2024 APP World Tour Gran Canaria Pro-Am – SUP Surfing World Champions Crowned

Taka Inoue and Luchy Cosoleto were crowned World Champions in the mens and women’s performance SUP surfing division, with Enrique Perez Serra and Sakura Inoue winning the Junior division. Benoit Carpentier and Kaede Inoue took home the win for the longboard SUP competition.

Luchy Cosoleto takes well deserved victory at the Gran Canaria Pro-Am to secure the 2024 World Title

After several years of finishing just short, the Argentinian talent Lucia Cosoleto finally secures her maiden World Title on the APP World Tour with a dominant performance in the woman on woman final.

Her road to the final was certainly not simple, but she remained consistently dominant throughout the day taking down Camille Dubrana in the quarterfinals, followed by the 2022 World Champion and last year’s runner up Kaede Inoue from Japan, to come up against the young phenom Sakura Inoue in the Final.

Luchy was able to maintain her composure to overcome the young talent with another strong performance, securing a 13.50 heat score total in more challenging conditions that we have seen during past editions of this spectacular event.

Sakura was a worthy runner up however, taking down the Brazilian favorite Aline Adisaka in the quarterfinals, followed by the reigning Champion Iballa Moreno from right here in Gran Canaria to take on Luchy in the Finals.

Taka Inoue overcomes a star studded field of athletes to take victory and secure the World Championship Crown 

There were a number of favorites coming into Finals Day, from defending Champion Luiz Diniz, 2022 World Champion Benoit Carpentier and 2019 event Champion Wellington Reis, not to mention the in form surfers of the event, Sebastian Gomez and Max Torres. And while Taka finished second in 2024, he still remained somewhat of a dark horse coming into this climactic final day of action.

He first had to get past Max Torres from Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, who was doing some of the most high performance surfing of the event, and in a fiercely fought battle, it was Taka who was just able to get the edge over Max through a combination of smart wave selection and a string of dynamic, well linked turns.

It was Sebastian Gomez from Peru next, who posted the single highest score of the event and was clearly one of the favorites coming into finals day. But again, Taka was able to just get the edge, finding the right waves that provided maximum scoring potential enabling him to secure victory in another tight battle.

The final hurdle between Taka and a World Title was the defending Champ Luiz Diniz from Brazil, who had faced similarly tight battles on his road to the Final, having to overcome fellow compatriot Wellington Reis in an incredibly tight battle and the ever impressive Benoit Carpentier from France.

With a dropping swell and rising tide, Taka was able to find the best waves of the heat and once again maximize the scoring potential of each of them with his unique style and flair. Meanwhile Luiz Diniz was left searching for the waves he needed to be able to showcase his incredible brand of surfing, and had to settle for 2nd place: a consummate professional as always and a real Champion.

So it was Taka’s day as he navigated the El Lloret line up to perfection to secure his maiden World Championship Crown in performance SUP Surfing: an incredibly worthy Champion and another clear statement to the world that Japan is a major force in the world of stand up paddling for both Surfing and Racing, and the Inoue family is like no other. With a first, a second and a third between the 3 siblings, there is no doubt that they have established themselves as major players in the sport.

Enrique Perez Serra takes victory in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to secure the U21 World Championship Title for 2024

After a second place finish to Japan’s Kapono Fukuda in 2023, Enrique Perez Serra arrived back in Las Palmas hungry for the Title here at the Gran Canaria Pro-Am in 2024 and his surfing has been looking on point. But winning was never going to be an easy task, with a wealth of talent coming from all over the world, and in particular France.

After successfully making it through the rounds to reach the final over at EL Lloret, the venue was shifted to La Cicer for U21 Finals Day and Enrique was able to make the necessary adjustments in his surfing to be able to take a comfortable win and be crowned 2024 U21 World Champion.

Enrique was followed by an on form Kilian Burac in 2nd, Lucas Winder-Dreux in 3rd and Titouan Pajot in 4th, all from France.

