to a lack of wind. Therefore it all came down to
the KTE France in St. Gilles Croix de Vie in the Vendée region - the one who wins in France will be European Champion! In the single eliminations, Mario and Seb made their way to the final and with a
view on the wind forecast, it was pretty clear that this heat would decide who is going to take the title. Seb showed an impressive front mobe, 313 and blind judge 3 while Mario perfomed a beautiful s-bend blind, 313 and backmobe but crashed his kite in the waves still leaving the judges with a tough decision. In the end, the French took the win in the singles and al though the doubles were started on day 6, the wind dropped at the fight for 5th place.

Congrats to Seb Garat, European Champion in Kiteboarding Freestyle 2011 and to Mario Rodwald on second as well as Tijn van Esch on third place.




French local racer Julien Kerneur made his way to the Vendée region with the clear mission to win the Kitesurf Tour Europe in the Course Racing division. Julien won 2 out of 4 races but was defeated by Dutch racer Rolf van der Vlucht who scored a better overall ranking. In third place, Maxime Nocher demonstrated again his top European level and challenged his fellow racers. Nevertheless, Julien Kerneur remains the leader in the overall tour ranking 2011 and celebrated his victory on the podium in the sun of St. Gilles Croix de Vie together with fellow French Maxime Nocher and Dutch Rolf van der Vlucht on second and third place.

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