Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour 2022
GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla
Spot: Westpoint
LIVETICKER Day 6 – 02nd October 2022 (GMT+1)
Current discipline: TBC
Heat duration: TBC
Format: TBC
Wind: TBC
Waves: TBC
17.30: Our media team is currently on a trip to the dunes to get some all-important content and shots! All riders are preparing for a day of travel tomorrow. The kites are drying, wetsuits are hanging and we’ll shortly be treated to that sweet Moroccon sunset once more.
11.45: With competition well and truly wrapped up, today our media team will take a bunch of riders to some hot spots in Dakhla! Unfortunately, there’s very little wind and the swell has now passed but we plan on making the most out of the beautiful surroundings that Dakhla has to offer.
LIVETICKER Day 5 – 01st October 2022 (GMT+1)
19.00: The wind never filled in to run competition but now all podium athletes ar where and ready for the prize giving!
14.10: With just under 2 hours to go until we have our freestyle session our riders are getting some training time on the water. The wind is still a little light but we’re hopeful for some great action to round off the day!
10.15: Good morning from Westpoint Dakhla! After recharging the batteries from three intense competition days we’re back for some exhibition action! at 11 we start with a beach clean where riders and the local community will do a beach clean followed by some signature signing. At 16.00 judges plan to run a freestyle showdown that will include a new scoring concept which both judges and riders discussed yesterday.
We’ll be live streaming the action so be sure to check in later on this afternoon!
LIVETICKER Day 3 – 29th September 2022 (GMT+1)
SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH THE LIVESTREAM
17.45: MEN’S FINAL RESULT!
Sebastian Ribeiro V James Carew
Mid size waves opened up the heat, so much leg work from both riders! James’ pure grit power versus Sebastian’s silky smooth precision engineering. Carew snuck into an early lead after two waves each thanks to a stalled air on the inside, landing perfectly back into the wave. We’ve not seen that from Sebastian yet at this event, and James has a handle-pass somewhere in his repertoire at times. 8.20 for the Australian for that wave – strong.
The waves continued and this was turning into a battle of whose thighs would be able to handle the many, many turns these guys would no doubt make by the end of this 22 minute heat.
James was merging full power surfing with a more kite power oriented style and it paid off in these mid size waves. He was the first rider to break into the 9 point scores.
Carew on 17.20 with 15 minutes still to go – his second highest heat score of the comp; he was peaking at just the right time and meant business proving he certainly did “came here to fight.”.
Sebastian was back on 14.57. Seb’s highest heat score in round five was 18.40; a heat that featured a 9.57 and 8.83, so this final was far from over.
Mid heat and the dog fight continued with both riders deciding to go on the mid sized waves littering the bay as they were the best on offer. Carew again made a full length ride finishing off with yet another air on the inside, pitching him in front of the wave. No doubt this is the best the Australian current world champion has ridden all contest. That earned him a 9.47 to partner up with his 9.00 – now he had the highest heat score of the competition – over to you Seb!
The Brazilian surf-stye mechanic needed to improve both his scores. The waves starting breaking beyond head high and this is where Seb arguably becomes favourite. He set to work, dissecting section after section with impossibly good timing. As he tacked back out over the white water and headed back out to the top of the bay it took a while for his score to drop – eventually it did with both riders in position awaiting nature’s next set delivery. Still 7 minutes to go – his 8.43 came on screen and was an improvement for him, but he still needed more than 10 points from one wave to overtake James.
So he needed two good set waves and to nail both almost perfectly – high 9s for each was the demand.
Carew crashed an air rotation mid wave, obviously flexing some confidence comfortably ahead.
Seb hooked into one far out at the rocks and completed four turns complete before the mid section. He stalled to let the wave build. Bang, another turn perfectly in the pocket. Three more turns, never more than a few metres from the foam. Still working it all the way in, would the section suck enough for a big final lip smack. His ride was great, but didn’t look quite like a 9. The heat was slipping away. J
ust over 3 minutes left and Sebastian scored another 8. He was still combo’d with James on two 9+ point scores. Seb still needed to improve both his wave scores.
The horizon didn’t look promising. Judging criteria was the best two wave scores from 12 attempts – technically it was still possible, but for the first time all competition that Sebastian’s big wave magnets looked to be failing him.
90 seconds to go, the boys could only turn back and forth on the outside in search of some ocean goodness.
Looking out again, only sloppy waves presented themselves in the final moments and that was it. James Carew, current world champion, had timed his peak in performance to perfection. That is how the ultimate competitors do it!
Sebastian has given us some of the best wave riding moments of the competition, but when it really counted Carew’s out-punched his rival, grunting and growling his way to the top.
