Valentin Garat is the winner of the Men’s Big Air Expression Session!
Nathalie Lambrecht is the winner of the Women’s Big Air Expression Session!
15:00–Men’s Heat Three of the Big Air expression session
Luis Alberto Cruz vs Lorenzo Calcano vs Carlos David Arnaun vs Armando Sierra
14:20–Men’s Heat Two of the Big Air expression session
Arthur Guillebert vs Finn Flugel vs Pedro Alexandre vs Duvan Macias
13:45–The Big Air expression session is on!
Men’s Heat One:
Valentin Garat vs. Jhon Perez vs. Juan Rodriguez vs. Frank Charris vs. Pierfancesco Rizzello
Garat is currently in the lead showcasing a large variety of tricks in his riding. We have three heats of men, and the heats will be scored against one another, meaning that each rider is not just competing against the others in his heat, but against everyone in the competition.
BIG AIR COMPETITION HAPPENING TODAY!
LIVETICKER Day 4: 04 March 2023 (GMT -5)
15:40- The Men’s final is on!
15:20- The Women’s final is on!
14:50- 15 minute break and then we’ll be back for the women’s final!
14:20-Men’s semi-final heat two
In the final semi-final heat of the day, Maxime Chabloz (CHE) faced off against Louka Pitot (FRA), Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA), and Finn Flugel (GER). Flugel opened up with a mega 317 followed up by a Hinterberger 7 scoring a massive 8.17. He his not messing around! Pitot did a dum dum followed up with a Heart Attack to a grabbe switch Backmobe. Maxime starting the heat by landing his signature double grab Backmobe 5 scoring a huge 7.27. The smooth operator Coccoluto scored 7.37 for his Backside 317. His first combo with a Crowmobe 5 to a Pete Rose 5 scoring 6.67
14:00-Men’s Semi-final heat one
In the first semi-final heat of men, Luis Alberto Cruz took on Manoel Soares, Arthur Guillebert and Carlos Mario. Every heat of the day was so stacked! Luis Alberto Cruz continued his kicker dominance, putting down a huge Frontside 319 scoring 8.0. The crowd went absolutely wild for Cruz’ use of the kickers and scored 7.3 for a Slim Chance 7 on the outside!
Carlos Mario landed a Crowmobe 5 off a kicker, and right behind it, threw down a combination Slim Chance to Double Hinterberger 5 securing his first place position. Manoel Soares put down a huge 317. In a huge upset, Soares and Mario overtook Cruz who in the end didn’t perform tricks in both categories and therefore was eliminated. After a few crashes, the Frenchman, Guillebert landed a huge Slim Chance right into a perfect Backmobe to get variety points on the board and scoring 6.27, which unfortunately was not enough to make it through to the finals.
13:30- Women’s Semi-final heat two
Nathalie Lambrecht squared off against 2022 World Champion Mikaili Sol (USA), Estefania Rosa (BRA) and Matilda Roux (FRA) in the mid-day heat. Sol landed a Slim Chance 5 right ouf the gate, demonstrating height and technicality scoring a 6.6 and then a huge 315 scoring a 6.67 to put her squarely in the lead. Estefania landed a smooth Hinterberger 3 and showcased good variety with a combination trick. After missing her first two tricks, Natalie displayed her powerful riding with a Slim Chance that scored a whooping 6.2, and after that a 313 that got her back in the groove. She came from behind with a massive Hinterberger 3 and a boosted Crowmobe. Nathalie looks like a competition rider because she started pretty poorly but then showed a ton of consistency and kept her head in the game for the last couple tricks.
13:00-Women’s Semi-final heat one
Therese Taabbel (DEN) vs. Claudia Leon (ESP) vs. Bruna Kajiya (BRA) and Alexandra Torres (ESP). The women were on 11-meter kites and the wind delivered a perfect, steady breeze over the coastline. Therese opened it up with an easy 313 scoring 4.30 but Claudia answered back with a clean 315, putting her in the lead with 5.53 points on the board. Bruna opened up with a beautiful slim chance followed up by a super stylish and inverted front roll to blind scoring a huge 7.43 points to put her in the lead.
The wind was solid and really allowed for the women to display their full range of tricks. Taabbel landed a solid slim chance to put her into first scoring 6.17. Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to land her last few trick attempts and was eliminated from the competition. On the other hand, Leon landed a slim chance scoring 5.97 and a massive Hinterberger 3 to cinch her progression into the finals. The tour veteran, Kajiya was the first to land a toeside manuever with a Crow mobe. She maintained a solid lead throughout the heat, landing every single trick she threw. Unfortunately Torres crashed multiple attempts, putting her well behind the other competitors and resulting in her elimination.
