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- [00:00]
A
You know what we're about to do. Just put the intro in here, Adrian.
- [00:07]
B
Catastrophic equipment failure.
- [00:10]
A
Going for the boogie loop double just
- [00:11]
B
to get the landing. Had a couple of strings and it was extremely dangerous.
- [00:16]
A
Guys, I sent the trap and it
- [00:18]
B
is gold for Ellie Aldridge and gold for Great Britain.
- [00:24]
A
Right, we're recording this on Sunday. So the dust has settled from the bigger 2026 World Championships. We're going to go through our winners and losers. Obviously says it in the title. Don't know why I do that.
- [00:35]
B
I want to shout out to Baptiste Boydalis and the team here, they've done absolute unbelievable job, really, with. They're all a bit squeaky bum leading into this event with the wind not really playing around. But Baptist said, I think it's starting and when it starts it's going to stay here. And he was absolutely right on the money. And it came, and it came strong and, and it was not what we'd seen the year before, but it was definitely enough for a great big year event.
- [00:58]
A
I thought the live stream looked epic too. Crystal clear footage, multiple angles. Not that I've watched all the live stream, but like the key bits they didn't miss. So, yeah, great job, great job. Too much positivity, though, Adrian.
- [01:14]
B
Well, I mean, let me, let me push back there. I do want to say that I think on day one, they live stream, the video footage was shot quite far away and you know, I'd spoken to Joe Siestler about it and they, they really tightened that up in day two and day two it was much better. I thought the surfer and win game stuff, which was bringing us the distance and the height was great. Just a really, really tight and on point performance from the guys who shot it. I think also the crew that shot hadn't shot a lot of kite boarding before, so it was, you know, maybe they. And I like when, you know, media crews are open to feedback and want to make difference. I'm not saying it was my feedback that made a difference, believe me.
- [01:52]
A
Give us a loser.
- [01:53]
B
I'm going to say the nxt, Jeremy just couldn't seem to connect. It lost out to a kite that was built here, that was born here.
- [02:00]
A
So there isn't an NXT within the top 10 jumps of the whole Mykonos event. Whereas at Lords of Tram it was the top jump and the second top jump in the hands of Zach Adams and Jeremy Balando. What I will say is a lot of that comes down to how many times you're rolling the dice and the fact that those Boys weren't in the final. They often try and run the final in the windiest part of the day. So that is a factor you'd have to say.
- [02:34]
B
I mean, yeah, you're absolutely right. And, but you know, a lot of. And also look, look at Jamie noticeably less height in that final than, than the Casadi brothers. So, you know, maybe there is something there. And we did try and, you know, poke a few people about what kite was the best kite here. You'd said in the show setting up that, you know, you thought the peak was going to be that kite just for the DNA that Mykonos has in it, and I think you're right.
- [02:59]
A
Yeah, I think it's a superior kite. Off kickers, I think off the flat, the likes of the Rebel seem to go higher, but off the kickers, I think it's unmatched at the moment. Leonardo Casati with the highest jump, the Surfer app 22.6 meters. Second place was his brother Lorenzo, 20.8. And then the next person that isn't a casati brother in fourth place, Jamie Overbeek, 19.8. So that is actually pretty mad that he's 1.8 meters clear of Jamie Overbeek. Leonardo.
- [03:32]
B
Yeah, I mean, surfer did a great job at this event. I love. We, we were lucky enough to get given some cool stats. The most popular trick was obviously the kite loop laid back, bored off. What do you think the second most popular trick was?
- [03:44]
A
Colin, by the way, across men's and women's?
- [03:47]
B
I think so, yeah. By the way, that was landed 69 times. The board off late back doobie. Interestingly, the doobie has only been landed 31 times. It is a kite loop front roll, but a tic tac. So they're classifying the kite loop, the boogie loop board off as one trick and then the kite loop tic tac. So the kite loop tic tac is when the boys are spinning around and that's almost, I think those guys are doing it almost without really thinking now. And that was landed 48 times, so about 17 times more than the normal board off boogie, which is really interesting that that tic tac has become the sort of board off of choice.
- [04:22]
A
Okay, the people have tuned in to hear us.
- [04:25]
B
Yeah.
- [04:25]
A
Let's mulling over the actual headline.
- [04:28]
B
Give me your first winner.
- [04:30]
A
Well, to be able to ensure that one Kasati comes in first and the other comes in second in that order to ensure that Jamie Overbeek was denied his world championship is pretty epic. To be able to be that Accurate with the tricks. You called it a masterstroke. A lot of people on the beach thinking it wasn't very cool to do that, that people turn up on site and tune into the live stream to watch the best people in the world trying their best. And that wasn't the case. Lorenzo did have his foot off the pedal in order to let times.
- [05:11]
B
I think he put it, you know, he was like. He's like one of those bad taxi drivers who. He's on and off the gas all the time. It's really annoys, you know, And I think he was doing that.
