It was just awesome to see the athletes back at competing, and so when the GKA Freestyle World Tour kicked off in Tarifa at the end of June, Valdevaqueros beach was electric: not just with its super cool summer vibe, but with wind speeds hitting up to 50 knots too! Hence, organisers were faced with the decision to change the competition’s format for the athletes’ safety. So gradually, everything went from Freestyle to Big Air and that was a huge relief for some, but other riders were taken quite by surprise. Still, the professionals that they are, everybody rose to the challenge ‘big time’, which was just jaw-dropping to watch from the comfort of dry land.
40 kite surfers traveled down to Europe’s wind capital from no less than 16 countries. Every single one of them was keen to get back to competing, so there was a precious moment during registration and when the show finally hit the road, there were great smiles and huge expectations all round. The men’s podium included Arthur Guillebert from France in 1st place, Jeremy Burlando riding for Italy in 2nd and the Australian Ewan Jaspan in 3rd position. The current reigning women’s world champion, Mikaili Sol, held on to her title in 1st place, followed closely by Pippa van Iersel from Holland in 2nd, whilst the UK’s Hannah Whiteley came 3rd.
Let’s hear it for the girls: we’ve got great interviews for you with the female winners, who portrayed real girl power out there on the water, mentally and physically. So watch out for our women’s podium special too, when Mika, Pippa & Hannah chat about their highlights and biggest challenges of this competition.
GKA KITE WORLD TOUR CALENDAR 2026:
16 – 21 Feb: Sal/CPV, Kite-surf
28 March – 26 April: Barcares/FRA, Big Air
26 – 30 May: Puerto Vallarta/MEX – Freestyle
3 – 7 June: Borkum/GER – Freestyle
15 – 21 June: Mykonos/GRE – Big Air
25 – 30 Aug: Sylt/GER – Kite-sur & Hydrofoil Big Air
4 – 11 Oct: Dakhla/MOR – Kite-surf
20 – 25 Oct: Abu Dhabi/UAE, Freestyle & Hydrofoil Big Air
Well, of course, Wimbledon is it – and we would say that, because we are very biased indeed. However much Grand Slams are the biggest points and revenue earners (with the most grandest cups to display in to your guest loo), there are plenty of fascinating tournaments in the European calendar, so visit the ATP online to find out about the next tournament highlight in the calendar
Grand Slams and the ATP Tour
Game, Set, and Match! Congratulations are in order for Novak Djokovic on winning his sixth Wimbledon crown in a grand slam final against Italian opponent Matteo Berrettini on Saturday 11th July 2021 (which proved to be a busy Sunday for the sport world). His younger opponent having been on an 11-match winning run before this head-to-head, meant this historical final match was unmissable! His win brings Djokovic into an exclusive group of tennis players joining the world-famous Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, equalling their records of achieving 20 grand slam titles. With many seeing this as the beginning of the end of an era for this unique group of pros. At TA-DAH.TV we are certainly looking forward to the future of tennis as grand slams welcome new and upcoming names in the world of tennis.
Grand Slams
For those unfamiliar with tennis, the four grand slam tournaments are the most renowned events in the sport. These tournaments offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention. These are also the longest matches for men basing the match on the best of 5 sets! Putting to the test the strength and stamina of the greatest pros. The four Grand Slams consist of The Australian Open, The French Open, Wimbledon, and The US Open.
The Australian Open
Each year the Australian Open is held over the last 2 weeks of January at Melbourne Park. This is the first of the four annual majors. The open features men’s and women’s singles, mixed doubles, junior championships, and wheelchair tennis. It is now held on hard court surfaces as opposed to grass courts which it updated from in 1988. Famous winners include:
Rod Laver
Andy Murray
Ken Rosewall
Martina Navratilova
Martina Hingis
Monica Seles
Novak Djokovic
The French Open
Officially known as Roland Garros, this major tennis tournaments is held over a two week period at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. Named after the French Aviator Roland Garros. This is the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The French Open is played on clay courts and is considered to be one of the most physically demanding of the tournaments played across the world of tennis. Clay courts are notoriously difficult for some of the worlds very best tennis players to win tournaments. The surface will slow down the ball and produce a high bounce, different to that of hard and grass courts. This is why you will often notice the winners varying slightly from the other famous names of the other 3 grad slams.
