Watersports blog

The World Surfing Games takes place next week at Playa Hermosa, Jaco, Costa Rica and hundreds of participants from all over the world are expected to grace this South American paradise for this prestigious event. The Denny Irish Surf Team is among those who are preparing well for the competitions hosted by the Costa Rican Surfing Federation.
Surfers from more than 40 countries are expected to compete in events that will be staged from August 1 to 8, 2009.

The Irish team is headed by Stevie Burns (team manager) and Marcos Dias (coach). The team members are Emmet O’Doherty (Longboard), Liam Joyce (Open), Ronan Oertzen (Open), Tahlia Britton (Women), Stephen Kilfeather (Open), Fergal Smith (Open), Nicole Morgan (Women) and John McCurry (Longboard). These players are reportedly working hard to at least equal or surpass their records in past European and World Junior events.

The Irish team finished 16th in last year’s World Surfing Games. This is said to be their best result yet and with the tough training regimen they went through for this year’s event, surfing aficionados believe that the team has what it takes to improve on its record and may even get victories along the way.

The Estonian Windsurfing Championships, one of the major Pro Kids and Freestyle qualification events for the World Championships, was held recently in the western town of Topu with competitors from all over the world participating. When all was said and done, it was local player Christofer Kalk who clinched the title in front of the home crowd.

Kolk is an accomplished windsurfer, having won the under-17 event in last year’s world championships. The Estonian capitalized on the good weather, his high tech swimwear and great wind as he showed everyone his tricks and other moves to impress the judges.

The young Estonian virtually ruled in the earlier rounds to establish a big score margin against closest competitors. In the latter rounds, there were sudden surges from Tony Mottus and Robert Koppel to make things more interesting. Kalk, at one point, placed third in one of the stages. However, the wide lead in the first two rounds prevailed at the eighteen year old was officially adjusted as the Estonian Windsurfing Championships winner.

The World Championships is reportedly scheduled to take place later this year. The challenge is now on for Kalk to perform well in this event considering his impressive performance at the Estonian event.

Kitesurfing is one of the latest and most popular extreme sports. It has captured the attention of adrenaline seekers everywhere and has become an international sensation. This year, Chile will host the final leg of the Kitesurfing World Cup. The competition will showcase the talents of great kitesurfers from all over the world including Dutch Kevin Langeree and Aaron Hadlow of the UK.

The Chilean event will be the 10th and final leg of the world cup. The thirty best kitesurfers in the world will be vying for the top spot in this year’s competition. The Kitesurfing World Cup will be held from October 4 – 11, 2008 in Matanzas Beach Resort some kilometers out of Santiago. This is the second time for the competition to take place in Chile.

The competition judges are Martin Vari from Argentina, Dreu Bebaisa of Australia and Guilly Brandao from Brazil.

Kitesurfing is an extreme water sport where the rider rides a surfboard while he or she is surfing on the water. It is extremely dangerous because a strong gust of wind could pull a surfer up and into the face of an oncoming wave. The parachute lines also add to the sports ‘extreme’ reputation.