Eight years after the last Red Bull King of the Air was held in Maui’s magic waters, the contest is back to push kiteboarding to its limits and for the first time, comes to the southern tip of Africa.
The new concept, a big air format, proposes a “mega airtime” contest with radically high jumps, various tricks and kite-loops combined with style, height, and speed. Sixteen of the world’s best kiteboarders plus eight wildcards selected from video entries, will descend on Cape Town.
Included in the lineup are extreme kiteboarder Ruben Lenten (NED), compatriot and world number 1 in 2012 Youri Zoon as well as local wildcard Oswald Smith who goes into the competition, having just won SA Champs.
Big Bay, part of the pristine Cape Peninsula, is probably the best spot in the world for holding an event with this criteria. The legendary ‘Cape Doctor’ will certainly play its part – the South Easterly wind guarantees big airs and even bigger moves!
Ruben Lenten, a formidable name in kiteboarding is stoked that Red Bull King of the Air is back… he commented, “It’s going make a big impact on kiteboarding once again! Normally I don’t compete as most contests are aimed at really technical tricks but the format of the Red Bull King of the Air is right up my street. This contest is all about big airs and I think I am just as stoked as I was back in 2005 when I won the last event in Hawaii. With the Red Bull King of the Air, we’ll have the world’s best riders come out to battle it out in Cape Town’s extreme winds.”
He further added,”Throughout the year I am always searching for the best conditions and projects to keep on pushing the sport. In the time coming up I will mainly focus on the Red Bull King of the Air event and the development of even better products to go higher and harder. I will also be shooting new sick footage and work on organizing national events to get extreme kiteboarding to a higher level.”
The window period for the event starts on February 1 and will extend to February 15.
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