Main Event Begins! – GKA Sylt

Wednesday 26th June

Report: Matt Pearce / All photos: Svetlana Romantsova 

The wind is on and the main event kicks off today. The men’s division are up first with the riders competing in two man heats lasting eight minutes each and they’ll be judged on 100% strapless freestyle, although that criteria may be adjusted at midday today if the swell builds.

During these early strapless freestyle heats, the riders will be allowed to complete as many tricks as they can (providing they only do one on each tack) and their six highest scoring tricks will count towards their overall score.

Heats Begin – 09:00

Conditions: 15-18 knots with riders on 10-12 metre kites

Men’s Heat 1B

A. Dias / L. Pünder

German rider Linus Pünder wins the opening exchange against Arsenio Dias from Cabo Verde. Low scores so far, but first blood has been drawn!

Men’s Heat 2 B

N. Abadjiev / K. Lopes

It’s great to see Nicola back on tour. He wins this one with some smooth low angle tricks, include toeside rolls to revert.

Men’s Heat 3A

P. Matos / D. Derksen

Pedro opens with a backroll board-off but he’s not having too much trouble here because Derksen has failed to show up for his heat. An easy win for the Brasilero, but he still put in some decent scores though, for a 23.53 overall score.

Men’s Heat 3B

E. Nunes / J. Donat

Elvis Nunes wins this one with a rodeo and toeside air reverse but Jörn actually had the highest score of the round for a higher toeside air reverse. Neither rider racked up more than four tricks though, and they’ll need to be quicker in the crucial rounds to follow.

Men’s Heat 4B

A. Reboucas / L. Millard

Tempo is much faster in this heat with Reboucas opening up a solid lead by his fifth trick. Millard is riding well, but Reboucas is consistently scoring 5s and above and his top scoring trick – a backroll tick tack rodeo for 6.3 points – puts him well beyond the reach of Aussie riders Millard with less than a minute to go.

Reboucas takes the win in this one.

Men’s Heat 5B

R. Boelen / W.R Tonkin

Big heat here as two super athletic riders hit the water. Ralph leads early, but Willow then pulls ahead with a backroll tick tack and then builds his lead with an air 3. Ralph not far behind, but he’s trailing.

Willow takes the win to go straight through to round tw0.

Heat 6 B

T. Ciliberto / S. Joosten

Simon Joosten exploded out of the gates on this one and his frontroll shuvit 3 was one of the highest scoring tricks of the round so far scoring 6.63 points. He didn’t stop there, and wins the heat with the biggest overall score of the day so far – 30.43. This guy is going to be one to watch!

Men’s Heat 7A

R. Myerscough / I. Tkatsch

Both riders out on 12s at this point and the wind is still consistently in the 15-18 knot range. Reece opens with a backroll board off for a solid first score of 4.8 and then goes big with a backroll rodeo off a kicker.

Reece is now four tricks in and Igor hasn’t yet posted a score, so it’s going to be hard for him to close the gap on his competitor.

Reece finishes with a backroll tick tack for 5.4 points and, with only five scored tricks, manages an impressive 23.54. He’s been one of the best riders of round one so far and he won this heat comfortably.

Men’s Heat 7B

C. Delannoy / G. Harney

Tour regular Camille on the water (with a still broken finger) against newcomer Graham Harney from Canada. Harney strikes first with a toeside air reverse and is looking very dialled in and then sticks a very smooth board-off kiteloop.

However, Camille is now warmed up and hits hard with a backroll to warm up followed by a nice front roll and then a high scoring kiteloop backroll for 6.37 points to take the lead.

Then Graham retakes the lead with a backroll tick tack and then buttchecks his way out a backroll kiteloop board-off to take the win in the last minute. He wins by 0.74 points overall, a big debut performance by the tour rookie and the best (and highest) heat of the round.

Men’s Heat 8B

K. Roig Torres / J. Sanca

Kiko kicks off with a high scoring salvo – front roll board-off, toeside air reverse and a backroll to revert to take a commanding lead before Jordy can react.

He then adds a board-off to his innovative backroll to revert and smoothly comes out of it. His scores are high, and his tempo is relentless. It’s going to be very hard for Jordy to match him in this heat.

Kiko seals the deal with a high backroll board-off for 6.03 points and then a 6.23 for a backroll rodeo. He wins the heat with the highest score of the day – a huge 31.47!

Men’s Round Two Begins

Conditions – Wind increasing to 20-23 and swell building.

Men’s Heat 9A

F. Capuzzo / L.Pünder

First heat of round two and Francesco Capuzzo is firing out of the gates. Linus rode well in round one, but he can’t stand up to this onslaught from Capuzzo.

Linus lands an air reverse, but Capuzzo now has six tricks on the board including a big backroll tick tack and he easily wins the heat by a 17.43 heat margin.

Men’s Heat 9B

J. Carew / N. Abadjiev

Yet another big hitter enters the fray in the form of James ‘Stormboy’ Carew. Nicola is doing stylish, lower angle tricks but Carew is bringing out the big guns with some high scorers including a backroll tick tack for 6.53.

He’s also going huge on more simple tricks which is scoring him some solid points, including 5.7 for a simple backroll. He finishes up with a backroll tick tack finger flip which is pretty bonkers and score him a 6.93. The biggest single score of the day of the most technical trick of the event.

Carew wins this convincingly.