- [05:19]
A
Yeah. So he comes out with a 9.4. And at the time, I was watching with Jeremy and I was like, oof. Is that just made his job harder to make sure that Leonardo could overtake him. It was only after from talking to Renato in the poster, which you can go and watch online for free now on portraitcart.com so just gone to Science Streaming. He said, no, that actually makes it easier. And I was like, oh, yes, because it's easier, much easier once you've got a nine to get lower scores to make sure you're in second place. Like, if you got a nine, you only need sixes and sevens as opposed to three eight.
- [05:56]
B
But he backed that up with a 7.4. Another big score. And that really made it easier again. And then we saw him sort of open up with a few of the big. Trying to do the quad flips and stuff like that.
- [06:05]
A
But no, he was not trying to do it, he was binning it.
- [06:09]
B
Yeah, yeah, of course he was. He was just having a go, you know, and, you know, if he dropped it, he didn't care. And I was.
- [06:14]
A
No, no, no. He was ensuring that he dropped it.
- [06:19]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
- [06:20]
A
Yeah. But you're making it sound like he was kind of going for it, but he wasn't.
- [06:24]
B
Well, that's the way it looked to me, like he was just going for a random trick but not really trying, you know, like throwing the board out there. Like, ridiculous far. But yeah, I was also on the beach with Nico del Mar, and Nico was straight away, he's like, this is a perfect strategy.
- [06:36]
A
Yeah. Lorenzo does not crash.
- [06:38]
B
No, not two in a row, especially
- [06:40]
A
not in a final. But how insane was that trick where he goes fully inverted, his feet up to the sky and the kite is, like, stalling out below him?
- [06:50]
B
It's level. It's absolutely level. When. If you talk like zero to 90, I mean, that thing is right out in front. It almost looks like he's got a lot of slack in the line before he falls and the kite catches him. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Look at his reaction, you know, both hands off the bar. Big celebrations. And it's interesting how Leonardo doesn't have that open celebration like Lorenzo and Andrea. They really celebrate the tricks. Leonardo's a little bit more cool and calm to it. But the Casadis for sure, huge winners. Masterstruck, that didn't have the radios, it was banned in the post show. Renato said no, it wasn't the plan, but we could. We've got some video footage. I'm up around the corner. All of them up there talking to each other. So they, they knew what they were doing. They were working this and well, you don't have to like it, but what they did was completely within the rules. I would be interested to see if the GKA changed that in the future, but I doubt it. Look, this is just an extension of what they tried to do in Laws of Tram. They tried to gamify the system. They got sort of caught with the watchers. Obviously very disappointed.
- [07:50]
A
Give them, give the example what happened
- [07:52]
B
in Laws of Tram. The Casadis wanted to be in different semi finals. You know, they don't really want head to head clashes. They don't mind doing that in the final. They try to gamify the system. There was a problem with the watches and we've spoken about this. Ignausium baby Shark beat Lorenzo. They complained, they forced the ride off, but this is an extension of what they did. But this time they got it right. In that time when we did this, loners and losers, I don't like the sort of gamification of the system, but when you see it done well, you have to respect that. I mean for me, huge winner. The other big winner on the day, obviously Mikali Soul, ninth world title, didn't just win the final. Absolutely dominated. More dominant than she's ever been. The Shark Attack, the Bordos. You know, she was riding at four or five levels above the other ladies and that's not putting those ladies down. She stepped it up. But I said in that pre show, I think that motivation of getting the second place, you know, the ninth title in her grasp, I just love this new motivated Micah and you know, she's got that big smile and she wants to do this and she said, I'm enjoying my riding and that's what I love.
- [08:55]
A
There's also the kite. That's the other change. She didn't nod to that. But there has to be something in it the Rebel, this new Rebel compared to the 2023 Jo Turn Evo, which was the first D Lab Evo, the one that Andrea already put on the map, it's much More requires the 2023 one requires much more precise steering. It's more punishing. But if you can get the max out of it, it is a higher performing beast. It's like a race car. The Rebel is more forgiving, bigger sweet spot. I think that's really helped her.
- [09:27]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, she does look good. I think she had a couple of crashes but she was very consistent across the whole. You know, she's just almost like doing it in first gear. And in the final she went out there and just stepped it up, which was great to see. Let's do another loser. I'm going to say the price of Mykonos, it's scarily expensive here.
- [09:46]
A
Yeah, it's stupid. Two cocktails for €44 or something. Not that we're doing that. We go to the same restaurant every night and have six euro gyros.
- [09:55]
B
Yeah.
- [09:56]
A
It's unbelievable.
- [09:57]
B
And they like us there because we're big spenders here. Six euros.
- [09:59]
A
Is it amazing for kiteboarding? Yeah. Should you come in on a holiday? Yeah, if you're in a kiter for sure.
