European Winter Surfing Championships was 3 days of competition on the ice. There were both ice and wind, giving full racing days both for kites and sleds.
Organizing that kind of event there is always a risk of having no wind. You can never predict it and while events last 5-6 days you can be sure there is the wind at some days but the risk of having no wind increases with fewer days. For winter surfing the other thing needed is ice and luckily we had it, too, at least 30cm at the racing area.
Of course, the conditions were not perfect: there could have been more snow for kiters, the ice could have been smoother for sleds, the one big crack caused some problems (although the ice was thick there still is this One Bad Crack somewhere), Sunday was maybe a bit too wet.. But overall, hey, as said, we had wind and ice and races every day!
We all know that kind of event cannot go without problems so we faced some, too. We are very happy we got such an amount of participants but as almost half of them were not preregistered it caused some delays on Friday. The race committee had to redo some prepared stuff and so on, it just took some time. Hey, we are really happy you all came, no worries! Also, we were not prepared to have 53 sleds on course race – of course it caused some problem at first races. But it was wonderful to have such a big fleet!
However, there was some broken equipment, some accidents and disappointment, some decisions not liked by everyone. Even the ambulance had to find its way to us but luckily left without taking any participants to the hospital.
It was good to see winter surfing is not a “dying” sports – there were so many youngsters taking part! U17 was a big fleet, both in kites and sleds. Meaning – winter surfing has a bright future with so many new racers coming along.
In the end, hopefully, we all learned something new. Who just found something to improve, who improved during those days already a lot..
Today, the champions were announced and prizes were given.
The fastest person in GPS speed discipline was Raigo Piho (EST) in kite ski class.
In the GPS speed sled class the winners were:
I place Boris Ljubtšenko (EST) – European Champion
II place Paulius Voverys (LTU)
III place Marianne Rautelin (FIN)
Kite results
Kite ski grand masters:
I place Martti Ainola EST
II place Elena Bessmeztnykh RUS
Kite ski youth (U20):
I place Maria Ruzhankova (RUS)
II place Ivan Okhotnikov (RUS)
III place Alisa Kodaneva (RUS)
Kite ski women:
I place Maria Ruzhankova (RUS)
II place Elena Bessmeztnykh (RUS)
III place Alisa Kodaneva (RUS)
Kite ski overall:
I place Andrei Balyakin (RUS) – European Champion
II place Sergei Samushin (RUS)
III place Nikita Kodanev (RUS)
Course race sled class
Grand masters:
I place Aleksandrs Leontjevs (LAT) – division European Champion
II place Tõnis Salong (EST)
III place Robertas Berkelis (LTU)
Youth (U20):
I place Jedrzej Cituk (POL) – division European Champion
II place Maciej Pietrzak (POL)
III place Leon Sroczynski (POL)
Junior (U17:)
I place Maciej Pietrzak (POL) – division European Champion
II place Leon Sroczynski (POL)
III place Igor Lewinski (POL)
Women:
I place Marianne Rautelin (FIN) – division European Champion
II place Natalia Wojcik (POL)
III place Katarzyna Nabialek (POL)
Overall:
I place Janis Preiss (LAT) – European Champion
II place Aleksandrs Leontjevs (LAT)
III place Jan Sulinski (POL)
Slalom sled class
Grand Master:
I place Aleksandrs Leontjevs LAT – Division European Champion
II place Robertas Berkelis LTU
III place Tõnis Salong EST
Youth (U20):
I place Ugnius Alekna (LTU) – Division European Champion
II place Joonas Väär EST
III place Kaur Säärits EST
Junior (U17):
I place Joonas Väär (EST) – Division European Champion
II place Kaur Säärits EST
III place Edies Busmanis LAT
Women:
I place Marianne Rautelin (FIN) – Division European Champion
II place Betti Vainküla (EST)
III place Elena Radionova (RUS)
Overall:
I place Janis Preiss (LAT) – European Champion
II place Paulius Voverys (LTU)
III place Boris Ljubtshenko (EST)
Thanks for all participants and, of course, to our sponsors Androna, Metallituba, Flaka, Palmse Mehaanikakoda, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Gambling Tax Council, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Viljandi Parish and 3D Wind Service.
The Winter Surfing Europeans 2019 were organized by Estonian Yachting Union with co-operation World Ice and Snow Sailing Association (WISSA).
