FKA Kiteboarding Forums - Red Bull King of the Air Competition 2013!!!

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They ran the event on February 3, 2013, here are the results and some images from: http://www.redbull.co.za/ . All photos are from that site unless otherwise indicated. They said they had perfect wind conditions of over 40 knots!

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The scene at Cape Town, South Africa

A rough clip showing some action from sea level. The guys got up there!

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The competition will introduce the newly developed ‘Flag Out’ format. This works as follows:

The competitors performed in timed heats each wearing a unique colored vest corresponding to a flag. The flag of the competitor at the end of a heat with the lowest score is lowered and the kiter is out of the event at that point. The final heat will be among the last three riders kiting.

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Walking on air

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The venue, way, back in the day.

A VERY short clip giving a feeling of place while showing a kiter seemingly almost tunnel head first into the beach?

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Florida local favorite Billy Parker made it to Heat 14 out of 16 against some stiff competition including a line tangle in 40 kts. with another competitor in Heat 2. Billy shows up below and I believe in the photo above too.

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Billy Parker hops a wave
Photo: "Shaun Engler FB Page"

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Sam Medysky riding for Best out of Canada pops a nice one.
Photo: http://medyskykiteboarding.com/redbu...-the-air-2013/

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A longer promo clip in advance of the event

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A monster boost captured on Kiteforum, http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2379176

A well edited clip from yesterday's event

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Robby and Susi were judges at the event

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The winners ... Jessie Richman, first, Nick Jacobsen, second and Sam Light, third.

From Red Bull about the event:

"Jesse Richman crowned "King of the Air"

On a day that saw winds and emotions riding high, Cape Town’s Big Bay played host to the latest edition of Red Bull King of the Air. In front of 5,000 spectators, America’s Jesse Richman clinched the win in a battle that saw the some world’s best kiteboarders pull airs of up to 25m.

CAPE TOWN (South Africa) – Cape Town’s famed Table Mountain was the perfect backdrop for the sixteen invited kiteboarders and eight wildcards to face-off in a unique ‘flag out’ competition format. At the end of an epic day it was Jesse Richman from the USA who managed to edge out Sam Light and Nick Jacobsen to grab victory in front of a 5000-strong crowd.

“I never expected this and I’m so amazingly pumped! Red Bull King of the Air has been the biggest event in the world since the very beginning - I competed in it when I was a little kid and it was the coolest thing ever. To come here and win this event is unbelievable! By far the best riders in the world were throwing down in the best conditions today!” commented the 20-year-old Hawaii native.

Scored by a judging panel comprising kiteboarder Susi Mai, editor of Kiteworld Magazine and presenter of ‘The Kite Show’ Jim Gaunt and South African original Red Bull King of the Air alumnus Greg Thijsse, the competitors were judged on the height, creativity and style of their manoeuvres, with athletes pulling airs up to 25 metres above the water.

Godfather of wind-based watersports Robby Naish was in Cape Town to check out the event. “I’m a little embarrassed to say this but this was my first time in South Africa. It’s a real pleasure to be here, I’m really stoked I came! I always knew it was good here,” remarked Robby on his first visit to the country. “We’ve been talking about resurrecting Red Bull King of the Air for a while and today we had some of the best conditions - this was best exhibition of high performance kitesurfing I’ve ever seen. Big Bay was the perfect venue for this event. If this place wasn’t on the map before today, it’s definitely going to be after. I don’t think ever seen this many people at a kiteboarding event.”

Final Results: 1. Jesse Richman (USA), 2. Nick Jacobsen (DEN), 3. Sam Light (GBR), 4. Youri Zoon (NED), 5. Andries Fourie (RSA), 5. Lewis Crathern (GBR), 7. Gianni Aragno (ESP), 7. Kevin Langeree (NED)"
https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/

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KING OF THE AIR, Naish rider JESSE RICHMAN, in boots no less, that is some commitment!

More information including complete videos will be posted in time at http://www.redbull.co.za/ .
This is an early compilation. You can go over the Red Bull Tweets from the event today at https://twitter.com/RedBullZA

and a blow by blow update of heats at:
http://www.africaextreme.co.za/blog/...e-live-ticker/

Way to go guys, excellent event!!!

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You can see still more images and info from this event at:
http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=11686

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