Gisela Pulido's Debut | Mykonos Fleet Reaction | The Megapod

Summary

Podcast Summary: Kitesurf365 – “Gisela Pulido's Debut | Mykonos Fleet Reaction | The Megapod”

Date: May 28, 2026
Host(s): Adrian Kerr & Colin Colin Carroll
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the just-released Mykonos GKA fleet lists—including major ins, outs, and upsets—plus reflections on Gisela Pulido’s surprise return, predictions for the Big Air world championship at Mykonos, and discussion of “Road to Pro” going public.

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Episode Overview

This episode captures the excitement ahead of the GKA Big Air World Championships in Mykonos. Adrian and Colin analyze the finalized rider lists (with shock omissions and wild cards), discuss the seismic return of kiting superstar Gisela Pulido, review key national and equipment storylines, and offer bold predictions for both men’s and women’s championships. The duo also reflects on releasing their previously paid “Road to Pro” series for free on YouTube, and contemplate its significance for the kiteboarding community.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mykonos GKA Fleet: Surprises, Wildcards & Omissions

• Complete French women’s contingent dropped:
  • “They’ve dropped the entire French contingent of riders. So, yeah, some. Some strange selections...” (Adrian, [00:56])
• Wildcard drama (men):
  • Names like Baptiste Bordolis, Parker Sage, Max Tullett enter with wild cards ([01:42])
• Local representation:
  • Anastasia Petiti gets the nod as the only Greek woman in the competition (“great to see her get an opportunity…represent Greece as the only Greek rider...” Adrian, [09:27])
• Major exclusions (men):
  • “Elliot Batarn, who was a quarterfinal finisher...Timo Boisma unfortunately went out round two. Nathan Texier, quarterfinal finish. Baptist Jacquemin...” (Adrian, [05:44])

2. Gisela Pulido’s Big Air Comeback

• “Gisela Pulido, the nine time world champion...disappeared and gone to the world of racing and now returns to the big air scene.” (Colin, [02:21])
• “She is an absolute giant in the world of kiteboarding...to see her name on the entry list is so exciting.” (Colin, [02:56])
• Training with top coaches: “She’s been training with Niko Delmar and Aya Kazabova...riding under the tutelage of Nik...she’s been riding super well.” (Adrian, [03:20])
• Debate on her impact and “clout”:
  • “She’s definitely got that clout.” (Adrian, [03:48])
  • “Will people be very wary of her...like, oh, man, I’m up against Micah. I wonder if Giselle is going to have that same impact.” (Adrian, [03:36])
• Comparing eras:
  • “It’s too difficult to compare eras, isn’t it? ...She would have been the inspiration for Mika.” (Colin, [04:36])
• The stakes: Micah vs. Gisela—who will emerge as Big Air’s record breaker? (“I think she’d like to get ahead of Giselle and just sort of be that most prolific winner...” Adrian, [05:11])

3. Men’s Fleet Analysis & Title Showdown

• Main contenders: Jamie Overbeek, Finn Flügel, Leo Casati
• Jamie’s pole position:
  • “If he makes the final and finishes in front of Finn and Leo, he’s won.” (Adrian, [11:27])
  • “Jamie’s got all the cards. He’s playing Monopoly with house money almost.” (Adrian, [13:57])
• Potential for allegiance/“team” tactics among Italians:
  • “Do you think they’re there to help him?” (Adrian, [12:20])
  • “Yeah, I do think they’re there to help him. I think they’re big fans of Leonardo and if they have a chance to take out a Jamie or Finn, they're gonna do it...” (Colin, [12:20])
• Context from previous championships—Jamie’s costly crash:
  • “Jamie was obviously in the same position in the 2024 World Championship ... had a huge crash in that semi-final, which really shook him.” (Adrian, [13:10])

4. Kite Brand Storylines:

• Gong’s debut:
  • “Him being there on a gong is big time. It’s a really unproven kite. ...That’s his sole focus.” (Colin, [06:25])
  • “Gong is also a kite that a lot of the big brands and operators in this industry are very wary of as a brand.” (Adrian, [07:59])
  • “They are direct to consumer, they’re much, much cheaper... a 9 meter Gong Ito is €449 brand new, delivered to your door, which is remarkable.” (Colin, [08:20])
• Industry politics:
  • “The GKA is owned by Duotone and F1... so it’s really cool and open minded of the GKA that this kite is even in there...” (Colin, [08:20])
• Harlem’s rise:
  • “The biggest, most represented brand is Harlem.” (Colin, [23:45])

