Defender GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Sylt 2023
22 August-27 August

Spot: Sylt, Germany (GMT+2)
Discipline: Kite-Surf

• Unfortunately, we won’t have a livestream for this event. For all the competition updates and behind-the-scenes action, you can check out our Instagram stories.

 

Day five: Saturday, 26 August

 

17.05 That’s a wrap from here in Sylt. We got the men’s event completed against the odds. Tune in for the next Kite-Surf round in Dakhla, Morocco.

16.30 mini-final T Demanez v K Merten. Merten wins on home waters by 0.06 of a point to take third place.

16.14 Final Cozzolino v Roig. Roig takes the win in his first final. He just outpointed Cozzolino who seem to struggle for power.

15 .49 S-F2 T Demanez v K Roig. The wind has totally gone after the rain shower. Let’s hope it comes back as we wait for this semi-final. Roig takes the win with a big heat for 17.97 that included a great Front Roll Shuvit 6.23. Roig in his first final.

15.38 S-F1 A Cozzolino v K Merten. Cozzolino goes to the final with the biggest heat score of the day 23.70. Two big 9-plus scores for a Backside 3 and a Frontside 3 did all the damage, though Merten had put a strong heat together.

15.15 R6 H3 R Myerscough v T Demanez / R6 H4 C Delannoy v Kiko Roig. The wind has dropped and we’re about to restart the heat keeping the scores and adding another 3 minutes to the heat times. Roig goes to the semi over Delannoy.

15.05 R6 H1 Y Dell’omo v A Cozzolino / R6 H2 K Merten v P Matos. Cozzolino goes through to the semi-final with a heat total of 17.93 and another Backside 3 for 8.23. Merten advances past Matos by a slender margin.

15.00 R5 H7 K Lopes v C Delannoy / R5 H8 C Martin v K Roig. Delannoy advances from H7 and Roig from H8. Both go to the quarter finals.

14.49 R5 H5 G Benetton v R Myerscough / R5 H6 S Rennoux v T Demanez. The heats are coming thick and fast. But the wind’s holding up for now. Myerscough advances into the next round in H5, and Demanez goes through in H6.

14.35 R5 H3 K Merten v N Abadjiev / R5 H4 M Lopes v P Matos. Matos advances in H4, while Merten goes though in H3.

14.25 R5 H1 G Foster v Y Dell’omo / R5 H2 H Lopes v A Cozzolino. Cozzolino advances from H2 with the biggest trick score, 8.13 for a Backside 3, and total 16.43, the highest heat score so far. Dell’omo wins with a 14.43 total.

14.20 R4 H7 K Lopes v T Sermon / R4 H8 E Nunes v C Martin. Lopes advances from H7 with Martin from H8.

14.15 R4 H5 Gabriel Benetton v Lance Krüger / R5 H6 Swann Rennoux v Bennet Hoop. Benetton advances from H5. Rennoux goes through from H6.

14.05 R4 H3 K Merten v L Gossart / R4 H4 Matchu Lopes v Linus Erdmann. Lopes takes it from Erdmann, while Merten advances with 11.30 total heat score.

13.55 R4 H1 Gray Foster v Alex Middeler / R4 H2 Hendrick Lopes v Daniel Weber. We have two heats on the water simultaneously to save time in case the wind deserts us. Foster takes H1 with 10.83, while Lopes takes H2.

13.40 R3 H8 Tim Sermon v Kiko Roig v Matchu Lopes. Tour leader Lopes is on the water. Let’s see how he goes in the strapless freestyle format. Big heat for Roig who takes the win with 17.80 that includes 6.00 for a smooth Front Roll Tic-Tac Front Loop Rodeo, that betters Lopes’ score by a couple of points.

13.25 Red flag is up for R3 H7. Two minutes to start for seven more trick attempts each. Delannoy takes the heat with a couple of big scores for a Front Roll and a Front Roll Shuvit. Merten is just behind with Martin who will go into Round 4 to fight again. The riders are choosing to trick mostly on the inside near the beach.

