Event Overview
Served as the opening stop of the 2019 Global Kitesports Association (GKA) Kite World Tour season, the event was held at Ponta Preta, Sal Island, Cape Verde. The dates were February 25 to March 3, 2019. 39 male riders and 13 female riders from around the world participated.
Venue Conditions
Ponta Preta is a renowned surf break famous for its powerful right-hand point break and offshore winds. Due to the exposed shallow reef bottom, it is a dangerous spot where mistakes are unforgiving. As a result, it provided ideal conditions for pure wave riding rather than strapless freestyle. Although there were moments when heats were canceled due to unstable winds, the beautifully groomed wave faces shaped by offshore winds brought out the riders’ true potential.
Highlights
In the men’s division, an upset occurred early in the single elimination when Airton Cozzolino was defeated by James Carew, while local Cape Verdean legend Mitu Monteiro rode through barrel after barrel and executed vertical turns—scoring a 9.17 and 9.23 in Round 5—to win the single elimination. In the double elimination, Airton stormed back with four consecutive heat wins over Sebastian Ribeiro, Francesco Cappuzzo, Matchu Lopes, and James Carew in the semi-final to exact his revenge and reach the final. Clashing with Mitu in an all-Cape Verdean final, Mitu locked into a long, deep tube ride and launched a massive air off the lip to secure the victory in the first final without needing a super final.
In the women’s division, single elimination winner Moona Whyte faced Portuguese rider Ines Correia, who knows the local waves of Ponta Preta inside out and had fought through four straight heats in the double elimination to reach the final. Consistently scoring high with flowing turns and critical lip hits, Moona posted an event-high 16.04-point combo score to win the final on the first attempt without needing a super final, claiming back-to-back titles in Cabo Verde.
Accidents
In stark contrast to the cheerful island vibes symbolized by Jo Ciastula’s words, “Cape Verde, no stress. That’s the way of this island,” the harsh conditions on the water troubled the competitors. It was a tough event where danger was always present, such as when Frances Kelly was slammed hard onto the lip of a wave at Ponta Preta.
Quotes
“Cape Verde is the kite surfing what Brazil is to surfing right now it’s basically a breeding ground of just rippers feeding off of each other”
— Jo Ciastula
“This event is gonna go down in history and this is why Cabo Verde is one of the best place to come in the world to kite surf.”
— Jo Ciastula
“It feels amazing to take the win here for the second year in a row. It was definitely a tough battle a lot of the girls were ripping and Ines was on fire the whole day…”
— Moona Whyte
Show Event Results (Spoiler Alert)
Men
- Mitu Monteiro
- Airton Cozzolino
- James Carew
- Matchu Lopes
Women
- Moona Whyte
- Ines Correia
- Johanna-Catharina Edin
- Charlotte Carpentier
Search Aliases: 2019 Cape Verde, 2019CapeVerde, 2019 GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Cabo Verde, 2019GKAKite-SurfWorldCupCaboVerde