A (2:36)

Yeah. I think that also takes a lot of stress and nerves away because I already know how the event is going, how it works there and where everything is. So I think that that also really helps for me. And yeah, I'm just going to have fun and do my best.

B (2:50)

Who's going to ketter you this year?

A (2:52)

Jacopo and the Slingshot crew.

B (2:55)

Oh, so you guys are all going to work as a big group, huh?

A (2:57)

Yeah, yeah, all the. All the Slingshot guys are coming down and to help us and get ready for the event.

B (3:03)

How cool is that, having yourself, Jeremy and Zach all in there? I mean, pretty awesome to have all three of the sort of top guys in the event representing Slingshot. And you obviously have families as well, you know.

A (3:14)

Yeah, yeah, we're super stoked that we're all in because we're all friends. We. We travel together. I did quite some trips with Jeremy also in the past with freestyle and now also with big Air. We went to Hood river and Brazil and stuff. So, yeah, it's super cool that we're now all together in the event and representing Slingshot.

B (3:32)

I remember back in the day when you and Jeremy, if it was light and I would see slingshot kites, I would always know you and Jeremy doing freestyle.

A (3:39)

Yeah, yeah, we still do that actually. We still like to unhook a bit.

B (3:44)

You still like to do some freestyle?

A (3:46)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I've done that for, like, until I think, three and a half years ago. I kind of switched to Big Air because before I didn't really. I enjoyed it, but we didn't really had a good kite at Slingshot before. Like, we had the Raptor and stuff and then all the gear developed and I also went to Jeremy, of course, to help at the King of the Air. And that also really motivated me to. Yeah. To change my discipline a bit, go away from freestyle and start doing the big air.

B (4:17)

Whose style are you more similar to? Do you ride similar to Jeremy or do you ride similar to Zach? Because I feel like maybe you might be a little bit in the middle of those two.

A (4:26)

Yeah, yeah. Zach is super technical and. Yeah, and Jeremy is, of course super technical and has a super powerful style. And I think I'm a little bit in the middle. Yeah, I can do some technical stuff, but I really like to. To go big and yeah, try to go as high as possible, send the kite low. But that's. That's what I like to do.

B (4:48)

I think the best performance of that that I can remember from this year was. Was Lords of Tram. I mean, that's the best I've seen. I think that's the best I've seen you ride in crazy conditions. I felt like that was like. When I was like, oh, shit, Kimo is a serious player now, you know?

A (5:02)

Yeah. Yes. Lord of Tram went super well for us. Me, Stino and Timo. We went there, I think two weeks before the event to train. We. We just went for a forecast. We didn't even know if it was like the. The other forecast, not the Tramontana wind, but the other way. We didn't know any spots. We just drove to France from Holland because we didn't kite since two months because we came back from Cape Town and there was zero wind in Holland. So we're like, yeah, fuck it, let's just go to France and see what's gonna happen. And maybe we drive back after two days and then come back later for the event. But we ended up staying, I think, two and a half weeks because it was windy every day. And yeah, the first few days we had to get back into all the tricks and stuff. But yeah, I think after one week we. Yeah, we felt really ready. We had some really good sessions with the three of us and then we drove to Barcares and got used to that spot again. And yeah, then we had Lord of Tram which went quite well.

B (5:58)

Yeah, semi final finish. Yeah, a pretty awesome run for you. Do you feel like you need to spend time in Cape Town before Kennedy or. I know you've been there many times. Do you feel dialed into Cape Town quickly? Is it an easy place for you to get used to or does it take some sessions to sort of find the way Cape Town is?

A (6:17)

Yeah, it always takes a few sessions. But yeah, I've been here already, I think four or five times. And also my home spot and stuff is also waves and going left foot forward. I really like to ride at Gran Canaria as well in the summer. So yeah, I'm pretty dialed in with the waves. But yeah, it's always nice to have a few sessions before. So that's. I didn't even know I was going to be in King of the Air. It was still. Yeah, a gamble, you know. So we just went before to, to get ready and see if I'm in or not. And yeah, it's getting winter now as well in Holland, so it's time to leave.

