GKA Dakhla day 1

Dakhla Delivers Promise On Day One

Welcome to Dakhla, and a new combination wave and freestyle format that will push riding development at the GKA Kite-Surf World Tour round two in Morocco this week! Get the scoop on the contest and hear from Paulino Pereira while we await the start of the trials on Wednesday 19th July.

18th July 2017: Dakhla, Morocco
Report: Matt Pearce / Photos: Ydwer van der Heide

Riders’ briefing at the new Westpoint Hotel kite center 
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.

New rider on tour this year, Sebastian Ribeiro from Brazil, getting warmed up after a long flight 
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.

Format development
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.

Beach clean with rider Ralf Boelen and Theo Demanez
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.

Official opening
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 8 main event places.

Riders’ briefing is Wednesday at 9am. We’ll be keeping you updated throughout the heats on social media so, for frequent news, please follow the GKA:

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Find the full GKA Kite-Surf World Tour 2017 event schedule here:
www.global-kitesports.org/world-tours/wave/

Bye from Dakhla for now!