KOTA Post Show Days One and Two | The Megapod

Summary

Kitesurf365: KOTA Post Show Days One and Two | The Megapod

Date: November 25, 2025
Hosts: Adrian Kerr & Colin Colin Carroll

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Episode Overview

This extended Megapod episode delivers an energetic, in-depth breakdown of Days 1 and 2 of the 2025 Red Bull King of the Air (KOTA) kiteboarding event—a competition marked by historic upsets, controversial judging, and stunning performances. Adrian and Colin interview athletes at the heart of these storylines, dissect technical decisions, and debate the evolving criteria shaping big air kiteboarding. Listeners are immersed in the raw drama, community camaraderie, and the shifting sands of kiteboarding’s top event.

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Main Themes

• Major Tournament Upsets: Established stars like Andrea Principi, Charles Brodel, Jeremy Burlando, and Heale Venter are knocked out. New faces seize the moment.
• Judging Controversy & Criteria: Riders, especially Charles Brodel, openly question scoring, particularly the balance of height, variety, and landings.
• Next-Gen Talent & Changing of the Guard: Rising stars (Zach Adams, Parker Sage, Luca Cerutti) grab the spotlight.
• Innovation & Equipment Evolution: Introduction of foil kites at a major event shifts possibilities.
• Community & Rivalries: Deep roots from Hood River to Tarifa, riders lifting each other up through mentorship and friendly competition.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: An Event Like No Other

[00:00–01:40]

• Adrian and Colin recount the electric drama on and off the water.
• "We walked down to the beach thinking, oh, maybe we're not gonna do anything today… But it turned out to be everything we ever wanted in the sport and why this is an incredible event." — Adrian ([00:47])
• Controversial heats, especially Charles Brodel vs. Zach Adams, ignite debate about the direction of the sport and judging priorities.

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2. Judging Controversy: The Charles Brodel Debate

[01:10–02:00]

• Judges’ decisions in Charles Brodel’s loss to Zach Adams spark heated criticism; Charles had superior height and kite angle but slower landings.
• "If trick score is supposed to be 70% height, I don't know how that result was, how it was. And Charles was maddened by this." — Colin ([01:10])

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3. Athlete Interviews: Rallying on the Sand

a) Francesca Maini: Breaking Records & Surviving Crashes

[12:48–15:12]

• Francesca recounts her historic 9.37-point trick—the highest for a woman at KOTA.
• “I wanted to just go for a straight Kilo board off but I could feel myself going into the rotation. I was like, oh, I'm just gonna go with it… And I honestly, like, don't really know how I landed that, but I was very stoked with it, honestly.” — Francesca ([13:07])

b) Jeremy Burlando: Fighting Illness and the Clock

[15:46–18:21]

• Jeremy battles food poisoning before his heat, then claws his way from third to second place in the final seconds.
• “I just went into a back roll and in the air... I was like, all right, I go for a loop and spin and whatever happens, happens. And I was lucky because it was actually a nice kicker and I got the good gusts, you know.” — Jeremy ([17:20])

c) Lorenzo Casati: Cool Execution, Rising Pressure

[18:43–20:53]; [44:58–47:13]

• Describes strategic planning with his father to ace the variety scoring and his love for bigger, riskier moves.
• On winning impression scores: “I had the plan. I needed to do something to get, you know, all seven [unique tricks].” — Lorenzo ([19:27])
• Displays humility and focus: “The job is still to do, and let's get it.” ([47:11])

d) Zach Adams: The New American Phenomenon

[47:51–54:51]

• Details pulling off a 4x board flip trick never attempted in competition—and doing it under pressure to defeat Andrea Principi.
• “That’s a trick I’ve done once in my entire life... to do it in a spot like this, in the best comp against the best, it was insane... and in two seconds, it went from being silent to the whole beach screaming.” ([48:01], [49:53])
• Acknowledges mentorship and camaraderie among the Hood River crew.

e) Parker Sage: Comeback of the Day

[22:30–24:29]; [41:55–43:36]

• Pulls off the upset of the tournament, eliminating Steenmoor.
• “The sunset was beautiful. I came from one of the worst heats of my life, probably... and then I was back on the water and just put everything I had and, yeah, we came out on top.” ([22:46])
• Describes training to diversify his trick list, adjusting to the new scoring model.

f) Charles Brodel: Frustration and Resolve

[34:30–37:42]

• Despite pushing technical boundaries, feels underscored, especially for his pioneering tricks on a foil board.
• “Like, when I watched my scores, I was quite surprised, especially on the last trick... I did the half cab, like the move everyone is loving. And with a kite angle like this, we never saw it before... I got just a 7.5 so it feels crazy.” ([35:31])
• Vows to return even stronger: "Next year, it's going to be like I'm going to solve this problem." ([35:41])

g) Luca Cerutti: Debuting the Foil Kite

[38:10–40:52]

• Makes history as the first to bring a foil kite to a major KOTA heat, electrifying both the beach and judges.
• “The fact of the matter is we showed a kite that's never been showed in the competition. And we absolutely rocked it.” ([40:00])

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4. Event Structure & Format Changes

[06:42–10:25]; [24:09–24:29]

• Introduction of new variety-impression scoring model pushes athletes to plan around seven unique tricks per heat, requiring broader skillsets and strategy.
• Ongoing discussion about what judging is actually rewarding—a point of confusion and adaptation for both veterans and rookies.

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5. Performance Highlights & Notable Quotes

- Andrea Principi’s Shock Exit

• “Andrea Principe’s dream of three in a row is over. And to be honest, he had it right up to the very end. Zach Adams has been on a fire run. He knocked out Charles Brodell. He knocked out Andrea Principe. Can he go all the way?” — Adrian ([28:34])

- Kiteboarding’s Next Generation

• “It’s always good to give young talent new a big chance, and we saw that today… King of the Air is like the pinnacle of the year. Everybody works for it.” — Guest Rider ([09:45])

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• Biggest Female Trick Ever: Francesca Maini’s 9.37-point ride ([13:10])
• Zach Adams’ 4x Board Flip: The move that brought down Andrea Principi ([49:49])
• Charles Brodel’s Half Cab with Historic Kite Angle: Technical mastery meets scoring frustration ([35:31])
• Luca Cerutti’s Foil Kite Launch: The crowd and judges erupt for innovation ([39:25])
• Jeremy's Clutch Buzzer Beater: Pulls victory from defeat in final seconds ([17:20])
• Parker Sage’s Comeback: From worst heat “down in the dirt” to epic win ([22:46])
• Judging Debate On Air: “The gut feeling up there was [Charles] had been ripped off.” — Adrian ([60:17])

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Discussion: Community & Rivalries

• Hood River Influence: The “Hood River pipeline” via Mike McDonald produces Zach and Parker, now top contenders.
  • “Look at this, scrawny-ass little kids in Hood River doing laid back rolls. They might have a chance. And bam, they put us on a camera, and look where we are now.” — Zach Adams ([54:31])
• Close Ties, Mutual Respect: Defeats sting, but riders are motivated to raise their game and support each other publicly.

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Event Evolution & What’s Next

• Format changes (variety scoring, seven tricks) are driving new strategies, technical innovation, and, at times, confusion.
• The semi-final and final rounds promise further drama, especially as upstarts like Zach, Parker, and Luca charge toward the title.
• Debates about judging, event direction, and technical criteria will continue—likely spilling over into future episodes and the wider kiteboarding community.

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Closing Summary

This episode captures both the chaos and the vibrancy of modern KOTA—where upsets, innovation, and emotion collide. From the heartbreak of veterans to the rise of young talents, every rider and every trick adds to the volatile mix that makes the King of the Air unmissable for fans.
“Sport is the highs and lows… sport was always interesting—people just wouldn't like it, you know, so you need to have these crazy moments in sport for us to be disappointed and want to come back stronger.” — Adrian ([61:06])

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Listen for:

• Rider insights on adapting to controversy and changing formats
• Behind-the-scenes camaraderie and tension in the athlete community
• Authentic, unfiltered reactions straight from the sand

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Next up: The finals, where legends are made—and more stories await.

Transcript

[Host 1]

It's the day after probably one of the most crazy king of the years in history. Well, the crazy days in king of the year history, let's put it that.

[Host 2]

Way, in terms of upsets, for sure. Andrea gone. Jeremy gone. Hale gone. Jamie never there. And in this episode, you're going to hear from the people that have brought that about. You're going to hear from Zach Adams, you're going to hear from Luca Cerutti, you're going to hear from Parker Sage. Three of those all cause big upsets today, and of course, Lorenzo Casati, too. Now, are we putting day one's audio and day twos together?

[Host 1]

Yes, we will. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Okay, so skip to. If you're only interested in day two, the latest day, then you're just gonna have to skip ahead a bit. Right.

[Host 1]

There's quite cool narratives coming through from both those days. We walked down to the beach thinking, oh, maybe we're not gonna do anything today. Maybe there are no stories. But it turned out to be a everything we ever wanted in the sport and why this is an incredible event. We've got an awesome article which has been worked on right now coming out, which is going to break down some of the probably more controversial moments.

