Recently I had the opportunity to compete in the World Speed Championships along side my fellow GKF ambassador Charlotte Consorti. We battled it out for our world rankings in women’s speed during the 10 day event held in Salin De Giraud, France.The event itself was located in the protected Camargue national park, covering an area of 85,000 hectares Our race site was littered with flocks of flamingos who feed off the plankton in the shallow water ponds.
We spent much of the 10 days waiting for the famous Mistral wind which is known to blow up to 50 knots!! Unfortunately we weren’t graced with the Mistral but had 3 days of 16 - 25 knot wind to compete in. Conditions were definitely challenging for competitors as wind direction kept shifting creating a square course. This was my first speed event and I was not experienced with side-on gusty conditions however I did manage to secure a 3rd place win.
Winners Podium: Men and Women
Those of you who don’t know how speed kite events work here is what a race day was like:
- Wake up 4:30am
- 6am Set up equipment & try to keep warm while watching the sun rise
- 7am green flag
- 1st heat - 1 1/2 hours with possible 15 min extensions
- 15 - 30 min break
- 2nd heat - 1 1/2 hours
- 15 - 30 min break
- 3rd heat - 1 1/2 hours
To all the women that competed, you guys are VERY tough girls!! I’m honored to have competed with you and I look forward to next year!
Thank you Jessica. Big congratulations from the whole GKF Team on your great success! Check out the official video of the event.
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