12:00- Next call 12:00. First possible start 12:30
11:50- We’re waiting on the wind to fill in. First possible start with the women’s semi-final heats: 12:15
11:00- First possible start at noon.
We’re back with the semi-finals and finals day here in Colombia! The beaches are already filling up. We’re waiting on the wind to fill in. The ladies are up first! Stay tuned for all of the action about to go down.
LIVETICKER Day 3: 03 March 2023 (GMT -5)
15:30- The competition is off for the day! Skippers meeting at 9:30 with a first possible start of 10:00.
See you tomorrow!
14:50- Men’s Round Five Heat Four is on the water.
Juan Rodriguez
vs
Jack Rieder
vs
Gianmaria Coccoluto
vs
Carlos Mario
The final heat of the quarter finals.
Juan Rodriquez opened up with a huge backmobe 5. Carlos Mario lands a huge double heart attack right out of the gate. Current World Tour leader, Gianmaria Coccoluto stomps a textbook crowmobe 5.
Jack Rieder landed a powerful slim chance to blind!! The heat leader keeps changing as every rider is landing powerful combinations.
My elbows hurt just watching this heat. It could be a final with the amount of style and power they men are demonstrating!
HEAT WINNER: Gianmaria Coccoluto
14:26- Men’s Round Five Heat Three is on the water.
Carlos David Arnaun
vs.
Karim Marmaud
vs
Maxime Chabloz
vs
Arthur Guillebert
Chabloz opens up with a super stylish double-grab Backmobe 5.
Riders are stacking tricks in the 6.0 range. Check the live scoring below!
Arthur Guillebert gets a 7.6 for a huge 319!
HEAT WINNER: Maxime Chabloz
14:10- Men’s Round Five Heat Two is on the water.
Pierfrancesco Rizzelo
Vs
Valentin Garat
Vs
Louka Pitot
Vs
Luis Alberto Cruz
Luis Alberto Cruz did not fail to disappoint today and his Slim Chance 9 was insane! He scored an outstanding 9.4 taking over the top spot for the highest score of the day!
Pitot is sitting in a solid second place with a textbook front blind mobe and tootsie roll as his two highest-scoring tricks.
HEAT WINNER: Luis Alberto Cruz
13:37- Men’s Round Five Heat One is on the water.
Two riders from each heat are eliminated as we are now in the Quarter Finals.
Finn Flugel
vs
Posito Martinez
vs
Manoel Saores
vs
Valentin Rodriquez
This is a stacked heat! Soares takes an early lead. Rodriquez lands a 317 to put his first score on the board.
The crowd goes wild with Finn Flugel’s 317!
HEAT WINNER: Manoel Soares
13:07- Men’s Round Four Heat Four is on the water.
Carlos David Arnaun
vs
Armando Sierra
vs
Valentin Garat
vs
Lorenzo Calcano
It’s starting off as a close heat as each rider is putting some numbers on the board! Check the live scoring below for immediate heat updates!
Garat moves into first after a combo trick of a Backmobe to a Slim Chance.
Arnaun lands a smooth Slim Chance 5 to secure his second place position. Only two riders move into the next round and so getting four solid scores on the board is paramount.
All four riders are going for it!
Garat just nailed a super solid 317–for the highest score of the day, with an outstanding 8.87!
HEAT WINNER: Valentin Garat
12:46- Men’s Round Four Heat Three is on the water.
Peyo Cremades
vs
Luca Seer
vs
Valentin Rodriquez
vs
Juan Rodriquez
Two Colombians are on the water! Let’s see what they throw down.
Valentin Rodriquez lays down the highest score of the day with a 319 scoring 8.5! He followed up with a Crow Mobe 5 and his leading the heat!
Juan Rodriquez, who came in third here last year opens up the heat with a Crow Mobe 5, followed up with a Double Half Cab roll showing variety.
Juan and Valentin are close in scores! Valentin lands a backmobe 5–let’s see if he can overtake Juan! Juan answers back with a clean backmobe 5 of his own!
HEAT WINNER: Valentin Rodriquez
12:05- Men’s Round Four Heat Two is on the water.
Pedro Alexandre
vs
Maxime Guilles
vs
Carlos Mario
vs
Finn Flugel
One of our youngest competitors, Flugel at just 13 years old, is first to put points on the board ith a Hinterberger 5 scoring 4.62
Carlos Mario lays down a Double Hinterberger 5. A slight butt check on the landing results in a lower score.
