QATAR AIRWAYS GKA KITE WORLD TOUR 2024
Qatar Airways GKA Big Air Kite World Championships Gran Canaria 2024
09 July – 13 July, 2024
Spot: Gran Canaria
Discipline: Big Air
Judging Criteria: 8 attempts, best 3 scores counting, Riders attempt one at a time 1 min. to jump, 5 min. heat transitions.
Day Two, 12 July 2024 (GMT+1)
19.19 BURLANDO new World Champion wins it on the last jump!!! Wins event and Championship the Canarian home town winner!!!!! Joins HOOGENRAAD as 2024 BIG AIR Champs!
18.53 Brothers CASATI battling Lorenzo leading but other riders on two jumps in, early days it’s really three riders for the title but OVERBEEK has some wiggle room, BURLANDO and Lorenzo need to go for the win basically.
18.38 HOOGENRAAD new WORLD CHAMPION 9.53 on last double to the moon to pass MAINI!!!!
18.36 OMG that wads close and HUGE between HOOGENRAAD and MAINI!! Lead changing back and forth as they were sticking each landing double loops.
18.19 HOOGENRAAD now in the lead. Almost timed out of a jump and just hit a small one not improving. Riders need to jump within a minute of their flag up.
18.15 It’s between HOOGENRAAD and MAINI winner takes all!!! MAINI now in lead with a Kite Loop Forward Roll 7.1 highest jump score so far and three or so jumps left.
18.13 Women’s finals ON , HOOGENRAAD and MAINI in charge!!!
17.37 10 min. break until Women’s Final. M SEMI H2 1st MUL 21.44 (advances to FINAL), 2nd CASATI 20.06 (advances to FINAL), 3rd TSABARY 19.14, 4th VLUGT 19.07.
17.34 Too close to call for top two in Men’s SEMI, Women’s FINALS after M SEMI, W FINALS HERMAN, RUGGLU. MAINI, HOOGENRAAD The World Title is on the line!
17.27 All small scores from beginning of heat are falling and all riders are raising scores together, MUL in 1st now.
17.15 Top 3 all within.5 point this will go down to the last jump! 14yo CASATI is making board off jumps look easy in 40-knots!
17.20 TSABARY with buttery smoothest landings so far and he stands clear in first with 18.71. He’s been a sleeper this event not winning heats but steadily progressing.
17.17 M SEMI H2 seeing average 17 meter jumps very consistent 5-6 point scores, slow start and high standards, like the other Women’s and Men’s their jumps get riskier and riskier, lets’ see if that Explosively starts to pop!
17.12 Finals battle is ON, SEMI H2 in the water. M SEMI H1 1st BURLANDO 25.37 (advances to FINAL), 2nd CASATI 23.67 (advances to FINAL), 3rd OVERBEEK 21.14, 4th VAN DIJK 20.90
16.58 CASATI in second with combined total 23.37, but wind is MAXING OUT so anyone can bump up! If OVERBEEK somehow overcomes everyone with perfection and CASATI and BURLANDO get passed…he could win world title BUT look at THIS! Almost impossible to close out those two!
16.55 BURLANDOOOOOOOOOOOO 8.97 contra loop front roll tick tack 23.7 height!
16.29 M SEMI H1 confirmed VAN DIJK, OVERBEEK, BURLANDO, Lorenzo CASATI…Let’s GOOOOOOO!
16.17 M SEMI H1 in the water let’s see who our first Men’s finalist will be! Even with a broken harness in the air on her last jump, top World Title contender HOOGENRAAD wins her heat! W SEMI H2 1st HOOGENRAAD 17.91 (advances to FINAL), 2nd RUGGLU 14.77 (advances to FINAL), 3rd CHO 13.81, 4th SADEK 12.34, what a super close heat and heartbreaking for CHO and SADEK. HOOGENRAAD will be head to head with MAINI in finals for the overall World Big Air title, looking to see who mathematically can also win the overall, not just the event, in today’s final. Standby!
15.55 W SEMI H2 still a demolition derby with some crazy crashes including CHO getting yarded when board came off in launch and she crashed herself and board, tough conditions getting tougher!
