GKA Kite-Surf World Tour – Dakhla delivers promise on Day 1

by Matt Pearce on 19 Jul 2017 32 riders signed up for the second stop on this year’s GKA Kite-Surf World Tour amidst the lush surroundings of the new Dakhla Westpoint Eco-lodge hotel on Tuesday morning.

Round one was completed at the thrilling Tarifa Strapless Pro just two weeks ago, but the excitement for this event in Morocco has been building since before that as it's the first time the two elements of this five stop combination tour will come into play at the same event.

Showing the vision for the future of performance wave kiting, riders will be judged on both their wave riding and strapless freestyle skills in their heats.

This exciting new judging system has been a subject of debate among the riders who held a competitors’ meeting this afternoon to discuss how they’d like to see points allocated across the two disciplines - depending on the conditions they’ll encounter this week. The riders are positive that this format will reveal the most complete strapless rider on tour in 2017.

Shortly after the official riders' briefing, the competitors took to the water for a short warm-up in the late afternoon, making use of a small but steadily building wave that wraps round the point - right under the gaze of those enjoying the spectacle from the Dakhla Westpoint hotel’s Be Wok sushi restaurant.

The riders also joined forces with a large group of local kids in the afternoon to carry out a beach clean along the shore at Foum Lo Bouir, where the competition will kick off tomorrow. The spirit of interaction and cooperation was in full effect with several large bags filled.

Dakhla has long been supported as a venue for world class watersports by important local and national Moroccan officials and this year is no exception.

Next came the official opening ceremony with The Wali of Dakhla, Lamine Benomar, who greeted the riders and the event organisers. After an official ‘salut’ to mark the start of the event, many of the riders returned to the water to score a quick session just before sunset.

The forecast is for solid wind for the competition period. 12 riders have prequalified for the event and four wildcards have been issued. The remaining 16 competitors will compete in trials to qualify for the remaining eight main event places.