Meet Airton Cozzolino, Kitesurfing KSP Wave World Champion of 2011 who is competing amongst the best of the best in the GKA Kitesurf World Tour, being an inspiration in freestyle strapless kitesurfing.
Originally from Cape Verde, Airton started skimboarding with only 4 years old and got into bodyboarding when he was 6 years old, which is when his love for surfing started. In 2004 he met his adoptive father Libero, with whom he moved to Sardegna, Italy – spending the summers in Italy and the winters in Cape Verde when he’s not traveling around the world for competitions.
Contents
- Check out the interview here as a video or as a transcript below:
- You started surfing when you were 6 years old and then got into kiting when you were 10 years old. How did your dad convince you to start kitesurfing and how does the surfing still influence your kiting today?
- Do you have any habits that you think make you so successful and how do you combine the kitesurfing, training for competitions and working?
- And if you want to progress, do you have some tips for our readers how you motivate yourself to progress?
- If you compare Cape Verde to Sardegna with the kite vibe, what do you like most about both spots?
- What’s your favorite spot in the world for you, if you could go anywhere and had all the money, where would you go?
- Do you have a life philosophy or a motto that always keeps you going? Something that you follow, your own guideline?
- Where do you think the future of kitesurfing is going or in general of strapless kitesurfing? It’s evolving so fast and the sport is young, where do you think it will all go?
- If somebody says now: Ok I want to change to strapless from freestyle – do you have a tip for our readers how to get into it easily?
- Find more on Airton Cozzolino here:
Check out the interview here as a video or as a transcript below:
You started surfing when you were 6 years old and then got into kiting when you were 10 years old. How did your dad convince you to start kitesurfing and how does the surfing still influence your kiting today?

Do you have any habits that you think make you so successful and how do you combine the kitesurfing, training for competitions and working?
And if you want to progress, do you have some tips for our readers how you motivate yourself to progress?
“To get motivated? Get out on the water every day, even when the conditions are not perfect. Get in the water and train, that’s the main thing!”

If you compare Cape Verde to Sardegna with the kite vibe, what do you like most about both spots?
What’s your favorite spot in the world for you, if you could go anywhere and had all the money, where would you go?
Do you have a life philosophy or a motto that always keeps you going? Something that you follow, your own guideline?
Where do you think the future of kitesurfing is going or in general of strapless kitesurfing? It’s evolving so fast and the sport is young, where do you think it will all go?
If somebody says now: Ok I want to change to strapless from freestyle – do you have a tip for our readers how to get into it easily?
Find more on Airton Cozzolino here:
> Do you want more inspiration on strapless freestyle kitesurfing?
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