5. Young Guns & National Hopes

• Youngest competitors: Maxwell Dahl and Martin Kabriski (aka “Kobe”) discussed as fearless, promising talents ([22:28])
• Mentoring shifts and brand representation:
  • “Mark Jacobs was mentoring these young guys through and now that’s Cohen’s job... north are pretty short on the guy side.” (Adrian, [22:52])

6. Mykonos Set-up & Predictions

• Experience gives edge:
  • “He’s in the right spot. He’s in a spot that he knows super well. He’s been to Mykonos a bunch of times and...not a lot of guys have been to Mykonos.” (Adrian on Jamie, [13:12])
• Women’s field wide open:
  • “In the women’s, barely anyone has ridden at the spot. It’s pretty much a question mark.” (Colin, [18:45])
• Alyssa, Lana, Mika showdown:
  • “I think Mika’s in the best position there. She does know the spot better than the other two girls, which is Alyssa and Lana.” (Adrian, [19:39])
  • “She’s on the verge of ninth world title… If she wants it, she can do it.” (Adrian, [19:49])

7. Scoring, Judging & Event Structure

• On scoring a perfect 10:
  • “I think a 10 is a knockout blow. It’s like basically saying, there’s no discrepancy here. This is mine, and I think that’s where you give it.” (Adrian, [17:03])
  • “I don’t think tens are possible here.” (Colin, [15:54])
• Rider strategies based on conditions:
  • “It’s so condition dependent, isn’t it? There’s a chance though that it absolutely house every time we’ve gone there it has absolutely cranked to the point where no other, no amateur rider is on the water...” (Colin, [20:32])
  • “You only need a three. You only need a shorty there. A three. Two is absolutely fine. It’s not bakaraz. You’re not having to come off. And Nico dear is pouring hot water on your hands...” (Adrian, [21:50])

8. Cultural Moment: “Road to Pro” Goes Public

• First-ever free release of a subscriber project:
  • “This is the first time we have ever put a subscription video out on YouTube in the public domain... Our goal here is to make cultural moments for kiteboarding.” (Colin, [00:00] and [26:14])
  • “We haven’t tested this yet...maybe it changes our outlook on putting stuff out for free.” (Colin, [26:14])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She is an absolute giant in the world of kiteboarding. And to see her name on the entry list is so exciting.”
  — Colin ([02:56])

• “Clout. That’s a better word. Yeah, she’s definitely got that clout.”
  — Adrian ([03:48])

• “I think a 10 is a knockout blow. It’s like basically saying, there’s no discrepancy here. This is mine...”
  — Adrian ([17:03])

• “Jamie’s got all the cards. He’s playing Monopoly with house money almost. Does that make sense?”
  — Adrian ([13:57])

• “Him being there on a gong is big time. It’s a really unproven kite. It’s a really unorthodox rider... That’s his sole focus.”
  — Colin ([06:25])

• “The biggest, most represented brand is Harlem.”
  — Colin ([23:45])

• “If you’re not being paid, you just don’t represent the brand. That’s just basics 101.”
  — Adrian ([24:51])

• “Our goal here is to make cultural moments for kiteboarding. And we think there’s some really strong stuff in here that should be out there for everyone.”
  — Colin ([26:14])

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Important Timestamps

• Fleet Breakdown & Wildcard News: 00:56–02:21
• Gisela Pulido Return Analysis: 02:21–05:38
• Major Men’s Entry/Exit Changes: 05:44–09:27
• Gong Brand Feature & Equipment Chat: 06:25–09:27
• New Faces: Greek & Young Riders: 09:27–10:43
• Men’s Championship Scenario: 11:19–13:57
• Judging, “Perfect 10” Debate: 15:54–17:48
• Women’s Competition Predictions: 18:45–20:32
• Challenging Mykonos Conditions: 20:32–21:50
• Brand Dynamics (North, Harlem): 23:45–24:21
• Release of Road to Pro on YouTube: 26:14–28:24

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Episode Tone & Style

Lively, bantering, insider-y. Adrian and Colin riff with authority and irreverence, poking fun at industry quirks, but balancing expertise and genuine stoke for the upcoming event. Their exchanges are rich with informed speculation and deep kiteboarding knowledge, peppered with recurring jokes and “inside baseball” references for serious fans.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The GKA Mykonos championship is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable, wide-open events yet.
• Gisela Pulido’s entry is seismic and could tilt the women’s fleet dramatically.
• Men’s title race is Jamie Overbeek’s to lose, but squad tactics and wildcards add intrigue.
• Brand wars are playing out on and off the water—with Gong and Harlem both in the spotlight.
• “Road to Pro” hitting YouTube signals a renewed desire to make kite culture accessible and visible.
• For both pros and fans, Mykonos 2026 will be unmissable.

