Winning his first world championship title at 29, Gianmaria Coccolutto is at an age when the vast majority of top freestyle professionals such as Alberto Rondina, Aaron Hadlow and Kevin Langeree have long since retired from the Freestyle World Cup. Cocco, as he is nicknamed, was a relatively late starter in kiting. Over the last few years he has invested everything and every cent to be able to wear this World Cup crown at some point, and finally last year, after the Freestyle final held at his favorite lagoon in Taiba, Brazil, the Italian made it. While so many kiters are focusing on Big Air nowadays, no one invests as many hours in freestyle as Cocco does.
Meanwhile, James Carew drew attention to himself for the first time five years ago by winning the Strapless Big Air event in Fuerteventura, relegating Airton and Mitu, among others, to the ranks. He then won the Kite-Surf World Cup in 2021 and took the crown again, also in Taiba, at the end of last year. Just before the start of the event, James, who had been preparing at this wave spot for four weeks, had a smile on his face and was confident of winning his second world championship title. He had got to know every wave, at every tide, intimately, so he could rip the waves which are not the easiest to ride. While some other competitors struggled with the conditions in Taiba, he fired off a series of hard, fast and stylish