Famous winners include:
Rafa Nadal
Noval Djokovic
Sergi Bruguera
Martina Navratilova
Gustavo Kuerten
Monica Seles
Wimbledon
Wimbledon Is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and regarded as the most prestigious. There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of Wimbledon. Beside from the strawberries and cream and English garden party fashion, the tournament is rich in history. Each year The Wimbledon Championships are held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London. It is the only major still played on the traditional tennis playing surface of grass.
Famous winners of Wimbledon include:
Roger Federer
Serena Williams
Martina Navratilova
Chris Evert
Boris Becker
Venus Williams
Bjorn Borg
Billie Jean King
US Open
The US open is a hard-court tennis tournament and since 1987 has been the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. Usually starting on the last Monday of August and continuing for two weeks. Since 1978 this Grand Slam has been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.
Famous winners of the US Open include:
Dominic Thiem
Bruno Soares
Mate Pavić
Vera Zvonareva
Laura Siegemund
Naomi Osaka
European ATP Tournaments
Along with the famous annual Grand Slams, there are a whole host of other important ATP tournaments. This includes the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, hosted on the border of swanky Monaco in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France, this is an annual tennis tournament for male professionals, held at the Monte Carlo Country Club. The ATP tournaments also feature the Mutua Madrid Open, the Hamburg European Open, the Swiss Open Gstaad, the European Open in Antwerp, and the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Following the ATP tournaments across Europe could take you to some fabulous cities of culture, all in the name of spectating professional tennis tournaments. Every year there is a real buzz around both the famous faces and young, upcoming pros, looking for a big break in these heated competitions.
At TA-DAH.TV we can’t help but be invested as we’re always on the look-out for the next bright young star to light up the tennis courts.
Having enjoyed the flavour of a Wingfoil competition with the world’s best riders in Tarifa in Dec’20, we cannot wait for this tour to hit the road! For the GWA to be serious about pushing this sport, its boundaries and the performance of the athletes with every single competition is massive for the sport.
Being an official partner of the fair BOOT DÜSSELDORF, which just happens to be the largest watersports exhibition in the world, shows they mean business. The GWA will also be supporting the first ever German Wingfoil Championship, which takes place in Kiel from the 29 July – 1 August 2021, which is another string to their bow. (globalwingsportsassociation.org)
There are two official disciplines for the GWA Wingfoil World Tour: Surf-Freestyle and Surf-Race, plus a possible third discipline called the Expression Session, which does not count towards world rankings, but can be added to the main two categories at the discretion of the respective event. Read on to find out what’s involved:
Surf-Freestyle
The Surf-Freestyle discipline includes the expression format where competitors surf waves or swells and perform air and surface tricks using the given water conditions. It is a mix of both wave riding and air tricks.
Surf-Race
In the Surf-Race discipline, multiple competitors ride around a course with a start and finish line that combines jibes, tacks and parts of pumping or surfing without wing assistance. The Race Director sets the course according to the given conditions in the competition area. It is called Surf-Race because it includes upwind racing with surfing/pumping downwind.
Expression session
In addition to the two official disciplines, an event may host an expression session format.
An expression session is a non-official show format that does not count towards the world ranking. During the expression session, the athletes compete in a special format that is chosen depending on the conditions to provide a spectacular show (for example Best Trick, Best Wave, Highest Jump, Team contest, etc.)
Woah, this guys is nuts – which some think is a slight understatement! Watching the Spanish Champion in Snowboarding Slopestyle, Jaime Castro, train and prepare for his next championship was insane. He is a FIS (International Ski Federation), as well as FADI (Andalusian Federation of Winter Sports), and so we hooked up with him in Livigno/ Italy, where one Europe’s best SB training parks is situated: Mottolino Fun Mountain!
The park was open to athletes and their coaches during this winter season, who came from all over the world, including countries like the UK, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Czech Republic and many more, other than native athletes from Italy and Spain. It was important for training to resume, as European championships and tournaments (carried out in their respective bubbles) were still taking place. The jumps at Mottolino are of Olympic standard, which is why we are not surprised that this sleepy, pretty little village will be hosting some of the ski and snowboard disciplines at the Winter Olympics in 2026! Exciting stuff…
Jaime’s home turf is actually the Sierra Nevada. He’s from Granada, the fabulous Spanish city steeped in history, situated in Andalusia and home to the world-famous Alhambra. So, popping up the hill to the Sulayr Snowpark is easy pickings for him. Watch him fly, twist and turn there, as there’s nothing safe from getting the ‘Jaime treatment’. Hence, when the heaviest snowfall in 40 years hit Madrid, Jaime hit the road. Board in the boot, he made his way to the Spanish capital, and delivered snowboarding performances the city has never seen before. You have to see it to believe it…you may peel your chin off the floor after!
