It was an exciting day here in Dakhla, Morocco. The wind was a bit lighter than the previous day, however competitors came prepared with their 10-14m kites. The freestyle double eliminations got underway around 10:00am this morning with winds ranging anywhere from 15-20 knots. The freestyle double elimination ladder was posted announcing the most extreme lineup of awesome riders to battle it out early in the first round of heats.

Riders such as Marc Jacobs (Switch, NZL), Alvaro Onieva (Slingshot, ESP), Michael Schitzhofer (Best, AUT), Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA) and Tom Hebert (North, NCL) were amongst those top names riders. A total of four rounds of the men’s freestyle double eliminations were completed today. Marc Jacobs (Switch, NZL) was on fire today winning four consecutive heats moving him up the elimination ladder to compete for 5th or 6th place against Tom Hebert (North, NCL). Jacobs had to surrender the heat against Hebert due to an injured hand from a previous heat. Hebert has been on top of his game today defeating three contenders leading him to fight for 4th or 5th place against Alberto Rondina (Cabrinha, ITA), which will resume tomorrow. Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA) also had a great competition day defeating Michael Schitzhofer (Best, AUT) in the first round along with Liam Whaley (Naish, ESP) and Ariel Corniel (Ozone, DOM) but was later eliminated by Tom Hebert (North, NCL) in the fourth round.

A total of three heats in the women’s freestyle double elimination were held today. Kari Schibevaag (Ozone, NOR) defeated Holly Kennedy (North, GRB) as well as Celine Rodenas (Best, FRA) whom eliminated Nuria Goma (Liquid Force, ESP) in heat #18, which led Schibevaag to the next round of heats to take on Asia Litwin (Nobile, POL), which will resume tomorrow.

The freestyle double eliminations will resume tomorrow when the Minister of Sports joins in on all the kiteboarding action and to witness the end to the great event here in Dakhla, Morocco.

Shortly after 3:00pm the competition moved to the wave discipline where a total of one round of the men’s double elimination was completed. The wind and wave conditions began to diminish therefore the competition wrapped up for the day.

Tomorrow is the final day of competition here in Dakhla, Morocco. The mandatory skipper’s meeting is set for 9:00am tomorrow morning.