Loading summary
A
Welcome to Mykonos Daily, episode number two. This is the first and only training day for most of the riders here. The second stop of the GKA World Championship, Mykonos, and it is a vastly different day than yesterday. A lot of wind, 20 to 25 knots. It's probably going to pick up to the low 30s in the afternoon or later in the afternoons, I should say, which is one of the ultimate training days. Most of the guys are out on the water. I can see Martin Klubus going out. I've just seen Lorenzo Casati and his brother go out. Andrea has just come in. Andrea and Finn just seem to be catching all the gusts, which is kind of crazy and to be expected. Andrea does know this place. The best I can see Maxwell Dahl out there and obviously some of the girls about to go on the water. This is. Well, the. The girls are really excited to get out there because this is last opportunity to have the girls feed is very, very new, very young and it's. It's super cool to see. I can see to my right Loris, who is the filmer for Slingshot. I'm going to go and have a quick word to Lois. Hang on a sec. Loris, what do you think? Tomorrow is going to be good, man. Tomorrow is going to be nuking. Yeah. Hey, what did you think of the edit? Oh, man, was good. I proud of you, man. Prodigy was nice. Dude, that concert looks sick.
B
Perfect.
A
It's perfect for kite surfing, you know? Yeah, yeah, it's the perfect bit. Who are you shooting here? You're shooting Jeremy. It's a big one. You missed. Jeremy's gonna kill you for missing that. Sorry about that. I'll let you go.
C
Don't worry, man.
B
Don't worry.
C
I'm filming Jeremy, Andrea, Kimo and Zach.
A
So Loris is one of the main filmers for the Slingshot team and we've actually used him before, actually. A lot of his edit, A lot of his footages in that. In that new edit that we just put up on YouTube. You can go see that. Well, good news is yesterday that they increased the prize money to €60,000, which I think it's got to be one of the biggest prize money pools we've had in kite boarding for a long time, if ever. And first price, 18k, which is kind of crazy. 18k. So that's sort of sounds so crazy, but it's life changing money for some of these riders. So even though the championship race is over for a lot of them, the prize money is going to make people Push extra hard. As I walk down the beach, I'm puffing. Oh, I'm just standing in front of Andrea Principe, actually. He's standing on his kite looking, and he's packed up with his new leopard haircut. I'm sitting down to the left of the event center, and I can see most of the. There is actually a few amateurs out there, and there's a few wingers in the bay as well, and power wingers. We need to get rid of those guys super fast. And obviously windsurfers. But this has been a windsurfing spot for. For many years. I can see Maxwell Dahl, who's right out the very back now. If you haven't come to this place, when you sit down at the bottom of the bay, straight in front of you is the Mykonos town. And I think what makes this place even windier is that the wind rushes down that hill and then across the bay. There are some huge cruise ships in the bay, but they don't seem to affect the wind so much. They have sort of turned bow into the wind. So we are looking at the end of them, and it's a lot cooler than yesterday with this wind blowing that out. But I can see Jeremy out the back there. It's so awesome to see that big yellow S on those slingshot kites. It really stands out against the arid landsc of the. Of the backdrop here. Thibaut. Come over here, Thibaut. Thibaut, who is team manager slash everything for Northern Mystic. How are you, Thibaut?
C
I'm all right. I'm all right. Are you?
A
I'm not too bad. Is this one of the new boards?
C
This is the. The new Astra.
A
Wow, that's beautiful. That is it. Help. Oh, that's super light as well.
C
Yeah.
A
And when does this board come out?
C
This will be released coming August.
B
Yeah.
C
So it's our big air freeride board for the lidar riders.
A
It was. It was funny. I was speaking to Cohen yesterday, you know, saying, hey, Cohen, it's. You know, when you joined the team, you know, had Mark as a mentor. I said, but it's turned around pretty quick now. You're the mentor.
C
Exactly.
A
But, I mean, how much excitement has Max brought to the team? A bit of youth, a bit of sort of, you know, those young kids, they bring that sort of playness back to the team as well, Right?