15.44 Intense conditions right now, low scoring heat with some crashed from these top riders showing how difficult landings can be. This heat is WIDE open and so much at stake, HOOGENRAAD needs to stay in touch with MAINI who is already in the finals. These two are in full World Title contention since VAN IERSEL who won the last Big Air event was eliminated from the event earlier which makes the Crown in reach for others too!
15.34 W SEMI H2 Underway!! W SEMI H1 1st MAINI 19.34 (advances to FINAL), 2nd HERMAN 19.23 (advances to FINAL), 3rd MENSCH 13.23, 4th KLEMENT 7.23
15.27 HERMAN Rockets into lead with a Kite Loop Back Roll with a 7.33 and MAINI just fought back let’s see but looks like MAINI and HERMAN into grand final!
15.21 W SEMI H1 throw-down, MAINI leads with 19 points so far with a 6.87 Kite Loop Front Roll, this is important as she is still in contention for not just the event win BUT the overall World Big Air title and it’s snorting out!
15.02 REMEMER World Title for Women and Men decided on combined events so we could see a Women’s and Men’s World Big Air title secured in the Semi Finals….BUT too close to call, certainly OVERBEEK and HOOGENRAAD are super close if everything falls into place in the next hours! For HOOGENRAAD, could be minutes away! Let’s see, others in her heat like MAINI are in the hunt for title, too.
15.00 W SEMI H1 happening LIVE now!
14.57 M R3 H4 STILL WAITING.
14.51 HOLD on M R3 H4 score modification, standby. A lot on the line here. Revalidating a score…
14.46 W SEMI H1 is in the water!! KLEMENT, HERMAN, MENSCH, MAINI
14.45 M R3 H4 HOLD, awaiting scores
14.43 MAJOR upset, CASATI and ADAMS overtake OVERBEEK and legend HADLOW to win a squeaker into the SEMIs!
14.14 CASATI gos HUGE with 18.6 meter Kite Loop Board Off 8.60-point air!
14.09 HADLOW looks to be on super short lines, maybe some big single loops? Tricky to land with short lines but HADLOW is the most decorated rider here!
14.08 Last heat and qualification for Semi Finals, pressure on, just getting more Intense! M R3 H4 HADLOW, ADAMS, CASATI, OVERBEEK
14.04 INSANE battle VLUGT winning it, 22.13 points combined, but it was a SICK S Loop at 16.3 meters for his last jump that gave him a heat high 8.50 jump score. M R3 H3 1st VLUGT 22.13 (advances to SEMI), 2nd VAN DIJK 20.16 (advances to SEMI), 3rd SAN FERREIRA 19.54, 4th HUOT 17.03
13.58 VLUGT just rocketed into first with a sick Kite Loop Back Roll Board OFF!!! 7.23 score, VAN DIJK .5 point out ion second taking HUGE risks!
13.50 M R3 H3 Soooo close VAN DIJK now in second and third is VLUGT. SAN FERREIRA with Kite Loop Back Roll Board Off 6.8 leads with an impressive combined score 19.54, about 1 point between top 3!
13.43 M R3 H2 1st CASATI 22.73 (advances to SEMI), 2nd MUL 19.73 (advances to SEMI), 3rd VAN DER SPUY 19.57, 4th GILLITT 5.50
13.39 Josh GILLITT off to hospital with a knee injury and is out of the competition.
13.12 CASATI said this morning he held back on some tricks yesterday since he was easily qualifying so let’s look out for something fantastic from him!
13.11 M R3 H2 happening now! GILLITT, MUL, VAN DER SPUY, CASATI. Casati has been the most powerful sender so far in the competition along with Burlando, let’s see if he can keep it up.
13.04 Two more riders through to Men’s SEMIs!! Sad end for GOMEZ with some huge airs but hard landings for the fill-in rider, and BURLANDO is on a charge. M R3 H1 1st BURLANDO (advances to SEMI), 2nd TSABARY 19.34 (advances to SEMI), 3rd ULRICH 18.61, 4th GOMEZ 18.04.
