GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup France 2024
GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024
28 August – 01 September, 2024
Spot: Dunkerque
Discipline: Freestyle
Judging Criteria: each rider taking turns to perform one trick each with 7 attempts, top 4 tricks scoring + new variety score
Day five: 1 September, 2024
17.55 The French champagne was flowing for an emotional winner’s podium here in Dunkerque. We hope to return again and build this great event into an even bigger annual celebration for years to come. Congratulations to all of the winners of the GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024, and see you next at the GKA Youth Kite World Championships Tarifa 2024.
17.00 The official prize giving and GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024 closing ceremony is now taking place with the athlete’s smiles lighting up the stage.
16.11 A whole team of GKA athletes are signing autographs for an adoring line of fans.
15.54 The event site is packed with visitors as we prepare to commence the autograph signing at 16.00.
14.07 The riders will take part in an autograph session by the main stage at 16.00.
13.50 The wind is on the light side, but standby as the first possible start for the best trick will be at 14.00.
12.28 At 13.00 riders will have the opportunity to register to take part in the best trick expression session.
11.20 It’s a sunny morning here in Dunkerque after an evening of celebration for the winners of the GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024. The athletes are joining in with an organised beach clean, taking care of the environment after four busy event days.
Day four: 31 August, 2024
Congratulations to all of the winners of the GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024 and see you for the next Freestyle Kite stop in Brazil!
14.46 Guillebert needed a low 6 score to take the win and went and did just that. Arthur Guillebert from France wins on home soil, with Maxime Chabloz taking second place, followed by Finn Flügel in third.
14.41 Chabloz is in front and there is just 1 attempt to go. Guillebert is just 0.4 down.
14.30 The riders have completed 4 out of 7 trick attempts and Frenchman Guillebert just skimmed through into the lead.
14.10 We are about to start the men’s final with Finn Flügel, Matteo Dorotini, Maxime Chabloz, Arthur Guillebert.
14.08 Landing every trick and placing some high scores, Bruna Kajiya wins the women’s final of the GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024. Congratulations also to Rita Arnaus in second place and Kaya Lehmann in third.
13.38 We now move to the women’s final with Kaya Lehmann, Francesca Bagnoli and Rita Arnaus, against defending champion Bruna Kajiya.
13.37 Guillebert wins and advances to the final, along with Dorotini.
13.34 Guillebert lands the highest-scored trick so far with a 8.77 heart attack 5 putting him in the lead. Mario is reportedly coming off the water with an injury which prevents him from challenging him.
13.14 After this heat we will switch straight into the women’s finals!
13.01 H2 of the semi-finals is next with Matteo Dorotini, Karim Mahmoud, Arthur Guillebert and Carlos Mario.
12.59 Garat and favourite Coccoluto are knocked out of the competition.
12.30 We transition now to the first of the men’s semi-final with a star-studded heat lineup of Finn Flügel, Valentin Garat, Maxime Chabloz and Gianmaria Coccoluto.
12.29 Kajiya and Bagnoli secure places in the women’s final.
11.58 Arnaus won by a landslide and secured a place in the women’s final, together with Lehmann. Next up is H2 of the women’s semi-finals with Naïs Balbinot, Francesca Bagnoli, Estefania Rosa and Bruna Kajiya.
11.30 We go straight into the women’s semi-finals with Julia Heckhausen, Kaya Lehmann, Rita Arnaus and Matilda Roux in H1.
11.29 Mario wins the highest scored heat of the day and together with Garat goes through to the semi-finals.
11.20 Garat lands the highest-scoring trick of the event with an 8.07 slim 7, putting him back in the running, after lagging behind.
11.19 After four trick attempts from all riders, Mario lands a big front blind mobe scoring 6.73 but it’s not quite enough to beat Soares who is in the lead.
11.11 Get ready for Semi Final Women directly after this heat.
11.05 It’s R3 H4 and blowing around 24 knots with a stacked lineup of Valentin Garat, Manoel Soares, Valentin Rodríguez, and Carlos Mario on the water, battling it out for the last two places in the semi-finals.
11.04 Guillebert wins with Flügel second.
10.47 The judges are on the move again as they position themselves in a better location for the incoming tide. We will continue R3 H3 of the men’s GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024
10.39 Three trick attempts have taken place and Flügel is currently in the lead, followed by Guillebert.
10.25 Coccoluto and Mahmoud go through to the semi-finals. We now move to R3 H3 – a big one with Linus Erdmann against Louka Pitot, Finn Flügel and former world champion Arthur Guillebert.