B (6:52)

Exactly. Mate, you must have been. Did you get a phone call or did you get an email saying you're in? I mean, I mean, how did that, how did that take place?

A (7:01)

Yeah, we all got an email or like Sergio from King of the Area already sent us a WhatsApp, like, when are you flying Cape Town? So I was like, oh, maybe it's a good sign. Maybe we're gonna get a nice. An email soon. But yeah, a friend of mine from Holland sent me an email or a WhatsApp with a screenshot from Portrait that the emails were sent and I was in the car actually. So I was just refreshing my email the whole time and it didn't came through. And then I was like, ah, maybe not this year again. But yeah, then I got home and I got good wi fi and then I saw the email. So yeah, then I was just super stoked.

B (7:40)

This year I think we've got seven Dutchies riding. I think, you know, with the two girls, we've got Healing Cohen and then I like to call you guys the three O's, you know, Stino, Timo, Chemo. I think that's. I think there's a cool ring to it. But I mean, that's pretty awesome to have seven. Seven Duchies in the event. And again, just showing that kiteboarding in Holland is a serious business there, you know?

A (8:00)

Yeah, yeah. I also think it happens because we really like to kite because in Holland there's not much wind and then, yeah, when we just go somewhere, we make the most of it. We try to spend as much time on the water and yeah, we're already, we're all super dedicated to just have fun and do well in kiteboarding.

B (8:21)

I mean, you guys keep saying there's no wind in Holland, but I mean, Holland has huge amounts of kite surfers. You know, turns out amazing athletes. Stig did a video a few years ago saying about how there's, you know, Holland is not the greatest and you have to work hard. I mean, it's better than. It's better than terrible. I mean, you guys keep saying it's terrible. It's not that bad.

A (8:40)

Yeah, it's actually when, when it is windy, it's super nice. But yeah, you can have like two months of no wind or not like no wind, but maybe maximum 16, 17 knots. And also with the current in the North Sea, you need like at least 35 to 35 knots to train properly on big air. And like years before there was like a lot more strong wind. So that's why people still think Holland is known for strong wind. But yeah, I think this year we maybe had three or four days of like proper, proper wind that was like mega loop. And then we. We had one day when we were in Kranken area. So we were pretty bummed to miss that even though we were there. But yeah, I don't know what's happening with Holland. The wind is just getting a bit less Also this summer was nice though, was like a lot of days with 20 knots, but not really like train wind for big air.

B (9:38)

How often do you spend in Holland? Because I know like people like Hiel and Cohen and they're not there very often now. Are you still based there or are you in Tarifa most of the time?

A (9:47)

No, I'm based in Holland and just go to Tarifa. When, for example, there's a competition or when there's a good forecast, we just fly around. But yeah, for now I'm still based in Holland.

B (9:58)

What's your goals for King of the Air? Have you written down some goals? Have you sort of got an idea of, you know, your performance and what you want to do?

A (10:06)

Yeah, yeah. Since this is my first time, I don't want to put too much pressure on it. I also want to enjoy it a bit and see how it's working. But yeah, I just want to have fun and do what I do every comp. Try to show my best performance and see how far I can come and just get the experience. Of course.

B (10:23)

Did you like the Red Bull qualifying series? Did you like the idea of having these qualifiers where you could potentially win a golden ticket? Is that something you like or do you prefer just to go through the video process?

A (10:35)

No, I think it's really cool to have all these qualifiers because then you can just fight for the win. You know, it's not just send a few video is. Maybe you got lucky with a good gust in Barcarez, for example, and you have a sick video. Like, yeah, it's cool that you can show all in all the comps, for example, in Tarifa and I didn't. I missed the one in Italy though. But I wanted to do that one, but unfortunately I missed it. But yeah, I think it's a. It's a cool concept with the, with the events. I think it makes a lot of sense.