Flugel and Mario are leading the heat. Flugel demonstrates serious progression with a Slim chance 5 to a Backside 3 scoring 4.9.
Mario lands the highest score of the heat so far with a Double Heart Attack.
HEAT WINNER: Carlos Mario
12:05- Men’s Round Four Heat One is on the water.
We’re back for another day of action! With three days in a row of solid, building wind, the crew is stoked on the conditions. Coming off an action-packed day yesterday, the judges and crowd are looking for another day of big tricks, interesting combinations, and one of the most powerful displays of strength and execution in kiteboarding!
Pierfrancesco Rizzelo
vs
Robin Goetenberg
vs
Karim Mahmoud
Karim lands a clean 317 to open the heat! He follows it up with a boosted Slim Chance 7, but he only scores a 6.0 because the judges are looking for low kite position. Woo! He just landed a 313 to Blind! One of the few rewinds we’ve seen in this competition.
Robin and Pierfrancesco are struggling to put scores on the board. Pierfrancesco manages to pull off a backside 313 to put him into second place.
HEAT WINNER: Karim Mahmoud
11:50- We’re currently on stand-by. Stay tuned!
11:15- First possible start is at 11:30! Get ready for a big day of action with the progression of the men’s heats. Women are released for the day.
LIVETICKER Day 2: 02 March 2023 (GMT -5)
16:15- That’s a wrap! Skippers meeting tomorrow at 11:00, with a first possible start of 11:30.
See you tomorrow!
16:00- Men’s Round Three, Heat Eight is on! It’s the final heat of the day!
Luca Seer
Vs
Lorenzo Calcano
Vs
Gianmaria Coccoluto
HEAT WINNER: Gianmaria Coccoluto
15:47- Men’s Round Three, Heat Seven is on!
Jack Rieder
vs
Peyo Cremades
Vs
Valentin Garat
Keep your eyes on the live scoring below to keep up to date with all of the action!
Garat goes huge on a Slim Chance 7!
It’s a hot and sweaty one out here!
HEAT WINNER: Jack Rieder
15:27- Men’s Round Three, Heat Six is on!
Armando Sierra
Vs
Arthur Guillebert
Vs
Juan Rodriquez
15:11- Men’s Round Three, Heat Five is on!
Carlos David Arnaun
vs
Maxime Chabloz
Vs
Valentin Rodriquez
Maxime opens up the heat with a super stylish double grab Back Mobe 5 scoring 7.37!
Valentin Rodriquez lays down a front side 317 and KGB5 to overtake Maxime for the lead.
HEAT WINNER: Maxime Chabloz
14:50- Men’s Round Three, Heat Four is on!
Riders are on 8 and 9 meter kites and the crowd is getting pumped up!
Robin Goetenberger
vs
Luis Alberto Cruz
Vs
Carlos Mario
Luis Cruz sent an absolute booter, going to the moon on a front side 900 scoring the highest score of the day, 9! He followed that up with a ridiculously powered Slim Chance 7 scoring 8.93. An incredible start!
Carlos Mario, who has been here in Colombia training for a month, is hungry and ready for action, throwing down a 317. On his left-foot forward tack, Carlos lays down dum dum, to narrowly misst overtaking Cruz for first place.
14:33- Men’s Round Three, Heat Three is on!
Pierfrancesco Rizzello
vs
Finn Flugel
vs
Louka Pitot
Louka opens up the heat with a perfectly executed dum dum.
13-year-old Finn Flugel landed a clean 317 for a score of 6.17. Finn is demonstrating real progression from last year and scored a 4.60 for a combo trick of a Slim Chance 5 to a raley.
Pierfrancesco is rallying hard to make a comeback fro behind with a Hinterberger 5.
HEAT WINNER: Louka Pitot
14:15- Men’s Round Three, Heat Two is on!
Maxime Guilles
vs
Karim Mahmoud
vs
Manoel Saores
Opening this heat was a massive Frontside 317 for Karim Mahmoud. But Manuel Saores lands a clean 319 to start the heat.
Kite position and execution are being watched closely and are key factors in the scoring.
Karim just attempted the first rewind attempt of the competition but wasn’t quite able to pull it off.
Soares just overtook Mahmoud for the lead with a stylish Crowmobe 5.
HEAT WINNER: Manuel Saores
13:45- Men’s Round Three, Heat One is on!
