This weekend, Cabarete delivered its usual conditions of strong and consistent winds of around 25 knots, from noon until sunset. Our host, Millennium Hotel, contributed an ideal backdrop to the spectacular action in the shore break.

Cruz narrowly beat his hometown friend Posito Martinez in a final heat that had everyone on the beach cheering in awe. Both riders are among the world’s best - and yet they had to focus and fight hard to get through to the final. Cabarete is home to a huge field of talented, daring riders and everyone was giving it their best.

In the mini-final, Carlitos Martinez and Joselito Del Rosario battled it out and it was Carlitos Martinez who snagged a well deserved 3rd place in the end for the biggest and most technical board offs we saw during the event.

Just before the final, there was a beginner with his kite down slowly drifting through the competition area and both riders went over to help him out, with one rider grabbing the kite and the other towing the stunned and grateful student back to shore.

The super final was intense and full of action, with Luis Alberto laying down a huge triple handlepass to start things off and taking the clear lead. Pósito answered back with some massive board offs, clearing the entire bay with some of his jumps and landing as smooth as a feather.

It was ultimately Luis Alberto's variety and aggressive, powerful style, that secured him the win over Posito and with it, a ticket to Cape Town to measure himself against the best riders in the international big air scene.

On the women’s side, we saw Helena Lundberg in third place, close behind Keila Ponti in second place, but it was local ripper Madeline Corniel who had the biggest jumps and won first place.

To wrap things up, Alex Vliege, the Red Bull King of the Air representative, said: “We came to find the most complete extreme big air rider in Cabarete and we found him”.

The competition formed the climax of the Cabarete Kite Festival, a weeklong celebration of kiteboarding, entrepreneurship, and ocean conservation.

We are delighted to follow Luis Alberto Cruz on his journey to Cape Town and look forward to seeing everyone here again next year!

MaiTai Cabarete 2015 Video

2016 Photo Gallery

Photos: Svetlana Romantsova - More on the WKL Flickr Page

SUSI MAI INVITATIONAL 2017