B (11:08)

Were you, as the writers, told at any stage that it was important that you did those qualifiers?

A (11:15)

No, not really, but I just felt like it was important to show you're there and show you are there and yeah, just show you want to invest in it, you know.

B (11:25)

Were you surprised that Jamie Overbeek wasn't selected just due to the fact that of who he is and how prolific he is and, you know, he's a proven competitor?

A (11:35)

Yeah, yeah, I was quite surprised because he's for us like the top Dutch guy. So that was a bit strange for us that he was not in there.

B (11:44)

How were those rumors going around the Dutch scene when you realised Jamie wasn't in? Was everyone texting each other about that?

A (11:50)

Yeah, we have one group chat with all the Dutch pro riders, sort of, and everyone was super confused why he was not in. And yeah, everyone had their reason why he wasn't in, but, yeah, no one.

B (12:02)

Really knew who were the sort of next group of young Dutch guys coming up? I mean, you know, I know a lot of the sort of group that we know now have come through the backwell program before. I know that's not around anymore. Is there another group of young riders below you guys who you're like, well, these guys are going to be the next big Duchy Stars or the next big stars from Holland?

A (12:22)

Yeah, there is. There. There are some guys that are still quite young. They're like 13 or 14 that are. There's like one guy with the duo tone. I don't know his name now, but he's riding super good. He's doing super technical tricks. But yeah, for now it's just us from our age. And I think that's also because there are not really a lot of competitions anymore in Holland. Like before, When I was 12, 13, there were a lot of freestyle competitions, I think almost like five or six a year. So that all motivated a lot of people and that slowly went away. And now they're like no comps anymore, just the Dutch championships that SpaceX is organizing with. If they were not doing it, there were like no comps in Holland except for the Mega Leap, of course.

B (13:11)

Isn't that crazy? I mean, it's crazy when you think back to Kevin and to Yuri and the dominance that they had in freestyle. It's like Dutch freestyle is almost dead now. I mean, I think it might be dead.

A (13:22)

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know anyone that's still doing freestyle except for me when it's 15 knots.

B (13:28)

Maybe Stino is going to get back into freestyle now that Harlem bought out that new. That new Padlo kite.

A (13:34)

Yeah, that one's looking Sick. Yeah, we've been talking about it, me and Sino to go back to Drapano, maybe next summer to. Or this. Yeah. Just to get back into it. But we've been saying that for two years already to just have one week of freestyle again and then go back to Big Air, but it never happened. I think we're gonna keep saying that.

B (13:54)

Emma, you've got great support from Brunotti. Why did you go with Brunotti and not with Ride Engine? Because, you know, most slingshot riders with Ride Engine, why you ended up with. Or how did you end up with Brunott?

A (14:06)

Yeah. Since Brunati is also a Dutch brand, it's like really close to my house as well. And yeah, they. How you say that they can support me really good. And I feel like it makes a lot of sense for me to ride with a brand that's close by, even though I really love Ride Engine. But it just made more sense for me to ride with Brunelli. Gave me a bit more opportunities.

B (14:33)

And the Bernardi people are super cool as well. Right. You know, I know Caitlin and stuff like that. You know, they're a great bunch of people too.

A (14:39)

Yeah. And they're super motivated to push for competitions and all that kind of stuff, so. And a lot of content also. Kathleen, they. She's helping me a lot with the content, making a plan for, for example, for the next year, what we can do. So that's also. I feel like that was gonna help me a lot with my career.

B (14:58)

Let's go back to King of the Air. What are you going to do differently at King of the Air? Opposed to the way you've been riding this year? You know, you've. You've made it to round three pretty, pretty regularly through the vents, obviously. The semi final at the Lords of Tram. How do you get to that next stage? Because I guess round three at Kota is a really great finish in your first year. Right. Like a quarterfinal. Quarterfinal finish. Are you going to do something different? Have you. Are you going to bring something to the table that we haven't seen?