C
Definitely. I'd say it's purely fresh energy. It's really cool to have him compared to the rest of the young riders coming through. I think he's quite different. He's Danish. He's a bit more cold. Also in his personality, he can zone out a bit, but at the same time, within seconds his goofy side can come out. And it's lovely to have him here also in France already and now in Greece. It's really cool that on such a young age he's already showing himself scarily.
A
Good. I mean, it's interesting. Like, I've known him for two or three years. From a little boy with long hair, he's almost a man. He's bigger than me now. He's getting big.
B
Yeah.
C
It's going fast, eh?
A
And he's getting good looking, the little shit. We were all hoping he was going to get fat, but he used to be a little bit of a little hodgy kid when he first came. But sorry, Max, we do love you, but he's turned into a great, great kid from a great family. So, Thibaut, while I got you here, there's a new rule, actually, which has made helmets compulsory, which has actually surprised a few riders. Have you been getting calls from people to get helmets?
C
Quite a few, actually. It's been quite funny. So Giel Vlugt is actually gonna ride my own helmet.
A
What kart's he riding?
C
Oh, I'm not sure if he would be happy if I sat there.
A
Oh, you know.
C
I know.
A
Tell me off the bike. Don't worry, guys, I'll tell you on our secret group. So, I mean, how many riders have reached out to you for helmets?
C
Four so far.
A
Wow.
C
Yeah, and that's just the last. What is it, 16 hours?
A
And also, I believe it's compulsory to wear the impact vest, which is strange. I'm surprised. But there are riders out here still don't like to use the impact vest, which is crazy to me.
C
Yeah, I think the key thing for safety is being comfortable on the water. As in if you've never ridden with a helmet or an impact vest, and now all of a sudden you have to do it in this. What is it going to be, 40 knots? Probably tomorrow. Yeah, that's also tricky. It's all about feeling and being comfortable so that they want to have it as safe as possible for everyone. I completely understand. But then it would have been great if they communicated it maybe a bit earlier.
A
This is kiteboarding, bro.
C
Exactly.
A
We normally find this stuff out on the day. You didn't get in because you didn't do the qualifying. But I wasn't told. Welcome to kiteboarding. All right, guys, I'm back at pdc. I just want to give you a little update because Heel Vlute is on the water with his new kite, which is the Vantage. It doesn't say any Vantage on. It's all blacked out with just capital.com in it. I'll see if I can get a photo and get up close. But that's interesting. It's probably the worst kept secret. You know, we've not been speaking about it so much but a lot of people have known, you know, we've been speculating but yeah, very interesting choice there was. Obviously he's been out there riding Duotone as well and Ozone. But out here now on a black Vantage Gen 5, I've just seen Anastasia Petiti who is the female Greek rider. Anastasia, what are you thinking? Are you looking forward to this?
D
I'm super excited to see for the first time the GKA in Mykonos. It's my first time ever and I'm only the first Greek ever. That girl that's competing in this competition. It will be super nice. The forecast looks amazing as always in Mykonos and yes, I think we're going to have a really fun here.
A
I mean, you know these conditions better than all the girls. Do you think there's some advantage of that for you?
D
Not really because I didn't train a lot this year here. The conditions here are really tricky. You have to find the right gust. It's choppy, sometimes the wind is really gassy. You, you think you had the right gas but finally not so you have to find the sweet point for, for make the right decision.
A
I mean it's probably around 25 to 30 now. What size kite are you going to go out on?
D
I went with an 8. Now I'm changing for a 7 just to, to be more comfortable. And yeah, I think here you can use from, I don't know, seven, eight, nine. It's, it's gassy. So yeah.
A
Who have you got on your heat tomorrow?
D
I'm with Michael Isolation.
A
How awesome is that to ride up against Mika?
D
I'm really stressed about it.
A
Enjoy. I mean, Mika's a super nice person. She'll go easy on you. Round one maybe.
D
Yeah, I met her last day. She was super nice. She's an extremely nice rider and I'm really proud that I'm competing with her. We'll see.
A
Well, I'll let you go and train. Good luck.
D
Thank you very much. See you.
A
Well, we're sitting at the very northern part of the bay and we're just watching. I don't really, I Can't really say what's going on, actually, but we're. We're filming on a special shoot, but right to the right hand side we've got a guy, a lot of guys warming up. This top hand part of the bay is actually pretty good. This is where I like to ride.
