Copa Kitley GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Brazil 2023
31 July-11 August
Spot: Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro
Discipline: Kite-Surf
Day Ten: Wednesday, 09 August (GMT -3)
15.10 M Final Airton Cozzolino v Matchu Lopes. Lopes wins in a final for the ages in Saquarema. That’s it from the Kite-Surf world cup. Thanks for joining us. See you next time.
14.50 M mini-final S Ribeiro v C Martin. Ribeiro just takes the win and the third podium step.
14.25 M S-F2 C Martin v M Lopes. Lopes goes to the final putting in a performance that Martin couldn’t quite match.
14.08 M S-F1 A Cozzolino v S Ribeiro. Cozzolino goes to the final, his opening wave of 7.53 did most of the damage and Ribeiro couldn’t get back on terms.
13.55 After reviewing the heat the judges now say that Ribeiro advances over Ferriera by 12.77 to 12.33.
13.40 M R6 H4 Matchu Lopes v Gabriel Beneton. Lopes overpowers Benetton with fully committed riding and big hacks of the lip to go the semi-final.
13.20 M R6 H3 Charly Martin v Hendrick Lopes. A bit of an upset there when Martin takes it from Lopes in a really tight heat.
13.00M R6 H2 Airton Cozzolino v Igor Pestana. Cozzolino overpowers Pestana two big waves and the highest wave score of the day so far, 8.37.
12.46 M R6 H1 F Ferreira v S Ribeiro. The judges are checking the scores in this super-tight heat, though it looks as if Ferreira’s 12.66 was just enough to get the better of Ribeiro with 12.60.
12.30 M R5 H8 Kelton Lopes v Matchu Lopes. Matchu Lopes goes through to the next round,the quarter finals with a 12.67 heat score.
12.15 M R5 H7 G Benetton v N Abadjiev. Benetton takes the win with a heat score of 12.66 that included a wave of 7.73.
12.00 M R5 H6 Charly Martin v Theo Demanez. Martin wins despite breaking his leash and losing his board for a time.
11.45 M R5 H5 H Lopez v C Delannoy. Lopes wins and sends Delannoy home.
11.32 M R5 H4 Igor Pestana v Pedro Matos. The first big shock of the competition as Matos exits at the hands of countryman Pestana. Matos struggled to find any waves.
11.20 M R5 H3 A Cozzolino v A Roehe. Cozzolino wins with two good waves and a heat total of 13.07.
11.05 M R5 H2 Sebastian Ribeiro v Reece Myerscough. Ribeiro takes the win with some big scores in these huge sets.
10.50 M R5 H1 Clement Roseyro v Felippe Ferreira.
10.25 M R4 H8 Kelton Lopes v Leo Chines.
10.10 M R4 H7 Gabriel Benetton v Gray Foster. Benetton throws down some pretty big waves scores that Foster couldn’t quite match. The young Brazilian Benetton takes the win and advances.
09.51 M R4 H6 Victor Ribas v Theo Demanez. We’re in sequence. The wind is still a little light, with big waves, a tricky combination. The heats will be 14 minutes, with two minute transitions. Riders will have ten wave attempts, with the best two scores to count. Demanez takes the win and that’s the end of the road for Ribas. Demanez’s 8.40 beats 5.33 for Ribas.
08.20 Good morning. This morning the skippers’ meeting is set for 9.00, with a first possible start with the aim to get back to men’s Round Four and press on as far as we can. We’re back in Saquarema today.
Day Nine: Tuesday, 08 August (GMT -3)
11.00 The men’s competition is on hold. The wingfoilers are up right now and the Kite-Surfers have been released for the day.
08.20 Good morning. We’ve just had the skippers’ meeting and the remaining rounds of men’s Round Four will be up shortly. We had to move to a new location in the hope of scoring wind and waves as the competition window of 12 days was starting to close.
Day Seven: Sunday, 06 August (GMT -3)
17.00 Unfortunately the wind didn’t return so that’s it for today.
15.20 M R4 H7 Gabriel Benetton v Gray Foster. Heat cancelled, again as the wind dropped.
14.29 M R4 H6 Theo Demanez v Victor Ribas. Unfortunately the heat was cancelled as the wind has dropped. We hope to back with this heat again shortly as soon as the wind comes back.
