Red Bull King Of The Air 2020

the most extreme big air kite event returns to Kite Beach in Cape Town, the Red Bull King Of The Air. The 24 best kiters from all over the world come to Cape Town to participate in the most extreme kite competition of the year with the highest jumps and the coolest tricks. The wind window is open this year from 1-16 February. You can follow this competition live from the Red Bull website: Red Bull King of the Air LIVE.

Who has the biggest chance to win KOTA 2020?

Last weekend, kiters from 79 countries have already voted with us. The top 3 of last year are again seen this year as the biggest chances! Will Kevin succeed in meeting the high expectations with his new Reedin kite, or do you think differently about this? If you have not voted yet, you can still do so until the first preliminaries begin. So vote now and click on the banners below to also submit your top 3.

We have organized a great competition where you can WIN a Majestic X 2020 + Stealth Bar. Read further below what you have to do to win. Or directly go for it and visit our competion Apply for voting KOTA competition here.

New format voor KOTA 2020

This year, Red Bull King Of The Air takes a very different approach to previous years. The main event this year has only 12 riders instead of 18. The top 6 of last year's event will go through to the main event anyway, but from the 12 winners of the video entries, the 2 wildcards and the 4 Fly to winners only 6 people go to the main event.
In round 1 and 2, the video winners and the Fly To winners compete for a place in the main event. These rounds are held on the spot with the best wind conditions: Kite Beach, Blouberg or Witsand / Misty Cliffs.
The top 6 of these kiters continue to the main event together with the top 6 of last year and then compete for the title King Of The Air. Thanks to this new format, unknown drivers get the chance to show the best of themselves. Also this year, for the first time, a woman is taking part in the Red Bull King Of The Air!

Scores King of the Air contest

The King Of The Air is all about how high and extreme you make a trick. The scores consist of 70% of height and 30% of how extreme you make the trick. For example, you should think about how powered you did the trick, the difficulty of the trick and what kind of combination it is. This must all be done at a certain height. There is also a fourth score, the riders get this at the end of their heat. This score consists of execution, style, technical difficulty, variation, risk, show and innovation, or the general impression that the rider leaves. This can often be the difference between winning and losing. You can jump as often as you want, only the three highest scores count towards the end result of a heat. Variation is very important for the scores. The person with the least points at the end of a heat drops out. At the end of the competition, a prize is also awarded to the person who did the most extreme move of the competition. This prize is also called the "Most extreme move award". This prize is sponsored by Mystic.

Riders King Of The Air 2020

As always, the 24 kiters consist of the top 6 of the previous Red Bull King Of The Air edition, the winners of the other 4 fly to competitions and the top 12 of the video entries + 2 wildcards.
The top 6 of last year:

Rider	Sponsor
Kevin Langeree (1st)	Reedin Kites and Oneill
Jesse Richman (2nd)	North Kiteboarding and Mystic
Liam Whaley (3th)	F-one
Nick Jacobsen	North Kiteboarding and Mystic
Lasse Walker	Duotone Kiteboarding and ION
Aurelien Petreau	Duotone Kiteboarding and ION

These 6 riders are already guaranteed a place in the third round of the King Of The Air event in 2020.

The winners of the Fly to Red Bull King Of The Air are:

Rider	Sponsor
Lewis Crathern (Fly To Red Bull King Of The Air Taiwan)	Duotone Kiteboarding
Luis Alberto Cruz (Cabarete Kite Fest)	Star Kiteboarding and Cogua Kiteboarding
Stuart Downey (Maui Kite Fest)	Naish Kiteboarding
Ross-Dillon Player (Red Bull Megaloop Challenge)	Naish Kiteboarding and Mystic

The video entry winners and the two wildcards are:

Rider	Sponsor
Steven Akkersdijk	Core Kiteboarding and Mystic
Angely Bouillot	Core Kiteboarding and Ride Engine
Airton Cozzolino	Duotone Kiteboarding and ION
Ryan de Witte	Core Kiteboarding and Boardschmiede
Joshua Emanuel	Core Kiteboarding and Brunotti
Janek Grzegorzewski	Core Kiteboarding and Mystic
Aaron Hadlow	Duotone Kiteboarding and ION
Clement Huot	Naish Kiteboarding and Prolimit
Marc Jacobs	North Kiteboarding and Mystic
Posito Martinez	Crazyfly Kiteboarding and Prolimit
Antonin Rangin	Duotone Kiteboarding and ION
Reno Romeu	Duotone Kiteboarding
Oswald Smith	Airush kiteboarding and Mystic
Jason van der Spuy	Lacuna Kiteboarding and Mystic

Out of these 18 riders they pick the top 6 participating in the main event and competing with last year's top 6 for the most prestige title of the year “Red bull King Of The Air”.

