Finally getting back on here to give you guys a little wrap up of the annual Miami KiteMasters event that runs every spring on the beautiful beaches of Key Biscayne, Florida. This event is the longest running kiting contest in Florida, however it didn’t happen last year making this years have a even larger excited crowd ready for action after the 2 year hiatus.

We got lucky coming into this event as the wind didn’t look too promising a few days out from the weekends event. Then on Friday before the event the winds began to change, and changed for the better! Showing 15-18 mph from the NorthEast for the weekend! Seeing the new forecast I threw my gear in my car and started my trek over to Miami!

Sure enough when I arrived, I was greeted with a lot more wind then what we had back home! Knowing that I wasn’t missing out on anything back home and scoring a session somewhere else for some reason is one of the best feelings. My favorite part about the kiting events here in the United States is that it brings a lot of the core kiters together from across the country making for one big reunion. If there was anything that could bring us all together it’d surely be the wind!

As the wind continued to fill in the Freestyle heats where scheduled to start at noon. As the draws went up I was excited to see myself in one of the first heats with a lot of new names. With my 12 and 14m Mutiny P-Series rigged I reached for my 14m before the heat started as I wanted to be well powered to stay in the small judging box during the contest. And with this decision I had a great heat helping me in advancing to the next round.

In my semi-final I drew a lot of familiar faces. I was up against Damien Leroy and Kellen Hall, two of the best riders on the east coast of the US and probably for that matter the US. The wind was picking up still but I wanted to keep my kite low and powered against these two so I went on my 14m again and with some luck and a smooth heat made it through to the finals with Damien and myself advancing.

Making it into the finals I now knew each rider.. Making it seem kind of like one fun session with my friends! Most riders went out on 9-12m kites but once again I decided for the 14m! Got some strange looks when I went to put it up as it was blowing 20+mph! But I’ve ridden the kite before into these winds and really enjoy the way the 14m P-Series feels for freestyle tricks powered up.

I have to say in the finals I had the best contest heat I’d ever had! I landed every trick I could throw and didn’t crash once in the finals! However somehow this wasn’t enough to make the podium.. I think I made kiting look too easy or something to the judges and needed to crash and butt check more to get my degree of difficulty up a notch.. 😉 This is what makes competing tough and feel unrewarding. But at the end of the day I was so excited with how I was riding I just continued to keep riding after the heat had ended!

To wrap up the day the heats of Boarder X started and I was excited to race around a fun downwind course! I won my first heat with a little bit of heat from a fellow rider I respect as he didnt like how powered I came into the turn making for a dicey jibe. It was clearly my fault on this one but it was a race with what seemed to be no rules.. Board X style. In the next heat I was leading the pack and couldn’t find the paddleboards to jump.. resulting in me ending the heat in 3rd and not advancing to the finals. None the less this was the most fun I’ve ever had in a kite race!

Wrapping up a fun day with a nice sunset on the bay water with dinner and friends I made my journey home not with a medal to show for it this time but a lot of contest experience gained and new friends to remember the times with!