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They said it themselves, it was 70% height, and 30% style. That's the criteria. So theoretically, a dude that boosted 25 meters, with a stylish grab or boardoff with a landing like stepping off an escalator would beat the dude who busted out a 15 meter unhooked megaloop. Sure, the unhooked megaloop part is technical and requires balls big enough to force the rider to have their boardshorts custom tailored, but then again, following the format of the competition is key. After all, a kitesurfer can't win a surfing competition.

I also agree with Plummet's assessment of the atomic butt-check landings being a fail.

Peter, the kiteloop is what makes that soft buttery landing possible on a 20 meter jump. But that's a kiteloop, typically performed after the apex of the jump. A megaloop is started before the apex of the jump, often leaving the kiter higher than the kite at the apex of the jump.

The insane technical wakestyle tricks and megaloops are what wins all the other competitions, for sure, but KOTA is still all about the boosting.

Now my video is online:

Red Bull King of the Air 2014: Kevin, Ruben, Aaron, ...

You can watch and compare these 15 competitors:
Kevin Langeree, Ruben Lenten, Steven Akkersdijk, Andries Fourie, Aaron Hadlow, Jesse Richman, Tom Hebert, Billy Parker, Nick Jacobsen, Gianni Aragno, Reno Romeu, Jerrie van de Kop, Sam Light, Shawn Richman, Lewis Crathern.



Detlef

Detlef wrote:Now my video is online:

Red Bull King of the Air 2014: Kevin, Ruben, Aaron, ...

You can watch and compare these 15 competitors:
Kevin Langeree, Ruben Lenten, Steven Akkersdijk, Andries Fourie, Aaron Hadlow, Jesse Richman, Tom Hebert, Billy Parker, Nick Jacobsen, Gianni Aragno, Reno Romeu, Jerrie van de Kop, Sam Light, Shawn Richman, Lewis Crathern.



Detlef

Great video... well done...really enjoyed it.

I have to admit that as impressive as Hadlow's megaloop kgb is, that move doesn't translate as well to big air. Herbert had some great looking tricks, really huge smooth simple board offs, or huge single rotations on a megaloop. The camera is so far away and the field of view so big your trick has to be large and simple for it to look nice on film. Langeree had a well deserved victory, very smooth.

They should do it twice a year!

intotheair wrote:They should do it twice a year!

it should be the freestyle tour...

That's sick!! So do they need to stomp the landing for the jump height to count toward their score?

Should be like this ! Only landed tricks count!

So Toms jump was highest, but he didn't land it...but one trick didn't make you win, the combination of several factors...

That clip with the guy busting that huge boardoff at 3:30 was nice. A huge boost with a single boardoff held for a solid 3 seconds was more impressive to me than most of the windmills and megaloops. There was one nice megaloop at 2:17 by Nick Jacobsen. Dude was completely inverted as he looped it. Langeree's monster boost at 7:00 was perfect, but with a nasty butt-check landing. That boost at 7:12 was one of the nicest in the video, because of the hangtime, and the other kite in the foreground as a height reference. If only he could have busted out a grab or something with it for style points...