World Championship Course Racing

Earlier this year a group of talented athletes came together to form an Ozone Race Team that would compete in the growing number of course racing events that are taking place across the USA this summer. Spearheading the project was a veteran Ozone racer, Chip Wasson, who felt that a cohesive group of kiters working together could better reach the goal of progressing techniques and equipment. Together the Team has pushed each other, increasing the individual performance of each rider throughout this season and representing with strong results at many races. Along with advancements in board design and fin shapes, the feedback from the team has already helped to improve the strength of Ozone kites thru new sewing techniques and is furthering the overall performance of the Instinct range. I recently had the pleasure of joining the Ozone Race Team while on a trip to San Francisco, during the Kiteboard Course Racing World Championships. Sharing the beach with so many professional kiteboarders was definitely a treat, and the respect and tenacity that the Ozone boys shown definitely made me proud to be a part of the Ozone family.

The Races for the World Championships were held at Crissy Field, near the Golden Gate Bridge in California’s San Francisco Bay. The competition was hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club, whom also hosts several other races including the Cabrinha Thursday Night Series, the SF/UN Classic and the Bridge to Bridge race. The St. Francis is known for holding quality regattas and was eager to host this prestigious event that is governed by ISAF sailing rules. With several Committee Boats and a strict Skipper, the races were world class and run clean. Starting on a Tuesday, there were three days of racing to determine overall points, which would then divide the racers into two fleets, gold and silver respectively. Friday and Saturday offered up another half-dozen races to further spread the fleet’s points out and determine who truly could stay ahead of the pack. The top ten racers were then put head to head on a short course, with a double point system that could shake up the winning circle.

From day one Ozone Edges were in the top 10-15 placements, with Chip Wasson holding a tight 2^nd thru most of the courses and even taking a first with a nice lead. Hot on his heels was Olympic medalist Mike Gebhardt and local charger Geoff Headington, who each battled to stay in the top 5 positions during several days of racing. Mike eventually pushed ahead of Geoff to take tenth position and gained the opportunity to race in the final Medal course. Mixing it up with Geoff and Mike was Rob Kindt, who took a solid 4^th early on, and maintained a strong position that led him into the gold fleet for the finals. Steve Gibson flew Ozone Sports on the course, which gave him the needed grunt to power downwind. On his final race Gibson dug deep down, listening to Chips voice of encouragement in the back of his head, and he charged into an 8^th position win with the Silver Fleet. During every race, all of the gentleman on Ozone’s Race Team flew proud and strong, riding elbow to elbow with the finest Kiteboarders on the planet. It was an amazing event to witness, and as exciting as racing can be, especially when you are rooting for such outstanding riders that continued to push harder and harder during every marathon session.

This race went beyond kites and riders and pushed the current limits of board design and fin shape to their fullest. Throughout the week athletes switched up gear dialing into wind conditions, body weight and riding style. Most interesting was fin placement and shape. From large rear dual fins to quad set ups of split sizes, there was a myriad of options, many of which were good on only one tack. While Chip had trained and specifically tuned his fins before the racing, many others were still changing set ups trying to eek out an advantage possible. Rob switched from fins with foils on both sides, to single sided foils that allowed him to climb upwind better, and not bog out on the downwind run. Board design is peaking right now with these new shapes and fins, and it seems the next step is pushing the limits of race specific kites. The benefit will be for everyone, as a race kite needs to be great at everything from cranking upwind, delivering power and staying stable downwind… With the help of the Ozone Race Team and master designer Rob Whittall, next years Edge kites should be sweet.

There were over 64 competitors and the final Race results can be found online at the St. Francis Yacht Club website and on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SFKiteworlds or www.StFYC.com

Congratulations go out to the entire Ozone Race Team… I’ve raised my glass and you should too… Here’s how our boys did at the World Championships for Course Racing:

2^nd place Gold Fleet, Chip Wasson

10^th place Gold Fleet, Mike Gebhardt

11^th Place Gold Fleet, Geoff Headington

24^th place Gold Fleet, Rob Kindt

10^th place Silver Fleet, Steve Gibson