GKA Freestyle World Cup Cumbuco | Super Kite Brazil | Day One

All photos: Svetlana Romantsova

The GKA Kite World Tour is excited to be back in Brazil for the final Freestyle stop of the year. The GKA Freestyle World Cup Cumbuco at Superkite Brazil is taking place next to the Duro Beach Hotel in Cumbuco.

In total 43 riders, 29 men and 14 women of 19 different nationalities, registered to compete at this second freestyle event of the year which is also the last freestyle stop of the GKA Kite World Tour this season.

To everyone’s surprise Karolina Winkowska (POL), three times Freestyle World Champion, signed up to compete at this event after taking a long break from the competition scene. Tour veteran Paula Novotna (CZE), will not be competing at this event as she decided to focus on the wingfoiling and competing at GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Fortaleza straight after this event. Also, Hannah Whiteley (GBR) has decided not to compete, even though she finished third at the last event in Tarifa.

At the moment, any of the top five women Mikaili Sol (BRA), Pippa Van Iersel (NED), Rita Arnaus (ESP), Claudia Leon (ESP), and Nathalie Lambrecht (SWE) can be crowned as the World Champions this year.

Let’s not forget that the GKA Freestyle World Cup Tarifa was the first competition with Pure Big Air Format due to extreme weather conditions (40+ knots wind). In case you want to look back at the event in Tarifa click here to read the Aftermath article.

On the men’s side, we can expect to see some well-known Freestyle riders like Valentin Rodriguez (COL),  Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA) and Carlos Mario Bebe (BRA), fighting for the top positions here in Brazil, but it’s important to remember  Arthur Guillebert (FRA), who proved that he can handle any conditions thrown at him as he claimed the first World Cup title of his career in Tarifa. Keep an eye on Jeremy Burlando (ESP), Ewan Jaspan (AUS), Posito Martínez (DOM), Valentin Garat (FRA) as they also have enough points to reach the top and claim the World Champion Title.

“We are definitely going to see a very exciting last freestyle event in Brazil and we are not used to getting to the final stop of the year with so many different possible scenarios for the World Titles, ” explained Head Judge, Alvaro Onieva.

At this event, we have a pure freestyle format due to the lighter winds. Meaning that 4 tricks from 4 different trick families count from 7 attempts. Riders take turns to perform one trick in 45 seconds. 

Men’s Round 1 and 2

Today we started with the Men’s heats first at around midday. We saw a great performance from 13-years-old Brazilian grom Davi Ribeiro (BRA) who was throwing 319’s during his first heat allowing him to advance straight to Round 3 along with Carlos Martinez (DOM), Manoel Soares (BRA) and Jack Rieder (CAN). In Round 2, riders got a second chance to regain their positions, where Guilherme Costa (BRA) and Matheus Mendez (BRA) showed their best and managed to get through to Round 3.

Women’s Round 1

Women’s heats started in the late afternoon with slightly lighter winds than during the Men’s heats so ladies were on 10-13m2 kites. We managed to complete only Round 1 where newcomer Holly Keenan (GBR) surprised everyone with some great riding and advanced straight to Round 3. Also, 3 x Freestyle World Champion Karolina Winkowska (POL) signed up for this event and scored the highest trick score of the day 7.73 by landing an Inverted Slim Chance. Tomorrow, we’ll continue with the Women’s Round 2 where Brazilian Luiza Crispim will face Nina Font from Spain.

Skippers meeting has been called for 7:30 am tomorrow, with the first possible start at 8:00 am. 

Unfortunately, we have a delay with our live-stream broadcast due to some technical travel issues from Morocco to Brazil so we are trying to find a solution and do our best to get the live-stream started as soon as possible. Meanwhile, follow the live-ticker and live-scoring on our website: www.gkakiteworldtour.com/live/

Check our Instagram stories for regular behind-the-scenes updates throughout the competition.