Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour
GKA Big Air World Cup Jericoacoara 2024
05 November – 09 November, 2024
Spot: Jericoaco ara (CET -5)
Discipline: Big Air Surfboard / Big Air TwinTip
Judging Criteria: Surfboard: 9 trick attempts by turn with 4 best scores to count. TwinTip: 8 trick attempts with best 3 to count. 3-minute transitions between heats.
Day five: Saturday, 9 November, 2024
14.31 That’s a wrap from Jericoacoara. Join us again next time.
13.25 M TT Final Zac Adams v Finn Flugel v Edgar Ulrich v Lorenzo Casati. Ulrich wins with a huge heat that included handlepasses with Casati getting a second right at the end. Flugel was third by a whisker, and Adams fourth.
12.35 M Surfboard Final. Camille Delannoy v Lorenzo Casati v Keanu Merten v James Carew. Carew wins on his comeback to Big Air with a massive final. Casati is second, with Merten third.
12.03 M TwinTip SF2 Jinne Boer v Samuele Bandelli v Finn Flügel v Lorenzo Casati. Casati is in the driving seat with the highest heat total of the day, 27.20, and highest trick score, 9.43. Flugel joins him in the final.
11.23 M TwinTip SF1 Shahar Tsabary v Zac Adams v Andrea Principi v Edgar Ulrich. Ulrich goes through with a great heat and a big total, 25. 43, and the biggest trick score so far. Adams joins him in the final with 24.0, but Principi was fourth and is out.
10.50 M SF 2 Wellington Silva v Lorenzo Casati v Noah Nicolas v James Carew. 27 to 31 knots now. Huge heat with James Carew putting down a big total of 31.54, with his biggest trick an 8.33 for a Contraloop Backroll Shove-it. Casati gets second with a 29.43 heat.
10.25 M Surfboard SF1 Louis Gossart v Camille Delannoy v Javier Lopez V Keanu Merten. Delannoy gets the win and goes to the final on his comeback, along with Keanu Merten. The wind is 28 to 30 knots now.
09.30 Good morning. We’re just about to have the riders’ meeting. The plan is to finish the Surfboard Big Air and TwinTip as soon as the conditions are suitable. Right now we have a steady 25 knots and the cross-onshore wind is building. We’re likely to start with the semis of the Surfboard comp, then progress to the the TwinTip semis, followed by the finals of both. Stay tuned.
Day four: Friday, 8 November, 2024
16.45 That’s it for today. The wind didn’t come back. See you tomorrow.
16.15 M R2 H3 Louis Gossart v Gray Foster v Leonardo Casati v Lorenzo Casati. Lorenzo Casati got the win closing out the heat with a 6.87 Backroll Flip. Louis Gossart got second and advanced alongside him.
15.00 M R2 H2 Tim Sermon v Logan Merringer v Wellington Silva v Camille Delannoy. Delannoy got a big win coming back after a year off the circuit, while local athlete Wellington Silva also moves forward.
14.40 MR1 H4 Wellington Silva v Louis Gossart v James Carew. Reigning champion Carew takes a big win and is one step closer to retaining his title. Silva must battle again in the next round, along with Gossart.
14.30 MR1 H3 Gray Foster v Noan Nicolas v Camille Delannoy v Camille Delannoy. Nicolas gets the win, ahead of Delannoy in second and Foster in third.
14.02 M R1 H2 Tim Sermon v Leonardo Casati v Keanu Merten. Merten won the heat with 25.34 and advances with Casati second and Sermon in third.
13.39 M Surfboard R1 H1 Logan Merringer v Lorenzo Casati v Javier Lopez Martin. Lopez Martin wins with Lorenzo Casati second and Merringer third.
12.30 M Final Antonin Rangin v Finn Flügel v Alex Soto v Charles Brodel. Brodel takes the win and his sixth world title with a 26.77 heat total that put him streets ahead of his rivals. Alex Soto was second, with Finn Flugel third and Antonin Rangin in fourth.
12.05 M SF2 Antonin Rangin v Peer Schnyder v Baptiste Bourdoulous v Charles Brodel. Brodel wins the heat and makes it to the final with Rangin. Brodel racked up the highest score of the Hdrofoil Big Air comp, 9.23, with his last trick.
11.55 M SF1 Hunter Becker v Finn Flügel v Alex Soto v Joselito del Rosario. Sota makes it to the fina in first place, where he is joined by Flügel in second.
11.30 M R4 H2 Josué San Ferriera v Hunter Becker v Peer Schnyder v Lorenzo Casati. Schynder advances in first place, along with with Schnyder in second.
11.15 M R4H1 Robby James v Linus Erdmann v Antonin Rangin v Finn Flügel. Flugel just gets the win ahead of Rangin, with both riders advancing.
10.45 M R3 H4 Antonin Rangin v Charles Brodel. Brodel wins with a huge total of 25.17, with Rangin going to the next round.
10.30 M R3 H3 Baptiste Bourdoulous v Hunter Becker v Finn Flügel. Bourdoulous goes throughin first place with 19.52 heat total. Flugel is second, with Becker in third.
