GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Morocco | The Final Day

Report: Gemma Hamaini / All photos: Svetlana Romantsova

It was a long wait, but Dakhla delivered once again and by 4.30pm the wind kicked in, and the remainder of the competition was completed, allowing Airton Cozzolino to win the event here in Dakhla. For the women, both Semi-Finals were completed before the wind unfortunately dropped.

Two of the most powerful riders on tour, Pedro Matos and Airton Cozzolino, went face to face in this potent final in Dakhla, Morocco. The wind was lighter than yesterday afternoon, but the sets were coming through and these experienced athletes were very careful with their wave selection. 

Airton came into this event with incredible energy and positivity. Just after his very first heat, he said he was determined to take the win at this event, and he has been unbeatable during each and every moment on the water. Pedro Matos put up a good battle, managing to match his scores right until the last wave, but Airton had the advantage and his last wave scored 7.73 points proving that here in Dakhla this week, he was unstoppable. Airton Cozzolino takes the much-deserved win of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Morocco.

“Everyone today was being negative, saying it wouldn’t be windy, but I just knew it would be good,” said Airton. “I kept the positive energy going, and I just had a feeling it would all work out. I’m so grateful to all of my family, friends and sponsors for supporting me. I couldn’t be happier.”

The Men’s Small Final was next in sequence, where the new World Champion James Carew faced Sebastien Ribeiro, who returned to this event after almost two years of not competing, more motivated than ever. This Small-Final could not have been closer, with James scoring 16.40 points and Sebastian just gaining the advantage with 16.74 points, meaning the Brazilian gains a well-deserved podium here in Dakhla, a great come-back for this season. 

The Women’s Semi-Finals saw a delighted Marcella Witt defeat Catharina Edin in a light wind battle,  locking down her spot in the final. This was then followed by young Capucine Delannoy, who knocked out Peri Roberts during the second Semi-Final, scoring an amazing 8.63 points for her 5th wave. 

An attempt was made to run the Women’s Final between Capucine Delannoy and Marcella Witt, but the sun went down making it extremely hard for both the riders and the judges, meaning the final heat was cancelled.

The final result for the Women here in Dakhla is joint 1st place for Marcella Witt and Capucine Delannoy, and joint 3rd place for Catharina Edin and Peri Roberts.

The prize giving ceremony was held at the Dakhla conference center, and was attended by all of the crew, athletes and local authorities.  

The final results for this event are:

Men:
1. Airton Cozzolino 🇮🇹
2. Pedro Matos 🇧🇷
3. Sebastian Ribeiro 🇧🇷
4. James Carew 🇦🇺

Women:
1. Capucine Delannoy 🇫🇷 and Marcela Witt 🇧🇷
3. Catharina Edin 🇸🇪 and Peri Roberts 🇦🇺

Additional prizes went out to our male and female Rookies of the Year – Camille Losserand and Keanu Metten, and to the best Moroccan competitor – Mounim Maji.

We would like to thank the sponsors, organisers, crew and athletes for this amazing event in Dakhla, Morocco. Year after year, Dakhla provides an amazing location for this World Tour stop, and we look forward to returning in 2022.

All of today’s this week’s action was live-streamed on our website, Youtube and Facebook pages.  You can re-watch each day of competition.

Check our Instagram stories for all of the behind-the-scenes updates of the competition.