[Host 2]

Yeah. The main one it's going to look at is the Charles bridal heat where he lost to Zach despite going higher on the data and putting his kite lower. Not on data, but if you just look at it. And the only justification we can come up with is that his landings are slower. But if the trick score is supposed to be 70 height, I don't know how that result was, how it was. And Charles was maddened by this.

[Host 1]

Yeah. It seems to be a controversial battle between organizers and judges. I mean, I guess that's the only way we can say it. Right. Red Bull want to put on a show. The judges want the sport to go one way. But you know what I always say, I think the writer lead the direction of change. You know, it shouldn't be done to judging. You know, administration shouldn't dictate how sport is unless it's in a safety component or something along those lines. Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of interesting stories come out on that once the sort of dust settles. I think, you know, call heads around. I think that's something we should look into and, and dive into and maybe speak to some of these judges. I think Chris Paul would be a great interview on that. Just, you know, just to get his opinion on where they see the sport going versus where the Administration, see the sports going. So, yeah, lots of interesting stories, and I've got one day to go. I'm kind of enjoying having one day on, one day off. I think if it was three days in a row, I think we. We might not make it. But I think you said it perfectly yesterday. Fever pitch, scenes on the beach. When I see the fly surfer guys hit Luke and Luke are on the top of the bus jumping and maybe 20, 30 people, you know, showering them in beer. And I always think the job's not done. You know, you got your kite and then that was cool, but the job's not done. And, you know, Lorenzo said that best, right? He goes, you know, on to day three. You know, I've got work to do. And, yeah, it's gonna be awesome.

[Host 2]

Can anyone stop Lorenzo now?

[Host 1]

Well, we. We saw Lorenzo take a few shots to the face there from Shahar. Zach proved that given opportunity, he's prepared to do anything. He said, I've only done that trick once. He's prepared to do it, and that's what you got to do at this event. You know, we always said, who's prepared to do something crazy? I think Zach's kind of growing into that mold. And you'll hear a cool thing in this interview, referenced a few times with Mike McDonald's decision to go to Hood River. You know, at the time, you and I were like, this is bullshit. But it's proved to be maybe another master strike. We can argue. We say Andrea Principe came out of Mike McDonald's. Would you call it a breeding ground with the big air kite league? I think Zach and Parker, and they're the last guys to come to it, you know, before it sort of fell apart. So, you know, Mike McDonald, you know, love him or hate him, he's. He's done great things in the sport.

[Host 2]

No doubt. No one's ever doubted that for a second. Yeah. Okay.

[Host 1]

And we'll be back straight after the final, probably where the winners and losers will be next time you hear hear from us. And that could be maybe a two or three hour show at this rate.

[Host 2]

Yeah, it's looking like it. Day off today it is Tuesday the 25th. If you are wanting to watch something King of the Air related. Also on Portrait, also for free, is the mystic move documentary. 90 minutes of every trick that's won. The Mystic Move. What's made that controversial? We dive into the bitching and the gossip that surrounds every single one.

[Host 1]

Max will be joining us on the final post show.

[Host 2]

That's Max Blom. Max Blom, director from Mystic.

[Host 1]

Yeah, he'll be joining us on the post show to dish out that award. I mean I can think of two or three moves already that could win it. I mean you can vote on the fantasy app if you want to take part. And obviously, I mean quadruple board flip from Zach which is doubling up his board foot from last year. That could do it. Francesca on the first day with her big board of kite loop and multiple rotations, that could do it. Charles's half camp, you'll hear him talking about that could do it. So yeah, super excited.

[Host 2]

Okay, enjoy guys. Here's the audio from the post shows.

[Interviewee]

I'm pretty ready, man. This one is probably a bit more nerve wracking. Kevin Langry, three time winner.

[Host 2]

This is like a heavyweight boxing match.

[Interviewee]

This isn't the featherweights.

[Host 1]

There's no dancing around.

[Interviewee]

Sponsor kicker first move.

[Host 1]

The rebel clear for a woman is super clean.

[Host 2]

Trey, use punch as you think of.

[Interviewee]

The men of need. Whoa.

[Host 2]

P that is yet another innovation move. Mark Jacobs heading out towards the iconic Robin Island.

[Interviewee]

Highest trick scorer in all Red Bull Kingliers, Janak Tiki.

[Host 2]

Kevin Lany has taken it for the third time.

[Interviewee]

Way more than a dream come true.

[Host 1]

That is massive. Meanwhile, out the back and that has to be facing.

[Host 2]

It's an allout teenage aff.

[Host 1]

Jc. Jc jc. Day one of the Red Bull King of the Air is in the books. Andrea Principe moves on to round three, keeping his dream alive of three consecutive king of the years. He's joined by his trap mate Lorenzo Casati, who's got his own personal trilogy too. On the ladies side, Francesca Maney is going to have to go through the repechage if she wants to go back to back at the Red Bull King of the year 2025. Colin, let's talk about the conditions because it was almost a follow up from last year.

[Host 2]

Yeah, I mean until about 2 o' clock it was quite asthmatic. The wind, let's be honest. And then towards the end of the day there was like a touch of bronchitis in the air. It didn't really faze anyone though as soon as the women started, I mean Francesca with the highest trick of the day. We're going to talk to her. She's lingering around somewhere. 9.37 for this massive thing. Cleared almost the whole competition box. Lots of accidental, I think additional rotation. So the win was there when it did come. Lined off a bit at the end. Major upsets at the end which will get into as well. I want to Hear from Aaron first, though.

[Host 1]

Yeah, let's bring him in.

[Host 2]

Aaron, you've seen a lot of these, you've ridden in a lot of these. How are the conditions, what it looked like for you?

[Interviewee]

I think it peaked in the middle.

[Host 2]

Drop down a bit at the end.

[Interviewee]

Bit light at the beginning.

[Host 2]

But I feel like every time we.

[Interviewee]

Come, it's like we're waiting for hours.

[Host 2]

For that to start and it's so annoying. As a rider, like, I remember when I had the events, I just wanted it to happen, you know, you're so fired up. But in the end, I think the conditions were pretty good, especially for the first round. There was some insane heats today. Like some solid, solid riding. Lorenzo was probably the standout today, let's be honest. Got nine point impression score. What makes him so impressive? What stood out for you today with him? Yeah, for me it was another level today. Like, it was insane. Like, his heat was just so perfectly put together. He really thought out this impression score. I think he's figured that out earlier than anyone else so far. And just his, yeah, his rep, his variety is just so good. He has such high scoring tricks across so many different good tricks that he just nailed it. And then like the high, the fluidity, everything just came together today. It looked like he really nailed it.

[Host 1]

Let's talk about his brother. Leo didn't really have the conditions. A tough one up against Andrea. I mean, for you personally, you know Andre very well, former teammate now with Leo, how can Leo get back and get that momentum back into round two?

[Host 2]

Yeah, Andrea's just so in tune. You know, he's done a few of these. He looks like he's really within himself.

[Interviewee]

Like riding very well.

[Host 2]

And you could see he just timed everything. He was patient, he just looked for those big kickers. And yeah, I think if the win.

[Interviewee]

Was a bit better or kind of.

[Host 2]

Dropped down in that heat, maybe Leo would have had a bit more consistency. He just seemed like he was really searching to get the jumps. But I think if the conditions were a bit easier, he would have had a better chance. So hopefully that comes for his next heat.

[Interviewee]

But yeah, the kickers just didn't line up. And some heats, you always see it.

[Host 2]

Throughout the day, you know, where it's like some heats are just on wind's good, kickers are rolling in and then like there's sometimes a bit of a lull in the swell and you can see that heat.

[Interviewee]

And it was just Andrea's experience, obviously.

[Host 2]

Just like he nailed it. He got his big tricks, he was busy and so, yeah, it was good to watch. But, yeah, there's a few heats today which were exciting and really nice to see.

[Host 1]

You mentioned experience there. It's kind of crazy to look at the fleet these days. I mean, heels 30, Jason Van Der Space, 24. He's the next oldest, and we're talking about. He'll only have done five. King of the Airs. We've got such a bunch of new guys. I mean, is this good for the sport, having this younger generation coming through? Because I know a lot of the old guys still like this as a bit of a legends event.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I mean, it's always good to.

[Host 2]

Give young talent new a big chance, and we saw that today. I mean, I think the King of the Air is like the pinnacle of the year. Everybody works for it.

[Interviewee]

So there is an argument to have a more, let's say, complete fleet.

[Host 2]

Maybe some more names or something that generates bit more of an overall event. That is, yeah, maybe some more exciting things to happen. But, yeah, in the end, there's a couple of new.

[Interviewee]

New guys come in.

[Host 2]

We saw it with Lorenzo, with. With the guys in the past, and now they're at the top, you know.

[Interviewee]

So it's like you have to give them that chance, that experience early. So it's a bit of a balance.

[Host 2]

But, yeah, I mean, I like to see it. I would like to see it either way. You know, it's. It's not really a preference for me. I would like to see you back in the heat. Last question for me, then we'll let you go because we know you're freezing. I don't understand how Lorenzo's still getting the height despite looping super early. What's he doing in this technique there? Or is it the kite? What's going on? I'll just claim it's the kite. No, no, he's just got everything together.

[Interviewee]

I think it's just really come together for him.

