GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla 2023
22 September – 01 October

Spot: Dakhla, Morocco (GMT+1)
Discipline: Kite-Surf

 

Day six: Wednesday, 27 September, 2023

19.58 That’s a wrap from Dakhla.

19.35 M Final  Pedro Matos v Clement Roseyro. Matos take the first event win of his career. It was a super-tight final.

19.15 M mini-final. Airton Cozzolino v Matt Maxwell. Cozzolino back on top with to eight-point plus waves that give him the third podium place.

18.55 Women’s final. Moona Whyte v Capucine Delannoy. Whyte gets the big win. She is head and shoulders above the other women and takes the crown here in Dakhla, adding to her win in the wingfoil.

18.40 M S-F4 Pedro Matos v Airton Cozzolino. After a review of their semi-final over a priority dispute, we will have 5 minutes more of heat. 

17.53 W mini-final. Camille Losserand v Zoe Bazile. Bazile takes the win to get the third podium spot.

17.34 M S-F2 Matt Maxwell v Clement Roseyro. Roseyro wins be less than a point. His wave score of 8.27 took his total to 15.80 and books his place in the final against Matos.

17.15 M S-F1 Pedro Matos v Airton Cozzolino. Matos comes through with a heat score of 16.47 and a wave score 8.67 that ends the run of Cozzolino.

16.50 M Q-F4 S Ribeiro v C Roseyro. This heat is being re-run as there had been some confusion over the priority rules.

16.03 W S-F2 Camille Losserand v Capucine Delannoy. Current world champion Delannoy wins the heat with two big waves scores and goes to the final with Whyte.

15.45 W S-F1 Zoe Bazile v Moona Whyte. Whyte goes to the final with a big, big win. Incredible surfing with the biggest wave score of the event, men and women, 9.50. Her total of 18.43 also the largest of the competition and puts her in the driving seat.

15.15 Q-F4 Sebastian Ribeiro v Clement Roseyro. Ribeiro get the win with the second highest heat score of 17.40. His waves score of 8.83 left Roseyro with a big gap. Ribeiro goes to the semi-final against Matt Maxwell.

14.55 Q-F3 Matt Maxwell v Mohamed Ali Beqqali. Maxwell makes it through to the semi final for the first time. a big 7.83 wave score helps to end the dreams of Ali Beqqali.

14.30 Q-F2 Airton Cozzolino v Gabriel Benetton. Cozzolino wins with the biggest wave score of 9.07. That sets up a semi-final against Pedro Matos.

14.10 M Q-F1 Pedro Matos v Hendrick Lopes. Matos takes the win to book his semi-final place  with a big wave score of 8.33. The sets are a little slower than in the morning, but still good enough for Matos.

13.45 M R5 H8 Gray Foster v Clement Roseyro. Roseyro just takes it by the slimmest margin.

13.05 M R5 H7 Nicola Abadjiev v Sebastian Ribeiro. Ribeiro takes the win with two near seven-point wave scores that the Bulgarian athlete couldn’t quite match. Ribeiro’s flowing style in the pocket, linking the turns all the way down the line did all the damage.

12.45 R5 H6 Matt Maxwell v Reece Myerscough. That was another big heat with Maxwell taking down Myerscough. Quite a tight heat, but Maxwell put down a couple of solid scores.

12.15 M R5 H5 Theo Demanez v Mohamed Ali Beqqali. The Moroccan Ali Beqqali is the local home favourite. He knows the wave and is here for the title. Beqqali takes the win with a couple of good wave scores.

11.53 M R5 H4 Airton Cozzolino v Matchu Lopes. Massive heat. Matchu riding backside. What a heat. Both riders were on fire but Cozzolino got his nose in front with a few big waves and took the win. That’s big for Lopes’ title hopes as he finishes ninth, to add to his ninth in Sylt, Germany, last month.

11.27 M R5 H3 Camille Delannoy v Gabriel Benetton. The Brazilian Benetton takes the with two solid scores to outpoint Delannoy. We’re on 20-minute heats with three minute transitions. The wind is strong, but very offshore today, making it difficult, especially for those riding backside.

11.05 M R5 H2 Arsenio Dias v Pedro Matos. Matos throwing down! He means business and his heat total is right up there with the best. That 8.97 wave score is enormous, the highest of the competition so far. It adds to his massive 8.50 that gives him the biggest heat total of 17.47. Game on!

10.45 M R5 H1 Charly Martin v Hendrick Lopes. Lopes makes it through to the quarter finals with two solid wave scores that took his heat total to 12.86. That’s the end of the road for the Reunion island’s Charly Martin. The sets are pumping and the head-high right-handers are pushing into bay giving riders a long ride.

10.15 Good morning everyone. Big day here in Dakhla. The swell is pumping and the wind’s blowing. We’re going to start shortly with the men’s round 5. But early on in heat four there’s huge match-up between the top seeds Airton Cozzolino and Matchu Lopes. Whoever loses is out even before we reach the last 16. It could have huge implications for the world title hopes of both.