Back at the Mottolino Fun Park, the new generation wasn’t sleeping though: junior athletes (also FADI members) were hard at work, training for the Campeonato de España Snowboarding Slopestyle, which was scheduled for the end of March. Bad weather moved to to the 10-11 April, and we can only congratulate Teiva Hamaini, Aida Castro & Kai Hamaini to have made it onto the podium in their respective categories – very well done, guys! But, it’s time to hit that start button now and see them perform…have fun 🙂
Gawd, were we pumped to find out that this brand new event has actually managed to pull off it’s first edition during covid-times and travel restrictions! And even more amazing was to see how committed these 23 athletes were to make it down to Southern Spain just before the new year – many of them having having competed at the SuperFoil Fortaleza in Brazil just a few weeks before!
They arrived from 9 different countries, including Switzerland (which was half the podium for each of the girls and the boys), France, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic and even Brazil. Amongst them 2 Foil World champions and the Swiss First Couple of Wingfoiling: Balz Mueller & Eva Wyss (watch our exclusive interview with Balz as well). Sunday, the 27th of December was a gorgeous sunny day with bright blue skies, and the city of Tarifa, as well as the event’s organisers, were ready for them to arrive on Balneario Beach, a super spot for this kind of waterspouts tournament. The camaraderie amongst the crowd was ever present, many of them having known each other, and competed against each other, for years. All the athletes, event organisers and press had a PCR test before entering the event bubble, so that everything was above board regarding covid regulations.
Once competition rules were explained to everybody on the first day, it was straight to business in the afternoon. The tournament was to be competed in three categories: Surf Race, Freestyle and the Expression Session. These kind of competitions are always depending on wind directions on the day, so more often than not, it’s wait and see! A strong Poniente wind coming from the Atlantic was most desirable, and as expected on day 1, the Levante wind of the morning changed to Poniente in the afternoon. That meant the heats were on – excellent!
Day 2 was a different ballgame altogether, so for the Freestyle part of the event, it meant to decamp the athletes to Playa Chica on the Mediterranean side of Tarifa, in less than comfortable conditions: a Southern wind of 35 knots bringing hefty waves, rain came too and it was properly cold. Hat off to all the guys who were just fierce out on the water. It was spectacular to see those backflips, jumps, spins and turns by a determined team of athletes, who were just not going to give in.
Day 3 saw the wind change yet again, so all back to Balneario Beach for what was a perfect day of Poniente wind and seriously choppy waters. Order of the day: the surf race and expression sessions were to be fought out. 19 Athletes took part in the surf race in total, amongst them Olivia Piana for the girls. She is literally fearless – competing against the guys, she managed to overcome landing in the water and actually finished 8th! Olivia, we salute you 🙂 The action on the water continues with the expression sessions. Heats out of the way, Titouan Galea and Olivia Piana shone the brightest and walked home with the 1st prize. Unbelievable what was these two pulled off out on the water, landing on the top spot of the podium for their relevant sexes in both the surf race and the expression session categories.
Day 4, and it’s time for the prize giving! The relief on the athletes’ faces was completely visible and so everybody was just totally pumped to pick up their trophy and celebrate into the New Year with friends and family, as well as a great sense of achievement. Congrats and a very well done to all the athletes who took part so impressively! The event organisers and the city of Tarifa produced a brilliant tournament, about which Jaime Herraiz, the man in charge, said, that there will be many to follow. And we cannot wait…see you in Tarifa next time round!
27 July – 1 Aug: Fuerteventura/ESP, Surf-Freestyle & Freefly-Slalom
20 – 25 Oct: Abi Dhabi/UAE, Freefly-Slalom
5 – 13 Nov: Ibiraquera/BRA – Wave
16 – 22 Nov: Taiba/BRA – Surf-Freestyle
7 – 10 Dec: Jericoacoara/BRA – Surf-Freestyle
Wingfoiling: The Latest in Board Sports
Wingfoiling, also known as windfoiling, is a brand-new sport and has to be one of the coolest surface water sports ever! It consists of a wing, that is not attached to a Hydrofoil board, being carried or held by the rider, whilst having to maintain their balance, steering the board with the wing. It is an exciting and demanding sport, requiring strength and stability. Although it can be practised on either land or water, not much wind is required for this sport, therefore its popularity has grown massively.