[Host 2]

He's at one with his equipment. He, like, trusts it. He really been able to push the limit in, like, events like the Mega Loop, you know, where he was able.

[Interviewee]

To like, really push the limit in.

[Host 2]

A heat with shorter lines, find that limit of how low he can get his kite. But, yeah, I think it's just the timing technique, especially with the kickers here with the kite. The whole combination, the whole package. Yeah, don't forget, like the. The board with the kite. Like everything that I really tried to work on to provide these guys and provide myself as a package to ride, I think that's come together and obviously him and his family thinking everything through training, super hard video analysis, like, it's just the whole complete package with him at the minute. And it's today.

[Interviewee]

It showed.

[Host 2]

Thanks very much for coming on. We'll see you Monday when it's going to run next. Epic. All right, cheers.

[Host 1]

You know, you're talking about the professionalism, the Casadis. I think it's really on show. Looking at his impression score. That impression score was something that really needs a little bit of preparation, a little bit of planning, and I think we saw that best. Andrea, another guy really tapped into that. As you said, he was up against it. Leo and him just didn't hit the conditions. I think the win was probably down and they still made it work, which is a testament to Andrea. I think that's what he was saying about. Yeah, I mean, pretty interesting, mate.

[Host 2]

Andrea waited for three minutes before pulling the trigger. Three minutes, just like prowling around like a panther.

[Host 1]

I wonder what.

[Host 2]

Just waiting, waiting. And then he pounced and it was epic when he did.

[Host 1]

Let's talk about some other good performances. He'll turn back the years and just put on a performance. To be honest, I thought.

[Host 2]

I think he turned 4 the years. It was like almost.

[Host 1]

I thought Shahar was reading, but again, he. He turned it on and put him. But I tell you what, there was just so many great hits today, you know? I mean, listen, was it the greatest start of a King of the Air? Probably not. But I tell you what, Francesca Maney with the girls had that whole creator's area screaming on that first track. Is she around here? We need to speak.

[Host 2]

Have we got Francesca?

[Host 1]

Francesca? Yeah, let's get Francesca here because get the queen in. That was the loudest yell of the day.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Frank, Frank, the 9.37, what was it? Can you. Can you remember? Was it a blur? Yeah, it was a Kylo board off and then a double rotation. Yeah. Was it all intentional?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

[Host 2]

Was it a bit squeaky bump?

[Interviewee]

No, it was not intentional. I wanted to just go for a.

[Host 2]

Straight Kai Lu border, but I could.

[Interviewee]

Feel myself going to the rotation. I was like, oh, I'm just gonna go with it.

[Host 1]

And then I was like, oh, no. Okay, I'm keep spinning.

[Host 2]

I'm just gonna go with it and.

[Interviewee]

Just pull the heli loop.

[Host 2]

And I honestly, like, don't really know how I landed that, but I was very stoked with it, honestly. You almost blew the roof off the creator zone that we were sat in. 9.37. The highest scoring female trick of all Time in King of the Air, that is. Yeah, I'm very happy with that and.

[Host 1]

I'm very happy with how I rode.

[Host 2]

Next time I just gotta beat the impression score.

[Host 1]

So, Francesca, on a personal note, you know, you mentioned that, you know, of the crash back in Megaloop. You had another big crash today. How are you feeling after the crash?

[Host 2]

Honestly, that crash, I didn't really feel it.

[Interviewee]

Like, for me it wasn't.

[Host 1]

It didn't feel that bad of a crash.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I don't know, I felt fine.

[Host 2]

It looks crazy. It looked like full yard sale, but it was fine. I honestly think it's the way you land, you know, But I feel like I was just kind of spinning and.

[Interviewee]

Then I honestly, I can't remember. It just was, you know.

[Host 1]

Did you feel like you lost a little bit of momentum in the heat after that crash? Because I felt like you had all the run and then after that you sort of struggled to get that role again.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I actually spent a bit too much time body jogging and I feel like I should have just gone into.

[Host 1]

The beach, which was just silly, and.

[Host 2]

Then got aboard and I think I wasn't really taking into account the impression score, so I was like, oh, I should have just done a few.

[Host 1]

I was thinking afterwards I should have.

[Interviewee]

Done, you know, and now I know.

[Host 1]

What I need to do more. So, yeah, with this impression score, you know, we saw the Casadis really tap into that. Obviously a big planning family do. Are you going to go back tonight and look at that and think, okay, I'm going to put a better plan in pace?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Host 2]

I'm definitely going to re watch it. And because also it was hard, you could see the scores on the beach, but you didn't know which tricks you.

[Interviewee]

Had to improve on.

[Host 2]

So I was like, you know, it's quite hard to know what you had to work on. So I was just kind of going off with what I could remember what.

[Interviewee]

Was better or not.

[Host 2]

But yeah, I'm definitely going to rewatch.

[Interviewee]

The heat and then like, kind of look at what I want to work on.

[Host 2]

Last question. Have you rewatched the 9.37 yet? I have seen the video on Instagram. Someone put it online and I was like, but I want to see it at a different angle so I can really see the. We got it. Oh, yeah.

[Host 1]

Can you send it to me, actually.

[Host 2]

Then I can analyze it. Exactly.

[Host 1]

Enjoy.

[Host 2]

All right, Francesca, thank you very much for jumping on. Thank you.

[Host 1]

You know what, I'm super hyped for these ladies, eh?

[Host 2]

She was epic.

[Host 1]

But I tell you what, talking about epic, what about Natalie Lambreck coming back with just unbelievable moves again? What I like about these ladies is they loop super early. Super early. You don't see that the guy. I think they loop earlier than the guys.

[Host 2]

Do you need to wear a hat in the dark?

[Host 1]

No, but I'm trying to stay warm.

[Host 2]

Okay. Okay. Also, when Aaron was here, I realized we were all beig the base brigade. It's not great. We're gonna. We're gonna sharpen things up for Monday. We've got Jeremy Belando here. Jeremy, come in. You're gonna stand there.

[Host 1]

We can stay together for warmth if you want. Tough start.

[Interviewee]

Tough start, man. I've had a kind of food poisoning before my heat, really? I puked upstairs, like, before the heat because I ate something, like a weird brownie or something, and I hit the water. I was just feeling so ill the whole time. First jump, I lose my board, and I went like, what am I doing? You know? Yeah, bad day. But I think it's better. It gives me more motivation, more. I'm more hungry now. You know, it's better because sometimes it can happen that I go through first, and then in the third round, I become soft.

[Host 2]

Sure.

[Host 1]

I think in your heat was the first heat where we found the kicker. Sort of started to fall apart and become more messy. I saw sometimes you hit the top of the wave and not really getting the clean takeoff and still getting the hype, but, like, you know, really clipping that and taking something away from you.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Interviewee]

I tried my best to hit a good kicker, like trying to combine it with the timing, but I wasn't able to really find a good takeoff every time, you know, I just had one that I was far down, and I just tried to pull it together. That's why I also got second. I was like, I'm gonna be third for sure in this heat, and I at least got second. And I tried to make it work, but it's better to reset and for next day to be more prepared, you know, for sure.

[Host 2]

You didn't just get second, though. You were third up until the last one minute. No, five seconds. It was on the buzzer. Always put us in the mindset. What were you thinking going into that? You see the kicker? You know, it's now or never. What's going through your mind?

[Interviewee]

Yeah. Yeah. I was like, almost like in a fight. I was like, if I want to get second, I see the kicker. Although I was all the way downwind. I was like, I have to do it, you know, I didn't even know what streak I had to do. I just went into a back row and in the air I was like, all right, I go for a loop and spin and whatever happens, happens. And I was lucky because it was actually a nice kicker and I got the good gusts, you know. So it's time to recharge, man.

[Host 1]

Gran Canaria 2024. You know, I know you can always call back on that experience of knowing, mate, it's not over till the fat lady sings, mate. And that was a perfect example.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I had Jakubo on the radio, he was like, man, it's now or never. Go for it.

[Host 2]

And oh, you had him on a walkie talkie on your helmet.

[Interviewee]

I had it in the wetsuit.

[Host 2]

Ah, sick.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

What did he exactly say? Get your together now.

[Interviewee]

Like Jed, die. Die Castle. Come on, man. Do it, man, you know.

[Host 2]

So how are you feeling physically now? You spent?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I'm fine. Okay. I'm quite, I'm quite.

[Host 2]

We hope you fully recover for Monday.

[Host 1]

Hey, we'll let you go and get warming and recover. We'll see you on Monday, brother. Good luck.

[Host 2]

It was honestly that was clutch was there. It was epic. He was epic.

[Host 1]

Let's come up and buy fellow again. I mean it was a day of upsets. I believe Stino's out.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

I mean a crazy. A guy who's a prolific scorer. We've had to set up. We missed the last. We need to go and look at round two ourselves and catch Stino.

[Host 2]

Amazing, amazing result. Fully amazing. We've got Lorenzo here.

[Host 1]

Let's bring in the big score of the game.

[Host 2]

Yeah, here he comes. Here he comes. Nine points on overall impression. Seven unique tricks. The only person to fully max out that today. What was the best one of the seven?