Day five: Tuesday, 26 September, 2023

21.00 That’s a wrap for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with the women’s semi-finals and men’s round five.

19.30 Gray Foster v Abdu Moutaouakil. Foster takes the win with a heat score of 12.27.

19.10 M R4 H7 Nicola Abadjiev v Yuri Neves. Abadjiev advances to the next round with a heat total of 12.23.

18.48 M R4 H6 Matt Maxwell v Yaris Dell’omo. Maxwell goes through. The wind’s picked up and the sets are good. He got a couple of goods sets and and good 7.17 wave that took the win to move to round five.

18.30 M R4 H5 Theo Demanez v Kelton Lopez. Demanez wins with two solid wave scores that take his heat total 11.13 and makes it to round five where he will be up against Mohamed Ali Beqqali in round five.

18.00 M R4 H4 Airton Cozzolino v Hamza Addi. Cozzolino wins with the biggest heat of the competition. The Italian is firing and threw three eight plus waves scores. It was massive and his heat total of 17.30 easily the biggest of the comp. That sets up a showdown with Matchu Lopes in round five, the finalists in Cape Verde and Brazil at it again.

17.35 M R4 H3 Camille Delannoy v Ofek Shalgi. Delannoy used all his experience to get a couple of solid waves scores that tipped the heat in his favour. It ended the run of Shalgi, while Delannoy goes to round five.

17.15 M R4 H2 Mounim Maji v Arsenio Diaz. Diaz, the Cape Verdean, wins with two solid wave scores and ends the run of the Moroccan athlete Maji. Diaz showed what he could do even in the smallish waves.

16.50 M R4 H1 Charly Martin v Achraf Bentajar. We’re into the business end of the men’s contest. It’s do or die now. Defeat here and the rider is going home. Martin wins with two good waves and goes to round five.

16.06 W Q-F4 Charlotte Carpentier v Capucine Delannoy. Delannoy takes the heat with a hard-fought win. Carpentier kept her compatriot within sight throughout the whole heat, but Delannoy squeezed out a 6.0 wave at the end, working a small wave all the way into the bay to give her the win.

15.45 W Q-F3 Camille Losserand v Serena Luz. Very tight heat between two evenly matched riders. Losserand chalked up a lead early in the heat with two good scores. Luz had the biggest wave score of 6.07, but just couldn’t get a better backup score to overhaul Losserand, who gets the win and goes to the semi-final.

15.23 W Q-F2 Clémence Derrien v Moona Whyte. Whyte gets the win with a with a good 7.77 wave score. The wind has picked up quite a bit now, but the sets a still few and far between. At least with the longer 20 minutes the athletes can pick and choose the sets better.

15.10 W Q-F1 Zoe Bazile v Sofia Monti. Bazile gets the win. The sets are still few and far between and small, but Bazile post a couple of solid scores that Monti could not quite match. We have 20 minute heats now with just two women on the water. So at least the more chance to catch what few waves there are.

14.33 W R4 H4 Charlotte Carpentier v Daniela Moreno. Carpentier takes the win with a 10.20 heat total that Moreno couldn’t match.

14.10 W R4 H3 Camille Losserand v Astrid Cheylus. Losserand advances to the quarter finals. Another difficult heat with few sets, but Losserand, riding backside, got a few waves. Riding backside in the gusty cross-off conditions is a tricky proposition.

13.55 W R4 H2 Clémence Derrien v Kesiane Rodrigues. Derrien takes out one of the top seeds. It was a super-tight heat with Rodrigues getting the highest heat score. But as she searched for a better backup score Rodrigues went down in one of the last waves and lost out.

13.35 W R4 H1 Zoe Bazile v Barbara Sgardello. Bazile wins the heat and goes to round five. Unfortunately Sgardello took the wrong coloured lycra and her was waves were not scored.

13.11 W R3 H4 Astrid Cheylus v Clémence Derrien v Capucine Delannoy. Reigning world champion Delannoy shows why she’s on top with two good wave scores, including a 7.43 that gives her the win. Derrien and Cheylus, a top junior Freeskier, will get to fight again in round four.

12.49 W R3 H3 Daniela Moreno v Zoe Bazile v Serena Luz. The Brazilian Luz just takes the win over Bazile. Luz got a a couple of decent waves that gave a her a heat total of 9.60. It’s still tricky finding the sets as they’re a bit thin.

12.21 We’re about to go into sequence again. We’ll  start from the beginning of the heat, R3 H2. Moona Whyte takes that heat, getting the biggest waves score of the competition so far-women and men-8.73. She was fully committed, linking her turns and the sections, smacking the lip and throwing bucket of spray. She’ll be hard to beat if she keeps this up. Carpentier and Sgardello get another chance to go again in four four.

12.00 W R3 H2 Barbara Sgardello v Charlotte Carpentier v Moona Whyte. That heat has been cancelled as we have no scores becasue of the conditions. The wind has gone a bit light, especially on the inside. The AP postponement flag is up.

