On my way to the Europeans Championship!

One more time I'm on the road!! but this time I'll do half of the trip on a Ferry! I'm just about to leave Barcelona on a gigantic Cruise!! Destination Civitavecchia, near Rome, and then 700km driving south to Gizzeria, in Calabria.

It is for sure gonna be an adventure, specially after the way it started…!! I got to the place where you get your ticket, I parked and once I wanted to drive the van to the boat it didn't… that's right…the van didn't start…I was trying for more than 15min and I got super stressed, I thought I was gonna miss the boat!

A very nice guy saw me starting to freak out and came to help me. Then he said he was gonna go look for help and came back with two guys, truck drivers and helped me push the van and it started!!!

OMG, I was so nervous…almost about to cry…I thought I was gonna miss the boat and the competition.

But now it's all good, van is in the boat and so I am!! I thought It was gonna be a very boring long trip but I just found out that there is a 400m gym in the boat and 2 swimming pools!!

The competition starts on Tuesday, so stay tuned for more news!!

Ciao!!

Una vez más estoy de camino a otra competición! pero esta vez haré la mitad del viaje en Ferry! Estoy a punto de dejar el puerto de Barcelona en un crucero gigante!! Destino: Civitavecchia, cerca de Roma, y de ahí 700km conduciendo hacia el sur hasta Gizzeria, en Calabria.

De bien seguro que será otra aventura, especialmente después de la manera en que empezó…! Llegué a la estación del puerto para sacar el billete, aparco la furgoneta, y en cuanto me decido a dirigirme a la cola para embarcar los vehículos…no arranca…!!! No me lo podía creer!!! He estado más de 15 min. intentando arrancar, y cuando ya me he empezado a desesperar y casi a llorar se ha acercado un buen samaritano que estaba viendo mi desesperación!! se ha ido a buscar a dos chicos mas (camioneros) y entre los tres han empujado la fuego y han logradoque arrancara!! Yo estaba ya casi llorando, creía que iba a perder el barco y la competición…

Pero ahora ya pasó todo, la furgo está embarcada, yo estoy también! Pensaba que seria un viaje súper aburrido y largo pero acabo de descubrir que hay un gimnasio de 400 m y dos piscinas!!

La competición empieza el martes, así que ya os mantendré informados!

Ciao!!

Somebody wants to come with me in the board bag...?
Creo que hay alguien que se quiere venir conmigo en el boardbag :)

South/Central American and Spanish Championships

June has been a month full of action, travelling and competition!! 3 competitions in less than a month can be a little bit too much, specially if you add a couple of days of travelling each way and a terrible jet-lag!! But I guess that's part of the game ;)

snorkeling

So I already told you about the comp in Sanfran, definitely my favourite of the 3!! The day after it ended we all flew to Bonaire, Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. Beautiful place!! Paradise of divers for sure!

with Alejandro Climent and Catherine Dufour

Definitely a different spot from San Francisco, from wearing a 5'4 mil. wetsuit to kiting on board shorts and making the impossible not the get burned!! Glad MADFORM safe my ass or better said my skin :)

So after a second place in the North Americans, I got a 4th place in the Central/South American's Championship. Nayara Licariao, the Brasilian girl, killed it winning all the racers. And it was pretty tight in between the rest of us, exchanging positions the whole time.

I was lucky to have my USN recovery products with me as I really needed them after 2 competitions back to back.

And then came the loooong way back home. Three days of travelling and the worse jet-lag ever after spending a month on the other side.

Tired of just reading it?? Just wait and see what was next!! haha...

I hardy had three or four days at home and it was time to pack again. Next destination the Spanish Championships in Isla Cristina, Huelva, right on the furthest place possible from Barcelona!!! 1.400 km driving, around 16 hours...

Afegeix la llegenda

We had an average of 6'5knots during the 4 days of competition. The organisation as always got a 10! but the judges really shoul not call then that...not professional at all. If we have rules in kiteboarding Racing is to follow them. 

I know the world is full of injustice and life is not fair in loads of aspects but I really felt frustration and I even stopped having fun...and unfortunately that was the general feeling of the rest of the fleet. 

I have my gear prepared for a minimum of 6knots including the current, so measuring 6knots from a DRIFTING boat. Those guys should understand that we are NOT boats, so if the gust goes down to 3 knots for 10 seconds, we DON'T FLOAT!! 

And then, why if there's a commette of 3 judges, one single judge (I doubt that even with the minimum qualification) can decide one protest, without this one being written down, not going with a hearing...and out of time!!! and to me was an arranged protest... Why were they giving Redresses to everybody just because they were asking for it???!!!! 

Just Unprofessional the whole event.

That said, everything was decided on the last race. And that "protest" put me in second place. 

Anyway, I feel proud of getting second on a 15m kite when most of the riders could not even fly a 17m. I guess my friend and good rider Leticia Quesada also felt my pain!!

Anyways. that was a competition to forget. Now I'm enjoying a wonderful time here in Portugal, beautiful country although the wind has not been very present in the trip.

More about Portugal soon!!