KOTA Geschiedenis

The first King Of The Air was held in 2000 on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The event was held at Ho’okipa for five years, but kiters went on to change styles. There was no King Of The Air event for eight years, until several kiters such as Ruben Lenten started experimenting with stronger wind to see how high and far they could jump. In the end, they were so comfortable in these extreme conditions that they even started to pull megaloops.
        -In 2012, the Red Bull Len10 Megaloop Challenge was organized in Big Bay in collaboration with Ruben Lenten. Lewis Crathern won this competition. This event led to the return of Red Bull King Of The Air in 2013.
-In 2013 Jesse Richman won the Red Bull King Of The Air in Big Bay.
-In 2014 Kevin Langeree won in the finals from Ruben Lenten and Steven Akkersdijk.
-In 2015 Aaron Hadlow won landing two extreme megaloop KGB’s.
-In 2016 Aaron Hadlow won the event again.
-In 2017 the Danish Nick Jacobsen won, unfortunatly he was not able to defend his title the upcoming year due to injury.
-In 2018 Kevin Langeree won for the second time. This year the King Of The Air moved from Big Bay to Kite Beach for even beter big air conditions for the riders.
-In 2019 Kevin Langeree won for the third time, becoming the first rider being crowned to king three times.

KOTA even location: South Africa and the Cape Doctor

Cape Town is the perfect place for kite surfing thanks to the variation possibilities where you can kite. You have flat water, small waves, high waves, downwind spots, hot water and cold water. There is a perfect place for kiting for everyone. You will get the best wind in Cape Town in the months October to April. This year the event will again be held in the Mother City on the Kite Beach beach with the iconic Table Mountain in the background. At Kite Beach you have medium to large golf conditions. The waves can be between 1 and 4 meters in size. In the winter the waves are larger than in the summer. It is a kite place for all levels, from beginner to expert depending on the circumstances.

Champion Jesse Richman

Jesse Richman won King Of The Air in 2013. He was born on July 22 in 1992 on Maui in Hawaii. He started wave surfing and windsurfing at a young age. When Jesse was 10 years old he got a chance to try out the new kite from an old family friend Joe Koehl. In 2008 Jesse participated for the first time in a European competition in France. That was the first stop of the KPWT (Kite Board Pro World Tour) at the time. He didn't know what to expect at the time, but he won the event. At the end of the year, Jesse won the title of Kitesurfing’s worldwide champion. He went to Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Italy and Brazil, among other places. Jesse also won this title in 2009. He also won the International Kiteboarding Association Kiter of the Year title in 2012 and 2013.

Champion Kevin Langeree

Kevin Langeree has now won King Of The Air three times, in 2014, 2018 and in 2019. He was born on July 21 in 1988 in Noordwijk in the Netherlands. When he was 7 years old he started kite flying on the beach. He started wave surfing when he was 9 years old. When he saw that he could combine those two things, he started kite surfing at the age of eleven. Kevin is four times the freestyle champion of the Netherlands and three times he became second during the PKRA (Professional Kite (Board) Riders Association). In 2009 Kevin was finally world freestyle champion (PKRA). Kevin has started his own kit brand Reedin Kites since January 2020.

Champion Aaron Hadlow

Aaron Hadlow won King Of The Air twice in a row, in 2015 and in 2016. He was born on October 4, 1988 in Cornwall in the UK. He started kiting when he was only 10 years old. In 2004 he won the PKRA championships, when he was 17 years old. He managed to become world champion for five consecutive years! He has been on a world tour for seven years and then has taken a break from competition kiting to focus on his image, brand and inspiring other people. Together with Andy Gordon, Aaron has released the film Aspire. Shortly thereafter he was back on the podium of the PKRA competition. He also won the King of the air twice in a row in 2015 and in 2016.