B
Hello, viewers. Yes, you join us. I'm currently manning a camera. We've got Fabian on another camera, Arlen on the drone, and we can tell you there's Con Van Dyke on the water. That's probably about as much as we can say. No, we can say we've had Maxwell Dahl and Francesca Mania as well. And let me tell you, Maxwell Dahl was unbelievable, wasn't he? Oh, no. You didn't even see it, did you? You're gonna have to wait.
A
I'm gonna have to wait to see it myself. But we were sitting on the beach with Thibault's team manager and they are very aware of Max and, and I, I've been saying to him, you guys better look after this guy because people are going to come snapping at the heels and trying to get him. So, yeah, it's very, very interesting change in the dynamic of kiteboarding. And we saw that with Andrea, we saw that with Lorenzo, but this is a whole new change again. So, you know, those guys are in their early 20s now and there's guys six, seven years younger who are just as good fins. Looked best on beach so far as I can see. But when we finish from here, we'll go back and we'll give you a few updates. Still yet to see Heel Vlute.
B
So to bring you in here,
A
we've
B
come to a really far upwind spot, quite a long way away from the competition box, whether everything will happen tomorrow. And we've sent Cohen so far upwind so that he's going to hopefully break the line of the horizon and get above what's in the background, which is a big Greek hillside with lots of white houses on it.
A
I actually think this is the spot where a lot of the riders are going to wait for their turn. I mean, when you look down there, they're going to have to have some bloody big flags to let you know what ride is coming next. But we are maybe.
B
Oh, they'll have it on their watches with supper, won't they?
A
Absolutely. But there is going to be a flag system. But I think this is the area that they're going to have to tack. Oh, they're going to have to tack back and forward before they get their opportunity. And for the first time ever. They're going to have to go downwind and then into the box, which is going to be pretty interesting.
B
That's going to be cool.
A
The other thing that a lot of riders have been talking about is the three minute transition. Is it going to take three minutes to get up up here? So there is some talk that riders are going to leave maybe a little bit early and sort of tack up the left hand side of the box and then get in position. But this is what's making this event exciting and everyone's excited about this event.
B
I mean, this island of Greece was made for big air kite boarding. Was it? It's almost like it's designed for it. There's a Venturi effect between the two peninsulas and it just howls down at the Meltemi. Wind cranks in the summer, I think as well.
A
It's almost a bit like Macassar. The wind is getting accelerated through that. Through that hill that's above the city. Kohen are going above the horizon again.
B
Oh, he's done it. He's done it. That's our boy. That's why they're paying the big bucks.
A
Jets down there on his short lines, by the way. Way back down there. We'll try and try and get a little bit of audio from Jet, but it is literally the who's who. I have heard rumor that the goat's turning up to do some commentary.
B
No way.
A
Yeah, I've heard that Aaron had low. The original and spiritual goat is turning up to do some commentary which is going to be super cool.
B
I think excitement levels for this are almost at maximum.
A
You went here for the welcome and ceremony and party yesterday. You were off playing tennis. You know, you're allowed some free time. You're allowed some free time. Does that need a mention? No, but I'm just saying you're allowed some free time. I mean, I was thinking it was an extravaganza.
B
I think I might have been to more opening kiteboarding competition, opening ceremonies than 95 of the fleet.
A
Oh, no doubt, no doubt.
B
The only people I could think of that have been to Moore is Macar Sol and Gisela Pulido.
A
Well, I mean, Gisela, dude, let's talk about that. I mean, if you haven't seen the pre show, go check it out. It's, it's. We posted it yesterday. You should watch it before the competition. But Gisela Polito literally had been a nice speechless. I think that's pretty fair to say.
B
Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing to pick our brains for a competition and hear what it's like kiteboarding is like to her now compared to what she was doing 10 years ago and what she was doing just three years ago in the midst of her Olympic campaign. And it's just cool to hear the female goat talking about what she's finding difficult and how she's going about solving the problems that this technical version of Big Air that's so new to her has brought up.