James Carew is the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla Men’s champion 2022: 18.54 v 16.50
17.00 – WOMEN’S FINAL – 22 MIN HEAT
Frances Kelly V Capucine Delannoy
The best and most compact carvers in the contest made it to the final and both were immediately burning rails on waves. A frantic start saw Capucine wave to her brother on the beach for a smaller kite as the wind had picked up.
Frances, (who finished last of three riders in round one and managed to battle back) didn’t change kite and ended up straight lining her way along a couple of waves. Very tight situation after 5 minutes, but Capucine ahead on 11.94 to 10.26.
Wind picked up throughout the heat. Capucine looked comfortable though after dropping a kite size to her 7m and was better able to negotiate that long mushy section that’s been challenging riders all week.
Decent wave choice available for the women in this final but it was Capucine who put the hammer down and started to stretch her lead halfway through.
The wave conditions have pulsed with varying intensity through this event and again the final began to come down to patience at times as both riders hoped for those world class wave conditions that have come through at times during this event.
Capucine looked set on trying to pick the waves breaking on the inside and it paid off with seven turns on the inside towards the end while Frances was left scratching around on the outside, hoping for a big one.
With five minutes to go Frances hooked into a long, peeling section. In her first final, the Canadian managed to hold it all together, connecting turns, perhaps not as critical as Capucine’s turn, thoughs…
Moments later Capucine found a peeling wave of her own and the French teen went to work, chiseling her way along it and surely that was her winning run.
Last two minutes and the bay lit up with lines backed up. Frances took her pick first but as she turned back at the end she saw Capucine firing powerfully down the line, cementing her first win in Dakhla.
RESULT: Capucine Delannoy GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla Women’s winner! 15.72 v 10.22
16.15 -MEN’S MINI FINAL
Matchu Lopes V Mohamed-Ali Beqqali
Looking super loose and fluid, Matchu Lopes seemed set to break Moroccan hearts here by keeping local hero Mohamed Ali Beqqali off the podium he so craved.
Serious props to Mohamed though who has lit this contest up at times with his Westpoint wizardry. We saw glimpses of it again in this heat with the locals on the rocks whooping as he came close. Finally he also landed a small air, that he’d promised all event. Top bloke. He slipped into the lead with two 7 point scores.
The battle swayed back and forth with very good wave scores throughout, and after a very entertaining heat, is it indeed Matchu the grabs third place on the podium.
Matchu Lopes wins the heat to finish third overall: 16.23 V 14.76
15. 45 – WOMEN’S MINI FINAL
Johanna-Catarina Edin V Zoe Bazile
JC really showing her competition experience, making sure she gos as many turns as possible on every wave she took, with Zoe just straining a bit too hard on each turn and making some unforced errors. It’s be an impressive debut for the French rider from Brittany who made such an impressive world tour debut in bigger waves on day one, though.
Waves really dropped back for most of this mini final but in the last third of this 21 minute heat the ocean delivered and these women went hit for hit, often both on waves at the same time in the bay.
In the end Miss Edin maintained her points lead that she’d had from the start of the heat, to take the win and finish in third place on the podium.
Johann-Catarina Edin wins 13.24 v 10.22
15.25 – SEMI FINAL 2 RESULT
James Carew V Matchu Lopes
Carew won his world championship here last year, but only finished 4th in the event itself. He logged two good waves early on and was suddenly up to 15.77 with Matchu yet to score. Carew looks like he has a point to prove after not winning his championship from the top step last year. He was on the case with airs again.
Matchu suddenly came to life on a clean face, linking those beautifully smooth full carve cut backs.
Certainly again the sets not quite delivering in a heat for these two. The key again is being in the right place at the right time and maximising the biggest waves of the heat. No mistakes possible. James’ timing in the end proving too strong, getting super vertical on a really good waves. Expertly getting round sections and then letting his tail loose.
In the end, Matchu couldn’t find the waves he was looking for and James takes the win to face Seb in the final.
Post heat interview and Carew not cracking any emotion. “I came here to fight. So let’s fight.” Simple enough! He goes on to meet Sebastian Ribeiro in the final.
15.00 -HEATS EXTENDED TO 21 MINS
SEMI FINAL 01
Sebastian Ribeiro V Mohammed-Ali Beqqali
The start of this heat came with a big set. Some excellent faces drive through the competition zone and no two better surf-style riders to put on a show.
Sebastian with an early top score of 8.03, but Ali wasn’t far behind with 7.4y and both riders scoring waves right in front of each other. Sebastian had just came through the most anticipated heat of the event against Airton Cozzolino, could he now break local hearts against Mohamed?
