It is less than two weeks to The Crossing and the stoke is building. The reputation built over 28 years still reaches both coasts and at Kite Worlds last month in San Francisco, it was surprising how many knew of at least one of the Crossings and certainly interested in learning more. Of course, The Crossing two years ago set the bar for long-distance kiting and competing side-by-side with windsurfers followed by the ’08 Kite Crossing being first kiting competition to surpass 100 registrants.

Once again, we offer the category of biathlon, or windathlon. It will involve windsurfing the first lap, then kiting the second lap. It had been discussed several years ago as a possible event during the planning of an expedition to Madeline Island. It seemed only logical since the vast majority of kiters in the earlier years came out of the windsurfing community. Of course, that was a contributing factor to combining windsurfers and kiters in the redesigning of The Crossing two years ago. Registrants will designate that choice during the racers meeting.