A (15:26)

Yeah, I think I'm just gonna do the same I always do. Just try to go as big as possible and yeah, just have fun.

B (15:33)

You know, a doubles did.

A (15:35)

Yeah, not really. But for example, I just enjoyed way more to go on the eight. And since we have, like such a good eight meter, it's just so much fun to ride it in 40, 45 knots. And it's like, it gives you so much control that it's like so much fun to. To go like 25 meters and do your best tricks. So that's what I enjoy more for now. But yeah, we're working on a really good double loop kite. So who knows, maybe we're gonna get back into it in Lord of Tram. I really enjoyed it though, the, the double loops, but it was also 60 knots.

B (16:09)

So I guess one of the benefits of riding the qualifiers is you get to ride in front of the king of the air judges. Right. Let's be honest.

A (16:16)

Yeah.

B (16:16)

Do you feel like they like you taking a bigger kite in stronger wins and you know, get that quite low and big free falls opposed to the double loops? Because it seems to be, you know, we saw, we saw Leonardo do a little bit of double loop stuff at the mega loop. It didn't really get scored and we haven't really seen it since. Well, we've had double loop conditions. Right. I agree that we could. You guys could have double looped in, in cold away.

A (16:38)

Yeah, yeah, we've good. But I think everyone is just starting to go back to the, to the single loops because I know it just. For us it just looks better. It feels more. I don't say it feels more extreme, but I don't know, it feels more real to me to just go big and really far. Because with the double loop you probably go in 40 knots, maybe 20 meters, but on the 8 meter you can go like 25, 26, for example. So, yeah, I really enjoy just going big and going far. So that's why I think a lot of people are going back to single loops.

B (17:12)

I've asked a few people this and I'll ask you the same. When it's really windy and you got a lot of line tension, are the double loops even a little bit safer sometimes because it's so quick round?

A (17:26)

Yeah, yeah. I think if you have a good kite, it's definitely safer, but. And it's also like you're, you're just having a really like a smaller kite, you know, so it's like a lot easier on your body as well because you're not just flying away in the 8 meter the whole time. So it's a bit more chilled. But yeah, I still like to do it to mix it up a bit. But yeah, my focus is mainly on the single loop tricks for now since that also looks like it's scoring better.

B (17:55)

When you are riding smaller kites. How hard are those landings? You know, when you're coming down from, you know, you're talking going 20 meters, right. How hard is it to get the support from the kite when you are, I've got like only a 6 meter kite above you because there's not a lot of support then, you know.

A (18:08)

No, you really have to fly properly to able to land. Like with the 8 meter you can just do a downloop and you probably make it. But with the six you really have to know how to steer it. I always like to steer it all the way to the side and do one really big down loop instead of two small ones. And yeah, you just have to look at the landing way more than on the 8 meter for example, in the strong winds.

B (18:35)

Some people are just seem to be really good at landing. Like, like when I think about guys who can just stick landings, I think like Baby shark, right? He has that ability to stick the landing on any size kite. Is that, is that skill or just some people got that ability that they can control the kite no matter the size.

A (18:52)

Yeah, yeah, I think it's a lot of control that you need. And it's also like because baby shark is I think riding in Brazil in what's called the place called Praia where it's already like quite choppy. So I think he's already quite used to, to all the rough landings and also forest campus Stino. He's also really good at land or always landing. And I think that's because of the. Also his freestyle background that also helps. So yeah, I think it's mostly skilled skills.

B (19:22)

You know, you mentioned Stino there. It's amazing his progression, right? I mean, you know, you've known Steno a long time. It's not like he's rushed to this position. It's almost like he's just got better every year and slowly built up to, to where he is. And man, I just love his attitude. You know, he doesn't, you know, I know he's competitive, but if he doesn't win, he's not bummed. He doesn't give a. He's just always having fun. He's a legend, right? One of, one of the great guys and you know, I think a true representative of the Dutch writers.

