It was another insane day of intense action on the water as stormy Sylt continued to deliver the goods. The competition started bright and early, with the women’s heats straight on the water and back into the North Sea.
With the waves bigger and more lined up, the judges elected to change the format slightly from the previous day, with the two best strapless freestyle tricks and two best waves counting towards the riders final scores.
The conditions started off around 25 knots with the wind forecast to increase throughout the day: perfect conditions for the finals of the GKA Kitesurf World Cup. So, how did it go down?
First up, in the women’s division, Aussie shredder Peri Roberts (AUS) went head to head with the female star of the competition so far, Capucine Delannoy (FRA).
In previous events, Peri Roberts has claimed some high scores in the wave category, whilst Capucine is more renowned for her repertoire of strapless wizardry. With both two best waves and the two best strapless freestyle tricks counting, it was anyone’s game.
The women had their competition faces on and were ready to battle it out for the top spot on the podium. Capucine was off to a flying start, nailing her signature double frontroll, the first of these maneuvers to be landed in the women’s competition, a legit NBD. Was she done with this? Of course not”¦ She followed this by sticking a huge front roll board off and scoring a 9.5!
Meanwhile, Peri Roberts was focusing her attention on the waves, seeking out the cleaner waves and linking some nice turns and kicking up plenty of spray, ultimately there weren’t the waves for her to match Capucine’s prowess in the air. Capucine was unstoppable and claimed 1st place with a total score of 25.8.
Final Standings in the Women’s division:
- Capucine Delannoy (FRA)
- Peri Roberts (AUS)
- Charlotte Carpentier (FRA)
- Catharina Eden (SWE)
Onto the men’s semi-finals — an intense heat went down between x3 times World Champion, Airton Cozzolino (ITA), and Brazilian shredder, Pedro Matos (BRA).
Both men faced off with their next-level strapless games and were going stratospheric with a similar repertoire of tricks. However, it was Airton who was sticking to the landings, with Pedro not always connecting as he came down.
Pedro knew he needed to switch things up a gear and thankfully the North Sea played ball; one of the sweetest right-handers of the day came through and Pedro launched a huge air off the lip. You could really see Matos’s surfing knowledge coming into play at the most critical point in the heat, and this wave saw the Brazilian rider managed to edge the win over Cozzolino Airlines by a small margin. Pedro Matos would now be advancing through to the finals to face the Aussie powerhouse, James Carew (AUS).
Carew commenced the heat by reaching new heights and landing a spectacular Kiteloop Rodeo Board-off, leaving the crowd on the beach awestruck! Matos then proceeded to make the most out of Sylt’s mushy waves and seemed to have the local conditions truly dialed in, landing some impressive airs off the waves and throwing buckets on his rides. It looked like he might have taken the edge, until Carew landed a Kiteloop Rodeo Board Off and a Kiteloop Rodeo Frontroll, both scoring in the high 8s to put the pressure back onto Matos.
It was setting up to be a truly Grand Finale, and Carew stepped up and delivered the killer blow, with one of the highest wave scores of the entire event, which saw the Australian tear apart an onshore runner and demonstrate once again that he has become the complete package. He was the only rider who scored above 30 in all of his heats, and was truly a deserving winner of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Sylt 2021.
Final standings in the Men’s division:
- James Carew (AUS)
- Pedro Matos (BRA)
- Airton Cozzolino (ITA)
- Reece Myerscough (CAN)
After two days of non-stop action, the champions of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup in Sylt have been crowned! The forecast is looking windy for tomorrow so they are hoping to run the best trick competition. Stay tuned!