The battle for the 2024 titles is about to begin – GKA WORLD TOUR Kitesurf

Get ready for excitement and competition in the battle for the 2024 kiteboarding titles in Ponta Preta, Cape Verde! The GKA Kite-Surf action is about to kick off.

The Kite-Surf tour returns to Cape Verde with world champions eager to begin defending their crowns!

GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Cape Verde 2024
February 16-25, Ponta Preta / Kite Beach, Sal

The epic battles for the Kite-Surf crown on the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour are about to begin firing on the legendary waves of Sal island in Cape Verde.

The 2024 season of the globetrotting tour will likely kick off on the renowned right-hand break of Ponta Preta, returning less than 12 months after the first round of the Kite-Surf discipline.

The current world champions, Italy’s Airton Cozzolino and the US’s Moona Whyte, are set to journey to the South Atlantic islands for the first of five scheduled Kite-Surf stops on four continents.

The 2023 Kite-Surf season marked a return to Cape Verde after a four-year hiatus. It also marked the beginning of a journey that saw both Cozzolino and Whyte regain their world titles after an absence from the podium of several years.

A total of 37 athletes—22 men and 15 women from 16 countries—are ready to battle for honors and glory during the 10-day competition window which will accommodate a double-header with the GWA Wingfoil World Tour.

Remarkable double

Whyte pulled off a remarkable double when she won the GWA Wave world title and became the Qatar Airways GKA Kite-Surf World Champion. But this season she has said Cape Verde—her favorite wave that has much in common with her native O’ahu—is likely to be her only stop.

That may leave the door open for France’s Capucine Delannoy, 17, to regain her Kite-Surf crown. Delannoy got the better of Whyte at the final stop of 2023 in Cauípe, Brazil, in the mixed format Kite-Surf discipline.

Whyte’s three tour stop wins in the pure surfing Kite-Surf format were enough to land her the world title, her fourth, which came after a four-year break from the tour.

Other athletes, like Switzerland’s Camille Losserand, the Qatar Airways Big Air Kite Surfboard World Champion, and Brazil’s Kesiane Rodrigues will be keen to stake their claims to move up the order in the waves.

Single-minded focus

Men’s champion, Cape Verde-bred Airton Cozzolino, has a single-minded focus on holding on to the crown. After a year of ups and downs, he closed out the title with his first event win of the season at the final stop in Brazil.

Fellow Cape Verdean, Matchu Lopes (ESP), will no doubt have other ideas. He won the first stop in Ponta Preta last year and beat Cozzolino in the monster final in Saquarema, Brazil, only to see his title bid come off the rails. It left him second overall.

Brazil’s Pedro Matos was another who made it difficult for Cozzolino to secure the title. Matos won the penultimate tour stop in Dakhla, Morocco. It ensured the title race went down to the wire and earned Matos a third place overall.

One athlete that many of his rivals have missed is Australia’s James Carew. The two-time Kite-Surf world champion was injured in 2023 and had to step back from the Kite-Surf tour. He is almost fully recovered, but will miss the opening stop in Cape Verde before returning later in the season, ready to begin his campaign with four slated stops to run.

Undoubtedly the season opener in Cape Verde will be a thriller. Be sure to join us here for all the action.

Spot Info

The idyllic island of Sal is gearing up to host the second GWA Wingfoil World Cup, set to showcase the exhilarating Wave discipline. Against the stunning backdrop of this picturesque paradise, this eagerly-anticipated repeat stop will offer two potential event locations, with both Ponta Preta and Kite Beach in the mix.