The Cannon Rocks Kiteboarding Classic 2016 report
In the face of adversity, the 2016 Cannon Rocks Kiteboarding Classic came through with flying colours. This thanks to Cannon Rocks delivering 3 days of awesome conditions.
In actual fact the contest, due to the efficient running schedule, and the wind, was done and dusted in the first two days.
That left us with a spare day to do prize giving and to all go out and have an awesome social and not too competitive kiteboarding session.
The festivities already started the day before the event with a strong Easterly wind. The Cape Town visitors got a worthy Cannon Rocks welcome.
Cannon Rocks, being off the beaten track, always drives the contestants to hang out together and nurture friendships whatever their level or age. This year was no exception. And so the usual “feel good” vibe permeated the event from the beginning to the end.
Day1
The first day saw the contest changed due to the conditions to Hang time and Big air. With gusts above 30 knots, everyone threw their biggest moves and attempted to stay in the air for as long as possible. Some spectacular jumps and crashes.
There was some impressive ” air time” both from the Amateur and the pros. Some of the bigger jumps came in the semis, with the 7 second mark being surpassed a few times.
In the pro division, Hang time was convincingly taken by Josh Emanuel. Lanral Ruddock came in second place and Jason van der Spuy in third.
In the Big Air due to a split decision, a joint first was given to Josh Emanuel and Ross Dillon with Jason van der Spuy coming in 3rd.
The big air saw great commitment from everybody including the ladies with Sjoukje Bredenkamp going big and even throwing a back roll kite loop in and taking the lead from Michelle Sky Kiteboarding and Emmie-Reike Brase.
The Amateur division was a show down between Bruce Hough, Steffen Begere and Daryn Du preez in both Hangtime and Big air. with Bruce taking both wins.
Day2
With lighter winds on day 2, Wave riding and Freestyle were scheduled,
The Wave event saw a final between previous winners Anthony Berzack, Colin Heckroodt and Josh Emanuel
With some great wave selection Josh pushed ahead on points to take another win.
The Ladies was taken by Michelle Hayward.
In the Freestyle, Jason van der Spuy took a commanding lead with Josh and Dillon battling it out for second place
The strong current played havoc with the Amateur final ( the last heat of the day) with some having a hard time staying upwind and ending up outside the contest area.
But by 16h00 all heats were completed.
See all the results here for the Cannon Rocks Kiteboarding Classic
A big Thank you to our main Cash sponsors: Peter Lynn Kiteboarding and cannonrocks.com
Our smaller cash sponsors:
Cannon Rocks Holiday Resort
Pam Golding
Cannon Rocks Homebuilders
Genergy
And our suppliers:
Caelum Technologies
Geological and Technical
Thule
Cannon plant and tool hire
Roes Restaurant
A special thank you to the team: Natasha Haller for the assistance, Christo Zietsman for the media, Shaun Johannes for the flags, Anthony Berzack for the judging assistance, Dewald Dejager, Maverick deBeer, Dane Cox, Jim Pomroy from the ratepayers Association, Roes Restaurant for the use of the ablution and electricity and everyone else who lent a hand.
And that is a wrap from the Cannon Rocks Kiteboarding Classic team