GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Cape Verde 2023
Day 2: Shock exit of reigning world champion
The mens final was a showdown between two of the youngest riders on tour. Our current World Champion Malo Guenole vs Chris Mac Donald. Both went trick for trick, with Chris opening with a 7.43 point Back Flip. Malo responded with an outstanding 8.63 point Front Side 7. Chris continued building scores, nailing a Front Side 7 and Front Flip, and just managed to steal the win from Mal by 0.8 points. An incredible final from two of the strongest athletes on tour.
The womens final consisted of two of our strongest riders, Nia Suardiaz and Bowien van der Linden were matched up for an intense heat. Nia achieved three solid scores and managed to gain an advantage over Bowien, allowing her to claim her first event win of the 2023 season.
After several attempts, the final was able to start, but four riders went over early. Titouan Galea, Oscar Leclair, Ancor Sosa, and Camille Bouyer had to sail back to shore, missing out on the final race. This was a window of opportunity for the six remaining riders. The challenging wind conditions certainly did not make it easy, but Bastien Escofet managed to accelerate his way to the front of the pack and head into the final FreeFly section in the lead, pumping his way to the finish line to claim his fourth elimination win. Chris Mac Donald cruised through in second position, and Zane Schweitzer in third. Local rider Hugo Wigglesworth finished fourth, followed by Francesco Cappuzzo who went down due to a drop in wind but managed to somehow finish the course to claim the sixth position.
The final results for the men’s FreeFly-Slalom discipline are:
1st Bastien Escofet (FRA)
2nd Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
3rd Camille Bouyer (FRA)
The final results for the women’s FreeFly-Slalom discipline are:
1st Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2nd Aimee Bright (NZL)
3rd Bowien van der Linden (NLD)
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Men’s round four was the very close: Heat between Maxime Chabloz (15.93) and Francesco Cappuzzo (14.57). A scrappy fight for waves was separated by a marginal difference between two excellent front flips off kickers, in Maxime’s favour. But the most nail-biting heat, and perhaps most surprising result, given the predominant weighting towards wave riding, was the heat between Brazilian waterman and ex-windsurfing wave world champion Kauli Seadi, and French tour regular, Bastien Escofet.
Kauli had been first to take advantage with a good wave from left to right across the whole comp area early in the heat, before the two then traded good frontside waves. Six minutes to go in the ten minute heat and it was tight; 16.39 to 16.33 to the Brazilian. Bastien spent four minutes caught on the inside and had to paddle out past the shore break. He finally made it out and, with 90 seconds to go, landed a fully committed front flip that earned him a 7.23. He slipped into the lead while Kauli was caught on the inside and this was the best example of how the single freestyle trick could be used to make a crucial difference when wave riding more or less otherwise dominated proceedings.
The mens final was a showdown between two of the youngest riders on tour. Our current World Champion Malo Guenole vs Chris Mac Donald. Both went trick for trick, with Chris opening with a 7.43 point Back Flip. Malo responded with an outstanding 8.63 point Front Side 7. Chris continued building scores, nailing a Front Side 7 and Front Flip, and just managed to steal the win from Mal by 0.8 points. An incredible final from two of the strongest athletes on tour.
The womens final consisted of two of our strongest riders, Nia Suardiaz and Bowien van der Linden were matched up for an intense heat. Nia achieved three solid scores and managed to gain an advantage over Bowien, allowing her to claim her first event win of the 2023 season.
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