Maxime lhuillier, a former windsurfer pro, runs a successful kite / wing school in Cancun Mexico called Shaka Vibes. Shaka is a full F-One school, make sure to contact them if you visit Cancun, conditions there are beyond awesome!
Maxime recently went to compete in the Master of the Ocean, a multi disciplinary competition where he ended up on top. This is a great achievement and title, especially being his first time competing in the event.
A Comp Recap from the Master of the Ocean champion, Maxime:
“The Master of the Ocean is a waterman competition in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. It’s the 19th edition and offers a unique concept: to crown the most complete waterman, competing in 5 water sports: Kitesurf, wingfoiling, windsurfing, surf and SUP surfing. It is both an individual challenge, as well as a team competition, where each team of 5 riders (including minimum 1 woman) will also fight for the title. The event runs from the 21st to 26th of February 2024.”
Kite & Wingfoil
“During the event, we had 2 days of good wind and 3 days of good surf, allowing us to run all disciplines. In Kitesurf and Wingfoil, we had around 15 knots of wind with 1m waves. I managed to win both categories in overall, as well as the team heat where I represented my group in wingfoiling. In kite, I was using the Mitu pro flex and 11m Breeze. Big thank you to the local shop Liquid Blue for lending me the board, as my boardbags were completely full… In Wingfoil, I used my Rocket Wing S Carbon 4’10 with a Sk8 950 and a Strike III 5m. The setup worked great in those conditions. That day, my team mate Carlos David, a local from Cabarete, also dominated the kitesurfing team heat, which placed us directly in the lead.”
Windsurf
“The windsurfing was a bit complicated for me, as I wanted to rent equipment directly in Cabarete but the schools wouldn’t let me take away the equipment outside of their facilities. Therefore I managed to find some gear last minute, but the sail I found was very small, and the freestyle board wasn’t really adapted for surfing waves… I am disappointed in this category because I wanted to showcase a better performance, but only managed to finish 4th. Congratulations to Brian Talma winning this one. My team mate Francis finished 2nd in the team heat.”
Surf
“The surf is the sport I practice the least, but I managed to arrive early in Cabarete to train and I could defend myself taking decent waves. I was happy about my performance, and managed to finish 3rd overall. Congratulations to Francis Gonzales for winning this one. My team mate Nicholas de la Cruz, representing our team, was in another league and won the surfing heat with great style. “
SUP Surf
“Finally, the sup surf went my way. I started slowly with a large board (8.6 120l) but then found a smaller board that allowed me to be more radical. The last day, I found myself in the final and rode the best I’ve ever ridden to take the win in good waves. Big thanks to my team mate Aline Adisaka (vice world champion) for all the tips, as well as bringing the final win for our dream team!”
Results:
“At the end, I won 3 out the 5 sports, and finished 3rd and 4th in the other 2. Enough to secure me the title of Master of the Ocean, with Brian Talma finishing 2nd and Francias Gonzales in 3rd. We also won the team trophy winning 4 out of the 5 sports, and finishing 2nd in windsurf!”
“I am very am happy about this results. I love doing all those sports and winning here represent exactly what my school Shaka Vibes is about. It’s not just a kite school that offers wingfoil lessons because it’s trendy. Shaka Vibes is a water sports center that includes all the sports that I truly love and all our instructors are very talented in all of the disciplines.”