Champion Nick Jacobsen

Nick Jacobsen won King Of The Air in 2017. It was the first international competition he won for him. He won in the final against Aaron Hadlow and Ruben Lenten. He was born on October 1, 1987 in Denmark. Nick is known for his extreme jumps from extreme heights. In 2017 he jumped from one of the largest hotels in the world, the Burj al-Arab in Dubai. He then jumped from a height of 210 meters. After Nick won the Red Bull King Of The Air in 2017, he unfortunately got an injury and could not defend his title in 2018. Nick became team manager at North Kiteboarding in 2018. He scouts new talent and helps coordinate new material.

First female rider at King of the Air

This is the first year that a woman is participating in this big air competition, Red Bull King Of The Air. Angely Bouillot started kiting when she was 15 years old, this was often no more than a few times a year. When she moved back to Leucate in her 20s, she started kiting more and more and eventually started competing. In 2016, she became the Kitespeed world champion in the women's Martha’s Vineyard. In 2017 she sent her first video entry to participate in King of The Air. Unfortunately she wasn't invited, so she trained even harder for 2018, but again she didn't get an invitation. In 2019, the event had multiple female entries, so King Of The Air decided to add a female expression session to the event. The women had no podium spot or prize money. Angely then, together with a few girlfriends and her biggest sponsor, organized their own version of the King of the air: "Queen is Born". Angely won this event with its exceptional megaloops. This year she again sent in a video with the hope that she would receive an invitation. And this is the first year that she finally receives an invitation to the King Of The Air and can show her moves to thousands of people. She is really looking forward to the event, hoping to inspire other women to participate in such competitions more often.

Strapless Kiteboarding big air contest

This year the triple strapless freestyle world champion, Airton Cozzolino, is competing, he is the first to compete for the title in the King Of The Air with a strapless wave board. Airton was born on November 7, 1994 in Ilha Do Sal in Cape Verde. He started skim boarding when he was 4 years old with a few broken boards. When he was 6 he started bodyboarding. A few surfers left their boards on the island, and Airton took the opportunity and learned to surf. In 2010, Airton was adopted by Libero Cozzolino and he moved from Africa to Italy because Libero became a kitesurf coach. Airton learned kitesurfing, and in 2011 won the Kitesurf World Championship in wave kiting. Three years later he successfully organized his own competition, Red Bull Unfastened. He got even more podium places in the GWA wave and strapless freestyle tour and became first in the Tarifa Strapless Kitesurfing Pro in 2016. In 2017 he received another World Kitesurfing title, and now he focuses on the King Of The Air title. Airton is known for taking the kite surfing sport to another level. He does the most original and highest tricks. The motto of Airton in competitions is: "Release all tensions to just have fun".

Newcomers at the KOTA 2020

King Of The Air is for unknown and famous kiters. Everyone has a chance of winning the King Of The Air title. We often see many returners from previous years every year. This year there are also a few newcomers to Red Bull King Of The Air. As already fully described above, the first woman, Angely Bouillot, participates to win the title King Of The Air. Also this year the strapless rider Airton Cozzolino is participating for the first time.

Other newcomers are Ryan de Witte, Clement Huot and Jason van der Spuy. Ryan de Witte from the Netherlands participated in the Red Bull Megaloop Challenge in 2017 and 2019. In this competition, the most courageous 16 riders draw the largest megaloops in circumstances above 40 knots. The 17-year-old Clement Huot from France became 3rd in 2017 at the UNSS Champion in France. When he was 11 years old he started kite surfing. Jason van der Spuy is from South Africa and is also 17 years old. He is a local, so he already has an advantage with the competition, because he is already used to the conditions. He became second during the 7Stars Kiteboard Series in 2017.

KITEMANA VOTE AND WIN

This year again 24 very good kiters are participating in the event. Who do you think will win the Red Bull King Of The Air? Let us know now!
This year we have come up with an awesome giveaway where you can win a Majestic X 2020 trapeze + Stealth Bar. The only thing you have to do to win is to predict the top 3 winners of the King of the air. The winner is the person who has guessed the top 3 well. The winner is announced in our newsletter the day after.

Apply for voting KOTA competition to click this link !