The local charger has been proving how powerful local knowledge can be, even at this level against the world’s best. But Sebastian’s experience combined with natural timing… he just seems like a magnet for good waves.
Seb riding a smaller 8m letting him feel so well connected to the wave. All of a sudden Ribeiro also had 9.07 along with his 8.70, meaning Mohamed was comb’d and needed two better scores than he had already.
In search of waves on the inside, Mohammed just looked to lose some of his now customary deep connection with this wave and his timing slipped. Was the pressure finally getting to him? He’s had a fantastic contest to reach the semis. .
Sebastian indeed took the win in this heat, with his overall victory so far looking to be written in the stars, having not put a foot wrong so far. The waves are certainly being pulled towards him and he’s capitalising every single time. Every turn looks guaranteed no matter how vertical he pushes.
Seb “When you come to an event like this you’re always looking for the big names, but you can’t forget the locals. This guy has come all the way from the bottom and beat Pedro Matos, but I’m focusing on myself, one more heat to go and I’m just concentrating on the final now. I think the tide is just changing and that can make a difference to the waves in your heat, but it’s just nature. The conditions are still so good and I just want to go out again.”
14.40 – Men’s semi final line-up:
Sebastian Ribeiro V Mohamed Ali-Beqqali
Matchu Lopes V James Carew
14.30 – Remaining men’s quarter finals update:
Q3 Matchu Lopes V Reece Mysercough
Doing it for the backside crew, Matchu Lopes made the best hits count. Reece Myerscough looked to frantically be trying to force situations a bit too much through the heat as Matchu had his nose in front from the beginning. Sadly for Reece who performed so well here last year, just couldn’t find the waves he needed to give him the chance to show what he can really do here.
Matchu interview: “I’m fired up, in my head I just want to go big.”
Q4 Matt Maxwell V James Carew
James looking intent on landing some big airs and couple of minutes in did manage a very stylish little air grab at the end of a wave with three good hits previously. Matt was looking super loose when he did get a wave, but the power James puts into his stop turn hacks is just on another level and the couple of times he combined those in a wave ride with a nice grabbed air – well that’s a big ask for the South African rookie on tour this season against the current world champion.
Sadly for this heat the waves flattened off for the last five mniutes, so James remained in the lead and unthreatened, seemingly having those airs locked in, which will prove useful later on, in his semi final against Matchu Lopes.
James: “Yeah the waves were funky, we didnt’ really get a set. Just got to make it work. Feeling good about competing against Matchu and ready to get the job done.”
13.50 – Men’s quarter finals update! The fairly tale continues for local Mohamed Ali-Beqqali who beat Pedro Matos to reach the semi-finals! More recently, Sebastian Ribeiro, the top surf-style performer of the event so far has used his mechanical top to bottom surfing and perfect wave timing to beat non other than Airton Cozzolino!
It was a tight heat, but the biggest waves didn’t quite come Airton’s way and on the beach Seb said, “For sure I visualise myself winning, but it’s heat by heat to get to the final. I’m just trying to be the best out of myself and do what I train for. I was just perfectly powered on my 8m. Airton was the guy to beat in this event and it was an honour to go against him and win. Step by step.”
(That is now the second Dakhla event in a row that Sebastian has beaten Airton!)
13.10 – Women’s finalists confirmed! Capucine Delannoy V Frances Kelly (CAN) coming up later this afternoon as we now move into the men’s quarter finals.
Frances Kelly makes her first final, while Capucine just came through an all French tie again Zoe Bazile. The heat was very tight up to about halfway through when Capucine caught a wave that reformed nicely and opened up towards the inside. It takes some nerve to take the very few opportunities in these situations, but Capucine flowed calmly up and down the wave, focusing on making it all the way to the end. She extended her lead, but Zoe battled and caught waves right to the last moment and she can be proud of her debut here.
12.30 – Women’s quarter finals completed in light winds and small waves at time. Was definitely a case of waiting for a wave and then maximising with lighter wind skills, but advancing to semis are:
Johanna-Catarina Edin (SWE) V Frances Kelly (CAN)
Zoe Bazile (FRA) V Capucine Delannoy (FRA)
11.00 – The first women’s quarter final heats are underway with the riders on 9 and 10m kites. Wind should further pick up and we’re due a high tide around 3pm, so conditions should only get better and better as we head through the morning and early afternoon. Scroll down for live heats scores and ladders. Enjoy!
