Sliders Are Taking Over the World

It’s that time of year when everyone who is anyone in the world of kite park riding heads to Real Watersports in Cape Hatteras to take on the slider park! Find out who won right here!

The kite world called, and the Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational answered. A week of competition among the world's best riders, in a format that was easy to understand and exciting to watch, went down in true Triple-S fashion. During the 2016 Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational, action could be found at any hour. Solid wind, progressive riding, and rowdy nights were ordered and delivered in excess.

Competition at the 2016 Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational was hotter than ever. In its 11th year running, the Triple-S is a proven event with experienced organisers, consistent judging, and a pile of prize money. With uncertainty surrounding the freestyle world tour, many freestyle-focused athletes, who are usually at the peak of their season on the world tour, were looking for an outlet to focus their competitive energy, so they booked their flights to the Outer Banks to compete in the Triple-S Open and the Triple-S Invitational. Former freestyle world champions Aaron Hadlow, Alex Pastor, Christophe Tack, Bruna Kaija, and Karolina Winkowska were all on hand!

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The level of competition among the riders was noticeably higher this year. It's evident that the entire field has been pushing their riding in preparation for this event. Competitors have been seeking out kite and cable parks worldwide to get in as much sliding time as possible on rails and kickers. Impressive were the number of freestyle riders who turned up in the Outer Banks looking confident in the park.

Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational organisers revised the contest format to elevate the level of competition this year. For starters, they decreased the number of invited riders. They cut down the field to give the top riders more time in the park.

Athletes in the Triple-S have been proactively involved as organisers have evolved the format and the feel of the event. As the Triple-S has metamorphosed from a wild week of partying with the crew into one of the most prestigious kite contests on the calendar, riders have made sure that their input is heard. This year, for example, Eric Reinstra carefully draughted a proposal to change details about the format, including a request to give each rider three hits per feature instead of two. He then collected signatures from each invited rider in support of his proposal. Organisers listened to the plea from the riders and changed the format to reflect the request.

Leading into the contest week, North Carolina was soaked by Tropical Depression Bonnie. However, the storm cleared and stable south-west winds filled in for the start of the competition window. In round 1, riders were split into four heats. Each heat ran through three mini-parks, starting with the KOA mini kicker and the North Kiteboarding rooftop, progressing to the Core mega kicker and the Liquid Force reverse rainbow, and finishing with the 82-foot-long John Wayne up-flat-down. Each competitor was given three hits on each feature, and their top score on each feature was tallied to produce an overall score. The wind was solid all day. The men started on 11 and 13-meter kites and dropped down to their 9's and 10's by the end of the day. The ladies started on 9's and 11's and were on 5's and 7's in the evening.

The entire first round was completed on day one, narrowing the field of 20 men and eight women into final heats of 12 men and four women. Brandon Scheid, Eric Rienstra, and Sam Light won each of the three men's first-round heats, and Sensi Graves and Colleen Carroll tied for first on the women's side. 

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Day two saw another burst of south-west wind, this time, accompanied by bouts of rain and thunder. Organisers, competitors, and spectators patiently waited through squalls and lulls, and by the end of the day, the final round was a wrap. The Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational final was nothing short of jaw-dropping in 2016. Progression was on tap all day. Riders went hit-for-hit, each competitor pushing to top the riding thrown down by those around them. Diehard spectators packed the observation dock, even as squalls of driving rain soaked the region.

On day three, the Outer Banks was still under the siege of Tropical Storm Colin, the streets were filled with water, and the competition was put on hold. While competitors waited out the storm, a bit of the original Triple S vibe took hold of the island. Riders set up winch lines through puddles and swimming pools, and athletes let their hair down after dark.

Eventually, the storm cleared, and the men's consolation round was completed during day four and day five. The men in the consolation round were fired-up as they battled for the remaining invite spots for the 2017 Triple-S Invitational. The top 16 men will be automatically invited back, while the rest of the field will have to re-qualify.

After the competition heats had been completed, classic Triple S jam sessions commenced. Sliders were spun around and hit backwards, and risky kicker-to-slider-gaps were teed up. The Real Watersports slider park stayed busy until the dark of night coaxed everyone off the water.

Thanks in part to a new title sponsor, Wind Voyager, a new, luxury catamaran that will be setting sail this fall, $50,000 in prize money was awarded to top finishing competitors. Wind Voyager is a young company that was started by a crew of former REAL Watersports clients. The Wind Voyager will traverse the Caribbean in search of pristine, untouched kiteboarding locations.

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Earning big paychecks this year were the podium winners:

Men

• 1st – Sam Light – United Kingdom – Slingshot ($12,000)
• 2nd – Brandon Scheid – USA – Liquid Force ($7,5000)
• 3rd – Christophe Tack – Belgium – Liquid Force ($5,000)

Women

• 1st – Karolina Winkowska – Poland – Slingshot ($5,500)
• 2nd – Colleen Carroll – USA – North ($3,300)
• 3rd – Bruna Kajiya – Brazil – Red Bull ($2,000)

New this year was the Wind Voyager Triple S Invitational Challenge Series, an opportunity for riders to earn extra cash for landing never-before-seen tricks in competition. The following offers were on the table during each contest heat:

720 Challenge: $720 to the first woman to land a 720 handle pass off a kicker in an Invitational heat

900 Challenge: $900 to the first person to land a 900 handle pass off a kicker in an Invitational heat

1080 Challenge: $1080 to the first person to land a 1080 handle pass off a kicker in an Invitational heat

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It was Christophe Tack from Belgium who walked away with some extra cash, landing a frontside 900 on his first right-foot-forward kicker hit in the men's final.

While organisations such as the IKA, KRU, ISAF, sponsors, and bureaucrats squabble on about the freestyle world tour, kite park event organisers and the Kite Park League (KPL) are filling the gap. A full calendar of kite park events is confirmed this year, with a ranking system in place to crown an overall champion. The KPL's main objective is, "to help develop kite parks around the world, unify event format, and create an effective output that will show park riding and the sport at its best." The KPL doesn't host events; it just unifies the events that are on the calendar into a format that will crown an overall champion. The league was formed by the riders in an effort increase kite park riding opportunities.

At the conclusion of the Wind Voyager Triple-S Invitational, most park riders are migrating west, to Hood River, OR. A majority of the Triple-S field will be spending portions of the next few months riding at the Slider Project Park in Hood River. Stay tuned for the next KPL event, the Hood Jam, August 5-11.