10.10 M R3 H2 Robby James v Peer Schnyder v Joselito del Rosario. Del Rosario goes through in first place, with Schnyder just behind and James going to R4.
09.55 M R3 H1 Linus Erdmann v Lorenzo Casati v Alex Soto. Soto gets the win, closing out the heat with a 8.0 Contraloop Backroll Boardoff. Casati and Erdmann battle again in R4.
09.40 Good morning. The plan is the start the men’s Hydrofoil Big Air this morning, complete the competition and crown our world champions. The hope then is to go to the men’s Big Air TwinTip or
Day three: Thursday, 7 November, 2024
17.30 That’s a wrap for today. Join us tomorrow.
17.03 W Final Pippa van Iersel v Francesca Maini v Mika Sol v Alice Ruggiu. What a final. Mika Sol wins with a perfect 10 at the end. Ruggiu gets an incredible second, with Van Iersel third and Maini fourth.
16.25 W SF2 Inbar Lerner v Francesca Maini v Lana Herman v Alice Ruggiu. What a heat. Ruggiu is completely on fire and scores 24.17 heat and barely missed a beat, racking up an 8.6 for a Kiteloop Frontroll. Maini had a great heat and the highest trick score of the comp, 8.7 to go to the final.
15.53 W SF1 Sarah Sadek v Zara Hoogenraad v Pippa van Iersel v Mika Sol. That’s the first big upset of the day, with world champion Hoogenraad out when she came third in the heat. Van Iersel goes big and get the highest score of the day, 8.23 for a Kiteloop Boardoff, taking her through in second. But Sol is rampant to take the win and go to the final.
15.30 M R3 H4 Can Kamenik v Zac Adams v Beto Gomez v Lorenzo Casati. Lorenzo Casati is in the driving seat with the second highest heat total of the day, 24.33, and goes through to the semi-finals, along with Zac Adams who’s in second.
15.10 MR3 H3 Kimo Verkerk v Finn Flügel v Shahar Tsabary v Josué San Ferriera. Flugel goes through in first despite a big crash in the heat. Tsabary is close behind and he too advances.
14.46 M R3 H2 Samuele Bandelli v Mathys Romelioglu v Karim Mahmoud v Edgar Ulrich. Ulrich goes through with a heat total of 20.08 and three good scores. Bandelli, the debutant, makes it to the semi-final in his first competition. Mahmoud was out surprisingly when he crashed his last trick.
14.16 M R3 H1 Nathan Texier v Jinne Boer v Andrea Principi v Leonardo Casati. Prinicipi was on fire and takes the win to advance with an 8.77 that’s the biggest score of the comp. Boer goes through in second with an 8.33 for his last trick that overhauled Leonardo Casati, who appeared to be cruising to go through until the last moment. What an upset.
13.50 W R2 H2 Clarice Diniz v Aya Kasabova v Francesca Maini v Sarah Sadek. Maini goes forward with a 21.67 heat score that included three 7-plus tricks. Kasabova, aged 14, makes it to semis in her first senior Big Air competition. After a protest by Sadek, a trick was re-categorised to give her a third score, which meant she went through ahead of Kasabova.
13.3o W R2 H1 Svenja Peters v Inbar Lerner v Zara Hoogenraad v Jasmine Cho. Hoogenraad get the win and goes to the semi-final. Lerner comes through with one her last tricks to get second and advance.
12.58 M R2 H4 Mathys Romelioglu v Simon Brunh v Kimo Verkerk v Omar Ahmed. Romelioglu wins the heat with 18.43, while Verker also goes through in second with 16.40.
12.27 M R2 H3 Jinne Boer v Jose Figuerdo v Can Kamenik v Hamza Ismail. Boer makes it through to the quarters in first, with Kamenik joining him with his second place.
12.00 M R2 H2 Nathan Texier v Marius Sandchez v Zac Adams v Juliel Linhares. Zac Adams goes through in first place, along with Texier. That’s the end of the road for Sanchez and Linhares.
10.48 W F Agate Prince v Andrea Zust V Katerina Saldanova v Francesca Maini. Zust wins the final and becomes the first Women’s GKA Hydrofoil Big Air Kite World Champion. Saldanova was second, with Maini in third when she could quite land her Kiteloops.
10.16 W SF Karolina Michniuk v Agate Prince v Andrea Zust. This heat is on and the wind’s building, 26 knots gusting to 31 knots. Two of these riders will book their places in the four-person final. Zust wins with some big moves, including an 8.0 for a Contra loop, backed up with a 7.13 for a Kiteloop Backroll. She goes to the final with Prince.
09.50 W R1 H2 Francesca Maini v Karolina Michniuk v Andrea Zust. Maini takes the win with some big kiteloops and kiteloop backroll. The Briton goes to the final.
09.45 W R1 H1 Agate Prince v Katarina Salandova. Salandova gets the win and advances to the final.
09.30 We’ll be up with the Livestream shortly. Right now the wind is 21 knots gusting to 25 knots. There was some rain this morning, but it hasn’t dampened the breezes.
