Starkites at Capture the Wind Festival

July 18, 2011

This event is designed to allow participants to demo the HOTTEST gear, race SUPs, LAUNCH off the water in JUMPING CONTESTS, COURSE RACES and have lots of fun on the beach with games. We have an agreement with the city to clear out the swim zone on Saturday and Sunday to have jumping contests, kite races and SUP races close to spectators on the beach!!!

All the contests we are putting on are designed to be fun for participants, and fun to watch.  They may not be the most technically challenging, but that’s not our goal.  We are going for the WOW factor.

We are keeping the SUP race close to shore on a “W” course so racers can hear the crowd cheer for them and the audience can see what’s going on.

The Kite course race will start and end in front of the crowd where we have the beach cleared of swimmers for safety.  Again we will keep the entire course close to the beach so on-lookers can see the competition.  Doing so shortens the course greatly, so we designed it for two laps.  We also decided to hold 2 classes.  Twintip and race boards.  We want everyone to have a shot at winning!

Then there is the BIG AIR jumping contest to be held in the cleared out swim one.  We will have buoys marking the zone to keep it close enough to see the action, and safe enough to keep our insurance provider defibrillator free.  Judging will be on a 10 pt scale.  4 for height, 4 for style and 2 for originality.  Jumpers will have 5 minutes or 5 jumps (whichever comes first) to wow the judges.

As far as heat design…we will just have to see how many show up before we can figure that out.  You can make our lives easier by logging onto SCKA.org and signing up today.

If you would like to participate in a contest just click register or navigate to it using the SUPPORT the SCKA button in the upper right corner.

Thanks to North Shore Hawaiian BBQ for providing food for the event.

The Capture the Wind Festival is unique this year because we are teaming up with the Long Beach Sea Festival and the L.B. Parks and Recreation department to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Long Beach Airport.

Parks and Recreation will bring in over 1,500 kids on Friday from the inner city to experience different events on the beach. With their support, we hope to draw not only kiteboarders, but also introduce the sport to the general public. The Sea Festival is planning a photo op with KCAL-TV and multiple newspapers to showcase the city, its beaches, the Park and Rec program and kiteboarding.

Events like this go a long way to foster goodwill between the kiting community and the city.

So come out to try gear, race, fly or just watch this incredible sport in Long Beach!  The event will be anchored at 100 Claremont Place.

Activity Breakdown:

Friday:

9AM – Kite companies set up on the Beach

9:30AM – Kids event kicks off

10:30AM  SWAT Beach Landing Demonstration

11:00  Coast Guard Search and Rescue Demo

11:30  LAFD water dropping Helicopter demo

Noon – Lunch Break!

1PM – SUP demos, and trainer kites for older kids.  Single string kites for younger kiters

2PM – Kids head for home and kite Demos begin

TBD- Long Beach Airport/LBFD helicopter demonstration

Saturday:

9AM – Kite companies set up on the Beach

10:30 – First SUP Heat

Noon – Final SUP Race

12:30 – SUP Podium

1PM – Beach Games begin and run every 15 minutes until wind comes up

1:30 PM Skippers meeting with Course Racers and Jumpers

2PM – Course Racing begins

3PM – Jumping contest begins

7PM – After party at Legions on second street

Sunday

10AM – Kite Companies set up

1PM – Beach games begin and run every 15 minutes until wind comes up

2PM – Course Racing and Jumping contests continue (if not completed prior)

5PM – Grand Prize Raffle drawing

6PM – wrap it up and grab a cold one!

*Demos of course start when the wind comes up on all days!

Stay tuned for an event map with the layout of the beach and the designated zones.

So that’s the event! Please feel free to contact Dan Corbett with any questions at president@scka.org

Starkites will of course demo there and we will have a special promotion so check out with Dan!!! Enjoy it

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