Red Bull King of the Air 2022 - Winner: Lorenzo Casati

[Toby]

Excitement is starting to build ahead Red Bull King of the Air 2022. The event is known as the world’s premier Big-Air kiteboarding contest and features the best Big-Air riders from around the globe. The 2022 event will once again take place at Kite Beach in Cape Town when conditions are optimal in the weather window from 24 November and 9 December.

The event first took place in Hawaii in the early 2000s before moving to Cape Town in 2013. It has served as the single biggest driver of progression in the sport of Big Air kiteboarding, with riders pushing the limits of amplitude, variety, execution, and difficulty grade of the tricks to earn the crown.

The event has been at the forefront of Big-Air kiteboarding innovation throughout the past decade and the 10th edition will be no different in the build-up to the event (which will be streamed live, here redbullkingoftheair.com/) watch this episode of the Internationally acclaimed Red Bull series ‘Pushing Progression.’ This episode explores the evolution of kiteboarding through the eyes of legends of the sport, such as Robby Naish, and highlights how events like Red Bull King of the Air have pushed the progression of the sport. we challenged 3 kite surfers to jump over a CMA CGM Shipping tug boat, athletes such as Lasse Walker (who will be competing in Red Bull King of the Air) doing a daring aerial stunt featuring a tug boat in the waters off Cape Town.

https://www.redbull.com/int-en/events/r ... of-the-air

[Toby]

EVENT STATUS: 🟢 GREEN LIGHT for Saturday 26th of November

[Toby]

Judging Criteria

The judging at Red Bull King of the Air is done by a panel of independent and highly experienced judges. Their focus is to award the most extreme and complete rider as the King of The Air.

JUDGES
Head Judge: Chris Bull (ENGLAND)
Ignacio De Agiula Gonzales Dago (SPAIN)
Tom Schouten (NEDERLAND)
Reinier Korstanje (NEDERLAND)
Greg Thjisse (SOUTH AFRICA)
Victor Hays (FRANCE)

EVENT DIRECTION
Sportive Director: Sergio Cantagalli (ITALY)
Contest Director : Olaf van Tol (NEDERLAND)

JUDGING CRITERIA
The judging criteria and system are unique to Red Bull King of The Air and don’t conform any to any other kitesurfing or kiteboarding leagues or organisations. The system and criteria have been specifically developed (and are constantly updated) in accordance with the evolution of the sport and the event’s needs.
Here is a brief outline of how it works:
The three highest-scoring tricks of a rider will be will make up the rider’s final heat score and determine the result of the heat.
A trick is scored on its HEIGHT, the EXTREMITY in which it has been performed, how TECHNICALLY correct it was and how well it was EXECUTED.

EXAMPLE:
Low height + extreme = low score.
Super high + not extreme= low score.
Super High + extreme + technical = High score.
Clean Landings are essential for the top score.

IMPRESSION SCORE
Repetition of the same trick is accepted, however, the impression score will reward variety. The IMPRESSION score is a fourth score added at the end of each heat by each judge to reward the competitor for their overall performance in their heat. This score often deciding factor in a heat and is a big part of what sets Red Bull King of the Air’s judging criteria apart from other Big Air events.

The IMPRESSION score is not only heavily weighted toward variety within the top three scoring tricks, but also other factors such as style, execution, risk, innovation, as well as the ‘wow’ (showmanship) factor of the rider's performance. It is important to note that the Live Impression Indicator (on the Livestream) is similar to the impression score, but does not count toward the total, it is merely a visual indicator (rather than a final number) to the audience.

GLOSSARY
Variety: How many different tricks and variations has a rider performed?

Technical difficulty: Can the rider perform technical manoeuvres with height and extremity?

Style: Does the rider offer a unique style in the way they execute their tricks?

Execution: Can the rider perform tricks in both directions and how clean are the landings?

Risk: Is the rider going all-out or playing it safe? (Trick choice can also define risk, some tricks are inherently more risky than others)

Show/Wow factor: Is it pleasing to watch the rider? We want the riders to put on a show for everyone watching. Riders who perform a heat well, landing most of their repertoire, with few mistakes/crashes and deliver a solid performance will be rewarded with the impression score.

Innovation: Riders will be rewarded for bringing new/radical tricks to their performance, even if not perfectly landed, the judges can give credit in the impression score to riders who are willing to bring fresh progressive tricks to the competition.

[Toby]

Here the forecast...but should be mich stronger than that.

Anyone can comment which real wind speed to expect?


Also looks like good ramps will roll in!

forecast.png (34.16 KiB) Viewed 2387 times

[Hugh2]

I rode this morning on 9m, then a long downwinder from noon to 2 on 7m, then watched the hotshots at Kite Beach this afternoon till about 5. Waves and wind were messy this morning, would have been no good. Wind filled in nicely this afternoon and waves got better period and size as the tide came up. Tomorrow should be even better, and we will have to see about Sunday. Marc, Aaron, and Timo were out, Marc putting on quite a show, Timo too, but Aaron not so much. In the parking lot and watching were Kevin, Yanek, and Ruben (he was helping various people, not riding, I don't know about Yanek). I could not stand the wind and sun anymore having been out so long, so Kevin might well be doing a practise session now. Here's a nearby windmeter for the afternoon, it is pretty strong, not as strong as some would like, but they would probably run the event if tomorrow is similar. Note that the direction was straight south, which is not perfect, would prefer SSE or even SE.

[Toby]

ok, but forecast for today was much lower...so should be min 30 tomorrow

wind.png (30.83 KiB) Viewed 2269 times

[Toby]

[Toby]

[Toby]

[Toby]