Pedro Alexandre
vs
Nelson Gomez
vs
Posito Martinez
The competition is getting serious! We’re now into round three. The wind is strong and competitors are working hard to make it work in these challenging conditions.
Posito just landed a massive front blind mobe for a score of 7.3. Nelson Gomez answers back with a big and clean Slim Chance 5. Followed by a Heart Attack to the moon by Posito Martinez.
With three crashes on the board, Nelson really has to lay it down now to make it through this heat. Luckily he just landed a Double Heart Attack!
Posito followed up his last trick with a huge backside 317 scoring 7.13, putting him well into the lead of this heat.
HEAT WINNER: Posito Martinez
13:08- Men’s Round Two, Heat Two is on!
Duvan Macias
vs.
Armando Sierra
vs
Luca Seer
12:36- Men’s Round Two, Heat One is on!
This is the first round of elimination and only two riders from each heat move on. The pressure is starting to build!
Robin Goetenberger
Vs
Daniel Pereira
Vs
Frank Charris
vs.
Maxime Guilles
HEAT WINNER: Maxime Guilles
11:57- Men’s Round One, Heat Four is on!
Armando Sierra
Vs
Jack Rieder
Vs
Robin Goetenberger
Jack Reider just landed a huge Slim Chance to Blind for a score of 8.0! He just proved that he’s one to watch this competition. He followed that up with a toe back 5. For his third trick, he was the first competitor to do three tricks in a row, resulting in a 5.77 and getting the variety scores on the board.
Armando Sierra, the Colombian in this heat, boosted right in front of the crowd into a kite-loop, earning mega-cheers from the beach.
Robin Goetenberger is playing it safe and working on getting points on the board with a 313, and a slim to try and overtake Armando who is currently in second.
HEAT WINNER: Jack Rieder
11:57- Men’s Round One, Heat Three is on!
Carlos David Arnaun
Vs
Daniel Pereira
Vs.
Luca Seer
Arnaun opens up with a huge Hinterberger 5 for points on the board. Seer answers back with a clean back mobe. It’s a close heat and the riders are going back and forth in points!
HEAT WINNER: Carlos David Arnaun
11:32- Men’s Round One, Heat Two is on!
Frank Charris
Vs.
Duvan Macias
Vs.
Pierfrancesco Rizzello
The Colmobians are representing in this heat! Duvan Macias looks like he’s having fun out there throwing down old-school tricks and rocking his own style.
One of the youngest competitors, Pierfrancesco, laid down a boosted 315.
Duvan and Pierfrancesco trade-off double hinterbergers. The double spins are going down!
HEAT WINNER: Pierfrancesco Rizzello
11:15- Men’s Round One, Heat One is on!
Maxime Giulles
vs.
Nelson Gomez
*Jhon Perez pulled out of the competition.
Gomez started out with a combo, going for the variety family right out of the gate. Keep your eyes on the live scoring below. Maxime Guilles followed up with a 315 of his own.
The Greek athlete Guilles just landed a clean back mobe for a score of 4.2. It’s a close heat!
Gomez landed a double heart attack to secure the lead.
HEAT WINNER: Nelson Gomez
10:20- First possible start is now 11:15
Waiting on the wind to fill in!
08:30- Riders meeting at 10:00. First possible start is 10:30 with the men’s heats. Women are released for the day.
LIVETICKER Day 1: 01 March 2023 (GMT -5)
16:33- That’s a wrap for the day!
Skippers meeting starts up tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning with a first possible heat start of 10:30. See you back here tomorrow!
16:20- Women’s Quarter-Final heats are on!
Therese Taabbel
vs.
Estefania Rosa
Estefania landed a 313 to open up the heat against Therese.
Getting launched off her toeside edge, Therese landed a toesdie boosted front roll which is not what she wanted.
Conditions during the last heat of the day looked gusty and challenging and the women struggled to find clean take offs in between the small rolling waves.
Timing the take off is one thing but finding a clean landing in the choppy conditions proved difficult for some of the riders. In the end Therese couldn’t manage to land a clean toeside trick and Estefania took the heat win!
16:00- Women’s Quarter-Final heats are on!
After a quick break, we moved into the quarter finals for the women. In the first round, none of the women were eliminated so now the heats have been re-seeded.
Matilda Roux
vs.
Alexandra Torres
Matilda started the heat with a raley to blind. Alexandra answered back with a blind judge.
For her third trick attempt, Alexandra did a back roll but you could tell she wanted to go to blind.
