WSKC Wrap-Up
By David Gomberg
I apologize. It had certainly been my intention to publish daily
reports from the World Sport Kite Championships in Berck. But that was
before the Panini...
Ugh. After twelve years of traveling and all kinds of exotic
food I thought I was immune. But Tuesday morning, food poisoning
knocked me off my feet hard. I spent two days either in bed or in the
"WC" and never even saw any competition until it was all but complete. |
|
Still, I can tell you that the French swept the field much the same
way they did last year. I can tell you that everything ran very
smoothly with no problems, no protests, and no delays. And I can tell
you that the American team that went had the time of their lives. A
second team decided to stay home over concern about political tensions.
But there weren't any. There wasn't a hint of a problem and our French
friends were perfect hosts.
The World Sport Kite Championships (not to be confused with the now
defunct World Cup) is organized by AKA, STACK and AJSKA. Teams fly
precision in the morning and ballet in the afternoon. They do this for
three consecutive days and then their best two scores are averaged to
create a final ranking. Scores from each judges were released in
detail.
|
| Team |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Final |
| Overdrive |
80.82 |
82.20 |
81.10 |
81.65 |
| Tame Bird |
72.03 |
79.12 |
68.02 |
75.57 |
| Element'Air |
72.60 |
71.71 |
78.22 |
75.41 |
| Garuda |
58.33 |
64.66 |
70.52 |
67.59 |
| Scratch Bunnies |
58.65 |
61.72 |
63.37 |
62.55 |
| Matrix Mgt. |
56.25 |
63.83 |
59.97 |
61.90 |
| Flame |
44.73 |
47.08 |
62.14 |
54.61 |
| Team SPI |
42.40 |
20.17 |
52.84 |
47.62 |
|
Sport kite demos continued throughout the weekend including a major
Mega-Fly. But the magic of Berck remain the enormous show that
stretches half a mile along the sandy beach. Complex cellulars, new
inflatables, whirling laundry and every flying shape imaginable fill
the blustery sky.
By the end of the week, my stomach was returning to normal. Sunday
crowds were estimated at over 100,000. Cooler winds had turned warm and
the sun was bright against the sand.
Pete Dolphin and I flew Rainbow Arches and pretty much wore
ourselves out. But that's why you always keep something soft in the
kite bag, right??
