Sal, Cape Verde

The GKA Kite World Tour is excited to return to the Cape Verdean island of Sal for the first Kite-Surf event of the 2025 season. Cape Verde is one of the best wave locations in the world and has been hosting numerous historical events over a number of years. It’s home to some of the most complete watersport athletes out there and in March we’ll be bringing the best kite-surf athletes to compete at our first Kite-Surf tour event in 2025. 

KITESURF WAVE JUDGING CRITERIA – PONTA PRETA 2025

Ponta Preta is an iconic wave, and we are expecting an amazing display of pure wave riding.

✔️ Key Points Judges Are Looking For:
✔️ Quality over Quantity: Focus on power, flow, and speed.
✔️ Wave Selection: Choosing the right wave is crucial.
✔️ Commitment and Risk: Starting a wave with commitment and risk will impress the judges.
✔️ Variety of Maneuvers: Perform different maneuvers with control.
✔️ Connection Between Turns: Maintain speed and power, hitting the critical section, and keeping the flow.
✔️ Bottom Turning: Lean and use the rail of the board.
✔️ Speed: Use the wave’s energy to keep your speed between maneuvers.
✔️ Vertical: Attack the lip with vertical speed and complete the rotation of the top turn.
✔️ Airs and Floaters: Perform air tricks and floaters to pass close-out sections.
✔️ Barrels: Perform clean and full body covered barrels.

❌What Judges Don’t Want to See:
❌ Repetitive Maneuvers: Don’t repeat the same maneuver all the way down the wave.
❌ Forced Barrels: Avoid forcing barrels when the wave is not barreling.
❌ Soft Part of the Wave: Don’t perform maneuvers on the soft part of the wave (away from the critical zone).
❌ Low Speed and Conservative Riding: Avoid slow or overly cautious riding.
❌ Over-hang on the Kite: Don’t hang too much on the kite during maneuvers.
❌ Airs without Using the Wave’s Power: Avoid air tricks without utilizing the lip or power of the wave.
Note: Heat duration and attempts will be confirmed at the skipper’s meeting.