Kiteboarders from the Lower Mainland and the United States sailed the gusting winds of the Howe Sound, dodging logs - and one another - jockeying for a good finish at the second race in the summer series on Saturday (July 11).
With more than 70 kiteboarders zipping around the sound with winds gusting up to nearly 50 kilometres an hour, the 13 series racers - including a few world champions - had to give a strong performance to finish at the front of the pack.
"It was ridiculously crowded there," said racer director and kiteboarder Kyle Touhey.
"And we had very, very strong winds, abnormally strong for Squamish, up to 30 miles an hour."
With plenty of floating debris - including logs ranging in length from a foot to about 20 feet - some riders broke fins, while others were thrown from their boards or made huge jumps over the obstacles.
"You're going 30 knots at times and you've got all this crazy chop and logs in the water and so if you hit anything it will basically end with you ejecting from your board and skipping along down wind a couple hundred feet past where you had planed to be," said the 麻豆社国产Windsport Society (SWS) member.
Touhey said he's surprised by how serious many competitors are taking the series.
"I thought we were going to have a lot of riders entering in the just for fun category but it's turned out that majority of our fleet, which is 15 or 16 people, is getting proper race gear, basically up to par with what they're using on the world tour right now."
Currently Vancouver based kiteboarder Stefano Rista is on top of the long course leader board with 14 points, Touhey is in second with 19 points and Seattle-based rider Adam Vance is in third with 22 points.
On the short course, Paul Sabiston sits in first place with 20 points, followed by Grant Mounce with 24 points and Gus Taylor in third with 26 points.
Touhey said he's excited to have the SWS host the West Coast Open Championship and Canadian Nationals Championship the weekend of Aug. 20 to 22 because 麻豆社国产is an incredible venue for kiteboard racing.
"Most other spots you basically have to chase the wind and go when it's on and it happens for a couple of hours and then that's it, where 麻豆社国产has got wind that turns on at noon and then goes away when it's dark.
"In Squamish, it's kind of an anomaly."
Organizers anticipate 25 to 30 riders to compete in the weekend event including several pro racers and world champion kiteboarders.
The next summer series race will be held at the 麻豆社国产Spit on Saturday Aug. 28.
For full results or more information on the summer racing series visit squamishwindsports.com/events/events.php.
