Red Bull King of the Air - Huge Air In Kiting Is Back!

[ricki]

Thanks for finding the clips! The difference in jump height from back in the day to Sunday's event is impressive.


Here is the official Red Bull video covering the event. It provides some amazing viewing, check it out!



"After an 8-year hiatus Red Bull King of the Air has returned with a new format, new location and the mission to bring back the wow factor to kiteboarding.

Cape Town's famed Table Mountain was the perfect backdrop for the world's top 24 kiteboarders to face-off in the unique 'flag out' competition format. In the end it was Jesse Richman from the USA who managed to edge out Sam Light and Nick Jacobsen to emerge victorious.

http://redbullkingoftheair.co.za
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"Event participant performs during the Red Bull King of The Air at Big Bay, Cape Town on the 3rd February, 2013 // Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull Content Pool // P-20130204-00007 // Usage for editorial use only // "

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[ricki]

Red Bull Content Pool


It happens again soon!

From the Red Bull website:

"RED BULL KING OF THE AIR IS BACK!

In 2014 and we’re going bigger and higher than ever before.

In 2013 – The world’s best kiteboarders descended on Cape Town to compete in this refreshing new big air format competition. With 9 countries represented this truly global lineup took Kiteboarding to new heights. In the end it was the young Hawaiian Jesse Richman who took the 2013 Red Bull King of the Air title.

In 2014 the top 12 riders from 2013 are back to compete for the prestigious title of Red Bull King of The Air. There are 12 wildcard entires available for 2014 so if you think you’ve got what it takes – apply.

The Competition:
During the event some of the best kiteboarders in the world will attempt their most extreme tricks in the pursuit to become the 2014 Red Bull King of the Air - The Biggest big air kite event in the world. Not for the average kiter.

Weather Window Period:
25th Jan 2014 – 9th Feb 2014 Red Bull King of the Air is a one day event. The date and time of the event will be determined by wind conditions.

The Location:
Big Bay in Cape Town, South Africa. World-class kiting conditions."


Profiles of the dozen riders invited to compete are at:
http://www.redbull.com/za/en/stories.../the-wildcards

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Red Bull King of the Air for 2014

"For the second year in a row Cape Town’s Big Bay played host to 24 of the world’s best kiteboarders as they went head-to-head in a unique ‘flag out’ competition format.

It all came down to the final in which Dutchman Kevin Langeree managed to edge out his compatriots Ruben Lenten (second) and Steven Akkersdijk (third) to become Red Bull King of the Air 2014 champion in front of a 12 000-strong crowd.

“The conditions picked up during the day and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better! The final was definitely tough and everyone of us was so close to winning. I definitely had my best heat of the day in the final. This is the third Red Bull King of the Air I’ve competed in and was a title I didn’t have yet so I was hungry for it. I’m so stoked!”
Judged on height, creativity and style, the participants’ manoeuvres were judged by Alex Vliege (NED), William Bogaards (NED), Greg Thijsse (RSA), Arkadiusz Jerzelkowski (POL), Reinier Korstanje (NED), Ralf Bachsuster (GER) who had their work cut out for them.

An innovative tool available to the judges was Xensr technology. The application measures the height, speed, airtime, gravity loading, location and the 3D motion of athlete with all data captured at 400 times a second and is accurate to within 3mm, as soon as they land a jump. All jump data is immediately relayed to judges and live stream. Frenchman Tom Herbert recorded the highest jump of the day – a lofty 25.04m.

Head judge Alex Vliege was pleased about how the event played out in the end:

“What an epic day! We had the best riders in the world here today with Cape Town and mother nature delivering great conditions. We finally got what we were waiting for. Kevin was completely deserving of the title – he did the same moves as the others plus more, with variation and went higher than the others.“
Blouberg local Andries Fourie was the highest placed South African in 4th place and landed the second highest jump of the day of 23.37m.

Final Results:
1. Kevin Langeree (NED), 2. Ruben Lenten (NED), 3. Steven Akkersdijk (NED), 4. Andries Fourie (RSA), 5. Aaron Hadlow (GBR), 5. Jesse Richman (USA), 7. Tom Herbert (FRA), 7. Billy Parker (USA)"

http://www.redbull.com/za/en/stories...f-the-air-2014







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[ricki]

The Red Bull King of the Air event is coming up again for 2015. Toby Braeuer of Kiteforum has made his pitch for competing in the event with the following video:


King of the Air 2015 Toby Braeuer














Toby has a shot at one of the 8 video application spots and perhaps another 4 wildcard spots. A total of 24 riders are to compete. A summary of the process follows:

I. REGISTRATION
1) Registration: Red Bull King of the Air is an invitational event. Only the 24 invited riders are allowed to enter the event competition.
2) Division of fleet: Top 12 from the previous years ranking of Red Bull King of the Air
Top 8 from the ranking of the online video competition
4 wildcards given out to riders selected by event committee
3) Every invited competitor will have to confirm the participation by email before November 30, 2014 at following email address: kingoftheair@za.redbull.com
4) Competitors willing to participate to the online video competition will have to submit a 1 – 3 minute video of their biggest moves. A committee/jury will judge all the videos and decide on the top 10 entries which will then be put up to a public, online vote. The top 8 entries with the highest public votes will go through to the event. Video submissions close on the 17th November and need to be uploaded to the official event website (wwww.redbullkingoftheair.com).
5) Every competitor needs to complete registration in person before the official registration period ends. All official registration periods will be posted on the official Red Bull King of the Air website.
http://redbullkingoftheair.com/the-rules/


Good luck Toby and hope to see you boosting huge in South Africa!


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