We had highly enthusiastic participants at the first Eurocup Fighter Kite Competition in Donaueschingen! Our first Eurocup fighter kite competition in Donaueschingen started with a strong breeze and a dark covered sky. Was this weather going to spoil our high expectations and intensively prepared weekend? We stood shivering while looking at our chosen competition area. It was located at the edge of the field for the single-line-kites perfectly suited for all wind directions. During the morning, already, and despite bad weather conditions, our kite friends from Austria and fighter kite fans from all over Germany arrived at our flying area.  Before starting the competition, we had a snack in the hangar, chatting about the hobby which was joining us: Fighter Kites. Around noon time, we decided to start the Eurocup competition although the wind conditions were an unpleasant and wet 11-18 mph and a serious challenge for everybody.  The competition was prepared: a wind measuring instrument, "foot area" marked on the ground, divider ropes, a board for scoring the results and judges were all needed to have world class competition conditions. The competition began! The format was a round robin; each contestant flew a match against each other contestant. Choosing the correct kite for the strong wind conditions was difficult; not many of us have had much experience flying in such conditions. Adapting to the strong wind was difficult for all of us and the material of our kites wasn't designed for these conditions. Nevertheless, we didn't give up and flew our matches round per round, point by point - full of enthusiasm and excitement. Each flyer tried various attacking and defensive maneuvers during their matches.....some very exciting using highly skillful flying techniques and good strategies! Of course we had some kites damaged and a few spines broken due to severe crashes during flying maneuvers which might have been too daring for the conditions. This is all part of the fun and excitement! Every new opponent meant adapting oneself repeatedly - blocking and defending against the new opponent's attacks and starting attacks yourself. This was so unbelievably exciting that it even made us forget the strong  wind and the rain which had set in, in the meantime. Being faced with wind of sometimes even 24 mph it became more and more difficult to beat the opponents with the flight capers which had been practiced during the last few weeks. It already became a big challenge to simply avoid crashing your own kite (and so amusing to the opponent) on the lawn before managing a line- touch. In the evening, most of the rounds of the first part were done and the participants, soaked and exhausted, enjoyed the nice dinner together. During dinner there were lots of discussions and plans for the next flights. An exhausting but wonderful kite day; the first day of the first   EuroCup Competition had ended. Next day, weather was better. It no longer rained and the wind conditions were around 4-11 mph. Everyone was relieved about this and so the first round of the competition was completed. Even the sun came out!! The small but real excited and noisy audience made every point a real stress test. It was clear that everybody who participated in this competition had to fight for their points with lots of adrenalin, concentration and power! Some flights became acrobatic and created lots of "aaaaahs" and "ooooohs" from the audience! The absolute highlight of the day was the exciting play off between the two participants who had achieved the same number of points at the end of the round robin matches. The final match was full of skillful maneuvers, great strategies and long lasting points! The audience got stiff necks trying not to miss a single moment of these great final points! Attacks in lightning speed, after spinning the kite hardly above the ground,  or hooking in from above; almost directly over the heads of the flyers! This final match was an impressive finish to our two days of competition! The winner's prize was a helicopter ride generously given by the organizer!! Exhausted but real satisfied about this great weekend, we traveled home, hoping to find a new opportunity, soon, for a new fight and the judge shouting: "Top" or "Bottom"!! | |