[Interviewee]

I mean for sure the first one in 8.4 like Trubiloop. And you know the thing, it is funny because like I saw the. The clock and there was maybe like 10 second left and I started to go out and I see the kicker and then I'm like, should I go or no? Because it was still 10. And then like I think I got it like right on the buzzer and like felt the gas there and yeah, highest score of maid for sure.

[Host 1]

The favorite one to maximize that variety. I mean how much did you and your dad play in that? Did you guys. Did you know exactly what tricks you were doing so you could maximize that variety score?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, I had the plan. I needed to do Something to get, you know, all seven. So, yeah, I think a bit. And made some strategy with my dad also to jump to the right, you know, I can do it, but it's not my favorite here in Cape Town because you go bigger, but then if you need to do it, you do it, you know?

[Host 2]

A slu to blind on an A. Do you recommend people try this at home?

[Interviewee]

No, don't try it, bro.

[Host 2]

Did you have. I'm gonna go to blind on this all the way through. Was it last second?

[Interviewee]

It was last second for sure. Like, I've been doing fewer sloops, like on the A just to try it out, but then I was like, ah, yeah, the car is catching me. Nice. So I'm just gonna go to actually to wrap. So, yeah, it was wrapped.

[Host 2]

Sorry, everyone. That is. I mean, that's a horrible.

[Host 1]

Was this loop in the plan or was that just last minute spare at the moment? Let's put some more variety in there.

[Interviewee]

Nah, kind of like not reading the plan, you know, because it wasn't too strong to really get the height on the eight. And I think if I don't get the blind and the wrap, then it's not even six and a half for the. You know, for the category. But then, yeah, just to do something different, you know, just get it.

[Host 2]

Epic, Lorenzo. Epic. How's Monday looking? Is it. Do you think it's stronger? Is it going to be the same as today?

[Interviewee]

I think kind of the same, but I think it's gonna be much bigger waves. Like, if you see like you like that.

[Host 2]

You like a kicker, don't you?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, I know how to get them, so bigger kicker, you go higher and more extreme, bro.

[Host 2]

Thank you.

[Host 1]

Go get warm, brother.

[Interviewee]

For sure. Thank you, guys.

[Host 2]

Enjoy, mate. Thank you. What's going through your mind now?

[Host 1]

I'm fucking freezing.

[Host 2]

Yeah, we're just gonna push on, though.

[Host 1]

Yeah, let's have to.

[Host 2]

It's the. It's the pocha of day one.

[Host 1]

Who was the other standout performer for you today? Putting you on the spot.

[Host 2]

I actually thought Zach Adams looked sick. He was just so loose in a limb. I couldn't believe it. Just. And I think there's something in not forcing rotations. He just brings like this look of effortlessness to it that makes him really stand out. However, he got got by Jason Van der Spee today, who has to be. Has to be a standout performer.

[Host 1]

One of them for sure.

[Host 2]

He was just refusing, outright refusing to lose.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I mean, we were doing our predictors today and we were actually looking at Zac's performance going. Zac could go back to back semi finals here if it all goes his way. Unfortunately, this is King of the Air. King of the Air is not just the major revenge, it's a major upset place as well and big things happen. So it's going to be super interesting to see how he bounces out of round two. We'll go back and look at the draw. That's the Haaland team behind us throwing their boards on the floor. And yeah, it's going to be super interesting to see how that affects the draw because there has been a major shuffle up. The seeds are all over the place. Jeremy's going through round two. Actually, Jeremy, he might not know it, but this might benefit him because he was going to end up running into Andrea in the semi final. So I know he's disappointed, I know he's not 100%, but this actually might be a good thing for him. But it might push him onto the side of Lorenzo. I mean, you're sort of damned if you do and you're damned if you don't at the moment in the sport. So let's see how he's going.

[Host 2]

I'm going to say now, and it's no doubt actually going to be wrong, but I think there's no way of there being the three semi finals. The three, yeah. Trappers.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

So, yeah, who have we got next? Parker Sage. Parker Sage. Get in here, mate. Biggest upset the whole day is Parker Sage taking out Steenmoor. How you feeling, bro? It was so epic. Fuck.

[Interviewee]

The sunset was beautiful. I came from one of the worst heats of my life, probably.

[Host 2]

I was so upset.

[Interviewee]

I was just down in the dirt. And then I was like, all right, gotta pull it all together.

[Host 2]

Drink a quick Red Bull.

[Interviewee]

And then I was back on the water and just put everything I had and, yeah, we came out on top. So I was so happy, like, best feeling ever, to be honest.

[Host 1]

Did the conditions pick up a little bit for you on your heat? Because, I mean, obviously leading it, I mean, especially your heat was almost no wind and no kickers, you know?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, that was where the nerves started to kick in. In the first heat, I saw no kickers and I went into panic mode, you know, I just started freaking out and I was like, oh, what do I do? What do I do? You know, And. And then the second heat I paced myself a little bit better and took a couple inside kickers and that seemed to work.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Did you have the voice of Kevin Langaroy in your Head always, man. You can't, you can't not. I mean he's just like, come on, go for it. But yeah, man, I love the whole Reading team.

[Interviewee]

And yeah, Kevin, man, I hope he's watching because fuck, I had such a great day.

[Host 2]

Yeah. What was your favorite trick?

[Interviewee]

Favorite trick? I think Dewey board off. Just felt nice off the wave. Four rotation. Just like, was like, oh, shit, put the part on. And I've been training my left hand a lot so I'm normally right handed. So I've been training my left hand a lot, taking the kickers.

[Host 2]

And yeah, I paid off today. I was super happy. Sick.

[Host 1]

Last question for me. A lot of people talking about this variety. Is that something that you feel super comfortable with now or something that you probably need to work a little bit more on and have a better plan for? Have a better plan with?

[Interviewee]

Honestly? Yeah, that's a good question. The variety made me a little nervous, you know, because there were like seven tricks.

[Host 1]

We want seven.

[Interviewee]

And I was like, damn, seven tricks, that's a lot, you know, and seven different tricks, you know, in five, 10 minutes. And I was like, damn. All right. So yeah, it honestly made things fast paced for me, but I think I kind of liked it. I don't know, it doesn't seem any biases, you know, bias, you know, it doesn't seem biased. So I kind of liked it.

[Host 2]

Cool. Yeah, cool. Parker, well done. Go and celebrate. Have a day off tomorrow and we'll see you back in Monday. Probably gonna go eat a fat burger now.

[Host 1]

See you, brother.

[Host 2]

Well done today. Well done.

[Interviewee]

Appreciate it.

[Host 1]

All right, well let's finish off with. As a reigning king himself.

[Host 2]

Just sat off there still in his helmet.

[Host 1]

Yeah, dripping, dripping wet.

[Host 2]

Come on, mate. You did, you didn't do a trick for the first three minutes. I was like, Andrea, when, when three minutes go, no trick and then boom.

[Interviewee]

Boom, here we go. I need to jump when it's time. You know, if it's not perfect, man, if I don't go to the moon, I don't even jump, you know, that's the trick. But no honesty, man. Before my eat, like when they were running it before I went in the water, I pull up the head, I say, oh, let's go. It's pretty power, you know. Feel perfect. Kicker. Okay. All right. Then the it start. I look back at me, kicker flat, man, flat. And the wind also, I was like, okay, it, let's go. Need anyway. But I did my best. Like I'm happy before the wind was there, I mean, and then after my eight, man, actually I stay in the water till now because the wind picked up again when I had so much fun.

[Host 2]

You've just been running till now?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. You know when the pressure is gone and you're just having fun, you know and you keep going, man. Actually I throw some epic trick now. So. Yeah, I'm feeling ready. I'm happy. You know, that's I think the best.

[Host 1]

Did you think about changing to the nine? Because we. I was up there with Aaron. I said, oh, he's still on the 8. Did you think about taking the 9 up and changing kite?

[Interviewee]

Man, I think still like I could do my job with the kicker and stuff. So I just keep the height and go for it, you know. Like.

[Host 2]

Yeah, you did stuff left and right today. You're actually a right foot forward rider normally, aren't you? What did you do riding right in your. In your heat. So you did something crazy. I don't even know what it was. You're gonna have to tell us.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I think I did a boogie with three flip and maybe four back with one flip and no, it was good actually. Luckily I did some jump on right variety and because I didn't have kickers. So I say better than do anything. Let me put some score the on the thing. So. Yeah. But now man, honestly, like with this end, this is getting magnetic. Like this one, you know. Now it was like mixed.

[Host 2]

So he. You. You did your trick on the inside. And he goes to me. Just looks around to me like this and she goes, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

I noticed you're you know doing left hand in rodeo. Taking it off. I mean you're really strengthening up that other hand now, right?

[Interviewee]

Yeah. Yeah, man. This end now I don't know. In. In the last week it feel like it's this end. So I'm so happy, you know. I'm really confident in both end. And yeah, I need just to wait the kicker. And I know, man, now when I have the good kicker and I take full speed, whatever I'm doing, I don't think about it. I go to the moon. So it man.

[Host 1]

Three in a row, baby.

[Interviewee]

Yeah. Let's go for it, man. I will try everything. I'm feeling happy, you know.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Hey, we'll let you go and get warm brother. Good luck on Monday.

