2019 GKA Kite World Cup Mauritius, Day 1 - Solid waves and record numbers
by Jim Gaunt 7 Sep 2019 07:21 PDT
6-15 September 2019
Pedro Matos, firing up the first heat! © Ydwer van der Heide
- Record 91 riders register for this double discipline event
- Eight Kite-Surf heats completed for the men in solid waves
Welcome to the Kite Globing / C-Beach Club spot at Bel Ombre in the southeast corner of the beautiful island of Mauritius. This is the second double event of three this season that will see both the Freestyle and Kite-Surf disciplines on the GKA Kite World Tour take place over the following ten days.
The Men's Kite-Surf round one began today (Friday) - find the full summaries of the eight heats here.
This southeast facing reef here at Bel Ombre picks up swell even when there's very little around the rest of the island, as you can see. The cross-shore wind begs the riders to show us maximum performance surfing and there's more of the same tomorrow!
The stand out rider of the day was on the water in the first heat, Brazilian Pedro Matos. Smooth, powerful and confident, his vertical strikes and sense of finding the gap to get one more lip smack in as well as his ability to pick out the biggest waves of the session were very impressive.
Day One Men's Kite-Surf Results:
HEAT 1: Pedro Matos (BRA) beat Sylvester (MRU)
HEAT 1B: Charlie Wise (AUS) beat Arsenio Dias (CV)
HEAT 2A: James Carew (AUS) beat Joshua Emmanuel (SA)
HEAT 2B: Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA) beat Simon Joosten (BAR)
HEAT 3A: Reece Myerscough (CAN) beat Ricot (MAU)
HEAT 3B: Oswald Smith (ZAR) beat Camille Delannoy (FRA)
HEAT 4A: Mitu Monteiro (CV) beat Martin (MRU)
HEAT 4B: Willow-River Tonkin (MRU beat Pablo Amores (ESP)
Full results: kitefoilworldseries.com/results