Karolina Winkowska Crowned Kite Park League Champion

Karolina Winkowska Crowned Kite Park League Champion

The final stop of the Kite Park League is over and it sees Karolina Kinowska crowned overall champion. We talk to the her and some of the girls about this event and side of kiteboarding.

The Rhosneigr Park Jam was the final stop of the Kite Park League – a wake-style kitesurfing tour created and run by the core riders in this discipline that has run events in the Philippines, two events in the USA at the Triple S and Hood River, Russia and this week the final event of the year in Wales, UK.

Once again Karolina Winkowska showed her undisputed competitive talents and took the  win ahead Sensi Graves and Manuela Jungo and at the same time was crowned the overall Kite Park League Women’s Champion for the 2016 season. It seems that the level of the girls riding in park never stops being pushed to its higher and higher levels with these girls all shredding hard.

KPL Girls podium - KiteSista

As the newly crowned KPL Champion, Karolina Winkowska told us:

I am incredibly happy to win the first season of the Kite Park League. After 10 years on freestyle world tour I was really exhausted of going to the same places, competing with the same girls and doing pretty much the same tricks over and over again. Thanks to the KPL tour I refreshed my kiteboarding experience, learned new tricks, met different riders and visited new destinations like Philipines, USA and UK.

It was such an amazing year with all the park style riders for whom the most important thing is to have fun on and off of the water. The competition side is something that makes us travel to the same locations and and makes us progress faster.

The level of girls park riding got incredibly high because for the first time we had a chance to ride together in the best kite parks in the world.

The last event in Rhosneigr, Wales was the event that I really was excited to go to. I’ve never been to the UK for kiteboarding and I knew this would be a good one.

The weather wasn’t spoiling us, but we were prepared with 5mm wetsuits and hoods so the cold couldn’t stop us. The features for the park were awesome, made from recycled materials and also worked on windless days as the organiser set up a 2.0 wake system.

I am super stoked to be part of the Kite Park League and I am looking forward for the next year and more action with all the girls !

Karolina Winkowska Kite Park League Champion

Karolina Winkowska / photo: Alexander James Lewis-Hughes

It is clear that the Kite Park League did a great job and we are really happy to follow and support the riders in this discipline of our sport and it is always a pleasure to see how the riders are working together to make these kind of events happen.

Manuela Jungo - KPL - KiteSista

Manuela Jungo

Sensi Graves has this to say when we spoke to her:

I’m incredibly glad that I made the trip over to the UK to support the Rhosneigr Park Jam. The event hadn’t run in a number of years and I was slightly apprehensive about the conditions, organization, and set up. However with it being a stop in the Kite Park Leaque, I really wanted to show my support and help make it a success. I’m so happy that I did!

We had an awesome week of weather and wind and the crew was stoked to ride in a new location. Ben, the organizer, built both of the features himself and I was very impressed with how they turned out. It was a small event but the crew was devoted to riding and pushing media. Tom Court did an awesome job with the daily edits, James Boulding stepped up as a rider and photographer and Kiteworld, IKSurf Mag and many of the brands came out to support.

When you don’t win, of course you can always do better and the same is true for this event. I didn’t perform all of the tricks that I had planned in my head, and the results showed that. But I’m fine with second. Karolina is totally deserving of first place. It’s been awesome having her on tour with us. She’s such an incredible rider and has been very focused on sliders this year.

This is the first year that we’ve had multiple slider tour stops and it has allowed the women to ride a lot more and push one another. I’m already excited for next year with the KPL!

Sensi Graves - KPL - KiteSista

Sensi Graves / photo: Alexander James Lewis-Hughes

We look forward to following the girls in the next season of the Kite Park League and of course it gives us great pleasure to help support and push this side of kitesurfing to a greater audience.

Don’t forget to follow the Kite Park League on Facebook and Instagram and have a look to the latest video of the Rhosneigr Park Jam below.



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