[Interviewee]

Merry Christmas.

[Host 2]

Merry Christmas.

[Interviewee]

Because this year is might become earlier.

[Host 1]

You bought one for the girlfriend. Which one's this going to be for the girlfriend? Well, you had the first one, then you got him a girlfriend. What about the third one?

[Interviewee]

I Know it's the kids, this one.

[Host 2]

But we're not jinxing it. We're not jinxing. Get out of here. Very good. I was getting ready for some serious bro shake in there, but we. We didn't have to that time, which is good because I'm actually not very good at it. You're really good.

[Host 1]

Let's wrap it up.

[Host 2]

Yeah, we could do a bro shake. Thanks to us. Always. We'll see you in the next one. Goodbye. Fever Pitch here. After day two of King of the Air, we've seen what is basically a bloodbath. We've also seen the debut of a foil kite in a major competition in the hands of Luca Cerutti. If you hear screaming and shouting that way, it's the fly surf a lot losing their shit. Adrian, we're gonna have to start with the headline, which is the incumbent king of the air is out to Zach Adams.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Andrea Principe's dream of three in a row is over. And to be honest, he had it right up to the very end. Zach Adams has been on a fire run. He knocked out Charles Brodell. He knocked out Andrea Principe. Can he go all the way? That's going to be the big question.

[Host 2]

The thing he did to win Mystic Move last year, which was the mad board spins mid trick, he just kept doing it all day, and he was getting the height on the nxt and he was loose in the limb. He was making it look like a piece of piss. He was kind of sick throughout the entire day.

[Host 1]

Yeah, he didn't start that heat against Andre very well. He spent the first couple minutes a lot of crashes, but by the way, I think he did one extra rotation on that spin. Hopefully we'll catch up with Zach and found out. But I tell you what, he came home strong, and you got to do it at the end. That's the key. You can start badly, but you got to finish strong. And he did that all day because. Same thing against Charles. I thought Charles was leading, but he came home strong. And that's when you got to do it.

[Host 2]

Yeah. I don't think we've seen him clutch up like this ever before. It's like buzzer stuff. Always in the last 10 seconds, he manages to do it. I can't actually see him here. He could be lingering anywhere, though.

[Host 1]

You know, Lorenzo Casadi, let's be honest, he took a bit of a dent in the army. He didn't look invincible. Andrea. Today. I thought he had it again. Andrea. Twice in a row, he's ridden the last seed of the day in the lightest wind. Maybe that didn't favor him, but we don't know. We can't blame that. But again, full credit to Zach. I mean, this young guy's turning on. It's a guy that we've known super well. He's got a personality, and now we know he's had the writing, and, I mean, this guy's a superstar. He's one of the next big guys to come off the rank, for sure.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Undeniable. And he's got. Well, you'll see it later on when we interview him. He just talks unbelievably well, too, and we love it. Let's get someone in. Cohen's good. It's your time. You're a star.

[Host 1]

Hello. Last time I was standing like this, it was a podium on Megaloop. Now it's not a podium yet, but.

[Interviewee]

We'Ve got to get there.

[Host 2]

Does it sort of feel a bit like a podium, though? That was a major, major win for you today.

[Interviewee]

I mean, obviously, it feels like a podium, but it's not a podium.

[Host 1]

So, literally, if I lose tomorrow or Wednesday, I'm back to square zero.

[Interviewee]

So everything matters in that semi final, and I'm excited for it.

[Host 1]

Andrea lost, so that's a big bummer for him. But props to Zach.

[Interviewee]

It's gonna be cool to go against.

[Host 1]

Zach because actually, you know, I took.

[Interviewee]

Zach along when he was younger, took.

[Host 1]

Him in Hood river for a month.

[Interviewee]

Showed him that being a pro kiter.

[Host 1]

Is possible, and now I'm up against.

[Interviewee]

Him in the semifinals of King of the Air, which is.

[Host 1]

Which is freaking amazing.

[Interviewee]

So I'm beyond stoked for him, and.

[Host 1]

But I do need to beat him, so no mercy. I wish you hadn't stolen my point. I was going to bring up that Hood River. When you went there and you came back, you said, I met a couple of great kids, Zach being one of them. I mean, how awesome is that to see Zach sort of progress from Hood River? And let's be honest, Mike McDonald went there, and we thought, this is crazy. But look what's come out of it. We're producing things. All this American talent. Parker, it's pretty cool to see. Obviously, a big props to Mike as.

[Interviewee]

Well, because he did make that happen. You know, they are here because of him.

[Host 1]

You know, obviously not 100%.

[Interviewee]

It's also their own initiative.

[Host 1]

But props to Mike.

[Interviewee]

Thanks to him for putting that down there.

[Host 1]

And just a big props to Zach for making it happen.

[Interviewee]

When I met him, I told my Sponsors, hey, listen, I've got this kid, I want to sponsor him. And they said no.

[Host 1]

I think they missed out. Well, let's talk about you. I mean, the toughest probably of all those heats, when you look at it on paper, I mean, how did you prepare for a hit against Jeremy like that, who's just come off a huge win at Cold Hawaii. Yeah.

[Interviewee]

So obviously in this competition now with this variety thing, that's all that matters. So it's not necessarily about the tricks you're putting down. It's about how many points of variety can you get. And that's what I went for because I know that, like, let's say he.

[Host 1]

Could do better tricks than me.

[Interviewee]

What I saw were better tricks than I was doing. I was going a bit higher, I heard, but I was playing the variety, just trying to get that variety done.

[Host 1]

And if I knew that they were.

[Interviewee]

Going to play it this way, I would have trained it.

[Host 1]

So it's a big bummer they didn't.

[Interviewee]

Tell us beforehand, which is a bit shitty.

[Host 1]

But I'm still trying to play it. And I think for the future next.

[Interviewee]

Events, you know, I'm just going to try and be a most complete rider.

[Host 1]

And try to get as much tricks in to touch all those boxes. I think that's where we're going to now.

[Interviewee]

I can do a flip, I can do a TikTok. I just love that one. I love that one. It's a little bit of a wow.

[Host 1]

Factor, a little bit of extreme factor. And the first one didn't score 6.5 and the last one scored exactly 6.5.

[Interviewee]

That's why I won.

[Host 2]

Steezy Pete messaged me saying that was his favorite of yours today.

[Interviewee]

Was it?

[Host 1]

Was it? It's my favorite too. I can even do it with a.

[Interviewee]

Laid back roll between the feet, added rotation, so I think I should use that more.

[Host 2]

Very good, Cohen. Well done today. That was epic. You might have an extra.

[Host 1]

No, no, I was just gonna say, hey, good luck for tomorrow, man. I'll tell you what, I tell you what, you're on.

[Host 2]

Not sure who's doing too much tomorrow. I think it'll be Wednesday.

[Host 1]

Wednesday?

[Interviewee]

What?

[Host 1]

I mean tomorrow. I mean Wednesday.

[Host 2]

Oh, good luck for Tuesday.

[Interviewee]

Thank you guys so much. Enjoy.

[Host 2]

Ciao. See you in the next round.

[Host 1]

I mean, Cohen's sort of been sliding through here, you know, he didn't, you know, not. Not many people have been talking about it, but that's all you need to do. We're talking about just going one step at a time, one Step at a time.

[Host 2]

You're right. He's been quietly doing his business.

[Host 1]

Exactly. And sometimes, but sometimes think, in a big event like this, we're going on to a. Not a first, but a historic day three at Red Bull. The king of the air. And you need to sort of save your energy now. I think what he's doing is the right Keeping out of the limelight and just going about his business. It's probably the right move on a long, long event. A long time sitting in the sun. And that's the way to do it.

[Host 2]

Yeah, because this doesn't really happen three days of big air competition, let alone it being at the biggest one of the whole year too. And now with a day of waiting in of front between, I think, I think people are going to be.

[Host 1]

Well, I mean, we, we, we were sitting earlier in the day thinking, oh, should we do a post show today? What if there's no stories? It's turned out to be the craziest day we've ever had in kiteboarding history. It's absolutely crazy. We're going to bring in Charles here, who's bitterly disappointed and one of the people that Zach knocked out.

[Host 2]

Not the result you wanted, Charles, but let's talk about your day. How do you feel like your riding was?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy about my riding. Like, I showed that to everyone that I can put my fucking kite low and that I can do all the tricks as yours are, like, higher. But then, yeah, like, when I watched my scores, I was quite surprised, especially on the last trick, like, I did the half cap, like the move that everyone is loving. And with a kite angle like this, we never saw it before. And I was like, I'm gonna go get more than eight point for sure. And when I saw this, I was like, I watched, I was looking the watch and I was like, yeah, it's just like, it feels crazy to see these scores on the watch. And then after my hit, I watch and I landed like 13 tricks and Zach, nine tricks. And I still, I have less variety of scores from the judges. So, yeah, today, like, I really don't understand what they want to show from myself.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I know. Charles, you're bitterly disappointed. Has this put you off big ear or has it motivated you more? Because we want to see you back. We want to see more of you. I mean, you're one of the crowd favorites every time.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, like, when I'm losing, like, I come back always like, crazy. Last year they talked about kite angle. This year I went with crazy kite angle. So I'm just really curious about like what is missing in my ride and you can be sure that next year it's going to be like I'm going to solve this problem and I'm going to come like stronger for sure.