France’s Theo Demanez told of his difficult day on Saturday and his hopes for the today just ahead of his heat against Victor Ribas.
“Today hopefully it’s going to get better,” he said. “I mean it can’t get any worse than yesterday. In my heat I didn’t choose the right wave and there was a close out and i finished down the beach. I hope the wind is going to be better, stronger. So i guess it’s going to be good. I’m ready and refocused. Let’s go.”
14.10 M R4 H5 Hendrick Lopes v Alex Middeler. Lopes takes it with the biggest wave score of the day, 8.23, for some powered, vertical riding that was just too good for Middeler.
14.00 Cape Verdean Hendrick Lopes (SUI) was talking just before his heat in round 5.
“Yesterday was a bit of a fun day,” he said. “Today looks better. The wind looks like it’s coming through and the waves are pretty good. My goal is to make it through round five and make it to the final, because that’s what I’m here for and hopefully it’s going to be good.”
13.50 M R4 H4 Breno Barbosa v Igor Pestana. Pestana takes the win in a low-scoring heat as both athletes struggled to find the waves.
13.35 M R4 H3 Artur Morais v Alemao Roehe. Battle of the Brazilians with Morais up against his mentor. Roehe goes through by just one point.
13. 16 M R4 H2 R Myerscough v L Grangeiro. Canada’s Myerscough takes the heat go through with some committed riding.
13.00 M R4 H1 C Roseyro v M Maxwell. Roseyro wins with two strong wave scores to takes his heat total to 13.54 for his good wave selection and fluid linked turns in the 6ft wave faces.
12.55 We are Live. Head over to the Livestream, above or on YouTube.
12.35 France’s Clément Roseyro, competing in both the Kite-Surf and wingfoil contests, talked of his experience on Saturday when his heat was cancelled in the fading breeze. It means he’ll be up first today in R4 H1.
“Yesterday I was in the last heat of the day because the wind dropped,” said Roseyro. “I arrived late at the spot. I was surfing on the other side and I didn’t see the wind come up. So, when I arrived to take my gear I didn’t realise it was already dropping.
“In my earlier heat I made the mistake of going too upwind before my turns, so I was losing the power of the kite. So yesterday I was trying to do the opposite—to go more down the line on some big sets.
“I made a mistake on the first wave that I took. The wind had dropped, so my kite didn’t drift as well [as it should] and my nose got caught in the back lines, so I crashed my kite in the wave.
“I went to the shore and Matchu [Lopes] and the Cape Verde crew gave me a 12m kite and I went back out on the water. I was quite lucky that they had prepared me a kite and I took another wave. The wind was so light it was cancelled after that.
“But today the conditions look better. The waves are smaller. It’s warmer, so I think the wind is going to be stronger. If all the conditions come together we are going to have a super-nice afternoon of kiting on this beautiful Sunday in Saquarema.”
12.21 We’re on standby for the start of competition as the wind is picking up.
09.45 The skippers’ meeting is on now. We’re expecting to get into sequence for the men’s round four as soon as the wind fills in. The waves are slightly smaller than yesterday and the wind forecast is a little better. Round four is where it starts to get serious as the two-man heats are a fight for survival. Lose and you’re out. Stay tuned and we’ll let you know when the action is set to get underway.
Day Six: Saturday, 05 August (GMT -3)
17.00 That’s a wrap for today. The wind didn’t come. We’ll be back tomorrow.
15.56 The round 5 athletes have been released for the day, with only about 90 minutes to go until sunset.
15.33 M R3 H8 Clement Roseyro v Matt Maxwell. The heat is cancelled due to the marginal conditions in what is an elimination round. We’re on standby waiting the wind to increase.
15.20 M R3 H7 B Barbosa v G Foster v M Lopes. Matchu Lopes takes the win with a 10.40 heat total, including a 6.17 waves scored. Foster and Barbosa fight again in R4.