9.59 R3 H2 is in play with Rafael Montero against Leo Verrecchia, Karim Mahmoud and Gianmaria Coccoluto.
9.51 Chabloz wins R3 H1 with Dorotini taking second place so both advance to the semi finals.
9.26 R3 H1 is live with Julien Jacquet against Hironobu Nakano, Matteo Dorotini and Maxime Chabloz.
9.24 The judging criteria has changed for the quarter-finals as each rider now has 7 trick attempts, with the top 4 tricks scoring.
9.13 R3 is the quarter-finals of the men’s GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024 and will be taking place shortly after the judging booth has been moved into a new position to account for the increase in tide.
9.11 Returning pro Erdmann pushes for second place with his last trick of the day, just managing to land a risky backside 313 on the white water scoring 5.17 and securing him a place in the quarter-final, along with heat winner, Verrecchia.
9.05 Most riders are on 11m kites but the water current is going into the wind which is of benefit. Verrecchia is in the lead after landing a well executed KGB.
8.56 It’s blowing 25 knots and Peyo Cremades, Linus Erdmann, Eliott Panet and Leo Verrecchia are in sequence for R2 H4.
8.53 Nakano wins and goes through to R3, the men’s quarter-finals along with Garat.
8.37 Soares won R2 H2 and now we have Valentin Garat, Einar Saad, Daniel Pereira and Hironobu Nakano live for H3.
8.17 The wind is a little gusty but stronger than yesterday. We are in sequence for R2 H2 with Julien Jacquet, Corey Folz, Manoel Soares and Kéo Beauducel.
8.05 R2 H2 of the men’s GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024 is about to kick off the day where each rider has 5 attempts to perform their tricks one at a time, with the top 3 tricks scoring.
8.00 We’re on standby as the riders get ready for action.
07.45 It’s a windy morning and the skippers’ meeting has taken place with riders ready for their early battles. The first possible start will be at 8.00.
Day three: 30 August, 2024
20.31 That’s it for today but get ready to tune in for an early start tomorrow as we have an exciting 5-6 hours of competition ahead!
20.30 Montero waits with his Dad to see the scores before commencing his final trick. He heads out and stomps a backside 313 and after a nail-biting wait finds out he goes through to the next round along with Pitot. Fermon and Jacquemain unfortunately exit the competition.
20.26 Fermon jumps into first place with a tactical move from another trick family scoring 3.73, but Pitot answers back landing a heart attack, claiming it back.
20.20 Fermon lands a nice big trick scoring 4.37 but Montero answers back maintaining his second place and slowly getting near to overtaking Pitot.
20.17 Montero lands a clean dum dum for his second trick and moves to second place as Jacquemain crashes his second.
20.13 The wind is dropping as the sun sets and Pitot and Jacquemain are the only two athletes to land the first moves.
20.08 R2 H1 will be the last heat of the day as we enter knockout round with Theo Fermon, Rafael Montero, Louka Pitot and Baptiste Jacquemain.
20.07 Verrecchia has shown some nice moves but he doesn’t have enough to beat Mario who wins the heat and advances to R3.
19.58 Mario has now scored his first three tricks above a score of 7, leading the heat by a mile.
19.52 The wind has dropped off a little but Mario puts a 7.13 score on the board as his first trick.
19.47 Live now is R1 H8 with Einar Saad (MEX) and Leo Verrecchia (AUS) against the current world champion Carlos Mario (BRA).
19.42 Rodríguez is in the lead with 1 trick attempt left.
19.38 R1 H7 is live with Eliott Panet (FRA), Valentin Garat (FRA) and former world champion Valentin Rodríguez (COL) who is currently in the lead.
19.33 R1 H7 is up with Eliott Panet, former world champion Valentin Rodríguez and Valentin Garat.
19.30 Nakano misses the bar on a slim 7 attempt and it’s not enough for him to steal the win. It was the closest heat so far but Guillebert is the one to go through to R3.
19.27 Nakano has a chance to slip ahead of Guillebert with one more move each and just a point between the two.
19.24 Highlights so far include Nakano landing a really clean first trick in an amazing heat opening and Guillebert a beautiful and high backside 7 scoring 7.30. Erdmann is not far behind Nakano, chasing his heels.
19.16 R1 H6 now sees Linus Erdmann (GER) back from a break competing against Hironobu Nakano (JAP) and former world champion Arthur Guillebert (FRA).