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For detailed, real-time coverage and bonus rider interviews, tune in to Kitesurf365’s social feeds during event week!

Transcript

[Colin]

In this episode, we roll through the GK Fleet list for Mykonos and there are some changes there. There's some shocks as well, so we cover that. We also talk about Road to Pro Season 1, Episode 1 being on YouTube for free. This is the first time we have ever put a subscription video out on YouTube in the public domain. So you can go and watch that now. We talk about the significance of that

[Adrian]

catastrophic equipment failure.

[Colin]

Going for the boogie loop double just

[Adrian]

to get the landing

[Colin]

of strings, and it was extremely dangerous. Guys, I sent the trap and it

[Adrian]

is gold for Ellie Aldridge and gold for Great Britain.

[Colin]

GK Mykonos just round the corner. Adrian. Fancy that the world championship going to be decided. Everyone's excited, everyone's getting ready, packing their kites, folding them up nicely.

[Adrian]

You wouldn't be excited if you're French. They've dropped the entire French contingent of riders. So, yeah, some. Some strange selections, but let's get straight into it. Should we talk about the ins and the outs, who's out and who's in?

[Colin]

Do you want to just go through the list? Is that fun for the readers?

[Adrian]

Right, let's go with the ladies because there's some very, very interesting names on this list. Michali Soul, Francesca Maney, Sara Sadiq, Zara Hugenrad is writing. We thought she might not, so it's great to see her there. Alicia, Sophie Minch in Pole position at the moment, Alessia Rugia, Lana Herman, Aya Casabova, Natu Limerick Estanagi and Gisela Polito. And then the local writer, Anastasia Petiti,

[Colin]

Gisela Pulido, the nine time world champion, I believe. Ten times big air ring. No, she's nine. 100% nine, I believe.

[Adrian]

She did put in a video for Lords of Tram and didn't make it, so that's super interesting. So really interesting. We can talk about her in a little bit. But on the men's side, Finn Flugel, Leonardo Casati, Andrea Principe, Lorenzo Casati, Zach Adams, Shahar Sabri, Yosu San Ferreira, Kim Over Kirk Steen, Mauleva Cohen, Van Dyke, Josh Gillett, Jason Vanderspade, Luca Trutti, Jamie Overbeak, Hugo Wigglesworth, Jeremy Belando, Martin Kowalski, Yena Bohr, Maxwell Dahl, Heel Vlute, Parker Sage, Yusuf Parallek, Max Tullett and Baptiste Bordolis riding under the French flag. I believe those bottom four, by the way, are wild cards, which is Parker. You saw Max and Baptiste, which is super interesting. Let's get into it.

[Colin]

Well, Giselle is The headline, she's the most prolific kiteboarding competitor of all time. The nine time world champion in freestyle, a lot better than everyone. Has since disappeared and gone to the world of racing and now returns to the big air scene. She's probably the highest paid kiteboarder of all time. That's in the latest how to Get Paid episode that we're working on. Everyone goes, you shouldn't. You need to talk to Gisela. She's had telecom companies, she's had fizzy drinks company. She's had GoPro. She's had VW. She's had Garmin. She's had. No, not Garmin. Tag. Bloody. She's. She is an absolute giant in the world of kiteboarding. And to see her name on the entry list is so exciting. I think she's gonna be riding Duotone. What else do we know?

[Adrian]

I know that she's been training with Niko Delmar and Aya Kazabova. Her and I have been riding under the tutelage of. Nik said to me on the podcast that she's been riding super well. It's going to be very interesting to see what sort of influence she brings. Will people be very wary of her? You know, like, you know, when, you know, if you're in a heat with Micah, it's like, oh, man, I'm up against Micah. I wonder if Giselle is going to have that same impact. Doesn't have the pedigree in. In Big ear. But she's from Tarifa. I mean, she's riding Baron area. She's obviously done it. I think that she's got some. I want to. I use the word waster. It's an Arabic word. It means some influence, some power. There's some buzz about her, and I think the other riders will feel that Y. Clout. That's a better word. Yeah, she's definitely got that clout. And, you know, with Niko, who's a great coach, he also coaches Finn Flugel. I'm sure that she's going to come ready to perform.

