On the final day of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup in Cape Verde, the winners in kite surfing were crowned. Spain’s Matchu Lopes came from behind to seize victory in a clash for the ages in the opening round of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup on the Cape Verde island of Sal. Lopes, who calls Cape Verde home, defeated his friend and mentor, Mitu Monteiro, in the final after three days of breath-taking action on the legendary Ponta Preta break. The duo were joined on the podium by another local legen...

On Day 2 of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup in Cape Verde, the battle for the title comes to a head. Reigning world champion James Carew was dumped from the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup on the second day of the contest on Cape Verde in epic waves. The Australian, who had been hoping to land a third successive title, lost the final round of the day by only a fraction of a point to Cape Verde-based legend, Airton Cozzolino. The victory of Cozzolino, an Italian who calls the island home, drew wild cheeri...

The legendary waves of Cape Verde were firing for the first clashes of the opening GKA Kite-Surf World Cup 2023 which has drawn the globe’s top athletes to fight for honours.Forty-five riders—28 men and 17 women—travelled to the idyllic African island seeking the chance to open their claims for the 2023 kite-surf world title. The women’s competition kicked off the event. It began with a bang when Hawaii-based Moona Whyte opened her account with a stunning 8.0 wave, showing her poise with pow...

Day 3 of the World Cup in sunny Taiba, Brazil was one that Australian James Carew is unlikely to forget in a hurry. All season long it was a neck-and-neck race between him and Matchu Lopes from Spain, which now demanded a winner in Taiba. So both riders had to win their heats in the semifinals to put pressure on the other. James Carew (AUS) had a tough start to his day of competition, struggling early on with a broken leash and later a broken board after a rough landing. Nevertheless, the Aus...

On the 2nd day of the World Cup, the riders were surprised by difficult conditions in the form of low tide and smaller waves in rounds 3 and 4. Now it was up to who could handle these conditions the best. Ali Beqqali (MAR), who is currently ranked 4th on the World Tour, had to admit defeat to the unfamiliar conditions early on and lost his heat to Kiko Roig Torres (ESP) and with it his chances of becoming World Champion. Brazilian Gabriel Bennetton showed in round 5 that he knows this spot ve...

The first day of the last World Cup of the season was opened by the men in the discipline of kite-surf, where the two best waves ridden and the best freestyle trick of each rider are scored. The strong and partly gusty wind meant that especially the Brazilian local riders were able to show their skills under these conditions and thus put the leading riders of the World Tour under pressure. In the end it was Pedro Matos (BRA) and Matchu Lopes (ESP) who won their heats with their elegant style...

It’s a wrap on Day 5 of the GKA Freestyle Super Grand Slam here in Ilha Do Guajiru and we have got our Superkite Champions 2020! In slightly lighter winds on this final day of the competition, the focus of the judges was on quality and attention to detail when it came to the execution of the tricks. The level of riding at this event was just out of this world with some of the highest overall scores ever achieved in a competition, and tricks never landed in a contest before. Here are the...

No heats were run today, but we have winners nonetheless – winners in the waiting game for wind, that is. The ladies were more than ready to battle it out in semi-finals and finals today, but it wasn’t meant to be. Wind was too light to provide good conditions for our world class athletes, so after calling the first possible start for 9.30am but having to postpone the competition time and time again, the wind decided not to show up and the race direction decided not to run the competition to...

It was day 3 at the GKA Freestyle Super Grand Slam here in Ilha do Guajiru and these are the highlights of men’s rounds 4 and 5 and women’s round 4! With stronger, gustier wind and more chop on the lagoon than yesterday, conditions were definitely a challenge for the riders today, but that did not stop them from showing the most impressive moves and highest scores we've seen in the competition so far!

Athletes had a very early start today, as the competition had to be scheduled according to the tides of the lagoon to ensure optimal riding conditions. First up were the men, and they were rewarded for getting up early with ideal conditions, flat water and steady wind so most competitors were on 11 to 13m kites. Here’s what went down in Hura Beach today: youngest competitor of the event Davi Ribeiro placed second in his first heat of the day, and it really showed that the 12-year-old Brazil...