[Host 1]

I mean we want to see you back man. It was awesome out there. And to be honest, visually, and I wasn't looking at the scores, I thought you won as well.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but for sure you will. I'm going to come back and like more crazy than ever, you can be sure.

[Host 2]

Last question then we'll let you go. Talk to me about the difficulty of the half cab with a foil.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, like this trick. Like I would be curious to give a try to everyone on the planet because like when you go for this with a twin tip, the twin tip is following you. When I go for this with my foil, my, my arm is like turning completely and then I need to bring this shit back. So like it looks like my shoulder is gonna pop up, you know, pop out and it's just hard to go inverted controlling my foil and then the kite and yeah like, and with this kite angle especially like I was not sure but like I was like okay, you're gonna maybe try a stupid shit but go for it and you will have the score. And I went for it, I landed it and I got just a 7.5 so it feel, it feels crazy.

[Host 2]

Have you done it before? Have you landed that before?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, yeah but like with a small kite angle and during training like chill. Not like this today.

[Host 1]

Yeah, look Charles, I know it hurts mate. Use that as motivation. And I look forward to seeing you back here because every year you are, you're improving your game and that's what we want to see, man.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I know, but for sure. And this year I was really not lucky with my hit. I got like all the best guys. I'm out with 29 points and like I'm seeing people going to semi final with like 25 points. So this is hard. But I know what I did today and I'm gonna come crazier, you can be sure.

[Host 2]

Very good.

[Host 1]

Good luck brother.

[Host 2]

See, see you next year, Charles. Epic.

[Interviewee]

Thank you.

[Host 2]

Epic. Still the woo. World record holder though.

[Host 1]

I mean well, he was sitting up in the next to us and he was just hunched over his phone re watching. It was heartbreaking. I, I actually went up to him, I put my hand around, I said honestly, I don't have words to tell you how sorry I feel for you. And I don't speak French either. So.

[Host 2]

Oh, you didn't say that in French.

[Host 1]

No, I said it in English. Oh, let's. Let's bring in the man of the moment here, Luca Trui.

[Host 2]

I mean, come in, boy. It's your time.

[Host 1]

If there was not a bigger chair today, it was for this man, Luca Trudy, honestly.

[Host 2]

So you come in, you try and put your kite down, and for some reason, three times, no one's ready for that. So you go back out, you come back in, you get the 7 meter up, and everyone in the rider's zone just lost the plot. It was like standing ovation just for you. Launching a kite. Could you hear it?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, literally I was hearing everything on the water and I was like, wow, this is crazy. You know, you can hear everything. But it was actually like, it was quite a shocking start.

[Host 2]

Like, I took my board off, lost it completely.

[Interviewee]

Body dragged back to it. I was like, hey, that's a great start.

[Host 2]

And then my hy vee, the line.

[Interviewee]

Got wrapped around, so I was like, okay. That's actually why I tried to put.

[Host 2]

The kite down first. And I was like, okay.

[Interviewee]

Then Parker, luckily, sword, he grabbed my.

[Host 2]

Hy vee and then I went to.

[Interviewee]

Go do a trick and then I landed it, but then the wind, like completely dropped.

[Host 2]

And then I was like, yeah, Luke.

[Interviewee]

Told me 7 meter Sonic time.

[Host 2]

And I was like, okay, it's time to go. How did he tell you 7 meter Sonic time? What were the exact words?

[Interviewee]

He was like, it's 7 meter sonic time, baby.

[Host 2]

Let's go.

[Host 1]

I mean, I don't think. I don't think I've ever. I don't think I've ever seen a foil kites launch that fast. I mean, that thing was up faster than anything.

[Interviewee]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

Literally, I was sparking like as soon as said that, like, I think my ginger hair just like shot up like lightning bolts. I was like, yeah, let's go. But it was so good.

[Interviewee]

And I mean, the. The other thing is, it's.

[Host 2]

It's not like as much as I.

[Interviewee]

Performed and we whole, like the whole team performed.

[Host 2]

Like, there's so much work that goes behind it.

[Interviewee]

Like the whole development team, like Maxi, Benny, Tao, Luke, like every single person involved, like, there's a whole big effort behind it.

[Host 2]

And I'm just stoked it all worked out.

[Host 1]

I mean, we've seen you jumping on top of the van there. You do realize you're in the semi finals. There's still a lot of work to go.

[Host 2]

Yeah, I know. For sure.

[Interviewee]

But the fact of the matter is we showed A kite that's never been showed in the competition.

[Host 2]

And we absolutely rocked it, so. Had to celebrate a little bit, you know. You did. To be fair, you rocked the out of it. Let's talk about how it was different for you. More lift, slower loop. Yeah, but more points. Yeah, more lift, slow loops.

[Interviewee]

Way more vertical, like, distance. And I think the judges absolutely, like, loved it.

[Host 1]

I mean, it was a big risk. Right? I mean, that was the thing. How are the judges going to treat this? You know, we just heard from Charles. He feels like he wasn't sort of supported and he's riding something different as well. You know, you're doing that as well. Is this going to be the plan moving forward to the semi final?

[Interviewee]

Yeah, for sure. The same scenario. The wind drops, for sure.

[Host 2]

Going to whip it out the bag and. Yeah, give it full steam, Luca. Bloody epic. We'll see you on Wednesday in the semi finals. Congrats, mate. Congrats. Thank you, boys. Boom. You guys are rocking it.

[Host 1]

Thanks, brother. Thank you.

[Host 2]

Thanks, man.

[Host 1]

I mean, the scenes on the beaches was walking up. It was. It was literally like a South African who won the semi, won the final. They were jumping on the top of Luke's van. It was awesome to see. I mean, this is what King of the Air is about. This is what Kite Morning is about. It's about this. This community. And that was awesome. Right.

[Host 2]

And the thing is, no other competition, like, creates just the moments like this.

[Interviewee]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

And in no other competition would Andrea and Jeremy just be, like, devastated by a result. Literally, Andrea just kind of. It bounces off him normally.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

I don't know if we're going to be able to get to see him. I don't know where he is or what he's doing. But we do want to talk to this guy Parker.

[Host 1]

Oh, I tell you what. I mean, Parker Sage.

[Host 2]

I mean, we.

[Host 1]

We were sitting. We were sitting before the last wing, but with Zach, we're like, who's the rider of the day? We're like, well, Parker. But I tell you what, what a performance, man. I mean, you had this amazing comeback at Cold Hawaii. Through the middle of the year, we were worried that you were out of form. We just couldn't find it. You came back Cold Hawaii, you got that new kite. You started to find that flow. But where's this come from? Holy shit.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, bro. The first heat jitters definitely got to me in the first day, but, man, I just pulled my shit together and, yeah, this. This new gear is really performing super well. And I couldn't be Happier to be with Reeden now. And, yeah, man, I just, like, I got the nerves out, and I just went for it and just. I don't remember what tricks I did. I just. It's all just a blur. But, yeah, man, what a day. One of the best days of my life, I think.

[Host 2]

The best heat of your life for sure. Has there ever been a better heat? Like, every single time you popped, it was an epic gust, man.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, I just saw the kickers that were lining up good for me, and. And, like, I knew I could do it. I've been training, and I land some of the best tricks, you know, and I know I can do it, but it's just.

[Host 2]

It's hard to show it in front.

[Interviewee]

Of the whole kite world, you know, like, to do it in front of everyone. That's. That's the hard part. Yeah.

[Host 1]

You know, you're up against Jason Van Der Spey, a guy who's got a lot of stuff in his books, a lot of tricks. Was that someone you're worried about because of this variety? Everyone's talking about it. Is that something you were thinking, man, I really have to, you know, nail all this?

[Interviewee]

You know, those. Those muscles were scaring me in the beginning, but then I. Jason. Jason's a legend, man. I fucking love that guy. And so special to share the water with him.

[Host 2]

That's, by the way, he's standing off about 2 meters. He's behind a car. He's trying to pay him off.

[Interviewee]

But, yeah, so special to share the water with him. And I wasn't nervous at all. I was super chill and super relaxed, and, yeah, that's how I hope to go into the next round.

[Host 1]

You said to me, you're gonna cut your hair at the after party, bro. I don't think you should cut your hair, man. I think this could be some special power you got on, man.

[Interviewee]

I can take any weight I want, man. I need the weight, the chain and the hair. It's adding £2 at. So, yeah, that's. That's gonna help me load harder. So. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Parker, well done, mate. And we'll see you in the semi finals. Bloody epic. Epic.

[Host 1]

Incredible, my man. Incredible.

[Host 2]

Thank you, guys.

[Host 1]

Good luck.

[Host 2]

That's a happy man. An incredibly happy man.

[Host 1]

Just walk straight into the camera.

[Host 2]

Should we just touch on the magnitude of Andrea Pinchippi being out? It's quite kind of mad.

[Host 1]

You want to start that?

[Host 2]

I think this is the start.

[Host 1]

Oh, that is the start, yeah.

[Host 2]

I mean, it was quite a good start.