A (19:51)

Yeah, I think all the, the writers look up to him because he's just doing his own thing. He's just having fun and he's doing good in competitions. So yeah, I think everyone is looking up to him in that way.

B (20:02)

I always thought that he would be like the Dutch boss or is he getting too old now?

A (20:06)

No, he was the big boss for sure. He's the father of us.

B (20:13)

I mean, how cool is that for you? You know, watching he'll do what he did all those years ago and you know, now calling him a colleague and riding in the event with him, I mean, that must be pretty cool for you, you know, to, to, to be involved with, with.

A (20:26)

Yeah, yeah, definitely. You can see, like, because he's training so hard, it's, I think, inspiring all of us, all the Dutch guys, even though he's not really kiting in Holland though. But yeah, we still, yeah, look up to him and yeah, he's made a lot of progression the past, the last year because before he was always fully focused on the doubles, I think, for competitions. And now he's starting to go with single loops is more his thing now. And he's just going so big. Like for example, at Cold Hawaii, he was, I think, going the highest of everyone.

B (21:01)

Tell you what, that Cold Hawaii heat versus Lorenzo, the, the semi final, I, I honestly, I thought he might, I thought he won. I thought.

A (21:09)

Me too, me too. I thought he won. But yeah, he. Unfortunately not. But that was the first heat when he was with Garami.

B (21:18)

Impression score, brother. Yeah, exactly. He almost beat Jeremy as well.

A (21:21)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had the same though with the impression score in round three. First I won on tricks. It was super close. And then I wrote back, I was like, don't be too happy because there's going to be impression score. And then unfortunately I didn't make it through.

B (21:37)

How do you guys, or how do you riders deal with the impression score or variety score? Is that something that's frustrating to you and would you prefer it just to be on tricks or. I mean, I guess it goes, I guess it goes both ways, right? Sometimes it favors you, sometimes it doesn't.

A (21:51)

Yeah, no, I think it's, it's fine, the impression score. I think it's nice. So people do a lot more different stuff instead of just doing four of the same tricks. That also makes you push to go, for example, to the right as well, to do one or two tricks to the right at a board flip or at a tick tock. So I think, I think it's great to mix it up.

B (22:13)

Do you think the judges use that to get the right person through sometimes when it is super close? I mean, I do, by the way. I have no idea if that's true or not, but sometimes it feels that way.

A (22:26)

Yeah, it feels like that when you lose.

B (22:31)

That's a good point.

A (22:31)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I don't think they do that. I think they're pretty straightforward. Yeah.

B (22:38)

I mean the judging. Yeah. Look, I'm not anti. The Judging, man, I think the judging's gone, has improved so much over the years and you can see with the team, you know, they've got, they're, they're really pushing that. Yeah. So what's your strategy going to be going into this event in Cape Town? What, what's your plans? What, I mean obviously, do you have an idea, have you spoke to the guys about what they, what you should be doing or do you have an idea of what you want to do or you're going to as a, as a group with slingshot talk about that stuff or you're going to keep your sort of ideas to yourself?

A (23:06)

Yeah, we're still gonna make a plan with all the slingshot guys but I'm just like all the comps, I just try to have one heat like with all my best tricks and just try to do that. Just start off easy though because at Coldeway I didn't do that and then I got third in the first round. But yeah, I'm just gonna try to do the same heat every, every heat. And then for example, if you, if you're like third or something or second, you have to do your, you have to take a lot of risk. But yeah, I think I'm just gonna have one heat where I do all the tricks and try to do that every heat and just keep going with that. Yeah, because then you get like into a flow. You've done all the tricks, for example, already the heat before, so you get quite confident. I mean that's what I did at Lord of Tram too. I just started with the, with all the same tricks every heat and it paid off.

