Full Power
Photo © MVeltman

Bjoern SPO jibing
Photo © MVeltman

better go snowkiting

ruling in Holland

Yakuza - High End race kite

ruling in Holland

Jasper

Bjoern and Jort - Ozone Power

Hi Everyone

Read on for a race report from Bjorn, World and Euro Race Buggy Champion back from early retirement

Bjorn >> “I´m back from a good old style buggy week. I started a trip to the 2nd race for the German championship in St. Peter Ording. I arrived at Friday but Petrus must send his good weather to other locations because the beach was a mess with rain, rain… oh and rain. Nice…! So we do some chilling and start early with drinking the welcome beer. It was a good party on this first day to clear the weather

The second day was ok, but no racing. It was so boring hanging around that I took my dry suit and went kite surfing. It was - 2 °C. But felt like -15° C! Really don´t go kite surfing at that temperature without gloves and a hat. I flew my new 9m² Instinct Sport II only for 20 minutes and by then my hands were getting so cold that I couldn’t feel that I was doing a nice 360 kite loop (A friend on the beach told me later). It took triple the time to get the feeling back into my hands. After a really long and hot shower and some relaxing time we attended a small cocktail festival at Café Köm, the place to be after a good or not so good day. It was a long and funny night. What was the name of the cocktail that evening? “Touchdown”… no explanation needed as to why it’s called that!

Sunday started with nice weather. Thank you, Petrus. Sun and light wind. That’s what I like. For the first race the wind picked up and I was not able to fly my 14m² Yakuza. In a very short time the kite needed was the 6m² Yak. The start went well I thought, but the race marshal saw a false start. I had to go back and had to start again. But I was able to do a 7th place in this run. Second race was even better  I opt for my 5m² and get the lead very fast straight through to the end of this race. So, I finished 1st. Yuhuu, good start after my time away from racing.

Monday: Snow, what the hell? I had left my snowboard at home  Buggying was impossible because the beach was wet again with 1cm slush all over it so races were cancelled for this day too, the winter sure has dragged on this year in Europe! My 7th and 1st place set me on a 3rd place overall at the prize giving and a nice small cup for my desk.

My initial plan was to stay the whole week at SPO however after checking the weather on the internet I could see there was no sun on the horizon, so I cancelled my place at the camping site and drove home. I only stayed at home for a couple of days until I got a phone call from the Netherlands; there was a race for the Netherlands championship at the following weekend. I packed my kit up again and drove to the Brouwersdam. The Brouwersdam is between Antwerp and Amsterdam and one of the biggest kite surf areas of the Netherlands. I arrived early on Friday and started the weekend with a 4 hour session with my 9m² Sport II.

On Saturday the races start early in the morning. Sun was shining and wind was good. We did two master races. At the first race I was able to win and on the second race I had to fight for the 2nd place with my team mate Jort. I finished the races complete as first and now I have another cup for my desk!

Sunday: I woke up late this day because I checked the weather … rain. They planed a race over 2 hours this day but with the rain it just didn’t seem realistic for me. I left my kit dry in the back of my car and helped Jasper with his. He arrived very late and we mounted his buggy and his kite in less than 10 minutes.

Jasper missed the start but finished the first round as No. 7. 2 hours are a long time and he was able to catch the no. 2. After one hour they stop the race because of too much rain. After the break they started the second part of the race as they stopped the first part. Jasper was able to win the race! After that they started a normal heat and Jasper finished 3rd. The race organizer counted the results of the 3 parts and in the end Jasper gets his cup with the big 2 on it. Congrats man! The day was called: the battle between the lowlands (Belgium and Netherlands). I started my way home but looking forward to the next stop of the German championship at Borkum 10.05.08 until 11.05.08.

Cheers Björn

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