FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"2004 Verizon Wireless King of the Cape - Day 3"
June 5 , 2004
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USAWEST DENNIS -- The last day of competition was greeting with light drizzle, cold wind, but strong wind, none the less. The day opened with the Kids Camp getting on the waters, even though the air temperatures hovered around 55F. About 15 kids got out there and gave it the ole college try and were baptized into windsurfing. The winds were really challenging the kids with gusts ranging from 20 to 30mph.
With such strong winds battering the event site, we decided to start the heats early and were under weigh by 11am. The competitors had been asking for more wind all the previous day, we just wished they asked for more sun as well. The wind chill was pretty intense once you were wet but we didn’t hear much complaining from the wind starved sailors. The weather probably hit the Maui boys the hardest with Nick Warmuth shivering up and down the beach looking for some heat.
We decided to run the Pro Division first since the winds were the best early. With such gusting winds the sailors finally got to really throw some major aerials with Grubbies, Vulcans, Spocks, Flakas, Diablos, as well as flat water forwards, back loops, and goiters. A few sailors ever chucked a few Wymaroos. The competition was so close in all the divisions at this point. The novice sailors had the most trouble in the high gusting winds but the Amateurs and Pros really relished in the power of the wind. The only drawback was that the wind direction was coming from the ENE direction which caused a wind shadow near shore and could snuff any planning move half way through. So, some strategy was in order.
The Novice Junior Division really solidified itself in the stronger wind, showing which kids had the skills necessary to stand out amongst the rest. Maui local, Conner Baxter, had an easier time of the wind speed but wasn’t quite used to performing freestyle in these conditions from his on the spot training in the previous days lighter winds. Solvig Sayre and Kye Wheeler stayed in the running pulling out some smooth transitions in the gusty condition and in the end, Kye Wheeler took the division, followed by Conner and then Solvig.
The Novice Division was shrinking as one of the sailors was unable to compete in this days event so, we decided to run 5 in a heat and just ranked them after each round. The top three traded bullets each round and in the end Chris Caron took the division, closely followed by Jordan Keao, and then Stewart Snodgrass.
The Amateur Junior Division was getting real exciting in these higher winds with the sailors attempting as many aerials as they could. Most of the attempts didn’t make it through to a clean landing but these kids really threw their heart into it. Jeremiah Malina performed an excellent clean forward on the outside of the competition area for a nice score. Brad Louw was throwing Vulcan after Vulcan, followed by some jump jibes. Andrea Gillum and Ben Delguercio stuck to the tried and true of planing freestyle moves of sail-body-360, duck tacks, Hoss Tacks and a few other great planing moves. In the end, the aerials got the points, and Brad Louw emerged the winner against last years Amateur Junior winner, Jeremiah Malina.
The Amateur Men Division saw some exciting competition with a mix of old-school -- new-school styles coming together. Clay Emer clearly was trying his best to pull out the aerials when he could which was put against the old-school style of Neil Malik, using his long board and pulling out all kinds of rail rides, hoss tacks, heli-tacks, and sail-body-360s. In the middle was Peter Kimball who dabbled a little in each area throwing some Vulcan and Jump Jibes in his heat as well as putting together some nice smooth transitions using heli-tacks, hoss-tacks, and monkey jibes. Close to the mix was Fred Vetterlein who was aggressively pulling out the carve-360's coupled with the smooth transitional moves of old school freestyle. In the end, Clay's cleaner aerials put him on top, followed by Peter Kimball and then Neil Malik.
In the Pro Division, the competition was HOT and CLOSE. I didn’t envy the judges on these heats as sailors progressed just points apart. The experience in competition really helped Dioni Guadagnino come back from the previous days performance to secure a place in the finals pulling out some amazingly smooth spock-540's as well as a bunch of Grubbies on both tacks. By the end of Round 5 of the day it was decided by the majority of the sailors that they had enough and we had to go into a tie breaker between Jace Panebianco, Nick Warmouth, and Riley Coon. It was a very exciting sail off between the sailors throwing every trick in their book. Jace even managed to pull off a flat water goiter in the gusty conditions, while Jace and Nick both throw reverse stance grubbies, Jace then answered with a Wymaroo, and then Nick through a nice forward loop. It was non stop action for 6 minutes straight. By the end of the heat, Jace had narrowly slipped past Nick in the final decision to go onto the Pro Semi Finals.
By the end of the day, into the finals went Tati Frans, Kiri Thode, Dioni Guadagnino, and Jace Panebianco. These sailors put on quite a such a show. I don’t think Cape Cod has ever seen more Flakas, Grubbies, and Spock 540s in a span of 6 minutes. Truly incredible. Without much doubt, into the finals went Kiri Thode, and Tati Frans. These sailors but on a non-stop show and battled each other move for more. Just an incredible heat to have watched. By the end, it was sooo close, that it was run a second time, as no winner was determined in the first final. Finally, after 12 minutes of sailing, Tati Frans emerged victorious for the second year in a row. He will surely be keeping an eye on Kiri in the future as this young talent's skill and energy seem bottomless.
SPONSORS: Verizon Wireless, Bic Sports NA, Inland Sea Windsurfing Company, Sailworld Cape Cod, Island Sports, WindSnow&H20, Cape Cod Windsurfing, New England Windsurfing Journal, Kontiki Resorts, The Windsurfing Place Bonaire, Chatham Wind and Time, Chatham Seafood House and Iso Bar, Skylight Jewelers, Peter Kimball Construction, AWSI, US Windsurfing, Hyline Cruiseline, and Cape Cod Travelodge.
For more information please contact us at: info@kingofthecape.com, (888)465-2632, or visit our website at: http://www.kingofthecape.com/.