Sakura Inoue continues her incredible form here in Gran Canaria to take the U21 World Championship Title for 2024 

Sakura Inoue continues the Inoue family’s incredible run here at the 2024 Gran Canaria Pro-Am by taking victory in the U21 division of the event, securing the U21 World Title for 2024. But it was not without a fight, as while she passed directly through to the Finals following a convincing win in the opening round, she came up against the 2022 World Champion and her Sister Kaede Inoue, the on form Julieta Rodriguez and the young French talent Prune Guerin.

Despite her smaller build, she was able to put on an impressive and critical performance in an exciting final heat to take a convincing victory ahead of her sister in 2nd, Julieta in 3rd and Prune in 4th.

Benoit Carpentier secures a long awaited victory in the SUP longboard division to be crowned 2024 World Champion

Benoit has been at the forefront of the development of SUP longboarding for many years now, driving board design with his sponsor Starboard and helping to define the direction of Stand Up longboarding as one of the fastest growing surfing formats. However, after two years of pushing for the Title in this division, Benoit was finally able to achieve his goal today with a strong performance to earn him the World Championship Crown.

However, he had to overcome some formidable talent and stand out performances to achieve the victory, with perhaps the toughest battle coming in the semi finals against the Brazilian, Leo Gimenes, who pushed him right to the very end for the win.

The two favorites coming into this event ended up meeting in the Final: the recently crowned World Champion for Performance Stand Up Paddling and reigning SUP Longboard World Champion Taka Inoue and Benoit Carpentier.

Taka posted excellent to near perfect scores throughout the day, clearly positioning himself as the man to beat, with some of the most radical hang 5’s and 10’s we have ever seen, but in the Final, was unable to find the scores he needed to overcome the Frenchman, much to the delight of the Carpentier entourage.

While the surf was small today, it provided a valuable testament to SUP Longboard’s appeal and versatility, and the clean walls allowed the surfers plenty of high scoring potential. As the APP continues to define the competitive direction for this dynamic format, this event clearly illustrated its growth and popularity, with a full field of athletes stepping up to do battle.

Kaede Inoue secures her unprecedented third consecutive World Title in the SUP Longboard division 

The Inoue’s performance at this 5th edition of the Gran Canaria Pro-Am is one for the record books: with one of the siblings present on every single podium except for the U21 Boys division (because Taka is over 21). The elder of the two sisters, Kaede, continues to assert herself as a dominant force on Tour, securing her 3rd consecutive World Title in the SUP Longboard division to add to her 2022 World Title in Performance SUP.

Having to settle for 3rd in the performance SUP division behind her younger sister, there was no way Kaede was going to let this Title slip through her hands. With dominant performances from the outset, Kaede was able to reach and then dominate the final ahead of the young up and coming Spanish talent, Julieta Rodriguez who has had an excellent event.

Kaede’s smooth transitions and linked together rides saw her consistently posting excellent scores and extremely high heat score totals, and the final was no different, as she put together two solid rides to secure the World Title for 2024.

In 3rd equal was Camille Dubrana from France who put on a great performance throughout this final event and Kaede’s younger sister and winner of the U21 World Title Sakura Inoue.

That’s a wrap for an action packed week of spectacular Stand Up Paddling at the 2024 Gran Canaria Pro-Am

Gran Canaria has once again delivered and the 5th edition of the Gran Canaria Pro-Am is now in the books. While we didn’t see the pumping surf of previous years, we did see great conditions for the World’s Best to provide a spectacular showcase of Stand Up Paddling at its very best.

From the high performance divisions of Stand Up Paddling at El Lloret’s righthand point break to the ideal SUP Longboard conditions at La Cicer, the two venue approach allows the APP to showcase the diversity of the sport and highlight the island of Gran Canaria as a World Class destination for the sport.

We are excited to continue this legacy as we build up to a 3 event schedule for 2024 to be announced shortly that will once again culminate in this prestigious World Championship Final here in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at the end of the year.

A big thank you to all our partners for this year’s Gran Canaria Pro-Am, from Turismo de Gran Canaria, Instituto Insular de deportes de Gran Canaria, Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Turismo de las Islas Canarias. Thank you also to Volkswagen, 7island Film, Poema del Mar, waterspeed app and Red Bull for their support and as always, our longtime event partner Dunkerbeck SUP.