Read About The Competitions

The week before the PKRA
event, Kite Chicks, a new
clothes brand, arranged a kite
week just for girls. Anna took
part in some of the events and it
was a nice experience. When
you are used to sail only with
the boys home at Habo Ljung it
feels really nice to be surrounded
by other girls for a change.
Among the girls both beginners
and experienced girls trying
handle passes, doing kiteloops,
and ripping in the waves, were
present. They also arranjed a
competition just for girls, and
Anna managed to take first
place. Kite Chicks arranges girls
weeks at several places around
the world and these events are
highly recommended.
The third stop of the world cup
was held at Bozo Beach,
Cabarete. Bozo is situated
about 10 minutes upwind (by
kite) from Kite Beach, close to
the centre of Cabarete. It is a
bay where the wind is normally
side onshore and somewhat
gusty. The water is a bit choppy
or consists of irregular waves
with a shore break that can get
pretty big. Even if it may not
sound very nice, it can be a
good alternative to a packed
Kite Beach, and it is close to the
centre of the city. We were four
Swedes that participated in the
competition, and one of the
judges was also from Sweden
(and they say Sweden is one of
the smallest countries when it
comes to kitesurfing). As the
biggest PKRA event, 70 men
and 30 women were registered
for the competition. The
competition started, as usually
at the bigger events, with a
qualification. Many big names
and other skilled riders, along
with some changed judging
criterias, made it really difficult
to qualify for the main event. But
both Micke (alias Mike the
Knife) and Chrille managed to
go through from the men
qualification and Anna got
among the 16 girls that qualified
for the main event for the
women. Then the real show
took off! Since the new judging
criterion meant more points for
those who went for the new
powerful tricks than those who
pulled off easier tricks, we got to
see one sick trick after another.
Aaron Hadlow along with
several others hooked out,
jumped seven meters up, pulled
off a kiteloop and, as the kite
passed below him went for a
handle pass… or crashed hard.
The girls also impressed. Cindy
Mosey really knows how to do
these handle passes by now
and several other girls gave it a
try. Angela Peral from Spain
impressed with the most
aggressive kiteloops and
managed to win the first
elimination. Mosey made sure to
change this in the second round
and won the event, leaving
Angela Peral in second. In the
men’s competition, Jaime
Herraiz, who despite his
powerful style never had won an
event, finally got it all together
and took the first place. Aaron
Hadlow, ended up on second
place and Jose Louis Ciriaco
come third. In the second
discipline, Best trick, both Chrille
and Anna made it through to the
final. Also in this discipline it
was lots of action and once
again it was Jaime Herraiz and
Cindy Mosey that took first
place. Unfortunately the new
criterion for the judges not only
made the competition into a nice
show. Several times they also
lead to lots of confusion as the
ones that the other riders
thought had won the heat was
declared as defeated. The
judges decision didn’t always
seem very consistent and many
of the riders felt that they had
been treated unfair.
What about the city then Is
there anything more than surf in
20
Cabarete Yes, even though
Cabarete mainly is built around
the surf and tourism industry, it
is still a nice little town. And the
people in the Dominican
Republic have a nice approach
to life. Don’t miss the local beer,
Presidente, and ”Pollo guisado”
even if Cabarete at the first
glance may seem to offer
nothing but tourist shops. If you
want to do it the Dominican way
you should eat the best pollo
guisado at Sandro’s restaurant
in the centre of the city. Pollo
guisado is a grilled chicken in a
nice sauce, served with rise and
beans. It is cheap, tasty, and
you really get full up. At
Sandro’s it is also a must to
drink “batida”, that is a fruit
milkshake. The presidente-beer
is preferable taken at “the hole
in the wall” in the city centre.
East of the city there’s another
Dominican restaurant with
Dominican food of good quality.
Fat Chicken offers chicken, fish,
and sometimes even more
dishes. Good fish can also be
had at the Dominican El Tigre,
Mercedes or some of the other
restaurants in the area. It is
worth to take a trip there at
daylight and check out this nice
little town with genuine
Dominican stores. There are of
course lots of other restaurants
to choose from, but everything
isn’t cheap in Cabarete. Many of
the restaurants in the centre of
Cabarete are driven by non-
Dominican people with higher
prices as a result, but you can
find good pizzas, pastas, and
even Swedish meatballs. If you
feel like having lunch but are
stuck on Kite Beach, the best
thing to do is to go to the small
Dominican restaurant just
across the street from Kite Park,
but also Kite Beach Hotel and
Kite Park have lunch to a cheap
price. You can also buy a
banana cookie for desert at the
small stand, also known as
”Ariel’s mother”.