15.03 M R3 H7 N Abadjiev v A Morais v L Chines. Abadjiev just get the win over Morais.
14.45 M R3 C Martin v R Myerscough v A Middleler. Martin wins with a big 14.97, while Myercough’s 8.87 sees him go to R4 to fight again.
14.30 M R3 H5 T Demanez v C Delannoy v M Maxwell. Delannoy goes through with a 7.40 heat score.
12.10 South Africa’s Matt Maxwell is in the upcoming men’s first heat and he explains the rather forbidding situation with huge surf generated by the 2.7 metre swell hitting Saquarema’s Itaúna beach this morning.
“In R3 H5 we’re going to the guinea pigs for today,” he said. “Going out in the first heat of the day it’s looking really, really sketchy: massive waves and really light offshore wind. So I think the guys that are going to perform are the ones with the biggest kites with the most power.
“I think the biggest challenge is getting out there and feeling safe with the tiny amount of wind we have. For me it’s not so much the wave size that’s the problem, it’s more the intense current. With the waves and super-light wind, that makes a really tricky combination, so it’s going to be interesting for sure.
“Today [the judging] is going to be slightly different from the previous days. There are definitely barrels on offer and it’s completely different. It’s more like survival mode. If you get a barrel today, you’re going to get a super-high score. There’s less focus on turns, but if you have a big barrel and one turn it’s going to be right up there near ten. So it’s not much for big airs and turns, it’s getting a wave, putting scores on the board and getting through.”
11.30 France’s Theo Demanez is slated in the day’s first heat with Camille Delannoy and Matt Maxwell (RSA). Their heat was cancelled when the wind dropped on day three. Demanez explains the situation this morning at Saqaurema.
“My next heat is going to be [R3] Heat 5 of the men’s kiting. Here right now the wind has not picked up much. The waves are really tempting. It’s really big, so we hope the wind’s going to pick up and switch a little bit to sideshore.
“But it’s quite sketchy because it’s really big waves and if the wind is light we’re going to be struggling on the kites. But if the wind picks up, then for sure it’s going to be insane action on the water.”
09.50 Good morning. We’ve got big surf this morning. We’re waiting for the breeze to fill. When it does we’ll continue with men’s round 3, with the hope of completing round 4. Stay tuned for updates.
Day Five: Friday, 04 August (GMT -3)
08.00 Good morning. Race director Juan Antonio Aragón has called another lay. The breezes are light and set to remain so for the day, and the swell is small. But the forecast for the weekend swell is big, and the breezes are set to fill. Stay tuned and we’ll be back to the action tomorrow, with luck.
Day Three: Wednesday, 02 August (GMT -3)
17.00 That’s a wrap for today. Sadly the wind didn’t return. We’ve got a lay day now as conditions look sketchy and we’ll look at the situation later today, for tomorrow. So join us when the action resumes.
15.55 M H 3 H5 Theo Demanez V Camille Delannoy v Matt Maxwell. That heat has been cancelled as the breeze faded and went offshore. We’re on standby to see if it fills in again.
15.45 The AP flag is up and we’re on standby as the wind has dropped a little.
15.23 M R2 H4 Pedro Matos v Kelton Lopes v Alemao Roehe. Matos gets the win and goes forward with a couple of big waves scores for his great verticality and linked turns that earned 11.73.
15.05 M R2 H 3 A Cozzolino v Gabriel Benetton v Igor Pastana. Cozzolino takes the win with some big hacks in the pockete, with the day’s highest wave score so far of 7.03.
14.55 M R2 H3 F Ferrera v Clement Roseyro Sevbastien Ribeiro. Reibeiro wins and goes to round 5.
14.43 M R2 H1 Felippe Ferreria v Leonardo Grangero V Hendrick Lopes. Ferreira takes the win with 11.67 heat score and a 6.57 for the biggest wave score of the day so far. The losers live again to fight in R4.
14.25 M R2 H4 Breno Barbarosa v Bruno de Laurentis. Barbarosa just edges it by 0.1 of a point to take it over De Laurentis and go to R3.
14.10 M R2 H3 Alex Middeler v Luis Lyra da Silva Bulcão. Middeler takes it with two good wave scores to give him a total 10.07.