19.13 Flügel wins and advances to R3 and can rest for the day, while Pereira and Cremades get another chance in R2.
19.08 Flügel is showing strong consistency in his tricks. Pereira is in second place and struggling quite a bit to catch up.
19.05 Riding an 11m kite, Flügel lands a nice KGB 5 for his first trick with a lovely low kite position and a 7-point score. He could have the advantage of being a lighter rider in these light wind conditions and he’s one of our most well-rounded athletes across the GKA disciplines.
18.51 R1 H5 is live with Daniel Pereira (BRA), Peyo Cremades (FRA) and Finn Flügel (GER).
18.50 Montero put on a massive fight and had a chance to beat Coccoluto for a moment, but just missed out with frustration possibly getting the better of him.
18.45 Coccoluto landed a KGB 5 as his first trick with a higher score than the other two riders, but Montero is performing some nice complex tricks, answering back with a well executed high slim 7 as his second trick. The judges rewarded Montero with a 6.7, the highest score of the heat so far and it shows he’s improved massively since last year, really going for it against seasoned pro, Coccoluto.
18.38 We start R1 H4 with Kéo Beauducel (FRA) and Rafael Montero (ESP) against Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA).
18.35 Mahmoud wins the heat and advances to R3.
18.29 Theo Fermon (FRA), Manoel Soares (BRA) and Karim Mahmoud (EGY) are on the water for R1 H3 with Mahmoud in the lead.
18.15 After the first three scores for Chabloz he’s in a clear lead with 19.8 heat score so far.
18.12 Effortless Chabloz leads the heat with his first trick scoring 6.6 for a back mobe 5.
18.10 Corey Folz (USA) is on the water for R1 H2 against Baptiste Jacquemain (FRA) and Maxime Chabloz (SUI).
18.00 Picot is just behind Dorotini with two tricks left and it’s down to the wire between them while Jacquet lags behind.
17.55 We see a beautifully executed slim to blind trick from Pitot which he needed it after Dorotini’s high scoring KGB5.
17.47 Pitot and Dorotini are seasoned competitors and we expect an exciting heat. We will keep running the heats while we have daylight.
17.45 R1 H1 of the men’s gets underway with Julien Jacquet (FRA) against Matteo Dorotini (ITA) and Louka Pitot (FRA).
17.44 The women’s round two has been completed and unfortunately Heckhausen and Anania exit the competition, with Bagnoli sealing the deal with a place in the semi final.
17.41 The lightwind conditions mean the athletes are being tested but Bagnoli remains in the lead.
17.32 The wind has picked up for elimination round two
17.30 Bagnoli puts down the first score with a backside 313 scoring 4.67.
17.15 R2 H2 is in sequence with Heckhausen against Bagnoli and Anania.
17.25 Lehmann wins R2 H1 and will join Matilda Roux and Rita Arnaus in the semi final.
17.14 Kaya Lehmann goes straight into the next heat after unfortunately losing to Kajiya and is up against Balbinot fighting for a place in the semi final.
17.10 We continue now with R2 of the women’s heats with the format of 5 trick attempts and the best 3 counting.
17.08 Kajiya is in the lead and is able to keep the speed she needs to land a nice combo trick that scores 7.53, the highest of the day.
17.05 Both athletes put in high scoring tricks for the first attempt.
17.03 It’s the last heat for the women’s round one and current world champion Bruna Kajiya (BRA) is up against newcomer to the world tour, Kaya Lehmann (GER).
17.01 Rosa wins the heat and advances to the semi final. Balbinot (ITA) and Heckhausen (GER) get another chance to battle it out in round two.
16.55 Rosa remains in the lead and is the only one to have placed three scores so far.
16.46 It’s blowing 14-16 knots and the riders need to be smart out there looking for gusts to make the most of the conditions. They only have five trick attempts so need to make everything count. Rosa is currently in the lead.
16.41 It’s blowing 13-16 knots and we hope the wind will increase. Estefania Rosa (BRA) is now preparing to go into R1 H3 against Naïs Balbinot (ITA) and Julia Heckhausen (GER).
16.37 Anania unfortunately seems to be struggling in the conditions and is yet to place a score.
16.35 R1 H2 is live with Matilda Roux (FRA) against Giulia Anania (ITA).
16.30 Arnaus should be feeling confident after opening with a strong heat for her comeback. Bagnoli answered back with nice unhooked tricks but Arnaus just made it through with a heat score of 12.56 against Bagnoli’s 12.52.