[Colin]

Is she going to be on the Rebel or the Evo?

[Adrian]

I'd say most of those guys will be on the Rebel. As Micah rose to prominence in freestyle, did that push Gisela out? Did Gisela see the storm coming and get out? And the only reason I say that, because we were sitting in Cape Town a few years ago and we were speaking to Annabel Van Westrop, who was, you know, prolific podium in freestyle, and I said, who's better? Between Bruna, Gisela, And Micah. And she didn't even think. She just said Micah.

[Colin]

But it's too difficult to compare eras, isn't it? It's so unfair. I mean, Gisela started when the kites were worse, when the level was worse. She had to break her own boundaries to get to that level. You know, she would have been the inspiration for Micah. Mika's someone that learned unbelievably quickly by looking and watching. So I think it's unfair to compare the two, but it's going to be epic having her back. I can't wait to see her competing and to ask her these sorts of questions. Adrian.

[Adrian]

Interesting, though, because Micah has been in Big Air for a long time. She's won eight world titles now across both disciplines, going for her ninth world title. And I think there's something in that. I think that Micah, even though she always says to us, I don't have anything to prove, I think she'd like to get ahead of Giselle and just sort of be that sort of most prolific winner we've ever seen. I'm looking forward to seeing those two on a, you know, doing Big air together. I think that's going to be super cool.

[Colin]

For sure. For sure. All right, over to the men's. What are the upsets? What are the headlines people need?

[Adrian]

Well, let's talk about the people who are out on the men's side. Elliot Batarn, who was a quarterfinal finisher. Clement Earl went out round two. Timo Boisma unfortunately went out round two. Nathan Texier, quarterfinal finish. Baptist Jacquemin, quarterfinal finish. So they've really swung the the ax on the boys side. Coming is Baptist Bordis, wild card, Max Tal's wild card, Parker Sage Yin Boar, and then Usil Parallac, yore riding for Ozone. But we're going to see our first gong in competition with Usil. Now useful is a guy who's really came on the scene as a short line rider, but seems to be stretching the lines out a little bit and, and trying to get into this riding super well. Amazing performance at the Mega Loop. Can he back that up with another big performance here?

[Colin]

Him being there on a gong is big time. It's a really unproven kite. It's a really unorthodox rider. He's really bringing a level of technicality to short lines that hasn't been done before, and that's his sole focus. We've had other people dip their toes into that side like Steed Moll and Koen van Dijk at the high Five competition where they're doing the ball of rotations on short lines and look mental. But that's really the only time they've done it. This guy does it all year round. It's also just going to be interesting to be up close with that kite. People are talking about it. It's completely different design philosophy that we've covered on this podcast before and a completely different philosophy from that brand as well. I think it's really important that they are there on this stage. I'm excited for it. And yeah, the, the like receivership of that kite is quite split. People generally look at it and go, that hasn't been. That's not a very refined bit of high performance big air kit. But to me that's not what Gong is meant to be. It's meant to be like entry level, sport opening brand that is direct to consumer and allows more for more accessibility to the sport, which is why we're fans of it. But to see whether they can step it up and like give him a kite that can really compete with the most refined iterated kites in the world would be interesting.

[Adrian]

I think Gong is also a kite that a lot of the big brands and operators in this industry are very wary of as a brand. The way they're going to operate. And can they make headway into this, into the kiteboarding space? You know, they're already in foiling, they're in winging stuff like this. But can they push more into the space and start taking some market share? That's going to be interesting to see.

[Colin]

So for those of you that don't know what we're talking about, they are direct to consumer, they're much, much cheaper. I was looking at a Gong Ito just then, that one that Pete flies. And a 9 meter gong ito is €449 brand new, delivered to your door, which is remarkable. Not so remarkable in this time when brands like Cabrino have just been pissing their overstock into the market and killing the price. But remarkable that this was their plan. Cabrino are doing that accidentally. Gong are doing it on purpose. Yeah. And it's also surprising that they're there in this competition because it's a GKA event. The GKA is owned by Duotone and F1. They're the majority shareholders. Duotone and F1 have no interest in growing the brand of Gong. So it's really cool and open minded of the GKA that this kite is even in there being ridden by this athlete. So we're big fans of this. And yeah, I'M excited to see you. So. Right.

