The first ever stop of the Kitesurf Pro World Championship Tour
will go down in history as the best kitesurf event ever and has broken new ground within the sport of kitesurfing. With pumping wind and waves hitting the One Eye reef at Le Mourne on the paradise island of Mauritius, the world’s best kitesurfers showcased their talent and the sport of wave riding to the world, live on the web thanks to, Extremience and the KSP video crew.

 The buzz on the beach has been amazing with riders from around the globe coming together, all with the same goal in mind of pushing the sport forward and riding the best waves in the world. Legends of the sport such as Herve Boure (FRA), Sky Solbach (USA), Marc Ramsier (SUI) and former World  Champions Kristin Boese (GER), Jesse Richman (HAW), Mitu Monterio (CBV), Guilly Brandao (BRA) were joined by young and old unheard of names in the sport of kitesurfing outside their respective countries such as Mauricio Pedreira (BRA) at age 36 and Ozzie Smith (RSA) at 16. The UK was represented by myself, Lee Harvey and 4 time race world champ Steph Bridge.

Before the event some huge swells had been coming in and riders were claiming best kite waves ever, which is hard to believe, until I arrived on Tuesday 20th and it was 8-10ft grinding barrels with cross off 7m weather. This place is simply amazing, windy every day with swell after swell coming through and even the small days still kicking up a very ride able 2ft on at least one of the 3 waves on the outside of the lagoon. After 3 days of practise, a meeting on the judging criteria and general info on how the tour will run, we got down to business with the event kicking off on Friday evening.

On Saturday we were awoken by thunder on the reef from the huge waves. The wind however was slow to awake and after a quick expression session to assess the conditions and the judges to get a scoring scale, I was up in the first heat around 3pm.  

Round 1 consists of 3 riders with the winner advancing to round 3 and 2nd place moving to round 2. 
Riding my 9m 2012 North Rebel and strapless 6’3 Resin8 Tokoro I  was up against the local video trials winner and an unknown rider from Reunion Island. I narrowly missed out on the win by 0.3 of a point to the local, which left me miffed as I only scored a 2.6 for my first wave which was a huge wave in the 12ft range. However looking back I remember thinking as I was dropping in that I couldn’t see the judges tower with the other 2 riders on the 2 waves in front, lesson learnt for Peru and at least I got to ride again! With the wind dying the contest director called it for the day with 5 of the men’s round 1 heat's still to run. 

Sunday dawned a little smaller but still pumping around 6ft and after the 2 remaining men’s heats, Steph was first up in the ladies, easily advancing riding strapless with powerful turns in the critical section. The big upsets of the day were former wave world champs, Mitu and Guilly both losing, thus drawing each other in round 2!

Next up for me was French legend and fellow North rider, Jeremie Eloy who’s been charging really heavy waves such as Teahupoo lately. Commentating all morning watching some amazing rides with long open sections, I elected to stay down in front of the judges while Jeremie rode further upwind on the softer Chamioux section. Scoring a great 1st wave I couldn’t get another to open up, and taking a heavy beating which left my ears ringing I bowed out of the comp. The day ended after the end of the ladies round 2 with  the big news of the day that, Mitu won against Guilly.

 The level of riding that followed was simply insane, with over half of the men’s riders going strapless, this event has truly pushed the sport of kite wave riding to new levels with all of the final 4 going up against each other with Mitu riding both ways and Jesse the only full time backsider. In women’s Steph was unlucky to come against local wildcard Ninja in the semis where she narrowly lossed after electing to ride straps for the first time in the yet again triple overhead barrelling waves while Kristin crashed her kite and lost her heat to French rider Marie Gautron.

The finals went down the next day in slightly smaller waves but, what an amazing show and I’ll leave the full report to the KSP press team. I would like to congratulate the winners, Airton Cozzolino and Ninja Bichler who were deserved winners after being the standouts all week. I’ve also got to thank the whole KSP team, judges, local organisers and Indian resort for putting on the best event I’ve been to by far. Also JB who in his own words has the best photos from any watersports event or location he’s ever been to.

Big thanks to my sponsors without whom I would not be able to represent Cornwall and the UK on the KSP World Tour-
Sportif, North, BKSA, Resin8, Freeriders, Wiley X, Rip Curl. 

And of course Tara and my whole family for their continued support. xxx

Bring on Peru!
Cheers
Pasty

All action photos John Bilderback. Big Thanks, be sure to have a look. If you want to purchase any for your own use please contact me in the first instance.

The KSP have just released details of the upcoming event at One Eye, one of if not the best kitesurfing wave on the planet. Can't wait to get there but still in need of some sponsors to help me represent Cornwall and the UK on the highest level world championship tour. See below for the offical press release-

July 21, 2011: The inaugural Mauritius One Eye Pro is set to kick off this year’s KSP World Championship Tour and promises to deliver high caliber, action packed kite surfing. From September 23 to 29, 2011, (with a possible extension period until October 2, 2011) the world’s best kite surfers will vie for the first of three coveted KSP World Tour event titles.

The event will take place at One Eye, a world-class kite surf wave located directly in front of the Indian Resort and Spa at the base of the Le Morne Mountain, a World Heritage Site, renowned for it’s stunning scenery, pristine turquoise waters and perfect surf.  

Local organizer Patrick Desvaux de Marigny states: "We are proud to be able to bring the first ever stop of the KSP world championship tour to One Eye in Le Morne, Mauritius. This event will go down in history, not only for being the launch of an amazing tour with a big future but also for radical wave conditions that give the riders the ability to express their kite surfing styles and techniques to the max."

The KSP is excited to announce it's cooperation with some amazing local partners and sponsors, such as the main event partner the Indian Resort and Spa that agreed not only to host the event, but to also supply free accommodation for the world’s top 24 male and 12 female kite surfers.

Nadine Cameleyre, Managing Director of the Apavou group says: “The Indian Resort and Spa is scattered amidst a succession of lush tropical gardens of 7 hectare, bordered by immense, pristine beaches of white sand just in front of the surfers’ mythical spot One Eye. It is within this exceptional site that the KITE SURF PRO world championship tour event will be held in September 2011. It is with much joy that the Indian Resort is associating in this event as a main sponsor. Through this worldwide event, the Indian Resort shows its implication in the development of this sport in Mauritius and in the promotion of the spot & the destination.”

Additional partners for the Mauritius One Eye Pro include Mauritours Ltd. Travel & Tourism Company, the local travel partner that will also offer free airport/hotel shuttles for all riders, as well as Club Mistral Mauritius, the KSP logistics partner for the event.

The KSP is honored to be working with such an exemplary list of sponsors and partners and is looking forward to a very exciting Mauritius One Eye Pro and the kickoff event to the 2011 KSP World Championship Tour.

For any further info please visit www.kspworldtour.com or contact us at info@kspworldtour.com