Titik Lopes Kitesurfing Strapless in Sal Island, Cape Verde
Titik Lopes is Cape Verdean, he was born in 1984. He is a free rider, passioned by surfing and kitesurfing strapless. His land is Island of Sal in Cape Verde which refers directly to my first documentary film I wrote and directed “Sal, Nha Terra” (Sal, my land).
He is eternal young physically and in his head. He was the first rider to be a kitesurfing teacher as a freelance in the Island of Sal. He’s been running Titik kitesurf, a surfing and kitesurfing school in Santa Maria since 2012.
Titik is a friend, he is like a brother I have never had.
The fist time I went to Sal, Cabo Verde, was in early 2006, for vacation. My friend Nicolas Machard de Gramont told me to go there as he enjoyed his journey on the island. At that time, I was eager to discover new countries, new people, new lands, and new wave spots.
The first morning in Cabo Verde started with a local breakfast after a short night in “Nha Terra” hotel in Santa Maria in the center of the village. Then my friend Christophe Leclerq and I walked to the beach and to the windsurfing schools along the seaside. The ocean was rough.
This morning, I attended a very special show of natural elements, it was impressive. I did not go riding the first morning due to a massive beach break conditions (up to two meters waves). I naturally decided to start shooting instead, I always had a camera in my bag pack. It was huge, it was magic. I started shooting the local young riders, such as Calu, Tchu, Maruka and Titik that I did not know yet. The show was incredible and astounding. It was the best welcome to Cape Verde, thus check out the show in this video set to the music of Vanessa da Mata.
After lunch time with a special fish directly took from the ocean during the night, I finally had an epic windsurfing session in a huge swell where I saw for the first time flying fishes, it was astonishing to windsurf in “hills” of swell followed and crossed by these flying fishes.
Before going back to the pousada, I decided to go shooting at Leme Bedje Point for the sunset of this first day given that I was said that Björn Dunkerbeck that I met in the plane from Lisbon (Portugal) last night was there with other riders such as Raphaël Salles, Titik Lopes and other local riders.
This video is one of my favorite, it was the first time I could both shoot professional windsurfers and kitesurfers, in perfect wave conditions, during a beautiful sunset and in hot tropical January, so far away from the tube station Châtelet Les Halles (Paris) where I work.
Leme Bedje Point (Old Rudder Point) is a magic offshore spot with beautiful left waves. It is situated a bit out of the village of Santa Maria.
Behind the eyelet of my camera, I instantly had a dream to be able to ride these perfect waves. This dream came true the year after in windsurfing and seven years later in strapless kitesurfing.
It is always a wish when I come back to Sal to be able to ride this wave even thought north-east swell does not come so often.
I chose to put an amazing music from Kruder & Dorfmeister with such a beautiful light.
“Nha Terra” hotel in Santa Maria offered me the opportunity to listen to Cape Verdean music during the daily breakfast, it was a pleasure and one track went to stick to my ears.
The lonely artist from Cape Verde that I knew was Cesaria Evora; I already enjoy to hear her songs but didi not connect the culture to her music yet.
It is in this hotel that I discovered a fantastic artist named Jorge Neto that you can listen to in my following video shot in “Shark bay” also named “Kite beach” or “Cabeça de Sanilas” with Titik Lopes doing both kitesurfing and windsurfing. I was so happy to finally use the split screen in the editing, pretty used at that time.
I shot this video in early 2007 when I settled down in Santa Maria for half a year. I chose the music “Loungin’” by the artist Guru, a famous rapper of the band Gangstarr (DJ Premier).
In January 2007, Hawaïan windsurfing rider Josh Angulo told me that the fist PWA windsurfing world cup was spotting in Sal, Cape Verde, in the famous wave spot of “Ponta Preta”, one of the most beautiful right waves in the world (it’s not a myth, it’s a reality).
Titik and his mates Mitu Monteiro (by the way, they were always training together in freestyle kiteboarding) and Djo Silva were selected to take part in the international wave contest, in their land, thanks to local wild cards. They were proud of it. It was a huge gift for them to be able to participate in such an iconic event in their almost “unknown” country.
I immediately decided to write a script and to produce a documentary film focused on the local trio.
This video is the presentation of Titik, Djo and Mitu before the start of the windsurfing contest. I was actually alone to shoot, to lead interviews (not exactly because my French friend Viviane Lebreton helped me a lot for interviewing local people in their language, in many other videos) and to take the sound, it was an artisanal production and experience that I will always remember. It was also the first interviews of these young three nice guys: Dja Strilha!!
Before the beginning of the PWA windsurfing wave contest in Ponta Preta, Island of Sal, Cape Verde in February 2007, the trio Titik Lopes, Mitu Monteiro and Djo Silva invited other international riders who also came for the contest, Kauli Seadi, Marcilio Browne and Ricardo Campello. They are one of the best windsurfing riders in the world, they are young, already talented, and their common points with Titik, Mitu and Djo are windsurfing and Portuguese language.
In this video, they decided to go to northern wave spots of the Island of Sal to find out relevant wave conditions for training before the contest. I had the opportunity to join them and to shoot unique images in Alibaba and Coral Jul. I also enjoyed to interview their personal cameraman from Brazil, Martin Carvalho.
Music is also made by Jorge Neto from Cape Verde, very dynamic as this epic wave windsurfing session.
During the contest of PWA windsurfing in Sal, you will find out in this video images of the Cape Verdean trio Titik, Djo and Mitu riding Ponta Preta, while they are orally described by their friends and partners who financed their windsurfing gear for the wave contest.
If you wish to read and watch entirely the documentary film I shot and directed, you just have to click here “Sal, Nos Terra”, it is devided in many short videos due to music copyrights.
A few years later, in 2014, windsurfing was over for Titik Lopes who was from now on riding Ponta Preta in strapless kitesurfing, with a surf borad and no bindings.
I was actually hosted by Titik at that time, and I enjoyed taking back my camera on this occasion to make an interview of him and to shoot magic Ponta Preta wave.
All above videos filmed, edited and directed by Fabrice Delobette