A
I guess it would be like being a legendary football player and then told right now you have to kick with your left foot. You know, you brought up a great question. The pop from freestyle versus the prop from Big Air. You know, very, very different or designed to do very different things. You know, one is to bring the kite above you, one is to help you get slack on the lines. And her answer was amazing.
B
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I had an inkling that she. Well, I knew that the pops are very different, but I wanted to hear it from her. No one's more qualified to talk about that than she is.
A
I mean, she is an incredible. And look, it's not just the guys. Even some of the girls. I was speaking to some of the younger girls yesterday, they don't know who Gisela is, but when they asked around, they're all like, oh, she's a big deal. So it's super cool to hear everyone excited about that.
B
Crazy that there is a new generation of riders coming in that don't know who Gisela Pulido is.
A
Yeah, that's true. Esther corrected. She wants to correct you. Ben. She said, can you please tell Ben it's Esta Nag, not Naji. Okay, we know now.
B
Esther, not Estee.
A
No, Estee. Nag. No, she doesn't mind the first name, but her last name is Nag. Okay, good to know, as in she nags. Because she was nagging me today about that. I'm here with Sara Sadeq, my all time favorite Egyptian. Do you remember when I. We first met back in 2018 and baby, baby crazy.
C
Yeah.
A
How crazy is that? 2018, 18 or 19.
D
I don't know. I remember. It was a very, very long time ago.
A
When I saw you, I said, I don't think you realize how good you are. And you didn't believe me. Now look at you. Podium at world championships. But how much do you want to be in those Red Bull events?
D
I would really like to be in them. Let's see this year.
A
Well, you know, you know what they say when you get married. You know, it brings some Extra love and extra support, you know. Right now you are newly married.
D
Yes, but I do not recommend. No, I can't find.
A
No, come on, she's only joking.
D
I do recommend getting married.
A
Yeah, yeah.
D
I'm just recommending certain passports.
A
Oh, yes, of course. How have you found being here at Mykonos?
D
Great.
A
Great. Yeah. I mean, by the way, you travel on a German passport, right?
D
I do, but he's stuck. He was going to come, but his passport is still in the embassy and tomorrow is off, so. And the competition will start, so it's too late now.
A
I would like to meet this guy. Actually, I don't think I've ever met him, but. Yeah. How was your. How was the wedding?
B
It was great.
A
Yeah.
D
A lot of fun.
A
Yeah, it looked beautiful.
B
Fun.
A
It was what you wanted.
D
It was what I wanted. It was. We enslaved all our friends.
A
They were all.
D
Yeah, they helped prepare, they helped do the setup. They were all amazing. And I think that's what made it perfect, that everyone was just there for us and then celebrating with us.
A
Who have you got on your heat tomorrow?
D
Aya and Rose.
A
Aya's a great little competitor.
D
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also very curious about Rose. I've been sharing room with her the last week, really well, replacing Omar. So, yeah, I think it's going to be a fun heat.
A
It's crazy how young some of these girls. It's just, it's almost replicating what's happening on the guys side now.
D
These young girls coming in, they're almost half my age.
A
I know. Crazy. Well, last night I was sitting next to Kalani and she was like, I'm only 16. It made me feel very old.
D
Yeah, I'm turning 30 soon, so.
A
Are you on your prime?
D
Don't worry. Yeah.
A
Hey, good luck for tomorrow.
D
Thank you. Thank you.
A
I'm here with George Quintus. Mate, this guy's an absolute legend and he's in the four way ride off of that 24th spot.
C
How cool is that, Adrian? Yeah, man. So cool to just compete, you know, with a couple of Greek riders because we've never had a. Not even an event in Greece, so it's. It's the first time, let's say we have a national, you know, let's say hit with the guys. It's gonna be a very close hit. Everyone is very good, I think. But yeah, let's see how it's gonna go.
A
I mean, I know Philippus a long time and yourself, obviously, Baptiste. I don't know Maxime so well, obviously enough to say hello, but Are you guys all about the same level? What do you think?
C
I think so, yeah. So Baptiste knows the sport very well, so has a very good advantage then. Max has trained a lot, I know that for sure. I haven't kited for a very long time, but I can still pull off some nice moves. And then the other guy, Filipos as well, he's not been kiting the last couple of months, but he's very, very
A
good and very experienced too. He's done a lot of beckle.