09.17 Good morning. The riders’ meeting is on now. The plan for today is to begin with the women’s Hydrofoil Big Air competition. We’ll be crowning our world champion in their first-ever event. Then we’ll get back to the TwinTip Big Air action around 12.00. Stay tuned.
Day two: Wednesday, 6 November, 2024
17.20 No more competition for today. Join us for more action tomorrow.
17.00 M R2 H2 Fabian Frick v Victor Emanoel v Finn Flügel v Samuele Bandelli. After a scoring protest, Flugel advances in first place with 18.50 heat total, and Bandelli in second. Both go to R3, the quarter finals.
16.40 W R1 H4 Clarice Diniz v Alice Ruggui v Zara Hoogenraad. Ruggiu gets the surprise win by a couple of points, leaving world champion Hoogenraad heading to R2, with Clarice Diniz.
16.20 W R1 H3 Aya Kasabova v Jasmine Cho v Lana Herman. Herman takes the win and goes R3, just ahead of Cho by a small margin. Fourteen-year-old Kasabova struggled a little in her first senior competition against more experienced opponents, but will go again in R2.
16.05 W R1 H2 continued. The women will each have four more trick attempts. Sol was so far ahead she didn’t try her last trick. Sol, on her return gets the biggest trick score of the women, 8.53, to take her total to 23.97.
15.23 W R1 H2 Mika Sol v Svenja Peters v Francesca Maini. This heat has been cancelled. The women are jumping outside the competition box and getting awarded “crashes”, or no scores. We’ll be on standby for a short while. We’ll move the buoys closer to the beach as the tide has come up. When we restart, the scores already made will be retained, but the women will have four more attempts.
15.05 W R1 H1 Inbar Lerner v Sarah Sadek v Pippa van Iersel. Van Iersel wins, closing out the hear with a big 8.0 for a Kiteloop Backroll. Sadek and Lerner fight again in R2.
14.37 M R1 H8 Jose Figuerdo v Omar Ahmed v Lorenzo Casati. Casati puts down a marker with the highest heat total of 24.77, that included the biggest trick score of 8.77 Kiteloop Backroll Tic-tac. Figuerdo and Ahmed go to R2.
14.20 M R1 H7 Jinne Boer v Kimo Verkerk v Adalberto “Beto” Gomez. Gomez advances in first place, but Verkerk and Boer were not far off the pace in second and third.
14.05 M R1 H6 Simon Brunh v Hamza Ismail v Josué San Ferreira. Ferreira, “Baby Shark”, the Brazilian gets the win at his home spot. Ismail and Brunh were second and third and go to R2.
13.49 M R1 H5 Mathys Romelioglu v Can Kamenik v Shahar Tsabary. The Israeli athlete Tsabary advances with a big 20.28 heat total, while Kamenik takes second and Romelioglu.
13.25 M R1 H4 Victor Emanoel v Juliel Linhares v Edgar Ulrich. Ulrich gets the win with a heat total of 21.74 for his three tricks and makes it to R3. Locals Emanoel and Linhares fight it out in R2 again.
13.05 M R1 H3 Fabian Frick v Karim Mahmoud v Zac Adams. Mahmoud takes the heat by a whisker, just ahead of Adams and Frick. Mahmoud goes straight to R3.
12.50 M1 R1 H2 Samuele Bandelli v Marius Sanchez v Leonardo Casati. Casati is looking strong even in the slightly lighter winds. He takes the win, a 7.7 among his three counting scores. Bandelli got a heat total of 16.49 but goes to R2 wityh Sanchez.
12.20 M R1 H1 Finn Flügel v Nathan Texier v Andrea Principi. We’re off. The wind is just a little less than 30kts. Principi takes the opening heat of the competition with a big 7.93 for a Kiteloop Frontroll board-off that gave him a total of 21.06 and sends him straight to R3. Flügel and Texier go again in R2.
11.45 Riders on standby. No more calls. 12.00 FPS.
11.42 Next call 11.45 for a 12.00 FPS.
11.10 Next call 11.15 for an 11.30 possible start.
9.50 Good morning. We are shortly going into sequence for the men’s Big Air TwinTip competition. The next call is 10.00 for a 10.15 FPS. We’re still waiting for the wind to build a little more. Stay tuned.
Day one: Tuesday, 5 November, 2024
14.45 Good afternoon. Today we registered all the athletes and some have gone to the event site just outside Jericoacoara. We have 58 athletes in the three Big Air divisions, TwinTip, Surfboard and Hydrofoil. The wind is pumping at the spot right now, though the athletes consider it “lighter” wind spot, with the added difficulty of a right-foot forward take-off. Most favour a left-foot forward take-off.
On Wednesday, 6 November the plan is to start the TwinTip competition, the first stop of the 2025 season and complete that on Thursday. Friday will see the men and women Hydrofoilers take to the air with the contest completed the same day.
The Surfboard Big Air will be staged on the final day of the contest on Saturday, November 9.
Join us for all the action on Wednesday morning.