Anyone in here been over to Kite Defi in France?

Whats the go with that boat screaming out directly in front of everyone, looks like he smoked a few guys with his wake lol.

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daniel_y said..
Whats the go with that boat screaming out directly in front of everyone, looks like he smoked a few guys with his wake lol.

I was wondering the same thing.
I think he was acting as the start line?

that looked hectic.

start line... 400 entrants

super mega great event , from my friends who ve done it here, organisers are top, very friendly event and good vibes, go for it monsieur dachopper, make sure you join in early though, as soon as registrations opens , i suppose they do a rabbit start, you might wanna try a LE MANS start at your local, it s good fun...
racing in kiting is great what ever your equipment, go for it guys.

Thinking about it... everything is in French though... is it open to foreigners?

that s all right i ll help you with the language, i reckonn their registrations is translated in some ways, they re pretty good.
don t forget nobody s a foreigner in froggland anymore nowadays , sorry SB moderator no politics here, i forgot ...; only kidding
anyway you ll be more than wellcome, that event is awesome, you might have to digg in your wallet a bit as the rego is not cheap, but trully worth it if the conditions are right, i live in the south as well, but on the other side, if you carry on your trip in france or europe you r wellcome at my local as well, one of my best WA friend was here a while ago, he enjoyed it...

Sweet... yeah I'm in the south France area next year for 3 weeks when the race is on..... when do they open for registration normally ?

for the end of may 2019 edition, they opened rego on the 15th of march, i m pretty sure all the spots were taken in 20 days easy, having said this, if you pay on line as you r sure to be there, as soon as you register you will secure a spot no worries, if you wait too much then you ll end up on a waiting list maybe, and the rego fee INCREASES HEAPS after a certain period prior to the event.
yes it s an internationnal open event, people come from all over the world, there s an english version on their website, i tried to post it here yesterday, could n t manage.
rabbit start, daily race briefing is both in french AND ENGLISH so no probs, medical clearance meaning health certificate 1 year valid confirming that your ok for THE PRACTISE OF KITEBOARDING IN COMPETITION by your doc, then you might need a french license to FFV ( french sailing permit from the frog federation ) in case your WAKSA REGO is not accepted, extra cost 30 Eu , now both of these douments which are MANDATORY can be arranged at their secretary desk on the spot the day before the event which is a thursday between 6 and 8 pm, or early the next morning 1 st day of comp, like in any race BIB distribution is on site as well and requires a deposit of 30 Eu cash exact amount, refunded on the sunday when returning the BIB.

now regarding wind conditions, gruissan is famous for beeing super windy cranking, i d say their daily routine is around 35 + easy at this time of year, the tramontane wind is coming from the NW and blowing OFFSHORE on the kite spot beach, and as you can imagine with 400 riders on the water, the safety aspect of their organisation is TREMENDOUS they re not good they r FANTASTIC, safety boats everywhere, jet skis ready to rush and beleive me they r fast, fleet of ambos, choppers, so you ll be safe...
keep in mind, they won t send race in " autan " wind as it s blowing from the SE, on shore, creating a huge shore break, no REGO REFUND possible.

Great.... I think I'll try. It also says it's 100 km !!!! Looks like it's up the beach and return but how long generally are each of the races ?

it depends on the wind i suppose, but on a windy conditions, you r in for quiet some time out there
true it s massive runs along the beach, huge tacks, gotta have good legs, just like racing with race boards few years back before foiling took over.
keep in mind everything is tiny in france, and gruissan is just a small village, on that public holiday long w end, the place would be packed, so make sure you secure some kind of accomodation, unless your travelling solo and you can sleep in your rental car