Die Höhepunkte (und Tiefpunkte) des ersten Tags des Redbull King of the Air 2018.
Some 7000 spectators braved the 25-30 knot southeasterly wind to line Kite Beach line in Blouberg, Cape Town and see the world's big-air kitesurfers take to the sky. And they were duly rewarded with a day filled with action and upsets.
Round One Highlights
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Lasse Walker was an early standout throwing various big moves to advance all the way to round four for his efforts.
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Steven Akkersdijk looked super confident and brought a lot of variety to the party with his 10m kite.
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Local boy Ross-Dillon Player put on a big performance but fell short to a rampant Sam Light. He'll have another shot in Round Three
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A very focussed Lewis Crathern rode a calculated heat, producing a massive boogie loop to take the win.
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In the final heat of the round Antonin Rangin scored (what was up until then) the highest single move of the day with a 7.20 out of a possible 10 with Megaloop board-off setting the bar of innovation.
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He, however, was up against two-time champion Aaron Hadlow who changed boards from boots to straps halfway through the heat only to throw down a boogie-loop board-off for a 7.92 to claim his spot in Round Four.
Round Two
Round Two (the first elimination round) saw the departure of Jerrie van der Kop, 16-year-old Tom Bridge (who was a late replacement and landed only that morning) as well as the shock elimination of Ruben Lenten.
Lenten and Kevin Langeree put a fitting cap on what was a huge day of action. The fact that two riders of that stature found themselves competing for survival Round Two, is a testament to how the standard has risen and to what level big-air kitesurfing has evolved.
The forecast for early to mid next week looks promising for competition to be completed. Stay tuned here for the latest updates.