B (24:02)

Is your family going to come down and watch you at this event? I've met your mother and you know, been to your house before. Are they going to come down and support you and be there for you because it's your first event.

A (24:12)

Yeah, yeah, My parents are coming down also. My girlfriend is coming and yeah.

B (24:19)

Do you enjoy your parents coming or do you like to sort of ride without them there?

A (24:23)

No, I think it's nice. I think my mother never went to, to like an international kiteboarding competition so that's also really cool. My dad was at Lord of Tram. He was also helping me as with all the scores. So yeah, for me that really helps also to, to stay calm, you know.

B (24:39)

Tell your mother to bring the non alcoholic drinks down for us again, bro. Like giving us, giving us non alcoholic drinks at your house. And vacancy then we, we had about four. Yeah, they were like 4 percenters.

A (24:53)

That was a mistake.

B (24:55)

No, good. Good mistake. It was a good mistake. It was a good day. It was a good day.

A (24:58)

Yeah. At least there was no wind.

B (25:01)

Yeah, exactly. Well, stupidly, we went to Vacancy after and we got. I didn't realize it was one way in, one way out. And we took about. Took us up to about two and a half hours to get into there and back out. It was a big.

A (25:11)

Yeah, in the summer it gets pretty crazy there because everyone from Amsterdam and all the cities around goes to the beach there. So. Yeah, for example, in winter nothing is happening in that little town. But then when it's summer and it's nice weather, everyone just goes there and. Yeah, it's a bit of a chaos.

B (25:28)

I think Vacancy has got to be one of the best spots, isn't it? Does it have less current there? I mean, how come we don't have spot. How come we don't have competitions in Vacancy? Why aren't we utilizing the spot, which technically could be the best in Holland?

A (25:40)

Yeah, I think it's because you need like the perfect direction. If it's like a bit too, too south, it's kind of goes over a few buildings at the. The other side of the pier. So you need like a little bit of onshore wind. But also the. The beach there is super long. I think it's like a few hundred meters. And yeah, for a competition you want to have like a restaurant or. Yeah, something like this. So yeah, it's just a lot easier to do it at Zandvoort, for example, or Noordwijk, because the beach is really narrow and you have like all the kite clubs. In Vikingse you don't really have kite clubs, it's just. You have one school, but that's like not at the. The best spot. You have just two restaurants and a surf club. So. Yeah, I think that's also why they don't want to do it, because you're just way too far.

B (26:29)

Are you a member of a surf club in Holland there? Because I've been to. I've been to the SpaceX one. I've obviously been to the Nordvag one. How many of these clubs are up and down the coast, by the way? Are there a lot of them?

A (26:41)

Yeah, there are quite a lot. Almost at every beach there is one, but not at Vikanzee. I don't know why, but my parents do have a beach house and like all my friends have one as well. So we have our own club, sort of. We always guide together.

B (26:56)

Well, look, Kimo, thanks for coming on the show, bro. It's absolutely awesome to see you in King of the Air, mate. You're one of the, one of the good guys in the sport. Always got a smile on your face, always wanting to do well. Can't wait to see there, buddy. I'll be there next week. Good luck and just enjoy it, bro. And have some fun, man. And that's when you're going to do your best.

A (27:14)

Just to experience it now, how it works and just have fun.

B (27:18)

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that episode. Don't forget, the easiest way is to support the show for free. Rate us on Spotify. I'm loving those five star review guys. Keep them coming in, share them in your local WhatsApp or kite surfing groups, or just simply tell your mates. What is Portrait guys? Portrait is an independent media company trying to tell the stories of kiteboarding the way we believe they should. And all the projects are funded by people just like you. If you believe in what we do and you want to support us more, check out portraitkite.com the podcast guys will always be free. If you want to find more episodes just like this one, use the search button@kitesurf365.com to search your favorite rider or topic and we'll see you at the end of this week. From the Red Bull King of the Air Riders meeting.