16.12 Rita Arnaus (ESP) has made a comeback after injury and is on the water about to compete against Francesca Bagnoli (ITA) in R1 H1 of the women’s GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024.
16.06 Tune into the action via the livestream now.
15.52 We have had an official announcement that we will be in sequence to start the heats at 16.10. Get ready for action!
15.31 The first possible start has been delayed to 16.00.
15.18 The next announcement will be at 15.30 with a first possible start of 15.45.
15.05 The first possible start is now 15.30.
14.50 The wind is starting to build and kites are in the air. We will continue to monitor the conditions and will now make announcements at shorter intervals. Stay tuned!
14.33 The first possible start will now be 15.15.
14.07 The Race Director and Head Judge have examined the conditions and made the decision to reduce the number of trick attempts per heat, due to time restrictions. The format will be five trick attempts, with the three top scores counting. This will apply to round one for both the men and women with a first possible start of 15.00.
13.34 The first possible start is now at 14.30.
13.02 The wind is not quite enough to start the heats and Race Director, Rui Meira, has announced that the first possible start will now be at 14.00.
12.30 The next announcement will be at 13.00 with a first possible start of 13.30.
12.05 The first possible start has been moved to 13.00.
11.31 The next announcement will be at 12.00 with the first possible start at 12.30.
11.20 The skippers’ meeting has taken place and we anticipate completing at least rounds one and two for both the men and women today. Stay tuned for the first possible start of 12.00.
10.40 Good morning from sunny Dunkerque. The forecast looks very promising and we hope to kick off the action soon. The skippers’ meeting will be taking place at 11.00 with a first possible start of 11.30.
Day two: 29 August, 2024
17.31 That’s it for today unfortunately as the wind did not arrive as hoped. Stay tuned as the forecast promises to kick the heats off strong tomorrow with a first possible start of 11.30!
16.31 The next announcement will be at 17.30 and the last of the day.
15.30 Race Director Rui Meira is still analysing conditions with the next call at 16.30.
14.40 The first possible start will be 15.45 as we have 9 knots of wind currently but hope that it will increase.
13.30 The competition start has been delayed for a further hour due to the wind
12.34 Kites are pumped ready on the beach but we need a few more knots to be able to start the heats at a possible time of 13.45.
11.36 The next announcement will be at 12.30 with a first possible start of 12.45.
11.03 The next possible announcement will be at 11.30.
10.35 The wind has not improved but we will stay monitoring the conditions and will make announcements every 30 minutes.
10.32 The first possible start has been delayed to 11.15 as we wait for the wind to build.
10.01 The next announcement will now be at 10.30.
9.51 We’re still on hold with a first possible start of 10.30.
9.34 The next announcement is at 9.45 with a first possible start of 10.00.
9.17 We have pushed back the first possible start to 9.45.
9.02 The first rider is in the water testing the conditions and the first possible start will be 9.30.
8.56 The first possible start is now 9.15.
8.37 The flags are fluttering and the next announcement will be at 8.45 with a first possible start of 9.00.
8.15 The first possible start will now be 8.45.
8.00 The judges are in position with a first possible start of 8.15. We will commence with the women’s rounds one and two. Riders will take turns to perform a trick with 1 minute per turn and 10 seconds between riders.
7.45 Salut from Dunkerque. It’s an early start for the riders as there’s a chance of early wind this morning. The skippers’ meeting has already taken place with the athletes briefed and ready for action. Stay tuned as the first possible start will be at 8.00.
Day one: 28 August, 2024
18.00 The competition remains on hold. We now move to the official opening ceremony with athletes carrying their flags each representing their country. Stay tuned tomorrow as we hope to open the first heats of competition kicking off the GKA Freestyle World Cup France 2024 here in Dunkerque.
17.05 The final call of the day will now be at 18:00 with a first possible start of 18.30.
16.00 The first possible start is now 17.30.
15.25 The wind is not yet enough to start the heats. The first possible start has been pushed to 16.30.
14.45 The first possible start has been delayed to 15.30 as we wait for the wind to build.
14.35 The skippers’ meeting has taken place with 24 men and 9 women poised to compete in this first freestyle event of 2024. Race director Rui Meira is assessing the conditions for the week and our first possible start will be 15.00.
10.35 Bonjour and good morning from sunny Dunkerque, France! We have an exciting week ahead and athlete registration will take place today at 12.00, with the first possible start for the heats at 15.00.