[Adrian]

And on the girls side, Ella Nowadzinski is out and Lilu Zaglini. And in comes Gisela Polito, who already spoken about and. And Anastasia Paditti, who we've actually met before. Colin. She's a local. A local Greece rider there. So great to see her get an opportunity to ride at the highest level and represent Greece as the only Greek rider in this competition.

[Colin]

Have I met her?

[Adrian]

You've met her before. She was, I think, one of the only females that went out on that really, really strong day when it ended up only being the three boys out there, but a few local guys went out, including Baptiste Bordolis and she went on the water on that day and. And did some big jumps. So, yeah, super exciting to see her ride. She's also riding for North Greece as a domestic rider, so that's great. I'm surprised we didn't see some of the other local Greeks get an opportunity. You know, we spoke about George Quintus the other day and Philippus Tamantanis get an opportunity. But look, this is the way it is. Super happy with the fleets. Yeah, bring it on. Let's talk about some more World Cup. Baptiste Bordolis, who's a French rider but based there for many years. A bit of a local hero. You'll know him. He's been around a long time. He's in. I'm really stoked for Max T returns to the GK competition. It's been a couple years since he's ridden. A name that we've been talking about seems like for eight or nine years.

[Colin]

We need a Brit. We need a Brit in the men's fleet.

[Adrian]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Colin]

I'm going to be waving the flag around like a madman.

[Adrian]

Parker Sage returns again. Probably deserve to be there again a little bit in the same space as Gong with Reeden and then yore, who is the ozone rider again. Really, really good rider is just in that fringe, man. And unfortunately Yin is in that sort of 18 to 24 sort of grouping of riders. You know, it's just tough to break in. And we, we're speaking to. I've spoken to many, many guys in the past. Elliot Batan spoke about being in that sort of group and just finding it very difficult to break into that top, top echelon. So I hope those guys can take that opportunity.

[Colin]

Let's go now to the top end. Let's go to the top end of the minutes. Whose favorite going in to this one?

[Adrian]

If we look at the math, Jamie's the favorite, right? Realistically, if he makes the final and finishes in front of Finn and Leo, he's won. I mean, he just has to finish in front. He just has to finish in front of Fin and Leo. Actually, in Finn's case, he needs Jamie not to make the final, but he has to finish ahead of Leo. Leo needs basically the perfect weekend, really. He needs to win the event. So before, I didn't say those guys need to win, but they needed to finish above. But Leo needs a win and he needs Jamie and Finn knocked to make the final. The thing that's on Leo's side is he's got Lorenzo, Andrea, Jeremy, who are pretty much all out of the running. And now, I don't care what you say, those guys can cause an upset throughout the event. You know, any one of those guys can actually, you know, they're not going out to help Leo, but those guys are quality riders. Any one of those guys can cause an upset and knock people out. Do you think they're there to help him?

[Colin]

Yeah, I do think they're there to help him. I think they're big fans of Leonardo and if they have a chance to take out a Jamie Overbeek or Fin Vlugel, I think they're going to do it for him. They're going to try their best for him. Yeah, I do think that.

[Adrian]

I mean, every rider should be doing their best anyway, right? We saw that last time trying to gammy the system, man. You have to ride till the very, very end of every heat. So everyone should be riding hard for Jamie. He's got to correct. That 20, 24 run obviously was interesting because he had that very, very big crash. I was speaking to him on that boat about that crash and he said, adrian, I'll never make that mistake again. Jamie was obviously in the same position in the 2024 World Championship. They went to Gran Canaria. He had a huge crash in that semi final, which really shook him. Had broke a line, actually, unfortunately, and, and it really, really knocked him around. But he could, could not get going after that crash, which is. Which is totally understandable.

[Colin]

That cost him the World Championship.

[Adrian]

That hurts. Right? But you've got to be in pole position for this. And he's in the right spot. He's in a spot that he knows super well. He's been to Mykonos a bunch of times and not a lot of guys have been to Mykonos. The more and more people I asked, I've never. I think we, as we thought, many people have been There, but it's just the people that we've associated with. He knows the spot better than Fin and Leo. Leo's never been. Neither has Finn. And the other strength is he has all the gear. He can choose whatever kite works best at that spot because it's a little bit unknown whether the Harlem's going to work there or whether he can go to the duone. He's really happy with his board. He's obviously the a road rider now, so he's got all the options and he's got foil kites if it's not strong. Jamie's got all the cards. You know, he's playing. He's playing Monopoly. He's playing Monopoly with house money almost. Does that make sense?

