Brazilians Mikaili Sol and Carlos Mario are the GKA Kiteboarding World Tour Germany 2018 champions!

DELIVERANCE AT DAWN

The first order of today’s dawn raid was to take care of the remaining women’s single elimination semi-final between Champion-elect Mikaili Sol and Pauline Valesa; Sol needing just this heat win to be assured of the Championship (on better count-backs than her closest rival Hannah Whiteley), come what may in the final and then the double elimination.

It’s a challenge in itself to ride at your best at 6.30am, let alone when your first World Championship counts on it. Managing the mind of a 13 year-old can be a challenge on many levels, but the Swiss ex-snowkiting world champion and youth coach of excellence Fabio Ingrosso said that this morning Mika was already up and came to wake him; a change from the distracted talent he was trying to keep focused in yesterday’s stop / start heats with up and down winds.


Mikaili, primed for success

Credits due, the strong forecast held true for today and delivered nature’s payback after bizzarrely robbing us of what really should have been the highest wind event of the year at round one in Leucate. Inexplicably, for the first time in 20 years, the Mondial du Vent festival somehow delivered absolutely no wind! Today riders could fully let loose and fly.

After she’d calmly tested the waters and her gear for a few minutes, coach Fabio’s final words to his young student were, “Show me the real Mika Sol.” She nodded, swang her kite towards the horizon and got down to business, setting the tone for what would be seven hours of back-to-back heats in which the full men’s and women’s double elimination ladders ran to completion and closed the season out.


It’s more than a solo effort to become World Champion at just 13… though raw talent of is course the primary ingredient. Coach Fabio and Mika’s dad supporting from the sidelines this morning

Pauline and Mika are two of the slightest athletes on tour and French rider Pauline took the longest to adjust to the strong conditions, having the bar ripped roughly out of her hands early on while trying to build handle-pass scores. Mika meanwhile landed a slim early on before safely compiling a couple of solid kite loop scores. On Fabio’s signal Mika was in for a slick pit-stop, upping her kite size to a nine metre and grabbing her foot-strapped board. Nailing the double front board-off on her first attempt she was safely ahead with five good tricks to two. Red flag up: she was a 13 year-old World Champion, but there was little fanfare. If she went on to win the final against Hannah she’d be guaranteed a clear points gap with no count-backs necessary.


Mika’s double front board-off was hard to beat… alongside her slim 5s, kite loop bar spins and more!


The top four through the singles and doubles: Pauline Valesa, Pippa van Iersel, Mika Sol and Hannah Whiteley

Hannah Whiteley has found that this mixed Air Games format perfectly suits her robust style of riding. The northwest of England is blustery and cold and can deliver every imaginable wind condition. Hers is therefore a committed style and she’s risen to the challenge to become the most complete twin-tip rider.

Hannah will have to wait until next season to “beat that little grom” from Brazil (as she affectionately called the rider who is half her own age) as Mika went on to maintain a 100% heat victory record this season – eventually beating Hannah once again in the double elimination final later in the day. That gallant second position has been Hannah’s all year though and she walks away from this tour with a strong training goal.

“I’ve realised that this is my dream tour that pulls all aspects together. I will be fully focused to be as ready as I can be for 2019. Bring on the Cape Town training!”


Hannah hustling for the win

MEN’S DOUBLE ELIMINATION:

Chomping at the bit to get into action, the men’s first double elimination heats started with those riders who took the earliest exits from the single elimination in vastly different conditions. The second elimination offers the chance for a rider to heroically march their way back up the ladder.

In the midst of men lurked a couple of King of the Air specialists and it was time to shine for Lewis Crathern. Gaining fortune, his first heat opponent retired through injury and then both riders in heat #22B (Joselito and Marius) somehow failed to show up for their heat, so he was given another bye.


Lewis sending one of his many kite loop variations that saw him strongly advance

Lewis found himself projected up the ladder to face Dominican shredder Luis Alberto Cruz in heat #28A. Luis V Lewis was a fantastic heat and at 33 years-of-age Lewis is the oldest rider on the tour and showed that in high wind experience counts. Stacking each of his heats, he loaded the judge’s tablets with technical but flowing boogie loops (mega loops with a front roll) kite loop late back rolls, super controlled double front roll board-offs (not using the handle), high kung-fu passes and a couple of super powered back mobes. He progressed through five heats back-to-back and found himself suddenly having a potential say in the World Championship, lining up against Jesse Richman.


