Catching the wind is difficult and riding the surf isn’t exactly easy, put them together and it’s enough to test body and mind to the limit. El Medano has long been a hot bed of this growing extreme sport but when the PKRA Master Cup and Spanish Championship arrived nature added patience to the riders’ virtues. The wind had a lay in and didn’t blow in until 2 pm, so much for a 10am start.

Even given the becalmed conditions I was surprised to see riders carrying large hand pumps down to Playa de Los Balos along with chunky surf boards and bundles of sails. All became clear as the kites took shape, the air filling the frames to keep them as light weight as possible.

The originally promised field of 150 riders and the mornings recount of 50 turned out to be 20 but if quantity was absent quality was in good supply. Youri Zoon (above) of Holland was fresh from winning the fourth World Championship round in Fuerteventura putting him ahead of the pack. He gave me some pointers to the competition ahead. “ We go out for seven minutes in pairs and the judges are looking for power and execution. They award one, two or no points per rider, the whole event is on a round robin knock out system. Look out for the two types of freestyle (there is also a race format) old school is jumps and spins but new school go for tricks passing the handle behind their back.”

Although exhilarating to watch, the rewards for professionals like Youri are pretty scant, the men’s winners share 12,400 euros and the women 3,600. “We have to get good sponsors to pay our travel and hotel bills, 5,000 euros isn’t much for destroying your body.” Youri smiles as he refers to injuries, he has twice broken cross ligaments.

As the riders practiced, the announcer tried to direct the public away from the busiest air space but several groups of beach strollers were buzzed by kites caught on sudden breezes. Despite their inflated edges, a sudden dive was enough to put the wind up a few daydreaming holiday makers. Even the sun bathers were enticed to sit up and admire the flips and charges of the riders as they skimmed over the waves. Dressing for action was an experience in itself. First the harness around the waist and then a tight hold of the reigns while guiding feet into the boards foot holds and finding an extra pair of eyes to make sure the kite wasn’t mingling with another rider’s strings.

The sea was pretty crowded on the first afternoon but stray surfers and swimmers were merely another challenge to these skilled riders. Back on the beach the bar was doing a steady trade and sun cream was slapped on liberally and the Reina beer girls added another layer of glamour to the swim suits and torsos. Even those distractions found it hard to compete with the how fast, how high, how dynamic antics of the riders. The action continues until Saturday 13 August, good luck and may the wind lift you to new glories.

Title: Master Cup PKRA Kiteboarding
Location: Los Balos beach, El Medano
Link out: Click here
Description: Blimey now the wave riders are taking to the air. the Professional Kiteboard Riders Association are treating us to the Master Cup and the Spanish Championship in one thrilling contest featuring 150 riders including the best 20 in the world.
Freestyle and Race are the two formats on show in this display of strength, skill and agility all set against the perfect skyline of El Medano, and of course it’s free to watch.
Start Date: 2011-08-08
End Date: 2011-08-14

They say “it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good” and while much of Tenerife broiled in the excessive calima heat and high winds that covered their world in a fine layer of Saharan sand and sent them running for the sanctuary of their air conditioning, the wind catchers of El Médano pumped up their kites and took to their boards.

It was a shaky start to the PKRA Kiteboarding World Tour when Sod’s Law reared its head dictating that the Tenerife venue whose default setting is breezy-to-windy, dawned on the first day of competition with a cloudless sky… and dead calm.
The world’s top kiteboarders who had travelled from all corners of the globe to compete, kicked their heels in the sand and took up the mantle of honorary vacationers for the day.

Wednesday came with a warning from the Cabildo (Island government) of expected searing temperatures in the wake of yet another calima, and a forecast change of wind direction and speed.
Shortly after 2pm the forecast kicked in; the wind shifted position and sent the weather vanes spinning from 10 to 20 knots in the space of 30 minutes.
Abandoning their lunch plates to a Marie Celeste fate, the kiteboarders rushed to the shoreline of Playa Machado to pump up their sails and launch their kites.

Switching tack from coy wallflower to rampant lover; the wind battered riders, spectators and organisers on Thursday and Friday, racing across the sands at speeds that averaged 37 knots and peaked at 52 knots. Anyone who stood still for more than five minutes joined the impromptu sand sculptures of sails that littered the beach.
The conditions pumped up the adrenalin levels for the competition, producing first class waves and testing competitors to their limits.

For those who adopted the go hard or go home attitude which was flying round the camp, new records were there for the taking and Frenchman Sebastien Garat broke his own previous record jump height by almost five feet to set a new world record of 52 feet for the greatest height recorded on the Shadow Box* on a PKRA World Tour Competition.

On the final day of the competition the wind settled into a beefy average 20 to 25 knots and I sacrificed my hair condition to join the ranks of wind-swept and interesting people who had gathered to watch the finals of the freestyle and wave eliminations.
In the morning the men’s freestylers Youri Zoon and Andy Yates wowed spectators with some breathtaking tricks while the petite Spanish Gisela Pulido pulled off some neat moves and spectacular crashes as the conditions continued to bring out the best and worst in the Playa Machado waves.

Retiring to the iconic surf dude Flashpoint bar restaurant (shame about the website) for lunch and a respite from the mad wind, we talked to local windsurfer Richard who described the wind as “Like a Swiss cheese – full of holes, but it’s creating some amazing waves!” If only the same could be said for the effect it was having on my hair.

Shortly after 2 pm the wave event reached its final stages at El Cabezo where the testing conditions took no prisoners and produced some incredible style and power from Brazil’s Guilly Brandao who sailed into first place.

As the last of the air was released from sails and boards were zipped into bags, the wind catchers wandered off into the El Médano sunset to meet again in Argentina at the beginning of November 2010.

*A Shadow Box is a neat little GPS gizmo which is attached to the board and records everything from speed and acceleration to jump height and degree of rotation.

PKRA Kiteboarding World Tour 2010 Results

Freestyle double elmination results
Men
1. Youri Zoon (Slingshot, NED)
2. Andy Yates (Slingshot, AUS)
3. Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA)
4. Ariel Corniel (Ozone, DOM)

Women
1. Gisela Pulido (Airush, ESP)
2. Ania Grzelinska (North, POL)
3. Kristin Boese (Best, GER)
4. Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, NOR)

Wave results
Men
1. Guilly Brandao (Mormaii, BRA)
2. Sky Solbach (North, USA)
3. Bruno Bordorsky (RRD, BRA)
4. Tom Hebert (Airush, NCL)

Women
1. Gisela Pulido (Airush, ESP)
2. Ainhoa Garcia (Airush, ESP)
3. Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, NOR)
4. Ania Grzelinska (North, POL)