[Colin]

Yeah, you're right. We haven't seen the joy tone Rebel work that well there. Like considering it's basically Andrea's spot. In my mind he was doing those triple loop world first there when we first visited in 2023 and that was on a three strut. He hasn't done anything like mental there since and he's been on the Rebel since in really strong conditions too. So maybe it does lean itself towards kites that are friendlier in kickers, which is the likes of the Haarlem. We saw the Harlem really lacking in height at Lords of Tram, didn't we? It really did seem to be a gap there and there's a strong chance that the Haarlem will really come into its own here. One more thing, I'll say the people that have ridden there the most are the trap. This is their spot, they put it on the map and yeah, there's really high chance that they will just take out the podium.

[Adrian]

The other thing I want to say about Jamie is that, do you remember in Cape Town, Jamie was almost exclusively riding that peak, right? So he, he has the options to go either way. So the ball's in his court with Finn, man, Finn's little bit of lack of preparation, right. He's in Mexico at the GKA freestyle at the moment. If it's marginal conditions he can bring that freestyle there. But man, he's also still, I would say feeling experienced in big ear and. But he's got those four kite so it's a really interesting mix with those three boys at the top. You know, I, you'd have to say looking at it like this, that Jamie, the balls in Jamie's court, if it's a draw or tie, by the way, the GK will go and look at any head to head record, including trick height Total trick heats or best trick, which means Jamie's going to win because in the last competition he got a 28.83 and a 10. So he's pretty much in pole position. If there's any draws on points going into, you know, the handout, handing out of the, the World Championship.

[Colin]

Do you think tens are possible here?

[Adrian]

You know, when I had Marine on the podcast, he always said that he'd only give a 10 if it was the last trick in a final. And unfortunately that, that, that, that happened, you know, when he got called out for it. I think it's very difficult for the judges to give tens. Giving Jamie that 10 in the very last trick of the final, no one came out and beat it. You know, last, last thing you need is Jamie to do that trick. And then someone behind Andrea comes, oh, let's give him a 10. And then Andre comes out and give him, you know, goes 100 meters longer. What do you give him? 11. You've always got to be very careful dishing out tens. I think, I think tens are still the unicorn score. I'd like to see it more, but I think it has to come out at the right time.

[Colin]

Yeah. The thing that everyone always forgets are the scores are within the context of that heat. Do I personally think Jamie's trick was a 10? No, I think he got a lucky gust. I don't think that's like 10 worthy. Do I think it was amazing and very technical and him at the height of his powers being everyone else under enormous pressure? Yes, I do think that. Yes. I just contradicted myself. I don't care.

[Adrian]

I think the Liam vs heel quarterfinal in King of the Air a few years ago, for me, that should have been a 10 as well. But I think a 10 is a knockout blow. It's like basically saying, there's no discrepancy here. This is mine, and I think that's where you give it. As I said, I don't think we'll see it at the spot. I think we're going to see guys really open up their left and right, actually. Baby sharks. Another guy who knows this spot pretty well as well. Here's an interesting thing, Colin. There's 20 different countries represented at this event. I think that's the biggest we've ever had. Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain, South Africa, England, Brazil, the usa, New Zealand, Israel, Denmark, Cyprus, France, Egypt, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Hungary and Greece. That's crazy. That's a world tour.

[Colin]

Imagine if it was just a few more spots. Imagine if there were four dots on the calendar spread relatively evenly. How epic would that be? I mean, the bigger calendar is feeling empty this year without the Red Bull qualifiers. But after this, what's going to be the next one?

[Adrian]

I guess it's going to be the megaloop window will open cold. Hawaii Red Bull, king of the air. Actually, you're right. There's. There could only be three more stops which only make a five stop year for the boys. But as I said before, I think this is a really great opportunity to tap into those, let's say, you know, those AAA comps like the Puckle. I think Paco's a great comp. Paco had three. The two guys in the final.

[Colin]

Yes.

[Adrian]

Last year went to Max Tollet, one it, but they had Elliott and Baptiste. Those guys went on to king of the year. You know, you got, you've got the Windsor Sinai event, you've got full power. There's great actual local comps that are not high level but still have world class competition riders at them. So I think we'll, we'll see more guys drop down and try and ride those events.

