A young kiteboarder, JJ Rice (17), who grew up in Ha'apai, represented Tonga at the Pascucci Formula Kite Gran Prix 2023 in Italy last weekend and achieved a personal best.
He competed in four races and achieved his best result when he placed 17th out of 31 racers at Lake Garda on 9 June. There were 13 races all together his best result was 16th.
JJ has lived in Tonga since he was three-years old. His parents Darren and Nina Rice own and operate Matafonua Lodge and Sandy Beach Resort in Faleloa.
His father Darren told Matangi Tonga that JJ taught himself to race on the kite boards and is now taking on the best in the world.
"He has a lot to learn as he never raced on a professional level the tactics of racing before, as he has only ever kited by himself at Ha'apai.”
JJ is currently in Europe representing Tonga in kite foil racing. He will be entering many events including the European championships and the world championships in the next three-months.
His moniker JJ stands for Jackson James. He went to the local GPS at Faleloa then was homeschooled for his high school years.
“He’s in Europe currently to qualify or try to qualify for next year‘s Olympic games, although he was born in the United States, and also has British citizenship as both his parents are British, he chooses to recognize his Tongan nationality,” said Darren
“He is in Europe, doing a total of four events, including the under 21 world championship and the world championship open class. This is the first opportunity he has had to race against other people as usually he trains here at Matafonua by himself in the lagoon, he is an excellent Kiteboarder, but is now learning the tactics of sailing to compete against the best in the world.”
JJ was impressed the Italian champion at the Lake Garda event - when the champ got his kite wrapped around a flagpole, JJ used his coconut climbing sklls in a risky endeavour to untangle the kite from the pole.