13.15 R3 H7 Keanu Merten v C Delannoy v C Martin. We will restart the heat with seven more trick attempts each with three to count, while keeping the scores they have already got. Merten has 15.60 for three tricks on the board right now, with Delannoy on 9.45 and Martin on 4.64. The riders are on 11m and 12m kites in what looks like about 13-14kts that came up really quickly.

13.00 It looks like we’re about to start. The south-westerly breeze is picking up quickly. We’ll resume the abandoned R3 H7. The plan is to complete Round 3. Then we’ll probably run to heats on Round 4 simultaneously to save time as the wind could be short.

12.30 Next call 12.45 for 13.00.

11.27 Next call 11.45 for 12.00.

11.10 The wind is still light here, but at least it has moved round to south-west as predicted. The forecast is good from 12.00 until 15.00. Next call is 11.15 for a possible 11.30 start.

09.56 Good morning. The riders’ meeting is just about to start. The wind forecast looks better for this afternoon. We’re hoping to run the rest of the men’s competition today. Fingers crossed.

Day four: Friday, 25 August

10.00 Good morning. The skippers’ meeting is just about to start. Again today, the wind forecast doesn’t look great. We’ve got a light onshore breeze right now. But we’re going to press on with the e-foil adventure. Some more practise is necessary for our athletes and we’ll crown our winners later, if the wind doesn’t come in. Stay tuned.

Day three: Thursday, 24 August

18.00 That’s a wrap for today. We had no wind. But the athletes had fun in some e-foil races.

10.30 Good morning. We’ve just had the riders’ meeting. Unfortunately the wind is light and the forecast for today looks as if will not improve. The competition is on hold for now. We’ve have the men’s competition to complete after we crowned the women’s winner. Stay tuned.

Day two: Wednesday, 23 August

17.05 That’s it for today. The wind didn’t return. Skippers’ at 10.00 tomorrow for for a first possible start at 1030.

16.30 We’re still on hold waiting for the wind to continue the men’s heats.

13.10 Runner-up, Switzerland’s Camille Losserand, explained her feelings about the final.

Camille Losserand, who had defeated Delannoy in the final of the GKA Big Air Kite world championship, in Tarifa, in June, was stung by losing in Sylt by less than one point.

“Yes, it was close,” said Losserand. “But I did some good tricks that I’m happy about. I think I could have tried the Front Roll Rodeo tic-tac, but the wind was a bit missing and it’s a hard one to land. I missed it at the end, and I think it would’ve made a difference to the scores. I’v never done in competition and no woman has landed it. I was close.

“It hurts a bit [that the final was so close]. But it motivates me more for the next one. So I take strength from it and I will do it better in the next one for sure.”

13.00 Just before the women’s podium on the beach, our champion in Sylt had time to give her reaction to the win.

Emerging from the water to news of her victory, Capucine Delannoy said: “It’s been a while since I felt like I was in the flow, so the last months have been pretty challenging. But I worked really hard to come back to this place. It’s the nicest feeling ever.”

Delannoy had been behind on the scoreboard when the wind briefly dropped out and the race director called a break. Delannoy came back out on the water and put the hammer down and the heat suddenly became a different story.

“I knew she was in front,” said an emotional Delannoy, fighting to hold back the tears. “But I went out on the water as if it was a new heat. I did it with zero emotion, and it worked.”

12.40 The AP flag is up for now. Stay tuned.

12.25 M R3 H7 Keanu Merten v Camille Delannoy v Charly Merten. The heat is cancelled after four tricks as the wind has started back off, as forecast. The German Merten is in the lead with three solid scores. We’ll start again with the fifth trick from seven if the wind comes back.