12.41 BURLANDO way ahead with 23+ points but the battle to move on is only a point or so apart!!!
12.24 Soooooo Stoked for M R3 H1 GOMEZ, TSABARY, ULRICH, BURLANDO…you had to be sending it to go through your heats to get two R3 and Gomez and Tsabary made it through R2 so look for them to be HUNGRY and HUGE to make it to the SEMIs, top 2 go through
12.20 M R3 H1 in the water and let’s look at our Women’s Semi Finalists last qualifiers!! Another crazy heat! W R2 H2 1st SADEK 14.50 (advances to SEMI), 2nd KLEMENT 13.26 (advances to SEMI), 3rd LERNER 8.80, 4th MORENO 2.73
11.35 What an UPSET! VAN IERSEL out of the the competition but maybe not out for the World Title so we will see. Up next: W R2 H2 MORENO, KLEMENT, SADEK, LERNER. Last heat before SEMI FINALS, last two advance to SEMIs.
11.28 Big News, VAN IERSEL Big Air who one in France has been eliminated, but maybe not out of race for World Title. W R2 H1 1st HERMAN 18.93 (advances to SEMI), 2nd CHO 17.57 (advances to SEMI), 3rd VAN IERSEL 16.26, 4th SILVA
11.25 HERMAN sends it with a massive 7.17 Kite Loop Board Off and now has un unassailable lead with 18.93 combined points!!
11.23 VAN IERSEL has one more jump and is still in third. Tons of pressure to get back into qualifying!
11.22 HERMAN Kite Loop Back Roll 6.73 has highest single jump score.
11.20 Lead changing ALL the time!!!! HERMAN moves into lead, CHO second and VAN IERSEL Big Air seeded #1 still 1.5 point out of qualifying with one jump left….insane first heat!!!!!
11.12 CHO moves into first with an incredible 6.37 score Kite Loop Forward Roll, putting VAN IERSEL into second and HERMAN under tons of pressure to go higher and more explosive to keep her SEMI FINAL hopes alive!
11.04 VAN IERSEL is floating easy Kite Loops and is ahead with total of 14.10 but less than a point ahead of HERMAN who’s Kite Loop Forward Roll is her top score of 5.03. Women easing into Heat landing all jumps. CHO has high jump score of 5.23 Kite Loop Back Roll.
10.44 Postponement flag coming down. Safety Jetski on site. Ready to roll. W R2 H1 SILVA, HERMAN, VAN IERSEL, CHO.
10.34 What did we learn from these sick riders this morning? Men and Women are planning on using 6m kites and everyone is eyeing double loops as the level today, we will see. Lorenzo CASATI said he’s using 22m lines always and 6m kite. We know the waves wrap almost upwind at the point to windward (to the left in the LIVE stream) so they can hit those bigger kickers, that’s why your view is a little distant but YEW to they go high, you need that perspective today!
10.31 Today’s THE Day!! Watch it live starting with Women’s elimination LIVE https://youtube.com/live/gTgdp-0mzac?feature=share We are postponed for a moment while Safety Jets heads through the froth to get to the event site, just a few more minutes.
10.30 Just minutes away from Women’s R2 H1 SILVA, HERMAN, VAN IERSEL, CHO, extreme big air today, fitting day to crown a champion!
9.36 Skippers meeting is rolling and it’s already blowing small dogs off BIG chains…35+ knots! We are doing into Women’s R2 and Men’s R3. Could today be the day we crown the Big Air Kite World Champions??? Let’s gooooo! Soonest start 10:30
Day One, 11 July 2024 (GMT+1)
20.27 That’s it for a proper Gnarly day!! Stino Mil just had the highest core of the event so far, a 9.0 with 115 meter distance. Here’s who went through to R3: H3 TSABARY, HADLOW; H4 MUL, HUOT.
