Mount Maunganui kiteboarder Marc Jacobs has ended the PKRA world tour in brilliant fashion in New Caledonia over the weekend, beating the current world champion and finishing the season ranked third in the world.

After a string of fourths, Marc turned it on in the final event of the season, the Nissan Noumea Kitesurf Pro, finishing second in both the single and double elimination divisions.

Marc Jacobs competes in the PKRA in Spain. Photo: Toby Bromwich/PKRA.

Spanish rider Alex Pastor was all that stood between the 21-year-old and an inaugural win on his first full year on the tour, with Pastor sealing second place by winning both divisions.

But it was Marc's semifinal win over Dutchman Youri Zoon which was the big talking point, with both riders relying on a power-heavy approach, but the New Zealander's technical skills got him through.

'I probably had one of my best heats of the year against Youri, throwing down some big moves with the wind averaging 18-25 knots,” says Marc.

'I had my 11m kite up and I managed a lot of big technical moves which was enough – I was extremely stoked because that was the key result in lifting me to third in the world, plus Youri has been pretty unstoppable all year.”

Youri had already sealed the world title before this event, though he had to fight back from ninth place after an early upset in the single division.

Marc started the season with a second-placing in Thailand and was consistent all the way through.

'This result is such a huge boost for me and my career – at the start of the year, my aim was to try and crack the top-five, but halfway through, I decided to raise the stakes and aim for top-three.

'It's been super hard fighting my way up there and it's really set me up for a big year next year when I can have a serious crack at the title.”