Seattle launches Course Racing Series

The Seattle Yacht Club is hosting a winter Kiteboard Course Racing Series. The first race was held October 17th on Lake Washington.
The idea for the series was instigated by Adam Vance and Adam Koch, and supported by many others including Urban Surf, the local Kiteboard and Windsurf shop, and many volunteers.
The Yacht Club played an integral role in this first race providing professional boat support and running a great course.

Adam Koch showed aggressive riding style taking 1st place overall flying an Ozone Edge 13m. With 4 races run back to back with increasing wind speeds, riders were forced to stay on the kite that they started with, despite the stronger conditions. Adam took several 1st place finishes and one 2nd placement, and claimed that he was comfortable on the 13 in those conditions, but he could have done even better on an 11m Edge, as he was more powered than many riders on the course.

With the varying weather in Seattle, the next race dates are still to be announced, but will take place some time in November.

What was great to see at this first race was the amount of enthusiasm for Kite Racing. Only a dozen or so riders were expected to kick off this regatta, yet over 35 registered, with boards ranging from twin tips and surf boards to a handful of custom race boards. This North West race series is sure to raise interest in racing as well as the overall level of the competition.