Berlin, Germany — December 21, 2011: On a mission to showcase the world’s finest kite surfing on the planet’s greatest waves, a group of passionate riders founded the KSP (Kite Surf Pro) earlier this year. Their inaugural season was a huge success, igniting massive media attention and kicking the KSP World Championship Tour off with a bang.

Gathering from 20 countries, an exclusive field of some of the world’s best kite surfers traveled the world to compete for the World Championship title. The battle took 24 men and 12 women to each of the three tour stops: the One Eye Pro in Le Morne, Mauritius; the Pacasmayo Kite Surf Pro in Pacasmayo, Peru; and finally, the Ponta Preta Kite Surf Pro in Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde.

The first ever KSP event, the One Eye Pro, held at Mauritius’ most world-class venue, delivered big, barreling, perfect surf. Competitors rose well past the occasion, showcasing their incredible talent in the large-scale surf that rolled in during the event’s 10-day holding period.

The second leg of the tour took place in Pacasmayo, Peru — home of the longest kite surfing wave on the planet. With rides up to 2 kilometers long, the competition director even had to partition off a section of the wave in order for the judges to not lose sight of the competitors ripping the flawless walls during heats.

During the 10-day holding period of the tour finals, held at Ponta Preta in Cape Verde, Mother Nature unfortunately didn’t provide any contestable conditions for the main competition to take place. Instead, riders squared off for two days of “Super Sessions” that did not count towards the World Championship Title, but still showcased incredible talent and progressive kite surfing.

Following the third and final tour stop, KSP officials crowned 2011’s Kite Surfing World Champions. On the men’s front, Airton Cozzolino (Italy) took the title, with Mitu Monteiro (Cape Verde) and Guilly Brandao (Brazil) coming in second and third, respectively. In the women’s lineup, Ines Correia (Portugal) took top honors, with Marie Gautron (France) and Kristin Boese (Germany) earning second and third.

In addition to the competitors who stood atop the World Championships podium, several other riders blew minds. On the women’s side, Mauritian local Ninja Bichler (GER) dominated at One Eye, while Milla Knesse Ferreira (BRA) immensely impressed in Peru.

The relatively unheard of 17-year-old Airton Cozzolino (Italy) — who beat out a tough field of competitors for the World Championship title — definitely earned heaps of attention. But riders like Patri McLaughlin (Hawaii), Felippe Ferreira (Brazil) and Sebastian Ribeiro (Brazil) among others, also mesmerized the crowds.

Receiving scores of positive feedback and impressing kiters and the media worldwide, the KSP quickly established recognition in its inaugural season with its dream-like venues, live webcast and scoring, professional media work and the realization of a purely surf-focused tour. The incredibly talented riders, dedicated crew of judges, media officials and organizers on tour deserve much of the acclaim for bringing the KSP into the spotlight.

Extremely pleased with the outcome of its inaugural year, the KSP Crew already looks forward to the 2012 season. The KSP’s 2012 World Championship Tour schedule will be released on February 1, 2012.

Watch the wrap-up clip of the 2011 season at http://youtu.be/dHxFDRz2ko8

About the KSP
Sanctioned by the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA), the KSP is the official World Championship Kite Surfing Tour, a non-profit association launched at the beginning of the year to showcase the pinnacle of surfing with a kite in the best conditions on the planet — the near-perfect fusion of wind and waves that top wave riders dream of.

A class association within the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the IKA governs the sport of kiteboarding, which is broken up into three main disciplines: freestyle kiteboarding, kiteboard racing and wave riding — also known as kite surfing, which is essentially surfing with a kite.

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2011 KITE SURFING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RANKINGS