Aussie Keahi Wins Back to Back PKRA World Tour Wave Titles
At only 18 years old, Australian Waterman Keahi de Aboitiz has exploded onto the world kitesurfing scene with back to back victories on the PKRA World Tour. Until now, Keahi has been relatively unknown outside of Australia but to those who know him, the results are not surprising and success at the highest level has only ever been a question of when, not if.
Keahi's road to the world tour began years ago. Growing up surfing in the coastal town of Noosa on Australia's Sunshine Coast, he first picked up a kite in 2004 at the age of 11. Over the years, Keahi has racked up an impressive list of competition titles, starting with three consecutive Australian Freestyle Junior championships and recently winning the prestigious Merimbula Classic in late 2010 and then the Australian 2011 Kite Surfing Open championship.
On the back of this domination of the Australian summer events, Keahi's major sponsor Cabrinha gave him the go ahead to travel across the globe to Dakhla, in Morocco, and then Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, for the first two wave events of the 2011 PKRA World Tour.
Following the events live on Twitter @prokitetour, Cabrinha Australia's manager Hudson Godfrey-Smith said, "The support for Keahi back home is incredible and well deserved. He is killing it, just constantly pushing the level of his riding higher and higher. We're all super stoked for him and looking forward to seeing more photos and the great action from the events."
Riding strapless at both events, Keahi's style of riding has the potential to be a game-changer as most other competitors prefer to use footstraps on their surfboards. The lack of straps doesn't seem to effect Keahi's ability to drive hard through bottom turns with speed and we've watched in amazement as he performs airs off the lip and even spins. All the while, there is a natural style and smoothness that is difficult to replicate with straps, as body position and flow become more critical to every manoeuvre without straps.
After the competition, Keahi said, "I was really stoked when Cabrinha gave me the go ahead to compete in the first couple wave stops of the PKRA World Tour. After seeing some of the pictures of the locations, it looked like there was potential for some really good waves so I was keen to check them out and also to see how I could compete at the world level. First up was the event in the Morocco. We scored a perfect little point break with head high waves and cross to cross off wind which allowed for some really good riding. Next up was the event in Lanzarote and although the wind was fairly onshore, we still got to kite a pretty fun beach break with some really fun waves. I was super stoked to take out both events and I can't wait for the next stop."
Whatever is in store for him for the rest of the year, there is little doubt that the world will be seeing a lot more of Keahi.