FRANCE – The French debut of the PKRA 2008 World Tour closed with a series of successful kiteboarding games under its belt. This PKRA stop, the second in a series in and around North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, saw the most number of kiteboarding races held so far in a single stop. Now the PKRA 2008 World Tour goes to El Yaque, Margarita and El Coche island in Venezuela for the third stop from April 30 to May 4, 2008 HUMAN STORY – Paralympian Kelly Smith, who lost the use of his legs in a rappelling accident in 1991 and was a silver medallist in the marathon at the Athens Paralympic Games is nearly as active before. He rappelled down a 20-storey building in Vancouver in September, his first such expedition since the accident, as a fundraiser for children with disabilities. He is now looking to launch the first kiteboarding school for youth with disabilities… let’s hope he gets that off the ground. ADVICE – although we’re coming to the end of the season don’t forget snowboarding goggles are an essential piece of gear for a snowboarder – they can protect your eyes from snow-glare, the sun, ultraviolet rays, snow and if you should veer off course, your eyes will be protected from that stray branch that hits you in the face. SPLAT… USA – The first event of the Arizona Wakeboard Association’s Rider Series will be held on April 26th at Lake Pleasant’s Two Cow Cove. This event will be pulled by the newest wakeboard boat on the market, the Wakecraft ZR6. What does this means for the rider? 1200 pounds of factory ballast, plus 20.6′ foot length and 98" beam which provides room for you and 11 of your closest friends… forget the cat! ECO-SK8: V-LAM Saving Trees, one Skateboard at a time. Gravity Skateboards offers V-lam, a new technology that turns their birch scraps into some of the most resilient and cool looking skateboards on the market. The scrap wood from skateboards, which would normally be recycled, now goes directly towards making a stronger skateboard, not only giving your board longer life, but adding a brilliant new dimension to the look of your ride. What could be more win, win than improved skateboards and more trees? WINTER OLYMPICS 2014 – Sochi 2014 is on schedule and budget and the first phase of construction is already at an advanced stage in the mountains – 27 additional construction projects due to start this year. The Organising Committee of the 2014 Winter Games have established a Public Ecological Council and held the first formal Council meeting. The Council comprises the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee and a series of senior environmental experts together with bodies from respected NGOs such as Greenpeace Russia and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) through to environmental agencies and academic experts. Surfing
The O’Neill Highland Open by Swatch in Scotland is ready to start and will be an exciting and important event for the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) and World Championship Tour (WCT) 2009 hopefuls. The event will be an real opportunity for current WQS points leader, 22 year-old Patrick Gudauskas, to consolidate his position as the top surfer on the WQS tour. He currently leads the WQS ratings with 5944 points, having had a solid start to the 2008 season by winning the WQS 5 Star O’Neill Sebastian Inlet Pro and making the round of 24 at The O’Neill Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River, Western Australia. Previously he had two WQS 4 star wins in Europe in 2006 (The Vendee Pro and Pantin Pro) and almost qualified by finishing the year at nº 22. In 2007 he was again close to qualifying but suffered an ankle injury prior to the Triple Crown. Now he has regained his form and is making every effort to join the elite WCT Tour for 2009.