GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla (men's) 2024 - Comeback king Carew gets back-to-back wins
by Ian MacKinnon 6 Oct 2024 20:04 AEDT
29 September - 6 October 2024
Australia's James Carew won the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup in Dakhla, Morocco, in a stunning display that gave him back-to-back victories on returning from an 18-month injury lay-off.
Carew was victorious in the slightly one-sided final in the right-hand Oum Lamboiur break after a long day of action on the water. He was delighted with the win to add to his victory in Sylt, Germany, in August, that boosts his chances of capturing a third world title.
"I feel amazing," said Carew. "Two wins in a row. I've been dreaming of this for a long time. Today I wasn't feeling it. I sat myself down before the final and said 'hey, relax'. As soon as I got in the water and got two really good waves, that took the pressure off. I feel a lot better about getting the title. I want to be top at the end of the year."
The beaten finalist Brazil's Pedro Matos, last year's winner in Dakhla, had showed remarkable form in his path to the deciding heat. But he was slightly disappointed to fall so far short of Carew in the end.
"Of course I'm stoked, but I wish I had the first place," said Matos. "I got a really difficult draw with all the best athletes. So it was like all the heats were finals. But I just couldn't make it in the last one. But I'm happy. I was surfing well and I got some some good scores. Let's go to the next one."
Day three of the competition had shown the best swell and wind forecast in an otherwise challenging week and the race director decided to push from early with the men's competition to try to complete competition.
Strong local riders
In the early heats of the day a number of the Moroccan riders were the standouts, using their local knowledge of the tricky break and the offshore winds to full advantage to put on some strong performances.
Mounim Maji (MOR) put in some good heats but came to grief at the hands of the Cape Verdean Hendrick Lopes (SUI). Mohamed Ali Beqqali (MOR) forged a path through the fleet but was taken out by James Carew, though the Moroccan had donned the wrong colour of lycra shirt and was not scored for his rides.
Another Cape Verdean Matchu Lopes (ESP) was ranked fourth on the tour at the start and had won two stops last year. But he was unfortunate to come up against a rampant Pedro Matos in an early heat and was sent out.
The quarter-finals held out some mouthwatering match-ups. Bulgaria's Nicola Abadjiev got his best showing at the last stop in Sylt, where he finished fourth, and was looking to build on that. But he was unlucky to lose out Brazil's Gabriel Benetton in a tight battle.
The quarter-final between the Brazilians Sebastian Ribeiro and Pedro Matos was a thriller. Ribeiro had earlier got the highest wave score of the day—9.4 from 10—and the highest heat total. He went toe-to-toe with Matos, but lost out in the end by 0.04 points on the last wave.
The US's Gray Foster also had his best showing in Dakhla as he reached the quarter-final with a series of strong rides. But he met tour leader and world champion Airton Cozzolino (ITA) there, and that was the end of the road for the American.
Not plain sailing
Even though James Carew was ultimately dominant, it was not all plain sailing. Gabriel Benetton gave him a run for his money in the first semi-final and Carew won out by only a fraction of a point.
Semi-final two pitted Airton Cozzolino against Pedro Matos. Both were charging the meagre swells on offer as the sun was sinking and in the end Matos found the better waves and worked them to take the heat win.
In the mini-final, the run-off for third and fourth place, Cozzolino met the young Brazilian Benetton. It was another tight battle in tricky conditions as the swell seemed to drop off, but Cozzolino found a cover-up late in the heat for an 8.2 score that gave him the win and third place overall, keeping his hopes of retaining his title alive.
"The mini-final was amazing," said Cozzolino. "The conditions were really great. I did everything I could. I'm really stoked. I didn't expect third place, so it feels like winning. So, let's go to the next one."
The final between James Carew and Pedro Matos began with fireworks. Carew opened with two big scores— 8.7 and 8.47—as he worked Dakhla's endless right-handers ferociously. Matos never really seemed to get going and the heat fizzled out with a win for Carew on 17.17 and a strong second place for Matos.
GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla - Men:
1 James Carew (AUS)
2 Pedro Matos (BRA)
3 Airton Cozzolino (ITA)
4 Gabriel Benetton (BRA)