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Preparing Lords of Tram 2024

Lords of Tram 2024 Preparation

The year is flying and I am back in France with just one week to go to the beginning of the window period of Lords of Tram 2024, the first stop of the GKA big air world tour. 

Not only Race Director

Like in the last two editions of the contest, I will be Race director.
This year, however, I am more invested as I have joined Tristan Hattu and Etienne De Saunhac as one of the organisers of the event. Hence my presence a couple of weeks before.

It has been an intense 3 months of preparations behind the scenes.

The event is once again sponsored by the city of Barcares,  in collaboration with Duotone, Ion and Aneo, and it looks set to be the biggest and best yet! 

With all 3 organisers passionate about kiteboarding, and sharing a vision for the sport, we hope to grow the event and set ourselves up for further development in the sport. 

Lords of Tram 2024 is a go! 

So check out the Website and social media channels for the Green light and get ready for the Big air Kiteboarding show of the year! 

WEBSITE

Poster of Lords Of Tram Kitesurfing contest 2024 with graphics
Person walking in front of large banner
People looking at laptop computer
Cedric Vandenschrik at Barcares, parc des dosses
Etienne desaunhac and Cedric Vandenschrik in front of Computer
Kiteboarding

Joining Lacuna Kiteboarding

Cedric Vandenschrik with Lacuna T shirt and Cap on a beach

Joining Lacuna

Super excited to announce that I have joined Lacuna Kiteboarding in a new adventure. 

Besides riding their newly designed gear, I will be assisting Lacuna in development and testing. I will also help gathering momentum on the media front. 

Kiteboarder riding on ocean with white helmet. Kite in the foreground

Passion is key

Dave and Su Kay are passionate about the sport like I am. We speak the same language and believe in a brand that stands for functional, durable, enjoyable gear.

With my 24 years of frothing for the next kite session and their experience in the Kiteboarding industry, I believe we are going to make Lacuna into a “Real” kiteboarding brand. 

Omega

I’ll be putting the Omega through the Ced grinder in the next few months. So far it has already delivered hours of fun! 

For now I am riding a 133 React board and already testing some footpads to tune into the best big air option there is. 
With a custom made handle, I am already finding my board-offs are getting more stylish! 

Lacuna is a brand on the move with the idea of skipping the usual marketing bull of coming up with game changers every 6 months.

Kiteboarder riding shot from the water with Lacuna on the bottom of his board
Kiteboarder with white helmet in mid air with the board in his hand

The core principles of Lacuna are simple, durable performance orientated designs. That fits perfectly with my vision of kiteboarding.
I have also been looking for a brand that would capitalise on my eclectic set of skills. From testing to media production and marketing vision.  I believe Dave and Su get that.

With joining Lacuna Kiteboarding, will be travelling with the Kites to Europe later this year and will focus some of my energy on getting feedback from riders around me. I will also be gathering Media material from different spots. 
In my opinion it is always good to ride all kinds of conditions to truly understand the application of kiteboarding gear. Not everyone gets to have perfect conditions on their doorstep.

Looking forward to this adventure! Hope to see you all along for the ride. 

Kiteboarding

Lords of Tram 2023

Cedric Vandenschrik, Race Director at Lords of Tram 2023

And once again, Lords of Tram delivered!

The Window period for this premium Big Air Event on the kiteboarding circuit was from the 1st to 30th of April. 
Mother nature decided to deliver 2 days of strong Tramontana winds to the Parc des Dosses in Barcares 

GKA World Cup event

Last year I had briefly taken on the job of Tour Manager for Big Air Kiteleague. Unfortunately things didn’t work out and I stepped down in August 2022.
However, last year I had been contracted directly by Tristan Hattu for Lords of Tram. He was keen to continue the working relationship and insisted on having me as race director.

Lords of Tram this year was affiliated to Global World Kiteboarding Association to become a Qatar Airways GKA World tour stop. 
This added a new dimension to the contest as it is now part of the coveted title of Big Air kiteboarding world champion.
This also meant working closely with the GKA team of Judges and crew.

The Forecast

Cedric Vandenschrik checking wind on beach with forecast below

And in a repeat of last year, almost to the day, the forecast came through on the first days of the window period.

The ladies started the event on Saturday 1st of April with a nice solid 30/35 knots. 
Around mid day, the wind dropped and I had to put the contest on hold. 
It then picked up again and went wild in late afternoon and literally blew the semi final of Angely Bouillot and Nathalie Lambrecht off the water. 

Finishing Lords of Tram

With having to suspend the contest with unsafe gusts over 55 knots, the pressure was on. The forecast on Monday was dropping slightly and the city was keen to have a result on the Sunday.

Sunday started at day break with some of the set up team being there before light-break to get everything set up.
The first heat touched the water just after 8 am and the contest was underway. 
Thankfully, besides one accident on a triple loop attempt by Clement Huot which resulted in a violent impact, and a few accidental kite releases, the event ran smoothly. 
The last few heats of the day were challenged by variable winds. The Judging team was very flexible with the format and we mostly got through it with only some riders upset at being unlucky with the wind in their heat.
Unfortunately we deal with a variable that we do not control. It’s part of the game and makes the kite choice tricky, especially at this spot. 

Cedric Vandenschrik at Briefing of Lords of Tram 2023 with riders in background

Lords of Tram Team

Cedric Vandenschrik on microphone with Tristan Hattu looking on at Lords of Tram 2023

Any event of this nature and stature has challenges. 
Once again, the team assembled by Tristan Hattu was amazing at dealing with issues when they occurred. 

If you have never been on the organising side of an event like this, you will never understand what it takes to pull it together and how awesome it is to have people you can rely on and who can identify problems before they occur. 

So again, Team Lords of Tram, Well done!

Off course well done to the riders! What an epic show you put on! I sometimes wish I had more time to look at your performances on the water (preferably from the water) as you have truly taken this sport to the next level.

Also special mention to the main sponsor, the city of Barcares which seem to have removed the word “No” from their vocabulary. 
They have bent over backwards to accomodate requests from the event but also literally accommodated and fed just about everyone involved.

As we go forward, new friendships are solidifying and the future for the event looks very bright. I can see people and projects burgeoning and expanding.

For my part it has been an interesting experience working at the top level of Kiteboarding contests and seeing how different people deal with pressure.  The Job of Race Director is not always easy, and I hope to bring a small contribution to the sport in my own little way. 

Now it’s back to kiting for myself and other missions.

You can find the live stream and other videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@lordsoftram

Ced

All photos by Arnaud Wareck

Merci