Breeze on to start Kona Worlds

Clearwater, FL (October 27, 2018) – The first day of the 2018 Kona World Championship enjoyed a roaring start as 12-14 knots in the morning built to 20-22 knots around noon, with gold fleet racing in the open Gulf and silver fleet in the Bay just off the Clearwater Community Sailing Center – the base of operations for the week.

The kids from the Clearwater youth windsurfing team have tons of local knowledge and reveled in the conditions. There are 100 competitors from 12 countries chasing them, and plenty of racing to go so it’s far from a done deal, but they’ll be hard to beat this week!

The shorebreak was intense on the Gulf side, and the swell built to 6-foot by the time the competitors were midway through their second race, so the race committee wisely called it after two races and brought everyone back to the beach.

Meantime, the silver fleet racers enjoyed the flatter conditions inside, and went for a full slate of four races today. Noah Lyons and Alex Temko are on top in the gold fleet, while Canadians Jerry Caplan and Michael Keltz are showing their years of experience and are standing on top in the silver fleet after the day’s races.

Todd Carle traveled all the way from Hawaii to attend the event, and enjoyed sailing the inside course with his wife Irene. “There’s an island in the middle of the bay here, and I always dreamt to stand on a deserted island and write H.E.L.P. in the sand,” said Todd! “Mission accomplished, I can check this off my bucket list!”

Irene added: “I’m loving the venue, and the community here! I found my bearings today and am ready for racing tomorrow. Look out, I’m moving up!”

The schedule is for racing from October 27 to 31.

Event details – Gold results – Silver results – Photos

Source: Jerome Samson