[Colin]

In the women's, barely anyone has ridden at the spot. It's pretty much a question mark.

[Adrian]

Mika's been there.

[Colin]

Yeah, but not really. We were there when she was there. She wasn't really riding. I was like, micah, please can you ride, we want to do a part with you. She's like, yeah, it goes out for,

[Adrian]

oh, my knee, my knee, my back.

[Colin]

It wasn't even that. I don't know what happened.

[Adrian]

It was the years of the trap house. Remember the trap house years?

[Colin]

Yeah.

[Adrian]

I know that Alyssa Minch is in the, in the sort of prime spotlight, Jamie here, but man, she almost needs to have a perfect weekend again. And I think it's difficult to have back to back perfect weekends, especially there

[Colin]

where it's so choppy and gusty and

[Adrian]

you know, tricky and it's a place you need to be. Look, I think she needs to go out really quickly on the water and apply pressure so people start thinking that the first one wasn't a fluke.

[Colin]

I would be there now if I was her. I would be in Mykonos now.

[Adrian]

I think Mika's in the best position there. You know, she does know the spot better than the other two girls, which is Alyssa and Lana.

[Colin]

She's right foot forward as well.

[Adrian]

You know, she's on the verge of a ninth world title. And you, you think that she want that? I mean the, the ball's in her court. If she wants it, she can do it. And I think that she's kind. I know that she handled the loss to Alyssa super well but I think deep down she's a competitor. I think she's pissed about that Falana man back to back podiums. I think she just has to stop relying on I need really strong wins, you know because we've heard that before. We've heard that from Heel and Zarath. I just only want strong winds. You have to bring some technicality you're riding and I think that's what she needs to work on. If she can get another podium here she's going to sort of we're going to start to start talking about her in that group above the Francescas and the in the Natalie's.

[Colin]

Yeah, the trick will be the boogie board off that's like eluded most riders at Lord to tram but SD was a boogie board offer and yeah I think here presents a really unique opportunity like what with it being left and right what was it being kind of kickers but you can find flat sections in between them. It's so condition dependent, isn't it? There's a chance though that it absolutely house every time we've gone there it has absolutely cranked to the point where no other, no amateur rider is on the water and the pros that do go out don't last that long. How likely are those conditions do you think Adrian?

[Adrian]

Well, likely enough that they did a six day window. You know, I mean it's a, it's a gamble, it's a risk. I look there might, there might be other reasons why they didn't do a longer window. Maybe it's the price of the, you know, the price of the sort of area, you know it's not a cheap place to go. F and B is expensive accommodations expensive. The roads are terrifying. The higher car companies absolutely free, some credit card. The food is by the way, the food is great but there'll be some,

[Colin]

there'll be some massive parties. There'll be some serious partying.

[Adrian]

I won't be there but it'll be good. There'll be parties will be in our place but it's also warm water and I think in warm water I think the people are prepared to push a little bit more. They're not, they're not worried about the crashing into that cold water. I saw Aya Casabova doing back roll bought off Contras the other day on her Instagram. So I think with the warmer conditions I think that riders will be prepared to push a little bit harder, you know there's something into crashing into warm water. You only need a three. You only need a shorty there. A three. Two is absolutely fine. It's not bakaraz. You're not having to come off. And Nico dear is pouring hot water on your hands to keep your hands supple, you know, So I think there is something that as well.

[Colin]

All right, let's finish by just talking about the two youngest riders, Maxwell Dar and Martin Kabiski. Have I got that right?

[Adrian]

That's right. Kabriski. Yeah.

[Colin]

Have I nailed that?

[Adrian]

Just call him Kobe. He goes by Kobe.

[Colin]

This will be their second GK event. They showed very little fear and lots of courage at the first one. How do you think they'll be going into this one?

[Adrian]

Man, I was just looking at Max riding in Tarifa. Oh, he looks just so good. And you know, speaking. I've got a podcast with Leo coming out on Monday and I, you know, I asked Leo about it after and you know, Leo in classic casati form, they're very, very careful with the words. They don't give too much away. But he just said, yeah, he's good. That's all he said. Which I guess the fact that they, I think they realize that he's really good. The interesting thing with Max is I think Max is putting pressure on Cohen. Now Cohen made the. The semi finals, went one stage further, but, you know, it's just luck of the draw sometimes. I would be interested to see how Cohen reacts to having more young guns. It's Mark Jacobs was mentoring these young guys through and now that's Cohen's job. By the way, north are pretty short on the guy side. They've only got two. It's only Martin, it's only Maxwell and Cohen are on north, which is crazy. In a 24 man fleet, only two. Two male riders on north, which is strange for such a big brand.

