A week after the Kitespeed in PSL (Port St Louis) we are in Leucate near Perpignan.

The first PKRA event of the year, at the Mondail du Vent, compliments the course racing, Orange Speed race, windsurfing, SUP and a trade village including skate and bmx half pipe.

The Mondial du Vent is one of the longest running events in France and has a good following. The crowds attending the event so far have been crazy considering the cold weather and strong winds. Thousands of people have lined the waters edge, or have been enjoying the trade vilage which has workshops for schools, information centres about water and wind power, as well as shops and stands for sponsors.

With Orange, VW, Cool Shoe, all taking the headlines there was plenty to do and look at.

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The first day at the mondail du Vent saw the start of the first round of the PKRA and the French National Long distance racing. It was difficult to find a position to cope with both events so we mainly concentrated on the freestyle .......... wow what a good choice.

The wind was pretty strong and also very gusty, most riders were on their smallest kites. However the british guys and one or two of the others decided to put on a show with stupidly high megaloops with a range of variations. It was obvious that many of the riders were struggling in the heavy gusts, but the English crew lead by 5 time world Champ Aaron Hadlow looked to be relishing the gusty wind (a bit like home really) With jumps well above the houses the huge crowds that had made their way to the waters edge responded to anyone pulling theses crazy jumps.

So at the end of day one most of the usual suspects were there, Aaron, Kevin Langeree, Youri Zoon just back 12 month out, Peter, Alex Pastor who just pipped the UK's Lewis Crathern to a place in the last eight.

Day two didnt see much of an improvement in the weather although the sun shone towards the end of the day. Being slightly behind schedule due to an injury the day previously, it was decided to try and finish everything. So in the Singles Aaron took the podium from Youri Zoon with Alex Pastor Third

In the female cometition Guisella Puilida took first place ahead of Angela Peral 2nd and Brunja Kajiya 3rd

The Double elimination saw Aaron again just pip Youri for his first win of the season and Kevin Langeree managed to claw his way back to 3rd taking the position from Alex Pastor. With a late finish at around 7 pm the riders had been at the beach for 10 hours after a 9am skippers meeting, It had been a long day.

The course racing was totally dominated by two riders who have ben at the forefront of speed kiting for the last couple for years, Alex Caizergues and Seb Catelan. With Alex taking 7 wins out of 8 and Seb second 7 times and 1 win these two riders could not be touched.

The Orange Speed Challenge a race between the fastest kitesurfers and windsurfers was a little unfortunate not to have good wind. This hindered both sets of athletes as they battled for the speed title.

The Trade village had been busy all week with educational stall for children, information for public, clothes and equipment stalls alongside resteraunts and food stands