A thrilling day at the Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC) third stop in Tarifa saw impressive battles that enthralled the crowds. With gusts up to 40 knots, the best riders rode hard to make their way to the finals.
In the female competition, reigning world champion Karolina Winkowska (PL) claimed the victory for the third time this season. As for males, Carlos Mario (BR) dominated the day and took his second event win ever after Argentina 2013.
The 17 years-old Brazilian kept the momentum going and performed again against the British rider, nailing several double handle passes with a blistering facility. Aaron Hadlow still landed clean moves such as a Back Side 315 but struggled to land his S-Mobe 7 and crashed several times.
Carlos Mario: “The level was really high but thanks to God I managed to pull off the tricks I wanted. I went on my 7m but the wind started to die and I quickly switched to my 9m which was perfect. The conditions were very strong and gusty here. In Brazil I was training with my 14m and 12m and when I got here and had to use my 7 and 6m it was very difficult but luckily I could do all the tricks I wanted. I am so happy but I don’t have words to describe what I feel right now”.
Marc Jacobs: “I’m super stocked to be second, I mean I wasn’t expecting it to be honest but strong winds always kind of help me. The conditions were pretty hard, my smallest kite was a 8m and most guys were on 7m or 6m and I’m stocked I made it work. I’m super happy for Bêbe because he is riding super insane and he deserved a win, he has just been a little unlucky on the first two events so it’s good to see he got it on this one. Balneario is sick, you can’t get any better spot here in Tarifa, the level was twice as better here than it would have been on the other spot”.
Liam Whaley: “In the semifinal against Marc Jacobs my kite blew up in the air because my one pump system wasn’t connected properly so my kite completely deflated. My friend came really fast with a 5.5m but the lines were not adjusted properly and I did a perfect BS317 but my kite didn’t react properly and couldn’t ride completely out of the trick so it was considered as a crash. Then I think I did alright in the mini final so I’m happy I got the third place. My knee is a bit unstable but I didn’t have any pain in it. I’m going to get an MRI now to check what’s up and hopefully I can compete in the next event but if not I’ll use it as a discard, we’ll see”.
Karolina Winkowska: “I feel awesome, I had a really good final heat. I had so many Polish people screaming Karolina, Karolina go for it!!! I had fans and being here surrounded by the crowd cheering was so nice. This is the hardest place for me because it’s Gisela’s hometown, it’s like the place she trains the most, but in the end it’s only about tricks. I did a very big Front to Blind I was really happy about, it felt the best. I think it was actually my best heat“.
Gisela Pulido: “In the semifinal against Bruna I was happy about my gear, I was riding my 6m on short lines but in the final the wind kind of dropped and I didn’t have another 6m with longer lines which would have made a big difference. I didn’t have enough power and I was struggling so I’m not very happy. I like it here because people can watch from the beach and I was happy to have some much people supporting me. It posted about the event on Facebook and some guys came to me saying „Hey I came just because I wanted to see you“ and that makes me feel very happy because people are motivated about the sport”.
Bruna Kajiya: “I was stressed because we had to re-run the heat after we tangled our kites and my best bar broke. I was having a really good heat, I did four tricks I felt good about, one of them being a S-Mobe that I was like BOOM really good, and then I got tangled in the buoy. But in the end I won and I’m happy about that, it’s been a day full of emotions. We always aim for something bigger but I mean it’s competition and they all ride so well so I’m happy about my third place“.