09.00 – Good morning on quarter finals day at the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla. Skipper’s meeting is 10am. First possible start 10.45. Fingers crossed – we should have an epic day on our hands! We will update you on the schedule soon, but here’s a reminder of today’s quarter final match ups:
WOMEN:
Frances Kelly V Maria Kesiane Rodrigues
Camille Losserand V Johanne-Catarina Edin
Zoe Bazile V Marcela Witt
Susanne Schwartztrauber V Capucine Delannoy
MEN:
Mohamed-Ali Beqqali V Pedro Matos
Sebastian Ribeiro V Airton Cozzolino
Reece Myerscough V Matchu Lopes
Matt Maxwell V James Carew
LIVETICKER Day 2 – 28th September 2022 (GMT+1)
Current discipline: Kite-Surf – wave – men
Heat duration: 18 mins / 3 mins transition (as of R5 men)
Format: Pure wave – riders allowed to surf 12 waves. top 2 scores count
Wind: 18-20 knots / waves 3-4 foot (male riders on 9s)
20.15: Day complete. Day two ends with the quarter finals for the men’s and women’s confirmed for tomorrow:
WOMEN:
Frances Kelly V Maria Kesiane Rodrigues
Camille Losserand V Johanne-Catarina Edin
Zoe Bazile V Marcela Witt
Susanne Schwartztrauber V Capucine Delannoy
MEN:
Mohamed-Ali Beqqali V Pedro Matos
Sebastian Ribeiro V Airton Cozzolino
Reece Myerscough V Matchu Lopes
Matt Maxwell V James Carew
16.20: Women’s R3 complete – short summary:
Progressing from round 3 directly into round 5 were: Maria Kesiane Rodrigues who has exploded onto the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour with the highest heat score of the event (15.73 from two waves). Joining her are Johanna-Catharina Edin, Marcella Witt and Capucine Delannoy. The other women will battle again in R4. For now, we’re back to the conclusion of men’s R5 – knockout time!
14.42: We’re now back to the women, for completion of rounds 2 and 3. Scroll down for the match-ups.
14.40: Highlight heat: 1st heat of men’s R5: What a matchup: Gabriel Benetton V Med Ali Beqqali – two very high performers of the event so far. Local legend veteran v up and coming Brazilian. The ocean came alive halfway through with some pitching waves right on the high tide.
In the end this was a local lesson of pace management to exercise rail control. Med Ali is so good at hitting the accelerator around a section but manages immediate control of his rail as soon as the section opens up again. A 13.00 heat score his highest so far, but still a couple of points off the very top few guys from yesterday.
On the hunt for the 7 point score he needed to take the heat in the end, Gabriel Benetton dropped his kite just as the wave was opening up.
Summing things up: the pure unadulterated free-flowing frontside rhythm of a local who is so in tune with the nature and dynamics of his local break was simply too much for a new rider in-experienced at this spot to handle.
On his livestream interview Beqqali said that dropping down to his 9m from the 12 gave him more riding freedom to finish his turns. He also mentioned how important it still is to pick that clean wave with plenty of space around it in the top corner of the bay that’s most likely to break all the way into the inside, for those big scores.
14.15: The upcoming schedule is to run the first heat of men’s R5. Then it’s back to the women for rounds 2 & 3 (6 heats total), then back to the men for completion of the remaining 7 heats of round 5.
13.30: WOMEN BEGIN: On completion of men’s R4 we’ve switched over to Women’s round 1, which features 2 heats. Then it’s back to the men for the first heat of round 5.
11.30: We’re into R4 men where the second place finishers from R3 will do battle to stay in the comp. Scroll down to see who’s already made it to R5.
10.30: Tide update – low tide has passed and the tide now pushing in for high ride around lunchtime.
10.15: We are live with the men – scroll down to watch the livestream and see the heat ladders and scores. We begin the day with the 6th heat of Round 3 – the round that the higher seeded riders have entered the competition. The winner of these R3 heats advance to R5. Second place to R4. Third placed rider will leave the competition.
09.30: Skipper’s meeting has finished and the wind and waves continue to build! Some really nice sets have filtered through with the judges now giving a first possible start at 10.15.
When action commences we’ll be finishing off with Rounds three and four of the men’s heats before transitioning over to start the first of the women’s heats later on! An exciting daily forecast is vast approaching and the live stream will be online once the judges give the green light!
09.00: Good morning from Westpoint – we are hoping to resume the competition at 09.45am local time. Scroll down to set your reminders for the stream. We’ll keep you posted of any changes.