[Host 1]

I don't think I can Ever Remember, I remember Andrea Principe going out in the semi finals of Cold Hawaii a couple years ago, but never in round three. Not never. The first time we saw Andrea, he went straight to the final in full power all those years ago. And he's pretty much been a prolific finalist. Yeah, crazy. But you know what? I think once. Once he settles home and he gets back home and he relaxes, he'll turn up tomorrow. It'll just be Andrea as normal. I mean, we know this guy is very. He's got a lot of humility. He's got a long way. He's going to be happy for. For Zach, you know, this guy's not a guy who's going to hold grudges. So.

[Host 2]

I mean, we even saw that, the pictures on the live stream. He looked happy for Zach already.

[Host 1]

Yeah. I mean, to be beaten by a guy who threw that, I think it's a triple, but yeah, look, I mean, disappointing. But you know what great fun. Great for Lorenzo. He's got his own little trilogy. He's got nothing to stop him now. Just besides this. The American phenom of. Of Zach Adams in front. But yeah, that's. I mean, I'm kind of lost for words on Andre, to be honest. I don't think I've ever even contemplated this.

[Host 2]

No, it was a massive shock for absolutely everyone. We're gonna get Lorenzo Casati in.

[Host 1]

Lorenzo Casate.

[Host 2]

Big day. Big day. Not a good day for the trap, but you have survived. How was your heat?

[Interviewee]

Well, I mean, was actually pretty hard, to be honest, because I went for my heat and the wind was super gusty. You know, like a lot of time I had the car, like the car, it's super power. And then I went for a kicker and then like, no line tension. And I think, like on my second, third jump, I like contra good tension. I go up and nothing and my kite kind of like collapsed and then it catch, but. And then, you know, I actually to go really full sand for it because Shahar was like really there behind, you know, so. Yeah, never easy, bro.

[Host 1]

I was about to say Shahar really took that to you. I mean, not easy conditions, you know, I mean, you're the person who doesn't very crash and we saw you under pressure there. The kick has sort of fell away and quite made it quite tough. What's the strategy going into the semi finals knowing it could be very similar conditions?

[Interviewee]

I mean, if it's gonna be the same similar condition, I will just try to do a bit more of variety, you know, I also had like two contra loop. That one was like 6.4, so I had to go again. And then one, the kite almost collapsed. So, yeah, just try to get those points of unique trick and then just have two or three big ones, you know?

[Host 1]

You know, you're riding with the radio. Is that helpful? Especially you can get the tricks really, really fast and know where you are in the heat. I mean, I don't know if many other people are doing that.

[Interviewee]

I mean, it's helpful, but sometimes the score can take maybe one minute, one minute to 30. So maybe you already have done two more, and then your cat is like saying, oh, yeah, you got this score. But then it was like two trick before. So, you know, if it was like live, live, then yeah, but still, it's helpful. But, you know, also the watch is super nice to just check the score.

[Host 2]

You know, trick of the day for you. Favorite one.

[Interviewee]

I mean, I have to go with the one from Zach Kylo. Blade back. Yeah. Four. Was it four?

[Host 1]

I, I, I think it was one more than last year. Was it three or four?

[Interviewee]

I didn't watch it, but I was, like, watching the E from up here, and I was like, he's going for, like, a double flip, and then you just, like, throw it away. And I'm like. And then he lands it, you know, And I was like, okay, this is gonna score for sure. And then, like, last second of it.

[Host 1]

I know. The job's not finished, man. Go back and relax. And, hey, the big ones are to come. Good luck, huh? Thanks, man.

[Interviewee]

The job is still to do, and let's get it.

[Host 2]

Very good. Thank you, Lorenzo. Epic. Epic.

[Host 1]

Look, I mean, Lorenzo, didn't he look beatable today? Actually, Shahar really took it to him. But I tell you what, you'd have to think going forward, you know, he's the favorite to take this, but this is kiteboarding. You never know. And this event proved that anything can happen.

[Host 2]

Yeah, he was the favorite this morning, and he's the favorite now.

[Host 1]

He.

[Host 2]

If he rides. If the, If I think if the conditions are there, like they were on the first day, I don't think anyone can stop him, honestly.

[Host 1]

But I tell you one person who could stop him. The American phenom, Mr. Zach Adams. Come join us, brother.

[Host 2]

The Slayer.

[Host 1]

Holy. Dude. What the hell?

[Host 2]

Do you know what you've just done? Do you realize it?

[Interviewee]

Yeah. The Zack Attack, boys. It's called the Zack Attack.

[Host 1]

What is the Zack Attack? Is that just you just smashing people? Close enough.

[Interviewee]

No, I'm just kidding. No, honestly, that's a trick I've done once in my entire life back home in my hometown in Hood River. And honestly, to do it in a spot like this, in the best bro against the best, in the best competition, it was insane. It was insane. And everything was just silent for a second. I threw that board just like I always do. I do. I train that shit every single day, that trick. And in the end, I threw it. And for a second, it was so far away. Out of five seconds, just like looking around, just like, damn, look where I am, bro. And then, boom, I caught it. And in two seconds, it went from being silent to the whole beach screaming, exploding, bro. And I just was like, oh, my God. I don't care how hard I'm coming down, I'm landing this, bro. Put it on. Came down, boom. Put it. I landed that. And mad. What? It blew my mind. It blew my mind. And in the end, I came in, I didn't even care about my heat. I was gonna win or lose. Didn't even care about it. I know I made a mark. And then they came in like, dude, you could win. I could win. I did fucking shit. During the rest, the whole heat, I was like, not even close unless I get a perfect 10. And then, and then I came in like, do you want. Nah, no way. And, yeah, honestly, that was insane, by the way.

[Host 1]

You didn't just catch it, you actually cuddled it. You actually caught it like this. It was in your arms.

[Host 2]

You rugby tackled it.

[Interviewee]

That's why we're in South Africa. They're the number one team.

[Host 1]

Was that easy? Easy?

[Interviewee]

Was that.

[Host 1]

Was that. Was it three or four?

[Interviewee]

Four. Four. We just rewatched the clip just now, and yeah, it was four flips. It went about two meters in front of me and it did four flips. Yeah, it's something that. Yeah. Honestly, I never even thought it would ever be done in history someone would do that. Especially me. Especially me. Why would I do it? And then, and then the end. Yeah, I flipped the board and it came back to me.

[Host 2]

Amazing, Zach. Amazing. So at no point in that heat did you think I could be Andrea Principe. I think I'm beat him.

[Interviewee]

Oh, that started from the start, right before, man. From not even today, from a week ago, a month ago. Every single person along my journey has told me, you could be the best, you could beat Andrea in this. And finally, when this day came, I had people telling me last night, people in the bars, partying, everyone's like, you could do it. You have it in you. And when it finally came. I. I was ready. I've trained so hard. My left hand, my right hand. I wanted to make sure I come into this event. No, nothing could go against me. I just wanted to be able to. Yeah, I wanted to have no problems. I wanted to have the right gear, the right mindset, and I wanted to have no disadvantages. Just like I didn't want to complain anymore of they could hit the wave, I didn't want to complain that I didn't have enough hang time. I wanted to be all set. So then if I do face these guys, which I only would do this good, that because I was facing Andrea, Andrea pushes me more than anyone. I have faced so many sessions with him on the water, in Tarifa, in Cape Town, anywhere, and he is not only. Just, not only just pushed me, he's brought the best out of me. He's the nicest guy ever. He is such a motivator and he is amazing. And then to finally be able to face him, I knew I had to do it. I had to push as hard as I possibly can to do something that would wow the world. And I did it in the end. And then the cherry on top was, it was beating him and it was insane, honestly. And now, I mean, you know what? But the job's not finished.

[Host 2]

Wow. Good, good.

[Host 1]

Let's go back to the start of the heat, because it didn't start great for you, right? I mean, you got a little bit behind. You weren't had that, didn't have that motivation how? I mean, I think that's the experience coming through of you. You know, we're seeing that experience in you now. You know, a couple weeks ago you lost the semi final in Porto polo. Probably a little bit pissed off about that, but I like that we see this maturity in your riding. Started to come back, found your momentum and then got your groove again.

[Interviewee]

Yeah, well, I always tell myself, even from the first competition I ever did back in Full Power Division two, you always gotta finish, go hard until the end, until that buzzer is done for. Even while it's going off, you're in the air, you have to keep going. I don't want to hear no excuses, absolutely nothing of on the water. You got 10 seconds left. I lost.

[Host 2]

Definitely not.

[Interviewee]

You lost. When the score comes out, you could be on the beach. Even today I was on the beach and they said I won in the, in my second round, they said I won and then I said I lost. Yeah, and then they said I won again. And I have never had such A spike of emotions. And I just. Yeah. All I'm telling myself and keep it going for anyone who's out there, never stop until the end, until that score finish finally comes out. You never stop. And that's how it goes.

[Host 2]

Yeah. That's how the cookie crumbles, isn't it? Sometimes crumbles. You always.

[Host 1]

Hey, American kiteboarding, baby. You and Parker, I mean, you got.

[Host 2]

Big day for American kiteboarding.

