Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup: 31 Jan – 04 Feb 2023

Title Partner and Official Airline of the GKA Kite World Tour, Qatar Airways, have a number of exclusive offers for those hoping to head to the opening Freestyle-Kite event of the season at Fuwairit Kite Beach Resort. Full offer and event details here!

JOIN US AT THE VISIT QATAR GKA FREESTYLE KITE WORLD CUP: 31 JAN – 04 FEB 2023

BENEFIT FROM SPECIAL OFFERS EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU

We are delighted that the Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup 2023 will be held in Fuwairit Kite Beach Resort in Qatar from 31 January to 4 February 2023.

As Title Partner and Official Airline of the GKA Kite World Tour, Qatar Airways have a number of exclusive offers for kitesurfers, fans, families and friends:*

EXCLUSIVE OFFERS – CLICK HERE!

• Savings of up to 10% on flights – experience the award-winning Hamad International airport when travelling from any of the 150 destinations in the Qatar Airways network.
• 10 kg extra baggage allowance – when booking either economy or business class with Qatar Airways

If you’re planning to visit Doha and enjoy some kitesurfing action, click here to book now and benefit from the special offer and enjoy the Award-winning experience with the World’s Best Airline and Airport.

We look forward to welcoming you to Qatar.

Offer Period: 5 January 2023 – 4 February 2023
Travel Period: 15 January 2023 – 14 January 2024
Book using the promo code GKA2023 to be eligible for the offer
Offer valid for travel on all Qatar Airways operated flights to Doha, Qatar
Other terms and conditions, please review at the time of booking
*Terms and conditions apply.

Read more about the official signature ceremony celebrating the partnership between Qatar Airways, Qatar Tourism and the GKA Kite World Tour that took place in May 2022 here.

EVENT HOST:
FUWAIRIT KITE BEACH RESORT

FKB enjoys one of the longest kitesurfing seasons in the world, running from November to
July, with side-onshore wind speeds from 15-30 knots.

The unique, natural set-up and shallow water lagoon makes it perfect for riders of any level and
caters for all levels of twin-tip rider as well as kitefoilers and wingfoilers.

An easy hour drive north of Doha or Hamad International airport you’ll find Fuwairit; once a small fishing town, now a premiere destination for kitesurfing.

The brand new purpose-built Fuwairit Kite Beach Resort is a paradise for kitesurfers, but is epic for everyone else too. Whether the wind is blowing or not, FKB is designed for a full day of activities on and off the water.

On-site facilities include the kitesurfing school, rescue services, latest equipment rental, plus off the water activities that include a state-of-the-art gym to outdoor cinema, E-foils and Sublue underwater scooters, plus lots more!

FUWAIRIT BEACH WEATHER

The average temperature in Qatar during January and February ranges from a high of 71°F (22°C) and a low of 62°F (17°C).

Sea temperature ranges from 64 – 68°F (18 – 20°C). Summer wetsuit is recommended.

PREVAILING WIND

A side-shore wind direction from the left, ranging from 15-25 knots is just perfect for Freestyle competition!

COMPETING RIDERS AT THE VISIT QATAR FREESTYLE-KITE WORLD CUP

For 2023 Freestyle-kite fleets sizes remain the same; limited to 28 or 14 competitors (men usually have 28 and women usually have 14). The fleet numbers for each event are realised as follows:

28 RIDERS
Riders 1 – 22: Top 22 ranked riders from previous season
Riders 23 – 24: GKA Wildcards
Riders 25 – 26: Video Entry Wildcards
Riders 27 – 28: Organizer Wildcards

14 RIDERS
Riders 1 – 11: Top 11 ranked riders from previous season
Rider 12: GKA Wildcard
Rider 13: Video Entry Wildcard
Rider 14: Organizer Wildcard

TOP 22 RANKED MEN

1 Gianmaria Coccoluto
2 Manoel Soares
3 Carlos Mario
4 Maxime Chabloz
5 Juan Rodriguez
6 Arthur Guillebert
7 Adeuri Corniel
8 Valentin Rodriguez
9 Luis Cruz
10 Posito Martinez
11 Guilherme Costa
12 Finn Flugel
13 Erick Anderson
14 Valentin Garat
15 Lorenzo Calcano
16 Robin Goetgebuer
17 Davi Ribeiro
18 Matteo Dorotini
19 Jeremy Burlando
20 Nelson Gomez
21= Joao Lucas
21= Leo Verrecchia

TOP 11 RANKED WOMEN

1 Mikaili Sol
2 Bruna Kajiya
3 Rita Arnaus
4 Claudia Leon
5 Estefania Rosa
6 Nathalie Lambrecht
7 Alexandra Torres
8 Francesca Bagnoli
9 Suami Carvallo
10 Merle Moenster
11 Karlie Thoma

2023 FREESTYLE-KITE COMPETITION FORMAT

Among some smaller technical adaptations to trick family structures that aim to increase competitive excitement, essentially the Freestyle-Kite competition format will still see the four highest scoring tricks counting to a rider’s heat score from a total allowance of seven trick attempts.

NEW! To add further overall excitement, a new variety score will be added at the end of the heat once the judges have assessed a rider’s all-round performance.

Some of the trick families have now been combined. The newly adapted trick families are:

1 Heelside Tricks – which is itself divided into four sub-families
sub-Family 1: raley based tricks
sub-Family 2: slims, S-mobes and KGB
sub-Family 3: hinterbergers and heartattacks
sub-Family 4: Mobes, including double half-cab mobes

2 Toeside / blind tricks
3 Rewinds
4 Combos
5 Kiteloop or downloops

VARIETY SCORING

The maximum variety score on offer to each rider in a heat is seven points, which will be combined with the total of 40 available points from four tricks. Absolute heat perfection will now be a score of 47 points.

Most riders will still focus their tricks on the more common heelside families. However, for the men, three of the seven possible variety score points are only available if a rider manages to throw a clean trick from families 2, 3, 4 or 5 alongside a maximum of 3 heelside tricks from the different sub-families.

Therefore, 25% of the variety score for men is only available from adding something more unusual to those tricks that we usually see in Freestyle competition. So judges are now looking for more than just heelside Freestyle tricks; the aim of which is to add an extra level of riding diversity and excitement as the riders continue to push the discipline’s evolution.

For the women, there are no limitations as their own trick progressions are still developing quickly within the heelside trick families. So they can focus on all four heelside trick families, but of course will be well rewarded for successfully landing good tricks from families 2, 3, 4 and 5, too, but that’s not necessary to achieve seven points.

FORMATS FOR THE CONDITIONS

As in previous seasons, all GKA Freestyle-Kite events will remain as ‘open format’, meaning that if conditions become unsuitable for pure freestyle, then up to 30 minutes before the competition starts the sports crew could switch to a more big air format to make the best of the conditions.

However, the format will either be pure freestyle, or pure big air. There will no longer be any combined formats.

You can read more and dig down into the nitty gritty of the format changes in the new Freestyle rulebook, published here

Click here to see the full Freestyle-Kite 2022 rankings

Click here to see the 2023 Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour event calendar