Men’s Heat 10A

P. Matos / E. Nunes

Pedro Matos crushes this one from early on. Two of his opening tricks – a backroll rodeo and a backroll double tick tack take him past the 6 point mark.

He runs away with the heat from there and after five tricks has a 20 point lead on Elvis Nunes. Matos finishes the heat with a high scoring frontroll shuvit 3 (6.63) and a backroll board-off (6.6) to rack up a total score of 30.3.

A very complete performance with four high scoring tricks to win the heat. Matos is looking super solid today.

Men’s Heat 10B

M. Monteiro / A. Reboucas

Mitu eases his way into this one, then stomps a backroll tick tack rodeo which is perhaps the most technically difficult trick we’ve seen today.

Mitu had a big lead after his first three tricks, but Anderson fought back and actually landed more tricks than Mitu. Mitu still wins, but only by 3.58 points in total and Anderson was very consistent during this heat.

Men’s Heat 11A

W.R Tonkin / J.M Riveras

Tour veteran Jan Marcos is up for his first heat now against Willow and what a start from him. His first five tricks alone score him 29.99 points and he’s doing some innovative combos.

Willow not far behind though and he closes the gap with a BIG kiteloop that scores him 6.6 but Jan Marcos then puts more distance between them with the biggest score so far – a frontroll to reverse for 7.13 points! He’s the first rider to break the 7 point barrier up to this point.

Jan Marcos wins the heat with a massive overall score of 34.8 points!

Men’s Heat 11B

S. Joosten / P. Pereira

Pereira’s had the higher top score this heat but Joosten’s keeping up a much higher rate of fire. When Paulino bowties his kite he loses valuable time and Joosten seizes the opportunity. Can Pereira pull it round?

He battles back and lands a nice floaty backroll as the buzzer sounds but Joosten’s kiteloop backroll and kiteloop rodeo (both of which were high powered and high scoring) make his lead unassailable.

Joosten wins with a score of 30.43.

Heat 12 A

R. Myerscough / G. Harney

It’s a clash of the Ocean Rodeo riders! Bit of a slower paced heat this time, but Reece leads from the start with some easy scorers to get things rolling. Neither rider really gets up to speed in this heat, but they manage four tricks each and Reece sticks a backroll tick tack in the last minute to secure the win.. but only 0.11 points.

Too close for comfort!

Heat 12B

A. Cozzolino / K. Roig Torres

Arguably the most powerful strapless freestyler on the tour, Airton, meets promising up-and-comer Kiko in the final heat of round two.

Airton opens with the biggest score of the round – 7.33 for a backroll tick tack and then he does an even bigger one for 7.99.

Kiko is answering back though and still holds the lead after five points. He’s not scored over 7 points yet, but he’s had some high sixes including a front roll shuvit 3.

In the last minute, Airton breaks out the unhooked tricks though and stomps an FS3 for an insane 9 points.

What an entrance – 37.9 points for Mr Airlines Cozzolino and a decisive first victory!

Men’s Round Three Begins

Conditions – Wind steady at 20-23 and tide dropping

F. Capuzzo / J. Carew

James Carew builds an early lead in this one with five tricks on the board and 27.17 points before Capuzzo can react. Francesco does find his feet, and he’s landing some technical tricks including a backroll tick tack (that trick has been a riders’ favourite today..) but he doesn’t have the height of Carew who wins the heat and goes through to the semis.

Men’s Heat 13B

P. Matos / M. Monteiro

Matos vs Monteiro. Another top-flight tour rider taking on a solid younger rider.

Matos leads from the off but then Mitu fires out a double front roll rodeo and storms into first place. Can Brazilian rider Matos match that? Well he’s certainly not backing off and is consistently scoring in the high fives and sixes but Mitu is on another level.

Mitu lands a backroll tick tack board flip late in the heat to lengthen the gap on points and he clinches it with barely a two point lead to go through to the semis.

Men’s Heat 14A

J.M Riveras / S. Joosten

Two dreadlocked warriors going at it in this heat and their opening scores are almost identical (0.01 point difference) but then Joosten opens up yet another barrage.

So far today, he’s been unmatchable when it comes to his sheer work rate and he’s soon four tricks in while Jan Marcos trails. However, Jan Marcos gets back into gear with a backroll rodeo into a finger flip, a really innovative move, but it was too little too late to match Joosten’s total score.

Simon goes through to the semis with a very impressive combo score of 32.57.

Men’s Heat 14B

R. Myerscough / A. Cozzolino

Now we’re down to the final heat of men’s round three before the semi-finals and the pressure is on as Airton takes on Reece Myerscough.

Both riders made a conservative start with air 3s but Airton picks up speed halfway through the heat. A kiteloop tick tack and a backroll tick tack help him open the gap but, as Airton changes his kite, Reece tries to make up some ground with a double backroll close in to shore.

Gear change complete, Airton storms back out and starts assaulting kickers in the shore break. He lands a long-angle, almost wakestyle-like frontroll shuvit on the inside which scores him a solid 7.5 and that brings his total score up to 34.73.

It’s not his top heat score of the day so far, but it’s still an absolute banger and he wins to go through to the semi-finals.

Reece did get the second highest score of the heat though for his stylish grabbed double backroll so it was a good effort, but not enough to beat Airton.

NEXT UP – MEN’S SEMI-FINALS

SEMIS HEAT 1

Carew / Monteiro

SEMIS HEAT 2

Joosten / Cozzolino