14.00 MR2 H2 Alemao Roehe v Raoni Lemos. In the battle of the Brazilians, Roehe just takes it over Lemos. Roehe goes to R3 which Lemos is out.
13.30 As the conditions are improving we’re going to run three heats of men’s Round 2, shortly.
The plan for today when the conditions allow, is to press on with the wingfoil competition. But the the kite-surfers are on hold at the moment.
Day Two: Tuesday, 01 August (GMT -3)
10.31 The kite-surfers are on hold for now as the plan is to switch to the wingfoil event today.
08.02 This morning we’re planning to have the riders’ meeting for both kite-surf and wingfoil together at 10.00. The first possible start for competition will be 10.30. The race director will decide to run first, depending on the conditions.
Day One: Monday, 31 July (GMT -3)
17.10 That’s a wrap for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more action.
16.52 W Final Capucine Delannoy v Moona Whyte. Whyte takes the win over Delannoy in a tricky conditions with set waves few and far between. But Whyte vertical riding and flowing linked turns landed her some big scores and the second wave crown in succession. It’s all the more remarkable as she is riding backside.
16.32 W mini-final. Milla Ferreira v Camile Losserand. Ferrerira wins to take the third podium step.
16.21 M R2 H1 Caio Sergio v Victor Ribas. Ribas wins.
15.02 W Semi-final 2 Camille Losserand v Capucine Delannoy. Delannoy goes through to the final squeezing out Losserand with a heat score of 6.33. Losserand had the chance to take with a good wave on the buzzer, but fell after several nice turns.
15.50 W Semi-final 1 Milla Ferreria v Moona Whyte. Whyte squeezes through to the final. But it was very tight and Ferreira pressed the America hard with some strong surfing.
15.36 W R5 H4 Capucine Delannoy v Kesiane Rodriguez. Delannoy get the win over Rodriquez and advances to the semi-final. Delannoy found two decent waves scores in the tricky conditions, as the win dropped a little and went slightly offshore.
15.22 W R5 H3 Serena Luz v Camille Losserand. Losserand advances when she scores some good waves. Luz could quite match the surfing of the Swiss.
14.58 W R5 H1 Moona Whyte v Daniela Moreno. Whyte, the tour leader gets two good wave scores with great wave selection and stylish powerful riding. Her heat score of 12.27 easily takes the win.
14.50 W R3 H4 Capucine Delannoy gets a bye into round 5 as reigning world champion. All those in round 4 also advance to round 5 and the quarter finals.
14.38 W R3 H3 Serena Luz v Daniela Moreno. Luz goes to the quarter finals with a 5.10 heat score. Moreno battles again in round 4.
14.25 W R3 H2 Milla Ferreira v Kesiane Rodriguez. Brazilian Rodriguez won a tour stop at home last year. Ferreira takes it with a solid score over Rodriguez, who gets to fight again in round 4. Ferreira joins Whyte in round 5, the quarter finals.
14.10 Women R3 H1 Moona Whyte v Camille Losserand. For the women we’re starting off with some big hitters. Whyte won in Cape Verde in March and Losserand is the Big Air Surfboard world champion. Whyte wins with a big 12.50 heat total, including a 6.93 wave score and advances.
14.00 M R1 H4 Bruno de Laurentis v Leo Chines v Alex Middeler. Chines takes it with an 8.20 and a tight battle with De Laurentis
13.40 M R1 H3 Theo Damenez v Breno Barbosa v Luis Lyra da Silva. Damenez takes it with a score of 7.70 and the chance to fight in round 3.
13.25 M R1 H2 Caio Sergio v Igor Pestana v Raoni Lemos. Pestana wins and goes straight to round 3.
13.10 Men’s R1 H1 is on. Alemao Roehe v Victor Ribas v Filippe Ferreira. Ferreira takes a convincing win with two solid scores to count, giving him a total of 10.17. He advances to round 3. The others live to fight again in round 2.
12.55 We’re starting with the men’s Kite-Surf round one. The first possible start is 13.00. The livestream is due to start at round three.
11.50 The skippers’ meeting is underway now. The wind is slowly filling in. The riders will hear which discipline will be up first in this double-header of Kite-Surf and wing wave.