[Interviewee]

Yeah. Parker was my. Was my main guide through all of it, man. This guy. There it is. Wait, wait. Come here, boys. All the boys. All the boys. All the boys. I could never have done it without all these, bro. I was on the beach, I just like, throw it. And then he was like.

[Host 2]

Who's that guy? Who's this guy?

[Interviewee]

He's just.

[Host 1]

These are all Hood river boys.

[Host 2]

Tell us about. Tell us about.

[Interviewee]

All right, this is Aiden at home. This is one of my really good friends with back home, my neighbor from Hood River. I have tried with him since then. Before I even met Parker. I've. I've trained with this kid and we. We couldn't have. We couldn't not have him here. We're gonna push him until he's in this damn competition. We're gonna push him until he breaks.

[Host 1]

Guys, we're just speaking before about that backhoe competition in Hood River. Everyone questioned that. Is that a good idea to go? But look what it's turned out. It's incredible.

[Interviewee]

Left hand, right? We always got to thank. We always got to thank Mike, you know, even though there's always some ups, there's always some downs, you know, he got us here. He went. He went all the way to Hood river and he was just like, look at this scrawny ass. Little kids in Hood river doing laid back girls. You know, they might have a chance. And bam, they put us on a camera and look where we are now.

[Host 1]

Well, boys, you guys go away. We're going to speak quickly to Shahar because obviously he had a pretty good day. Guys, good luck. Not that strong.

[Interviewee]

Enjoy, bro. Wait for me. I come off.

[Host 1]

Come on. We need you to wait for me. Wait for me.

[Interviewee]

Oh, that's my turn.

[Host 2]

How was your heat? Shah talk us through it. Oh, you did super well. You almost kind of look like you could have got him. It kind of looked like it, yeah.

[Interviewee]

Wow. My heat, I mean, I had a lot of preparation with my dad before the heat. We were like, okay, it's like I have nothing to lose, but I have to show that I can fight for it, even if it's Lorenzo. And yeah, I said. We said, okay, we're not looking on the watch. You're not? Yeah, Just doing whatever you feel like and sending it as hard as you can. And I didn't know, but I opened stronger. Reonato after told me, like, his heart was beating and it was like. Also, Lorenzo told me, like, that he was scared in the beginning that he was behind. And then, yeah, I didn't really find it for, like, three jumps. Did like a kite. Luboff or something. And then I looked on the watch, which I should. Which I shouldn't, and I see, like, seven points. And I thought, he's winning by seven points and not. I need a seven point. And anyway, my plan was to go for that board over the lines. I went for it, but I didn't have enough time to fucking. Sorry about the fucking.

[Host 2]

You were close, though.

[Host 1]

I tell you what, man, we very, very rarely do we see Lorenzo pushed by that. By someone else that isn't Andrea. But that last trick, if you'd stuck that, that could have been the difference, right?

[Host 2]

There's also a trick on the inside, right foot forward, and you got an epic gust. And you almost had that. What would have made you been able to land that one, if you can recall that exact moment?

[Interviewee]

I think if I land one of those tricks, I had a little bit more confidence to go a bit more higher and to have it. And unfortunately, the conditions were not the best and some gusts were not the best, so it was a bit hard.

[Host 2]

Why did you crash that specific one? Can you remember?

[Interviewee]

I had a little bit too early and I had too much speed. Too much speed and a little bit too much like the kite not in the right position. Little bit nervous, I think, as well.

[Host 1]

Dude, I'll tell you what. Round three on day boom, man. It's a great performance, buddy. Hey, we'll see you next year. I'm sure you're going to be back and you're going to be a name for the future. Congratulations, man.

[Interviewee]

Thank you.

[Host 2]

Well done. Hello, Mum. Your mum's over there. Okay. Okay. Mad, mad post show of day two. There's been no sign of Andrea anywhere. I presume we're not going to be able to get him. Let's just recap it. Andrea out. Main headline. Zach Adams took him down and took Charles down. Kind of looked like he didn't beat Charles, that he did. And then he went on to take out Andrea. Jamie Bellando also out. I feel like that was such a close heat with him and Cohen. Maybe the closest of the day, like there was nothing between them. You even heard Cohen say it, like he was doing more technical. I was just going higher. And the thing that really got Jeremy, though is the fact that Cohen got that extra one point, one unique trick point for doing a no rotation loop. But he did that and like, Jeremy can do that for sure. So Cohen read the criteria and rode to it as well. Better than Jeremy did today.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Yeah. I think Jeremy's going to come back and look at this and, you know, speaking to his father and he's moaning about stuff and, you know, it doesn't sound like Jeremy. You know, it's not the Jeremy I know. So, yeah, I hope he learns from this. And. And look, he's going to come back stronger. The guy's a world champion. He's a. He's a cold Hawaii winner. Look, the guys that bounce back for that are these type of people. So he'll be back. Yeah. Look, an incredible day here. We're onto day three. We haven't even seen the heat we're really looking forward to seeing today was Francesca Manny versus Zahra Hugenrah. We didn't get it, unfortunately, the ladies were released early. But we have some amazing semi finals, an amazing women's reperchage, and then we're on to the big one. And that's going to hopefully happen this Wednesday. So, yeah, let's hope we can get this done and we don't go into a day four and day five because I don't know if I can do much more of this. That was all a little bit too much for me. But look, this is the Red Bull king of the air, and that's why we love it and that's why we do the sport. That's why we fell in love with the sport as well.

[Host 2]

So there's a day off now from the King of the Air chaos, during which you can watch the Mystic Move documentary that's streaming for free now on Portrait. Things are a little bit different with the Mystic Move this year as well. We're having voting for it on the fantasy app and on socials and then we'll announce the winner in the post show of the finals day, which will hopefully be day three, as you said. So be sure to check back in for that last thing. Do you feel like Charles was underscored? And to what. How unfair do you think was that? Because, I mean, he lost to Zach, who then went on to take out Andre, you know.

[Interviewee]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

But you. You have to take every heat.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And it's. And at the time. And he had better kite angle. I mean, he's riding 19s or 18s. I said, dude, he was going higher. You know, the difficulty that he does is so incredible. I don't know whether it's a judging thing or it's a personal thing. I don't know. But the gut feeling up there was he'd been ripped off. But again, I've been in that. I've watched many King of the years and it happens every time. I'm sure Andrea's going to feel hard done by. I'm sure heels feeling hard done by. But this is what. This is what sport is. Sport is the highs and lows, the emotional roller coaster. Sport was always interesting. People just wouldn't like it, you know, so you need to have these crazy moments in sport for us to be disappointed and want to come back stronger. You heard him saying here, when I get upset, when I get mad, it always makes me come back harder. He'll be back here. He's popular, he's good enough. There's no doubting that.

[Host 2]

I think the one thing that Charles doesn't do that the others do, because I do agree he was going higher. I do agree his kite angle was better. I do agree he was doing the most technical shit. He did the double half cab thing. But when Charles lands, he doesn't land and hone away. He lands slow. He has to in order to get the foil under control and then re engage the foil and get back up. So that's the only difference. And I think that could be what the judges are docking him for. I'm not sure. We haven't asked.

[Host 1]

The other day, we were standing down there next to Gabby Pierre to she's a judge. I said, does the fast landings count, Gabby, are you interested in that versus the slow landing? She said, I'm not interested in the landing myself. I'm interested in everything before if they landed. It's just part of the trick. Right? So there are judges that are not interested so much in that. But again, it's a collective, right? You've got four judges or five judges, you know, putting the scores in. So that's something that maybe we can dive into. I mean, we've got a lot of work after this. King of the Air. There's so many stories to cover and it's probably going to spill over into January 2026. We might be talking about these stories next year at this rate. But yeah, look, I mean, that's something we can look into and get back.

[Host 2]

To you guys with Last one, Leonardo just got easier for him. Someone just did a snow plowed his drive, but I think to the house of king of the air.

[Host 1]

But Leo didn't look like he was firing on his cylinders. You know, he's that, you know, you and I said today the difference between Leo and Lorenzo is the consistency in his landing. He's got all the tricks but he's, he's not as consistent and we saw him crash quite a bit today. He just has that ability to do such high level tricks. He can get the scores on the board and he's got, he's got Renato in his ear, you know, giving him and helping him through. So I think for Leo he's got to find that consistency and just land and just keep sticking those landings because if you're going to crash that much in the semi, be fine and you're not going to win.

[Host 2]

I also think because they had to redo his heat three times, so we actually saw him ride four heat. So we might just be thinking of all those crashes throughout all those four heats and putting them all together in one bucket maybe. But I do know what you mean. I think there is a gap between him and Lorenzo right now and that's fair because he's 16. This is his first one. That's it for the post show of day two. Thank you for tuning in. It's Black Friday for Wu, by the way. Apparently Black Friday is this whole week.

[Host 1]

Black Week.

[Host 2]

Interesting. So, yeah, if you do want a Woo 4.0, go and check that out. I got my Woo PB the other day. Just don't know if that's interesting or not for people. Do you think it is?

[Host 1]

Absolutely.

[Host 2]

Wow. Okay, thanks for us as always. I think I might have slurred that. I'm gonna say it once more. Thanks for us as always. We'll see you in the next one. It's probably going to be Wednesday. Goodbye.