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Kitesurfing/Wingfoil
Carew secured his fifth career Kite-Surf world title at the season-ending GKA Kite World Cup in Sylt, matching Capucine Delannoy's fifth crown on the women's side.
Photo: Pierre Bouras · CC BY-SA 4.0
Australia's James Carew won the Kite-Surf world title for the fifth time. He took it at the GKA Kite World Cup in Sylt on 30 August 2026. One late wave beat Brazil's Gabriel Benetton and matched Capucine Delannoy's fifth women's crown.
The Westerland contest began with offshore winds. They delayed the early heats and made the first round hard. Then the breeze turned, and by day three the North Sea gave full-power conditions.
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As the rounds went on, the judges changed the scoring. It moved from pure freestyle to a mix that added wave points. The wind pushed the field through the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Benetton beat Matchu Lopes in the last four. Airton Cozzolino won his heat but pulled out hurt, so Benetton met Carew in the final. Both riders landed their freestyle tricks, and Benetton held a small lead.
The heat then turned to wave-riding. Both men scanned the sets for a chance. Carew found a final wave worth 8.67 and stole the win by a fraction of a point.
The fifth title placed Carew level with Delannoy, who also won her fifth crown that day. In the short 2026 season he won both Kite-Surf stops, Cape Verde and Sylt. That gave him his second world championship in three years.
The path was not easy. An 18-month injury break and surgery kept Carew off the water until 2024. He came back to win his first world title on the same Sylt beach.
With the Kite-Surf season closed, Carew leaves Sylt as world champion once more. It is a place he has learned to reach the hard way.
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Kite-Surf Highlights | Sylt 2026 | GKA KITE WORLD TOUR
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