LIVETICKER Day 1 – 27th September 2022 (GMT+1)
Current discipline: Kite-Surf – wave
Heat duration: 15 mins / 3 mins transition
Format: Pure wave – riders allowed to surf 12 waves. top 2 scores count
Wind: 18 knots / waves 3-4 foot
20.05: That’s it for today, we start tomorrow with heat 6 of round 3 with a superb forecast. Scroll down on this page for the livestream and heat ladders and scores. Have a great night, wherever you are!
20.00: R3 THE TOP SEEDED COMPETITORS ENTER THE FRAY
Once again Gabriel Benetton was highly impressive with some very sharp backhand snaps. Really upping the level at the start of round three. Halfway through the heat he’d already stretched a decent lead over very experienced tour riders Camille Delannoy and Francesco Cappuzzo.
In heat 2 the Brazilian show continued with Pedro Matos, a regular top five tour contender from the last two seasons getting the day’s highest two score combo of 13.00 points, for a super tight demonstration of in-the-pocket riding show the best speed control and section dominance of the day.
Pedro: “Yeah I been watching the guys ripping. I’m pretty happy with my first heat and getting two good waves. Actually the wave was pretty slow, but good and I was pretty powered on my 12 in the sometimes light conditions.”
But it was Heat 3, round 3 when this GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla really sparked to life, signalling the quality to come this week. Enter Sebastian Ribeiro. Pure surfing flow; as if there was no kite. Staying on the wave but right on the limit of rail to rail turning, rebounding back down the wave from the lip time and again. At times he’d stall and then accelerate to make it round the sections rather than blindly hacking back and forth. Demonstrating a rare artistry and expert understanding of his craft.
With 3 minutes to go as the waves peaked for the day, Sebstian Ribeiro demonstrated just how good his wave selection and ability to maximise the situation was, scoring a 9.00 for the longest and most dynamic wave ride of the day. Expertly reading his way through 12 turns on the wave, this was poetry in motion. Standing tall and then crouching powerfully to manipulate the speed of his board, suddenly had a heat score 15.70 (6.7 and 9.00) for highest score of the day, blowing Artur Morais and Nicola Abadjiev out of the water.
Heat 4 R3 it was time to double take as Airton, now with those famous dreadlocks cropped close, was still never to be outdone. His dynamic traction control and beautiful top to bottom often impossible looking foam hacks gave him the highest opening wave score of the day with an 8.27.
The winner of last year’s event here in Morocco and 3 x World Champion is looking super fresh after such a long gap since the last event of last year.
A natural born competitor, Airton wasn’t to be out done when it came to showing how to link all three different sections of this wave, catching one from the outside the point, negotiating the tricky, foamier rolling section and then smashing his way to the wave’s eventual destruction on the inside. That length of wave ride would see most people’s legs a quivering wreck by the end. He simply turned and powered back out.
Also of note, Reece Myerscough looks set to continue the rising performance levels he achieved on tour throughout last season, finishing just ahead of local star Mohamed-Ali Beqqali. Exiting that final heat was Arsenio Dias, unfortunately for the young Cape Verdean.
18.20: Round 2 – man on man heats.
Wind a bit flukey for start of R2.
The round became a bit of a grinding period for the four x two-men heats to whittle out the riders who would be leaving the competition early. As the wind lightened and turned a bit more offshore, Australian Luke Millard despatched local qualifier Bentajar Achraf, Hendrick Lopes beat his namesake Kelton Lopes with a better wave selection and more critical riding. In his first full GKA event, French SUP champion Clement Roseyro slimly beat the second Moroccan qualifier, Reda Lafdali, and then finally American GKA debtant Gray Foster just squeezed beyond the very busy and zippy approach of young strapless freestyle specialist, Keanu Merten.
R3 is where the top seeded competitors enter the fray and we’re moving into that round now.
17.20: After round 1 the leading riders were certainly the two Brazilians Gabriel Benetton and Artur Morais with 10.60 and 10.43 respectively from their best two waves each. Also progressing directly through to round 3 (where the best seeded riders on tour will enter the competition) are South African Matt Maxwell and Moroccan Med-Ali Beqqali.
16.05: Round one of the main event underway – follow the livescores and heat ladders by scrolling down on this page, which includes the livestream
16.00: Moroccan qualifiers into the main event from this afternoon’s contest: Bentajar Ashraph & Reda Reda Lafdali
13.50: Welcome to the first day of competition at the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla at Westpoint. The wind is building but still only around 10 knots as we approach high tide around 14.30. We are expecting wind to keep building to partner up with some fantastic wave conditions this afternoon. Should be one of the best Dakhla event afternoons we’ve seen on the tour. We’ll be starting with a short Moroccan qualifier event to decide who the two local riders to progress to the main event will be.