12.02 M R3 H6 Lance Krüger v Theo Demanez v Hendrick Lopes. Demanez wins and goes to R5. He gets 13.24 and keeps his nose in front of Lopes who goes R4 with Krüger.

11.49 M R3 H5 Bennet Hoop v Gray Foster v Reece Myerscough. Myerscough gets the win. The men are riding 12m-14m kites, so the wind is holding up and the sun’s peaking through the clouds. The one thing about the wind here is on the North Sea is that it packs more power, even in the 12 knots, or so, that we have now. Myerscough used it to grab the heat with a 16.13 heat score, leaving Foster and Hoop to fight again in R4.

11.44 M R3 H4 Louis Gossart v Elvis Nunes v Pedro Matos. The Brazilian Matos gets the win with a heat score of 14.14 and the biggest trick a Toeside Air.

11.33 M R3 H3 Linus Erdmann v Kelton Lopes v Nicola Abadjiev. Abadjiev squeezes the win just ahead of Lopes. The Bulgarian advances to R5, while the others fight for survival in R4. The wind is easing back a little as forecast, but let’s see how we go.

11.25 M R3 H2 Swann Rennoux v Alex Middeler v Airton Cozzolino. Cozzolino is the clear winner with a heat score of 12.53.

11.20 M R3 H1 Daniel Weber v Yaris Dell’omo v Gabriel Benetton. Dell’omo wins with 14.70.

11.15 Our women’s podium is: 1 Capucine Delannoy 2 Camille Losserand 3 Zoe Bazile 4 Sofia Monti.

11.00 W mini-final. Zoe Bazile v Sofia Monti. Bazile gets the win, partly thanks to her opening with a big Front Roll with 7.13 and 5.90 for a Front Roll Rodeo. Her heat total was 16.36.

10.40 W Final. We’re back on. Tricks done count, but the heat duration is now extended. Delannoy takes the win coming back into the final heat knowing she was down. She treated it like it was a new heat. Delannoy took the highest trick score with 7.47 giving her 18.37. It was close as Losserand ended with 17.44, less than one point separating the finalists. 

10.13 Women’s final. Camille Losserand v Capcine Delannoy. The heat is abandoned after four of the ten trick attempts as the wind his dropped out. Losserand was making the better of the lighter winds with three strong counting scores on the board. Her best is a Front Roll Rodeo for 5.17, that tops Delannoy’s 3.63 Back Roll. We’ll be back to pick up the action once the wind comes back. Still a long way to go in this heat, but it looks as if Delannoy will be more than happy to take a break with Losserand in the driving seat. Both women were on 12m kites, but having to run up the beach after their tacks to get upwind in the competition box. Let’s see what happens. The rain shower out to sea seems to have killed the wind for now.

10.03 Men’s R3 H1 Daniel Weber v Yaris Dell’omo v Gabriel Benetton. Dell’omo wins with 14.70.

09.53 W Semi-final 2 Zoe Bazile v Capucine Delannoy. Delannoy makes it to the final with a 7.00 with Front Roll One-footer and a 6.30 Front Roll that gave her yet another big heat total of 17.40. Delannoy again chose to trick on the inside. She sets up a good match-up against Losserand.

09.45 W Semi-final 1 Sofia Monti v Camille Losserand. Losserand advances to the final after a slightly shaky start when she crashed several of her first trick attempts out of the ten for the semi-final. She got 14.03 that had a 5.30 in the Front Roll Rodeo and a 4.93 for a Front Roll Board-off. Monti was not too far adrift with 10.46.

09.33 R5 H4 Clémence Derrien v Capucine Delannoy. Delannoy takes the heat and goes to the semi-finals with the biggest heat and trick score of the day. Her total was 19.03 out of a possible 30 for her three counting scores. It included a 7.50 for a Front Roll One-footer. Delannoy was choosing to trick on the inside in the flatter water between the kickers.

09.28 R5 H3 Sonja Bunte v Zoe Bazile. Bazile advances to the semi-final with a heat total of 7.63 in these difficult conditions.

