Big Airs and Huge Wins for Team Naish at the 2015 Tarifa Kitesurfing World Championships in Tarifa, Spain 

July 17, 2015, Tarifa, Spain – Team Naish stole the Big Air show at the 2015 Tarifa Kitesurfing World Championships in Tarifa, Spain this Friday with Kevin Langere taking 1^st on his Naish Torch and Ariel Corniel taking 2^nd place in the finals. Perfect high winds and sunny 80 degree weather set the ideal stage as athletes presented spectators with a mind-blowing 6-day show.

Tarifa, Spain is known as the summer mecca for kiteboarding and, as the third stop on the Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC) World Tour, an event that most competitors on tour look forward to all year long. For Naish Team riders, Spain was an event much anticipated, as it promised the perfect arena of strong winds to showcase their favorite discipline: big airs.

On the first day of registration 47 entrants from 21 countries signed-up for both Freestyle and Big Air disciplines. The contest started off slow due to light winds, causing the PKRA organization to hold off the contest, then resume on the fourth day when the wind finally picked up. By the fifth day the winds were up to 25-35 knots, which was too gusty for the freestyle contestants, but perfect for the Big Air show.

Emphasizing his passion for this portion of the contest, Kevin Langeree asserts, “I think the Big Air contest has big potential… it’s something everyone is starting to notice. Everyone likes to see somebody jump really big. It’s important that it’s back on the tour, especially in Tarifa, where the wind is super strong.” During the Big Air portion, Naish Team riders Paul Serin and Kevin Langeree both made first place in their first rounds, qualifying them into the semi-finals. Naish’s Ariel Corniel took a longer route, getting second in the first round, forcing him to battle it out in the second round to advance further. Fortunately, he was able to grab first place and move into the semi-finals with his fellow team riders.

The semi finals were a very exciting heat for competitors and spectators alike. Kevin scored a 9.3 for a kite loop one-footer and everything fell into place from there. In Ariel and Paul’s heat, Ariel took the win progressing into the final round against Kevin and two others.

The final proved more difficult after a large fluctuation in wind. After being nearly overpowered by high winds in the first couple rounds, a 10-knot drop in wind gave Kevin and some other riders concerns about being potentially underpowered. Despite the conditions, Kevin was ready to go. The first trick he tried was a kiteloop backroll—causing him to lose his board and flip a couple times landing hard onto the water. He quickly got on his board and executed a couple excellent Kiteloops and high jumps before spotting Ariel on a handle pass. He then thought, “Now I have to try a handle pass!” Fortunately for Kevin, despite crashing a couple times while attempting his handle pass, his scores were high enough to take the lead.

Interestingly enough, the largest impact on his performance all came down to his relationship with his kite, the Naish Torch. Kevin explains, “The main thing is I want to go as big as I can, so I try to hold on to the biggest kite I can hold on to. Together with Damien (Naish’s Kite Designer), we’ve made smaller adjustments to the Torch and this year the kite is exactly how I want it to be. Having control over your kite gives you so much more confidence. I know exactly where my kite is, and how much power it’s going to have. Knowing that is great, and important. It gives you the confidence to focus on your trick—and that feeling is great.

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Kevin Langeree
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Paul Serin
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