19.20 We’re BACK! And it’s cranking out. Here are the top two of each heat who made it to R3 to keep their hopes alive: M R2 H1 1st VAN DIJK 22.50, 2nd GILLITT 20.90; R2 H2 1st ADAMS 17.92, 2nd GOMEZ 17.85
18.07 M R2 H1 underway, ripping out! SWART, GILLITT, VERKERK, VAN DIJK
18.05 W R1 H4 1st HOOGENRAAD 19.93 (advances to SEMI), 2nd VAN IERSEL 16.00, 3rd MORENO 2.34
17.41 VAN IERSEL lands a giant first jump single loop for an excellent 7.0 score.
17.39 W R1 H3 1st RUGGLU 14.30 (advances to SEMI), 2nd CHO 13.47, 3rd KLEMENT 6.40.
17.38 W R1 H4 in the water Showdown of world Big Air #1 ranked VAN IERSEL and 3rd ranked HOOGENRAAD.
17.14 Men’s R2 elimination round begins after W R1 H4. Men’s R3 released for the day.
17.12 W R1 H2 1st MAINI 20.03 (advances to SEMI), 2nd SADEK 10.46, 3rd SILVA 1.07
16.52 Wind gusts 44 knots!!!! NUKING!! The women are hitting the stratosphere! Waiting for scores. Water patrol consists of Inflatable Boats and Jetski helping as needed with the riders.
16.40 REMINDER: High stakes for the championship with the Women’s R1 winners going straight to the Semi Finals
16.34 W R1 H2 in action on the water! SILVA, SADEK, MAINI
16.33 W R1 H1 1st MENSCH 14.55, 2nd LERNER 4.60, 3rd HERMAN
16.12 Women’s R1 H1 getting in the water and breeze is getting into the upper 30s, howling!!! M R1 H8 1st OVERBEEK 21.12 (advances to R3), 2nd CERUTI 12.03, 3rd BRAEUTIGAM 5.46. Overbook claimed the heat with a 15.8 meter high board off S Loop!
15.48 M R1 H6 1st SAN FERREIRA 21.70 (advances to R3), 2nd GARAT 16.79, 3rd TEXIER 14.26. M R1 H7 1st LEO. CASATI 21.06 (advances to R3), 2nd MUL 20.87, 3rd HADLOW 15.38.
15.48 Allrighty! Quick update, M R1 H8 in the water with last Big Air event winner Jamie OVERBEEK in the mix, Women R1 H1 getting ready.
15.09 M R1 H6 SAN FERREIRA in full control with combined score of 20.67, last jump 6+ spins with a kite loop, getting dizzy! Super close with TEXIER and GARAT one point apart with Garat just ahead.
14.47 M R1 H5 1st VLUGT 20.66 (advances to R3), 2nd TSABARY 18.50, 3rd HUOT 10.70.
14.43 Super high scoring heat with TSABARY with one of the biggest airs and super butter Back Roll Kite Loop board off with one rotation and sticks the landing! He’s in second and scores are super close, VLUGT still highest scores and HUOT is playing catch up. Riders need many moves, can’t keep sending the same moves for the judges.
14.39 HUOT upping the level with a 4 front roll contra board off.
14.34 VLUGT sends it gets a 7.7 point score with the Kite Loop and Contra S Loop that was super horizontal, the extremity counts!
14.32 M R1 H5 starting in the water with TSABARY, HUOT, VLUGT
14.28 M R1 H4 1st CASATI (advances to R3), 2nd ADAMS 17.43, 3rd GILLITT. Adams comes back strong in the building breeze for second place but he and GILLITT must fight it out in the R2 elimination.
14.26 Pro rider Liam WHALEY in the commentary booth talking about Kite progression!
14.16 A combined score of 23.10 for CASATI with one more attempt left is biggest so far in the competition. Clouds on the horizon shows colder air that is allowing the incredible thermal winds that are starting to max out at 36 knots.
14.13 CASATI hits a 7.90 point jump with a sick Double Kite Loop, Board WAY off from the fin for high difficulty and super high. Getting to be a high scoring heat, BURLANDO’s previous heat total was 21.56 so hard to match.
14.06 It’s ADAMS first jump Double Front Board off Tic Tac with multiple rotations gives him a 5.6 score at the moment. But CASATI leads Heat with a double loop that was more extreme than GILLETT’s who’s in second.