C
He's done, he's done buckles. Yeah, he's done a couple of competitions. So it's going to be, it's going to be a very good one to start off the event.
A
Well, it's great to see you, brother. Last time we caught it up in Cape Town and I made good luck for tomorrow, man. I tell you what, if you win, bro, I'll be over the moon, brother.
C
Thank you very much, man. Thank you very much.
A
All right, I'm signing off for Mykonos Daily here from the PDC center in Mykonos. It is going to be an 8:30 start in the morning. So that means, if you're listening to this, I've had to get up very, very early today, get this pod out for you. But it is going to be a 30 start, where I think they're going to do the four Greek riders who are going to ride off, which is George Quintus, Philippus Tamantanis, Maxine Gillis and of course Baptiste Bodillus, who's one of the organizers here. They're riding off for that final spot, which is going to be super awesome for the, for the Greek community and for the kite surfing community here. So I'm signing off for today. We'll all see you 8:30 in the morning tomorrow.
Host: Adrian Kerr
Date: June 17, 2026
Location: Mykonos, Greece, GKA World Championship Stop #2
This episode brings you into the heart of the GKA Kiteboarding World Championship’s second stop in Mykonos. Adrian Kerr reports from the beach on a windy “training day,” connecting with riders, team managers, and filmers to capture the atmosphere, excitement, and latest developments as the competition ramps up. Expect a candid, on-the-ground look at everything from new safety rules and prize money, to rising stars and the evolving dynamics in both men’s and women’s Big Air kiteboarding.
“Andrea and Finn just seem to be catching all the gusts, which is kind of crazy and to be expected. Andrea does know this place the best.” — Adrian ([00:40])
“Who are you shooting here? … Jeremy, Andrea, Kimo and Zach.” — Loris ([01:41])
“Tomorrow is going to be nuking.” — Loris ([00:29])
“That’s life-changing money for some of these riders.” — Adrian ([01:44])
“There’s a new rule… which has made helmets compulsory, which has surprised a few riders.” — Adrian ([04:44]) “Giel Vlugt is actually gonna ride my own helmet.” — Thibaut ([05:05])
“There are riders out here still don’t like to use the impact vest, which is crazy to me.” — Adrian ([05:28]) “It’s all about feeling and being comfortable… would have been great if they communicated it a bit earlier.” — Thibaut ([05:38])
“I’m super excited… I’m only the first Greek ever. That girl that’s competing in this competition.” — Anastasia Petiti ([06:52])
“The conditions here are really tricky. You have to find the right gust. It’s choppy, sometimes the wind is really gusty.” ([07:19])
“Do you remember when I… we first met back in 2018… Now look at you, podium at world championships. But how much do you want to be in those Red Bull events?” — Adrian ([14:19]) “I would really like to be in them. Let’s see this year.” — Sara ([14:36])
“What made it perfect, that everyone was just there for us and then celebrating with us.” — Sara ([15:30])
“It’s the first time, let’s say we have a national, you know, let’s say hit with the guys.” — George ([16:31])
“It’s very, very interesting change in the dynamic of kiteboarding… there’s guys six, seven years younger who are just as good.” — Adrian ([09:14])
“For the first time ever, they’re going to have to go downwind and then into the box, which is going to be pretty interesting.” — Adrian ([10:30])
“There is some talk that riders are going to leave maybe a little bit early… This is what’s making this event exciting.” — Adrian ([10:44])
“It’s just cool to hear the female goat talking about what she’s finding difficult and how she’s going about solving the problems that this technical version of Big Air… has brought up.” — Colin ([12:38])
“I have heard rumor that the goat’s turning up to do some commentary.” — Adrian ([11:40])
Adrian closes with excitement for the 8:30 AM start, highlighting the unique Greek four-way qualifier and the elevated energy on the beach. This episode captures the evolving spirit, youthful momentum, and growing professionalism of the world kiteboarding scene right as the Mykonos event is about to kick off.
“It is going to be an 8:30 start in the morning… I think they’re going to do the four Greek riders who are going to ride off, which is going to be super awesome for the… Greek community and for the kite surfing community here.” — Adrian ([17:35])