11.45 W R3 H1 Sofia Monti v Kesiane Rodrigues v Camille Losserand. Tricky conditions for the first women. The wind is difficult under the point although the waves are reasonable. Monti takes the first heat as the sets were few and far between for the more established riders.

11.05 Good morning, everyone. We’re going to press ahead with the second day of Kite-Surf action here in this double-header in the desert with the GWA Wingfoil World Tour. Now it’s the women’s Kite-Surf action first up today. We’ve 12 of the world’s best women surfers eager to finally get on the water to compete. The wind is in, gusting up to about 17 knots. The ocean’s a little flat at the moment, but we’re hoping for the swell to build as the tide drops.

Day four: Monday, 25 September, 2023

19.06 That’s a wrap for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more action.

18.36 M R3 H8 Yuri Neves v Clement Roseyro v Airton Cozzolino. Roseyro get a suprise win over Cozzolino who must fight again in round four. Roseyro’s 8.13 wave score was bigger than anything Cozzolino could manage.

18.16 M R3 H7 Abdu Moutaouakil v Camille Delannoy v Sebastian Ribeiro. Big heat there. Game on. Ribeiro was charging and racked up the two biggest waves scores of the day so far-8.00 and 8.30-to give him a total of 16.30.

17.55 M R3 H6 Mounim Maji v Kelton Lopes v Reece Myerscough. Canada’s Reece Myerscough gets the win and advances with two good waves scores. The sets are still good and Myerscough scored quite a few six point plus waves.

17.30 M R3 H5 MA Beqqali v Yaris Dell’omo v Charly Martin. Local hero Ali Beqqali takes the win over tough opposition. The conditions are getting gradually more tricky. The wind has shifted offshore, making it light on the inside, though the waves are still good. Beqqali made it work and him and he goes to round five.

17.10 M R3 H4 Ofek Shalgi v Gray Foster v Matchu Lopes. Lopes, with two event wins,  so far shows he means business with the highest wave score of the competition so far. It give him the highest combination score of 15.43. Ranked number two, Lopes is hungry for the title.

16.50 M R3 H3 Hamza Addi v G Benetton v Nicola Abadjiev. Benetton goes through with a good heat score of 14.15 that included a 7.80 for one wave, even though the ocean’s looking a little flat at the moment. Addi and Abadjiev live to fight again in round four.

16.30 M R3 H2 A Bentajar v M Maxwell v Pedro Matos. Brazilian Matos squeezes out the win over Matt Maxwell and Bentajar.

16.10 M R3 H1 A Diaz v T Demanez v H Lopes. The Cape Verdean Lopes takes a good win with Diaz and Demanez fighting again in round four.

15.50 M R2 H4 Yuri Neves v Swann Renoux. Neves wins and goes to round three with a 9.84 heat total.

15.35 M R2 H3 Johannes Sarny v Mounim Maji. Maji takes the convincing win to go to round three with a heat total of 12.17.

15.00 M R2 H2 O Shalgi v J Fernandez. Shalgi gets the win and that’s the end of the road for Fernandez.

14.30 M R2 H1 Achraf Bentajar v Alex Middeler. Bentajar goes on to round three with a 12.23 heat total.

14.20 M R1 H4 Abdu Moutaouakil v Johannes Sarny v Swann Renoux. Moutaouakil goes to round three with an 8.23 heat score.

13.50 M R1 H3 Yuri Neves v Mounim Maji v Mohamed Ali Beqqali. Beqqali gets the win and makes it to round three, with the others going again in round two.

13.25  M R1 H2 Hamza Addi v Javier Fernandez v Alex Middeler. Addi advances to round three with the win, while the others must fight again in round two.

13.00 Men’s R1 H1 Ofek Shalgi v Achraf Bentajar v Arsenio Dias. We’ve 18 minute heats with four minute transitions. Dias goes straight to round 3 with a big wave right on the buzzer. The others go again in round two.

12.25 Good morning. We’ve just had the skippers’ meeting and we’re hoping to get underway shortly with the Kite-Surf contest. We have 28 men and 12 women battling for glory here in Dakhla. The breeze is building and the swell is good.

Day three: Sunday, 24 September, 2023

09.30 Good morning. We will hold the skippers’ meeting shortly. But it looks as if the wingfoilers will have the water again today. The Kite-Surfers, who have been practicing at the side of the competition area, will get their chance in the coming days.

Day two: Saturday, 23 September, 2023

11.35 Good morning. We’ve have just had the skippers’ meeting. It looks like the wingfoilers are going to up again. But we’re waiting for the swell to build. The Kite-Surfers are on released for the day. Tune in tomorrow.

Day one: Friday, 22 September, 2023

13.00 We’re starting with the wingfoil action. For now the Kite-Surf action is on hold. Stay tuned.

09.30 Good morning. We are just about to hold the first skippers’ meeting for the event.  The Kite-Surf discipline is being run simultaneously with our sister event on the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Dakhla. Some of the athletes are set to compete in both events. The plan for today is to begin with the men’s and women’s wingfoil competition. The wind is already up here in the Sahara. Stay tuned.