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BACK-TO-BACK WINS FOR JAMES CAREW

The race for this year’s Kite-Surf crown had intensified as the Qatar Airways GKA Kite-Surf World Championship arrived in Dakhla, Morocco, for a mid-season clash. After the tight competition at the last stop in Sylt, Germany, the athletes faced heightened pressure to perform and keep their title hopes alive.

At the start of the competition in Dakhla, Airton Cozzolino was in the lead, with Gabriel Benetton in second. James Carew who stole the spotlight in Sylt, won the event after an 18-month injury layoff. Hungrier than ever for a third world title, Carew sat fifth in the rankings despite missing the first stop in Cape Verde. In the women’s, Swiss super talent Camille Losserand arrived in Dakhla as second in the rankings.

The location of the competition, Oum Lamboiur, lies on the edge of the Sahara desert, where north-westerly swells wrap around the point, serving up a long, hollow right-hander that peels into the sandy bay. Right at the point, the northerly breezes can get tricky, but closer to the beach, they hit strong and punchy, perfect for powering through the inside sections.

On the first two days, the competition only kicked off in the early evening after 6pm in tough conditions, with fluky light winds, small waves and the sets few and far between.

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Comeback King James Carew (AUS), fresh from his Sylt victory, wasted no time making a statement! He lit up Heat 2 of the event, with a huge 8.57 for one of his waves, sealing the win over his team buddy Matchu Lopes (ESP), who put up a solid fight, finishing just behind in second.Also, our Brazilian wave style master, Sebastian Ribeiro, dominated his first heat with a massive 8.50 wave, pushing his heat total through the roof and securing a commanding win! So did last year’s Dakhla champ, Pedro Matos (BRA) in Heat 6. Regardless of the really challenging conditions, Pedro crushed it with two epic waves, scoring an 8.0 and a 7.0, securing an impressive win and a ticket straight into Round 3.

Although far from perfect, day three of the competition brought the best swell and wind conditions of the waiting period. With a deteriorating forecast for the remainder of the event, the event director started the men's competition early, determined to take full advantage of the conditions and finish the event. Using an overlap system to speed up the competition, i.e. after the first heat hit the 10-minute mark of its 20-minute run, the next heat joined in on the water. The original heat riders kept priority until they finished, and then it switched to the following heat riders.

In the early heats of the day, the Moroccan riders used their local know-how of the tricky break and offshore winds to their advantage, putting in some epic performances that had everyone buzzing.

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»I'm absolutely thrilled to have clinched my second win in a row coming back to Sylt, and now here in Dakhla. It’s an incredible feeling to see all the hard work and dedication pay off on such an amazing stage of the World Cup. The conditions were challenging, but it pushes you to give it your all, and that's what I love about this sport. Huge thanks to my team, supporters, and everyone who believes in me—this victory is ours together!«

— James Carew

The showdown between Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA) and Woodley Hall (AUS), in Heat 5 of Round 3, was electric! Ribeiro lit up the contest with the day’s best wave score — a massive 9.4 wave out of 10 — and a killer total of 18.10, securing a decisive win over Hall.

Heat 6, was an epic clash of the titans with crowd favourite, Cape Verdean Matchu Lopes (ESP), who was ranked fourth overall at the start of this event, up against his teammate, and last year’s Dakhla winner, Pedro Matos (BRA). Lopes fought hard, pushing Matos to the limit, but Matos' string of 7+ scores was just too much for Lopes to overcome on the day. What a battle! Matos took the win and moved to the quarter-finals.

In quarter-final 1 between James Carew (AUS) and Hendrik Lopes (SUI), the Aussie powerhouse was tearing up the waves as the tide dropped, taking full advantage of the improved conditions. Stomping out a massive 8.67 wave score for a heat total of 16.07 over Hendrik’s 12.26, he was the first to book his spot in the semi-finals.

The quarter-final clash between Brazil’s Sebastian Ribeiro and Pedro Matos was an unbelievable nail-biter! Earlier in the day, Ribeiro had already set the bar sky-high with both the day’s best wave score and the highest heat total. The two battled fiercely in an edge-of-your-seat showdown with the lead kept flipping as they battled wave for wave. But in a heart-stopping finish, Matos snatched the win by a razor-thin margin of 0.04 points!

With only meagre sets on offer, semi-final one between James Carew (AUS) and Gabriel Benetton (BRA), was on the slow side. Both riders gave it everything, maximizing every wave they could find. Aussie gladiator Carew came out of the battle victoriously, outscoring Benetton and securing his place in the final.

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In the second semi-final, Pedro Matos (BRA) faced off against Airton Cozzolino (ITA), the reigning World Champion, in a heated battle and really difficult conditions. As the sun set and the last remaining swell lines dwindled, Matos dug deep, finding the better waves and making the most of them to claim victory and move on to the final.

The final between James Carew (AUS) and Pedro Matos (BRA) kicked off with a bang! Carew came out blazing, firing off two massive scores—8.7 and 8.47—dominating Dakhla’s right-handers with pure aggression. As always, Pedro Matos’s riding was strong and super stylish, yet the Brazilian struggled to find his rhythm in this last heat of the day. Carew sealed the win with an impressive 17.17 total with Matos settling for a hard-fought second. What an epic finale guys, congratulations, we’re so proud of you, legendary work!

Days five and six of the competition were dedicated to the women's event. In unusually light winds and a rare mist for this spot, World Number 2 Camille Losserand (SUI) narrowly missed advancing, edged out by a fraction of a point in a fiercely contested heat. Though it wasn’t the result Camille had hoped for, securing 5th place is still an achievement to be proud of. Setbacks are part of every journey, and true champions are defined by how they rise. Camille will undoubtedly use her experience in Dakhla to come back even stronger next time—we’re proud of you.

Congratulations to Brazil’s Kesiane Rodrigues, the event winner, and to all the other women who gave it their all!

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