Women’s Semi-Final Heats
After two days of rest, the women were feeling good going into the semi-final and final heats. We kicked off with women’s heat one featuring: Therese Taabbel (DEN) vs. Claudia Leon (ESP) vs. Bruna Kajiya (BRA) and Alexandra Torres (ESP). The women were on 11-meter kites and the wind delivered a perfect, steady breeze over the coastline. Therese opened it up with an easy 313 scoring 4.30 but Claudia answered back with a clean 315, putting her in the lead with 5.53 points on the board. Bruna opened up with a beautiful Slim Chance followed up by a super stylish and inverted Front Roll to Blind scoring a huge 7.43 points to put her in the lead. 
The wind was solid and really allowed the women to display their full range of tricks. Taabbel landed a solid Slim Chance to put her into first scoring 6.17. Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to land her last few trick attempts and was eliminated from the competition. On the other hand, Leon landed a Slim Chance scoring 5.97, and a massive Hinterberger 3 to clinch her progression into the finals. The tour veteran, Kajiya was the first to land a toeside maneuver with a Crow Mobe. She maintained a solid lead throughout the heat, landing every single trick she threw. Unfortunately, Torres crashed multiple attempts, putting her well behind the other competitors and resulting in her elimination.
One of the coolest things about the women’s heats is how much they support one another. They want to see one another do well and the support was in full display as we moved into the second round of the semi-finals. “I know I can count on Therese and she can count on me. We all encourage one another.” -said Nathalie.
Nathalie Lambrecht (SWE) squared off against 2022 World Champion Mikaili Sol (USA), Estefania Rosa (BRA) and Matilda Roux (FRA) in the mid-day heat. Sol landed a Slim Chance 5 right out of the gate, demonstrating height and technicality scoring a 6.6 and then a huge 315 scoring a 6.67 to put her squarely in the lead. Estefania landed a smooth Hinterberger 3 and showcased good variety with a combination trick. After missing her first two tricks, Nathalie displayed her powerful riding with a Slim Chance that scored a whooping 6.2, and after that a 313 that got her back in the groove. Nathalie showed the skill set of a true competition rider because she started poorly but then showed a ton of consistency and kept her head in the game for the last couple tricks. She came from behind with a massive Hinterberger 3 and a boosted Crowmobe.
Women’s Final
Over 500 people filled the beach as we moved into the finals! The women left nothing on the table. “This is the first time I’ve made it to the finals twice in a row” said Leon, who was super stoked high going into the heat. Coming off an absolutely dominant semi-finals heat, the 3x World Champ Bruna Kajiya butt-checked on one of her required tricks in the finals, resulting in a fourth-place finish. Certainly not what the current world tour leader was hoping for.
It was a tight race for second place as Leon and Lembrecht traded off tricks throughout the heat. Nathalie Lambrecht laid down one of the most textbook 315s that we’ve seen from the women. She had the chance to go all the way to the top with a massive Slim Chance 5 attempt but popped the bar on the landing. In the end, it was Claudia Leon who placed second, showcasing a large variety of tricks from the heelside category and some cool combos–riding with lots of speed. She landed a big Slim Chance right out of the gate scoring a 6.27 and was super consistent laying down four high scores early on.
Leading the entire heat was Mikaili Sol who opened it up with a huge Slim Chance 5 with a melon grab. She stood out from the crowd with the height on all her tricks. She really made the most out of the kickers, going higher than the rest, showing that she’s an experienced rider that knows how to take advantage of the conditions. She ended the heat with tremendous heat score of 23.90.