[Colin]

The biggest, most represented brand is Harlem.

[Adrian]

Isn't that crazy?

[Colin]

I mean, madness. What did you say earlier, before we came on a few years ago, that was a kite that you wouldn't piss on or something.

[Adrian]

I remember when they signed Scott Baronston and I looked at that kite. It was the first time we saw those colors and everyone was speaking so highly, but. And I think, I think Scott was their premier signing. But that soon changed with the Casatis and Hadlow and Lewis and yeah, it's. They've got a crazy team. You got Lana as well. Lana's riding on that kite.

[Colin]

Yeah. For them to have more representation at an event than north or Duotone is quite crazy. Last thing, what kite do you think Zara Huguenot is going to be riding? Any ideas?

[Adrian]

Yeah. So the three independents basically Gisela, Zara and Jamie. That's a great question. I've thought about that a bit. I think that we're gonna see her on either like an ozone, the vortex. It's the Vortex.

[Colin]

Maybe the most similar to the xr.

[Adrian]

Yeah, that's going to be a really interesting point to see which one she chooses. And look, she's definitely not going to write a course. She's made that very, very clear. She, she. You've said it a million times. If you're not being paid, you just don't represent the brand. That's just, that's just basics 101. Also I think it's going to be interesting performance for her. See how she handles this competition after losing a sponsor. Does she go out there to prove a point? Is she just going there to make up numbers? That'll be interesting.

[Colin]

Remember last time that happened, Jamie Overbeak?

[Adrian]

Yeah.

[Colin]

Epic, Epic. Holding up a Whippaker board that had spray painted the bottom of his ozone board to say Whippaker deceased legendary brand. Who did it with a stencil. And it was like the coolest statement in recent times.

[Adrian]

Was actually super cool.

[Colin]

It's all possible.

[Adrian]

I'm so happy. Max, tell us there. I have always been super high on this kid. I wanted to see him do more. It's great that there's another British writer there and I think if Max can do well, it will inspire more British riders. You know, we've, we've been there, we've seen this. The scene, the scene there. The scene's deep but unfortunately it's been whipped up by winging. We need another Aaron Hadlow type person to come and inspire that next generation. Yes. Dz, Pete. Steezy Pete, Aaron. And now we've got Max and Lewis and these guys. So it'd be really, really cool for Max to do super well. But again, it's been a few years since he competed. Let's see how he goes.

[Colin]

Guys, at the time that you're watching this, the Steezy Pete Road To Pro episode one from South Africa, that's season one, will be out on YouTube to watch for free. If you haven't seen it before, go and watch it on YouTube. We're not sure how long it's going to be on YouTube. We're toying with the idea of like taking it down after a while. This series was entirely funded by subscriptions and you will see when you watch the first episode that there's a good reason why no brand is interested in this. It is. It's pretty weird. And that being said though, we've gone on with the proceeds from this season, which was our best performing asset on Portrait last year, and that's funded the second season of it. And honestly, we're putting this up for two reasons. One, we feel it's important that it is in the public domain. That's our goal here, is to make cultural moments for kiteboarding. And we think there's some really strong stuff in here that should be, should be out there for everyone to watch and get into kiteboarding with. And the second reason is that we haven't tested this yet. We haven't taken something that is completely subscription funded and put it onto YouTube and maybe, maybe it changes our outlook on putting stuff out for free. We're not sure we're here to test it and we're open minded to that. So that's what's going on there. Will every season on everything go on to YouTube for free? No. And if you do want to go watch season one and season two in full right now, you can over on Portrait for the cost of €12. So, yeah, if you're at all a fan of us and what we've been doing, this is what we do full time and it's not possible without audience support. So thank you to everyone that's made that happen and allowed us to do this and we're, yeah, we're going to keep on, keep on making this stuff for you all.

[Adrian]

Bring on Mykonos, baby.

[Colin]

Yeah, we'll be there. We're hoping it doesn't run on the first days. We can bring you a pre show with some of the riders before it all happens and then we'll be bringing you the post show, of course, and filling up Instagram as, as is our way.

[Adrian]

Putting the band back together for this one.

[Colin]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. All right, thank you to us, as always. We'll see in the next one. Goodbye.