Playing to the conditions, Crathern had a killer series of heats

At this point the focus of the story switches from Lewis to Jesse as the Hawaiian hit the water fully charged to launch his assault on a third world title. The conditions were exactly why riders of his ability were motivated to enter the ‘Air Games’ and as he launched his kite on the beach he hooted characteristically, seemingly without a care in the world. (Jesse operates in a state of permanent excitement and has blessed this tour with his open personality all season and the genuine personal interest that he shows everyone, from young up-and-coming competitors to new fans of the sport). His enthusiasm is infectious and spread wildly as we closed in on the moment that the first ‘Air Games’ World Champion would be crowned; and with it the claim of being the first ‘world’s most complete twin-tip freestyle rider’.


Always sending, Jesse

Jesse opened up his account with a huge boogie loop followed by a massive triple front roll off a kicker with each body rotation totally inverted. Within seconds he’d also landed a kung fu high handle-pass and had completed a high scoring trick in each of the three categories. Lewis was also registering good scores in each category but clearly a little more worn. After three tricks each there was already a sizeable eight point gap. Jesse looked ultra fresh and stomped a huge kite loop board-off; a relatively new move that’s handsomely rewarded and richly deserved.

After the heat Lewis said, “I thought I had an advantage as I was well warmed up but Jesse did everything and I didn’t know he literally had the kite loop board-off in the bag like that!”

Jesse faced Aaron Hadlow next in a huge heat of few mistakes. Quality and size evidently mattered over quantity and there was no margin for error with both riders getting the highest heat scores of the contest so far. Jesse prevailed with a whopping 27.64 to Aaron’s 25.93. Jesse’s overall impression score of 4.7 out of 5 was second only to his previous heat score of 4.8. He was nearing Air Games perfection.


The beauty of the double elimination is that the tension builds and builds as the higher placed riders enter the competition heat by heat towards the final stages. Jesse was was itching to get going

One competitor remained and we were gifted a winner-takes-all showdown. If Carlos won another final he and Jesse would finish the tour on equal points but Carlos would win on countbacks having won more times than Jesse. If Jesse won, he would have an overall points lead.

It was interesting to note that Carlos was the only rider who didn’t warm up on the water at all today. His first heat was the final and he went straight from launching his kite to the competition area and was tricking with dry hair. He was born ready to kite…

Very different in their styles, experience and preferred conditions, Jesse on paper was more at home; a King of the Air winner and already comfortable in foot straps without the need to switch gear during his heat to register a high scoring big board-off. So he decided to hit Carlos where it hurt early on with a massive kite loop board-off, a move that as yet we’ve not seen the Brazilian attempt. Jesse looked good all the way into landing but caught an edge in the white water and drifted away from his board.


Having landed two super clean kite loop board-offs, Jesse was unlucky to suffer two rough landings in chop. In smoother waters, could the story have ended differently? Jesse believes he was ‘just one butt check away’ at the start

Carlos pounced, returning the favour and showing that he’s about more than just new school technicality launching a solid kite loop with a late back roll. Jesse was up and riding and tried the same again, failed again catching a nasty bit of chop and no doubt expended energy and flow in his mind.


Carlos Mario engages kite loop mode

The Hawaiian did get back on track and gained momentum towards the end of the heat but by then Carlos had landed an assured world class 317 – a flat spin wakestyle trick with two handle-passes. In normal freestyle conditions it’s a world class heat trick. In these conditions he knew the handle-pass category was his.

Having only learnt board-offs for this World Tour, Carlos put down two fine examples, including a triple back roll variation.


Carlos and Jesse took each other all the way this season and have started this new Air Games world tour with an enourmous bang. The best of the best have lots of respect

The final wasn’t as epic as the semis and in truth the damage was done in the first few minutes. Jesse himself said, “I felt good going into the heat and just gave it everything that I had right out of the gates. I didn’t get the scores I needed at the start of the heat and sometimes it goes like that, but Carlos is one of the most all round kiteboarders in the world and in technical freestyle I think he’s untouchable.”

Adding to his two pure freestyle world titles, Carlos said that he had to train hard for the board-off but is super stoked to be crowned the most all-round twin-tip rider in the world.

GERMANY RESULT:

MEN:
1 Carlos Mario (BRA)
2 Jesse Richman (USA)
3 Aaron Hadlow (UK)
4 Lewis Crathern (UK

WOMEN:
1 Mikaili Sol (BRA)
2 Hannah Whiteley (UK)
3 Pippa van Iersel (NED)
4 Pauline Valesa (FRA)

2018 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

MEN:
1 Carlos Mario (BRA) 6,234 (Wins on countbacks with more wins)
2 Jesse Richman (USA) 6,234
3 Maxime Chabloz (SWI) 5,871

WOMEN:
1 Mikaili Sol (BRA) 6,300
2 Hannah Whiteley (UK) 6,201
3 Pippa van Iersel (NED) 6,102

Report: Jim Gaunt

Photos: Ydwer van der Heide
Source: global-kitesports.org