09.19 R5 H2 Suzanne Schwartztrauber v Camille Losserand. Losserand is still on the 15m kite takes the heat with a total of 14.30. She picks up some good scores, including a 6.38 for a Front Roll Rodeo. That’s the end of the road for Schwartztrauber. The seven minute heats with seven trick attempts each and a two-minute transition in between.

09.15 R5 H1 Charlotte Carpentier v Sofia Monti. Monti takes a good win with lots of good landed tricks among her three scores to count giving her 13.57 total. She landed several Front Roll Rodeos with 6.17 the best score, as well as a 4.30 for a Kite Loop Board-off. The wind’s still not all that strong, but the rain’s stayed away, for the moment.

08.59 R4 H2 Susanne Schwatrztrauber v Serena Luz. Schwartztrauber gets the win over Luz, who’s really a wave rider and was using the contest to advance her strapless freestyle skills.

08.48 R4 H4 Clémence Derrien v Simona Schatzmann. That was a difficult heat for both athletes. But Derrien just takes the win. It looks as if there’s a rain shower coming, which may spice things up with the wind. Or kill it completely. 

08.35 R3 H4 Susanne Schwartztrauber v Capucine Delannoy. Kite-Surf world champion, as you might expect, takes the win. She has a big heat score of 19.04, that included a 7.60 for a Front Roll Board-off. Delannoy was on a 12m kite, but she also has the good fortune to have her father and brother caddying for her on beach, feeding her the live scores between tricks and waiting with a different board should she need it.

08.17 W R3 H3 Simona Schwartzmann v Zoe Bazile v Charlotte Carpentier. The women are on 10m to 12m kites. It’s still tricky as the wind is quite light. The athletes are choosing to run up the beach to get upwind in the box. Bazile wins with a heat total of 9.90, her best scoring trick scoring 3.63.

8.04 W R3 H2 Clémence Derrien v Camille Losserand. Losserand, the Big Air world champion gets the win. She’s on a 15m kite, which shows the wind’s still a little light. Her heat score is 12.83 with three solid scores, including 4.40  for a Kite Loop Back Roll Board-off.

7.50 Women’s R3H1 Sofi Monti v Sonja Bunte v Serena Luz. We have out first women’s heat on the water. The wind’s still a little light. They are on bigger kites, 13.5m. Monti takes the heat with three good scores from her seven trick attempts. The biggest was a Front Roll Rodeo 5.83 that took here heat total to 14.33. The other will get another chance in the next round, but Monti goes to R5.

06.55 Good morning. We’re just about the hold the skippers’ meeting. The plan is a first possible start at 07.30. The wind is not strong enough right now. But we’re optimistic for some contestable wind shortly. The plan is to run the women first. We may be able to complete the women’s competition if the wind comes and lasts long enough.

Day one: Tuesday, 22 August

19.30 That’s a wrap for today. The wind never quite developed. Join us tomorrow for the action.

18.20 We have no more calls, but we’re on standby for heat 9. The vibe on the packed beach is great and the athletes are on the water training, hoping the wind picks up just a little further. Stay tuned.

14.04 Next call 14.15 for 14.30.

13.53 Fantastic set up here. The crowds are out on the beach. The riders are primed and ready for action. We’ve 24 men and 10 women from nine nations around the world. Next call is 13.45 for 14.00.

13.25 Next call 13.30 for 13.45.

13.09 We’re still waiting for the wind. Next call is 13.15 for a possible 13.30 start.

12.35 Next call is 12.45 for 13.00 possible start.

12.00 We’re just having the riders’ briefing now. We still waiting for the wind to fill. There’s 12.15 call for 12.30 first possible start.

09.38 Good morning. We’re just about to hold the riders’ registration, which will be followed by the first meeting. The first action here in Sylt could come at 12.00, once the wind fills in. Stay tuned.