|
Over last weekend, Dewey Beach hosted the Red Bull King of the Air qualifier, a kiteboarding contest that filled the sky over Rehoboth Bay off of Tower Road with large kites yanking experienced kiteboarders out of the water.
The male and female winners of the contest won a free ticket to Hawaii and a chance to compete with the best kiteboarders in the world in the most prestigious event in the sport.
“The King of the Air contest in Maui is like the Superbowl of this sport,” said contest organizer and H2Air kiteboard shop owner Dave Loop. “This qualifier is really important for Delaware for a couple of different reasons. It puts us on the map and it is the last qualifier in the United States before the contest. We have competitors from Europe here. We have competitors who drove from Florida and Wisconsin here at the last chance to get to Maui.”
The competitors went out in heats as nice 15 m.p.h. winds sprung up on Sept. 10, allowing the heats to advance quickly. Advanced riders Damien Leroy, Ruben Lenten and Bri Chmel ripped it by sticking handle passes, flips and spins either across the surface or as high as 15 feet in the air.
Dewey native Mike Littlejohn gave his hometown a respectable showing, using his knowledge of the air and board selection to advance to the finals.
The women battled as intently as the men on the water, with the final heat coming down to Bri Chemel, who killed it technically, Morgan Skiperdene, who showed her talent by managing to stay upwind, and Vela Decker, who managed to get enough tricks in to advance.
“We do overall impressions of the contestants,” said Loop, who also judged in the contest. “Even though some of the competitors may get higher in the air, we are looking at technical tricks. A handle pass may be on the surface of the water but it is really hard to do.”
For the men’s final Leroy, Littlejohn and Lenten all fought it out. Ruben aggressively attacked the course, which earned him early favor with the judges. Leroy, however, stuck handlepasses one after the other and completed some “board-off” and wave-riding stunts that pulled him into the lead. Dewey native Littlejohn gave it his all, but only pulled down a respectable third place.
“The contest is a complete success,” Loop said. “We have the complete support of not just Red Bull, but the entire community. Area businesses donated stuff. The state park is a great venue because we can use either the bay or the ocean. The quality of the competition is among the best in the world. We had two Dutch guys fly eight hours just to compete in this contest. We hope to make it an annual event.”
|