But after that, Torres landed a huge s -bend with a backside 180 for a 5.1 score.
Alexandra led the heat the entire time, securing her place into the semi-finals.
15:30- Women’s Heat Seven is on!
Mika Sol
vs.
Matilda Roux
Mikaili Sol opened up with big S mobe followed by a super powerful and extended 315.
Matilda did a raley to blind to open up her heat score followed up by a front roll. Mika landed a crow mobe but unfortunately had to olley the bar resulting in a lower score than she most likely hoped for.
She followed that up with a super nice hinterberger 5. Matilda landed a front to blind for her 6th trick. Mika Sol takes the win!
15:15- Women’s Heat Six is on!
Nathalie Lambrecht
vs.
Alexandra Torres
Nathalie opened up the heat with a 313. Alexandra attempted two 313’s of her own, securing a score on her second one.
For her second trick, Nathalie landed a powerful slim chance, keeping her heat lead. Alexandra landed a raley to blind for her fourt trick attempt.
Nathalie kept up her dominance with a massive hinterberger mobe for a score of 6.6. She’ll certainly be one to watch in this competition. Alexandra couldn’t quite manage to get successful takeoffs and struggled with the waves, resulting in multiple crashes during her heat.
To end the heat, Nathalie landed a nice crow mobe to gain some variety points and end the heat with win over Alexandra.
15:00- Women’s Heat Five is on!
Bruna Kajiya
vs.
Estefania Rosa
Bruna started the heat with a cleanly-executed blind judge.
Estefania answered back with a toeside front roll to demonstrate variety in her riding. The women’s must do one trick from the toeside family and three from the heelside family.
Coming in left foot forward, Bruna threw down an inverted front to blind scoring a 4.87 to put her into first place. Riding super powered, Rosa landed a 313 in front of the crowd on the beach. Demonstrating her excellence in a variety of conditons, Bruna timed the chop on her outward tack to land a textbook Hinterberger mobe.
Estefania landed her own hiterberger mobe. But Bruna added some variety points with a crow mobe to keep her first place lead. Her second-to-last trick of the heat was a powered 313. To end the heat, Bruna Kajiya landed a clean slim chance.
You can see the camaraderie of the women on and off the water as they push and encourage one another to perform.
14:40- Women’s Heat Four is on!
Therese Taabbel
vs.
Claudia Leon
Therese opened up the heat with a powered 313. Duotone team rider Claudia Leon answered back with a huge 313 of her. But she scored low for a out of control, butt-checked landing and looped kite.
Therese crashed her second trick attempt. Claudia laned a clean hinterberger for a score of 5.13. Therese answered back with a clean front to wrapped.
The landings in the rolling swell can be challenging but Therese landed a back to wrapped on a rolling wave scoring 4.57 to put her in the lead. Claudia landed a toeside backroll to give her variety points.
After crashing her fourth trick attempt, Therese was still in the lead but Claudia threw down a huge S mobe for 6.03 points to overtake Taabbel. In the end Claudia won her heat. Neither woman is eliminated in this first round.
14:30- Heats on standby. First possible start of 14:40 with women’s heat four.
Stay tuned! The wind is blowing a perfect 20-26 NNE and the riders are on the water warming up!
13:32- First possible start of 14:30 with women’s heat four.
First heat will be heat number four with:
Therese Taabbel
vs.
Claudia Leon
Men are released for the day.
13:10- First possible start of 14:00.
Following the riders meeting, the women are starting to get ready to hit the water.
Head freestyle judge Riu Meira explained that rule tweaks in Qatar had unlocked new possibilities for the competition. Now modified trick families and the points on offer will encourage much greater creativity, with combos, kite loops and rewinds. Each required will have seven attempts to execute three heelside tricks and one toeside trick.
“By changing the format we’re going in a way that’s more inclusive,” said Onieva. “We predict more riders will be going massive, especially when we have conditions that aren’t 100 percent perfect; like gusty conditions, or choppy waters. So riders can adapt tricks in a much more safe way. It’s more creative now and riders can actually apply new stuff. That actually helps all styles.”
10:30- Opening Ceremony happening now!
We have 28 men and 9 women registered for the event. Riders meeting happening at noon with a first possible start of 13:30.
9:00-Rider registration and opening ceremony for the second event of the season are underway here in beautiful Salinas del Rey Colombia!
Skipper’s meeting is at 12pm today. Unfortunately we won’t have livestream at this event. But you can follow the live scoring, live elimination ladder and heat by heat updates here on the live ticker!