14.03 CASATI and GILLITT open things up each with Double Loop late Backs.
14.00 Average wind 33 knots, pumping! M R1 H4 in the water, ADAMS, GILLITT, CASATI
13.58 M R1 H3 1st VAN DER SPUY (advances to R3), 2nd GUILLEBERT, 3rd SWART.
13.55 Watch the LIVE since Jo will have legend rider Aaron Hadlow and other guests commentating the boosting from the Booth! https://www.youtube.com/live/ADMuPRcmsMU?si=GSu0hyFdc-K2GMJV
13.52 GUILLEBERT pushing hard with a high score of 5.57 as breeze is into the mid-30s. But VAN DER SPUY still sending it with a Boogy Loop Contra with Tic Tac.
13.36 VAN DER SPUY hits a kite loop back roll board off for a 5.20. All are hitting in the 5-point range so super close, moderate height.
13.34 M R1 H3 in the water and starting to send it! SWART, GUILLEBERT, VAN DER SPUY
13.30 M R1 H2 1st BURLANDO 21.56 (advances to R3), 2nd VAN DIJK 17.80, 3rd GOMEZ 14.42
13.22 GOMEZ earlier hits 19.4 meter sick jump but needed more maneuvers and loops to get a higher score, but BURLANDO just nailed 22.9 meter jump and is comfortably leading heat. VAN DIJK is more consistent than GOMEZ and is in second.
13.02 BURLANDO hitting 15.3 meters height on the Surfr App with a Kite Loop Double Back with rotations on the way down. Breeze around 32-36 knots, riders are upwind on the frothy point as tide is still coming in. High tide at 6 so kickers should be closer and closer to right in front of event site by end of day.
12.58 M R1 H2 GOMEZ, VAN DIJK, BURLANDO. Beto Gomez (COL) was a last minute fill-in for Andrea Principi, the 2023 Big Air World Champion.
12.53 M R1 H1 1st ULRICH 18.27 (advances to R3), 2nd VERKERK 13.93, 3rd GRAMSTRUP. Only first place in R1 advances to R3, the rest go to R2 qualifying.
12.50 ULRICH wins H1 with final jump Contra Double front Board off Board Spin!
12.38 M R1 H1 So far VERKERK (11.17 pts) has narrow lead over ULRICH (10.33).
12.15 Follow LIVE scoring on website: https://www.gkakiteworldtour.com/events/gka-big-air-kite-world-cup-gran-canaria-2024/
12.24 The World Championship battle has started!! Riders start in order, one at a time with flags on beach matching their jersey color, they have 1 min. for 8 attempts, best 3 count.
12.05 It’s really Day 1 of the Qatar Airways GKA Big Air Kite World Championships, this is the second stop on the tour and this is where the women’s and men’s title will be decided!
12.03 M R1 H1 VERKERK, GRAMSTRUP, ULRICH, Kickers starting to build but mid-sized at 2-3 feet, breeze into mid-30s, look for at least double maybe triple kite loops, pay attention to the angle of the kite, level with rider is sick for the free-fall, kite lower than rider INSANE and 100 meters of travel over the water maybe! Kite sizes are in the 6-8 meter range.
12.01 Don’t forget to tune into the LIVE Kite Big Air! https://www.youtube.com/live/ADMuPRcmsMU?si=GSu0hyFdc-K2GMJV
12.00 Up next, R1 Men Heats 1-8, then R 1 Women Heats 1-4
11.56 Game ON!! Blowing into the 30s, Kiters are pumping up their kites and first possible start 12:15. Let’s GO!
7.28 Sun is coming out and we are getting ready to start the BIG AIR Kite World Championships! Skippers Meeting at 10:30, first possible heat at 11:30. Breeze is meant to be pumping so get ready for an awesome day of hang time and tricks!
Day Zero, 10 July 2024 (GMT +1)
7.30 Good morning! GKA women and men riders released today and will begin the Big Air Kite World Championships tomorrow, Thursday, setting the stage for a showdown on the windiest days of this competition week.
Day Zero, 9 July 2024 (GMT+1)
12.45 The kites were sending it yesterday tuning up off the rocky, wave-washed shores of Salinas de Tenefe in Gran Canaria. Today they must wait while the GWA Big Air Wingfoil World Championships kicks off in 25-30 knots of this legendary wind. Stay tuned for an announcement later today on which day the GKA Big Air Kite comp will start.