Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Four Moroccans won the first African Kiteboarding Championship with Younes Ouahmid winning first place, Abdou Moutaouakil second, Yassine Boucetta third, and Laarbi Derkaoui fourth, on Sunday, March 10.
The competition is an important qualifying event. The top four male and top four female riders from the championship qualify to compete in the Global Kitesport Association (GKA) Freestyle World Cup in October 2019 in Dakhla, southern Morocco. The championship also serves as a qualifier for the summer Olympics in 2020 in Japan, where kitesurfing will be an Olympic discipline for the first time.
Dakhla Attitude hosted the African Kiteboarding Championship at its venue 30 kilometers north-east of Dakhla.
The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) and the Dakhla Lagoon Association (ALD) organized the championship, and 19 athletes from several African countries competed.
According to the GKA: “This marks the first professional pan-African competition ever staged in kiteboarding, the championships are also the first freestyle kiteboarding competition under the new leadership of the GKA.”
The organizers aim to develop the practice kitesurfing in Africa and to ensure the influence of Dakhla on kitesurfing on the international scene. Kitesurfing plays a major factor in Dakhla Attitude becoming more famous in recent years.
High wind resistance in Dakhla creates ideal kitesurfing conditions. Kitesurfing combines wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, and paragliding.