However, countries with great wind conditions, such as Hawaii, Brasil, Portugal and Spain, have seen the practice of this sport soar to lofty heights. Hence, the GWA (Global Wingsports Association) was born, with the aim to provide a safe and exciting community to globally promote wing sports. TA-DAH.TV sent their team to Southern Spain to cover the GWA’s first ever Tarifa Wing Pro event, staged on the city’s Atlantic side of the Strait of Gibraltar. The prospect of wingfoiling having been included in the Paris Olympics in 2024 promises as super exciting future for this sport on a global level – the only way is up!
Tarifa Wing Pro Event
Tarifa is known as the wind capital of Europe, a fantastic environment for wing sports. So, it is no surprise that the GWA decided to host their first ever Tarifa Wing Pro event on Balneario Beach on the beautiful Costa de la Luz – the first of many to come, they promise.
That the competition was even possible in the first place was utterly awesome, as it also drew a close to the end of a year troubled by many cancellations of sports events in general – and it was the perfect follow-up from the Superfoil Fortaleza 2020, the first event by the GWA Wingfoil World Tour held in Brazil. Riders were arriving from all over Europe (including Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Poland), as well as Brasil, and even the Southern Hemisphere was present with a participant from New Caledonia.
Staged from the 27th and 30th of December, the event was non-stop from day one, consisting of various competitions. With the Covid-19 pandemic having delayed their other events in 2020, this competition took place according to covid-19 guidelines, so all participants and press were asked to take tests before entering the secure bubble of event attendees. The competition saw a turnout of 19 men and 4 women from 9 countries battling it out head-to-head in the water, a turnout the organisers hail a great success, considering all the travel restrictions throughout the year.
Across 3 days, both groups of men and women went out onto the water to compete in the two disciplines of Wingfoiling; Surf-Freestyle and Surf-Race, as well as an additional Expression Session. On day 2, weather conditions were not that great on the Atlantic coast, requiring the organisers to change beach to the Levante side of Tarifa.
There, the strong wind conditions certainly made this event an artistic spectacle, with all athletes giving an exhilarating performance full of tricks, jumps, twists and turns, whilst displaying their ability in the water. Towards the end of the action packed few days the last day was designated for the prize giving. The mood amongst riders was one of total relief, an incredible sense of achievement, and well-earned pride!
It was really impressive to see the commitment by all participants to make it down South and be part of this historic event. The city of Tarifa was certainly an excellent host, committed to staging an unforgettable, but most of all, safe event on the Spanish shores.
Competitors included the current Foil Freestyle World Champions Balz Müller (men) and Eva Wyss (women), as well as Titouan Galea, Maxime Chabloz, Fernando Novaes, Halim Basri, Abel Lago and Francesco Cappuzzo, amongst many others.
Congratulations to all of the winners, as well as to the rest of the riders, who made the competition such an exciting one!
The event was a huge success and great fun for all involved! With the support of the Junta de Andalucia, the Diputacion de Cádiz, the Ayuntamiento de Tarifa, Duotone/Fanatic, Red Bull and Balneario beach Club, Tarifa has once again proved itself to be the perfect host city with a perfect location for wind and water sports. Why not plan your next beach holiday there?
Wing Foil World Tour
2021 was the first tour for international wing foil events and is not to be missed by lovers of wing sports! With 5 of the best locations across the world set in their events calendar, there is a lot to look forward to throughout the new year in this sport. From Portugal to Brazil, the GWA have gone all out in setting up this world tour to be a display of skills from the best pros around the world. They have stated the event is open to the public with limited spaces for pros to register. The event, unfortunately, will be subject to change in relation to the pandemic. We are looking forward to this event, and many others as the success and popularity of wingfoiling continues to grow across the world.
Foiling at the Paris Olympics 2024
Foiling as a branch of windsurfing is growing year on year, and just to prove it, it has been introduced as a new discipline for the Paris 2024 Olympics! Many see this a transition from windsurfing, as foiling beings to explode across Europe. Placing foiling onto a global stage such as the Olympics is a great way for this electrifying sport to be introduced to 100s and 1000s of fascinated young people interested in learning new sports. It will be thrilling for both lovers of wind sports and newbies to see this developing sport take centre stage in Paris.
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