- [10:04]
B
Yeah.
- [10:04]
A
If you're not a kiter, it's just you should take a look at yourself kind of.
- [10:08]
B
Here's a tip. Bring two board bags, fill one fully with two minute noodles and you're going to have a great time.
- [10:14]
A
Look, let's do another winner saying that it's not unbelievable. We've found cheap accommodation every time we've come so you can find it.
- [10:20]
B
Yeah, you have. I mean you have to prepare to share or maybe be a little bit more out of the, out of the
- [10:24]
A
town and be prepared to like you fly in and you can be at the, at the kite spot within five minutes of getting in your rental car. That's mad. It's a great kite spot. People should come here. The center is amazing as well. The Durato pro center here is great. Really nice people. Anna and Alex. Anyway, we're back. We were talking winners and losers in the comp. Come on, back to it, back to it. Loser.
- [10:44]
B
Oh, is Jamie a winner or loser? What do you mean? It's a tough one, man.
- [10:48]
A
I mean you should be world champion right now. How could you possibly think he's a winner?
- [10:52]
B
He's ranked second in the world again. It's just heartbreak for Jamie. Look, I think Jamie sets very high standards and he would probably say that it's a loss for him. But I want to take the positive side. You can pitch your sideways a loser in a second. But look, he got up there, he handled it, he smiled, he came and spoke to us. I've seen lots of guys walk away when they get second and who is bitterly disappointed. He just got beaten. And I think he knew that, you know, he didn't. Nothing went wrong. He was fully prepared. He was. He had said to us, I'm 100% prepared and ready for this, but he just got beaten on the day. And I don't think you can put that as a loser category. If you do everything you can and you come out, it's not good enough. I think it's tough to call yourself a loser.
- [11:34]
A
It's quite a compelling argument you've made.
- [11:36]
B
But, I mean, pitch why he is
- [11:37]
A
a loser, only had to come third. It's also this argument I strengthens what the Kasatis did, because basically they asked the question of Jamie, are you going to be World champion? Are you? Okay, go on, then. And Jamie came forth in that heat. Shahar beat him. So, yeah. Did the Kasatis collude to get it done? Yes. But also, Jamie didn't pass the ball back to them either. I like what you said, actually. I also think Jamie has handled that World Championship loss better than I've ever seen anyone handle it. I'm thinking back to Lorenzo not winning. King of the Air disappears, won't speak to us. I'm thinking of Pippa Van Ursul losing her World Championship. Devastated. Carl interviewer last year, what happened? Jamie, Jamie that year, he was epic. He's such a honest, lovely person and a great athlete. And that's so rare in someone.
- [12:57]
B
It takes a bigger man to congratulate the winner. Look, I mean, you know, the interview with Andrea and Zach when he got knocked out in round three, you know, it's a true sign of a champion.
- [13:09]
A
King of the air.
- [13:09]
B
Yeah, and King of the air. It's a true sign of a champion who somewhere can come up and shake the hand of the person who beat him and say, mate, you deserve this. You know, remember that Liam and Andrea moment in Tarifa many years ago? And you, you. It was off camera, but you caught the audio and you said, you deserve this. You know, it's the sight of a champion for me. So I feel a bit emotional even speaking about that. I can put him in that loser category because he didn't fulfill it. But, you know, our losers and winners has not been A loser. It's just who maybe didn't fulfill. And, yeah, it's heartbreak for him. I really felt from. And the whole Dutch community is behind Jamie at the moment. Right? They're all cheering him on. They love Jamie, carried him up onto the podium with the flag. The biggest congress, the biggest group of riders. They carried him up. It was awesome to see.
- [13:51]
A
Yeah. The best thing about that is the rest of the Dutch riders are all quite like. They're like. They're lads, aren't they? They go and party, they jump around, they don't mind dancing, they got their tops off, you know, they're fun. Jamie's much more serious.
- [14:06]
B
Yeah. He's in the corner sipping his milk.
- [14:08]
A
But they love Jamie and the fact that they pick him up like that, I just think is so epic. There's so much respect there.
- [14:16]
B
You know, we had a really nice moment with Lorenzo, you know, maybe a couple hours before the final, and he said, you know, Jamie also deserves this, you know, and it's great to see Lorenzo maturing as a man and opening up to us. And he said, look, I'm going to do my best. I want the money, I want to win. He said, I want to win. But you said, if we don't win, he also deserves us. And that's super cool to see. I mean, he's got that respect. He's ranked 2 in the world. You can't beat them. But let's talk about the guy who got third and also in his first final, rode the best he's ever ridden, which is Shahar Sabri. We had a great emotional talk with him and heel after, but, man, this is the performance that we've wanted to see from Shah but haven't seen till now.
- [15:01]
A
Yeah, he wrote his ass off, trained
- [15:03]
B
with the Casadis, spent a lot of time in Gran Canaria, you know, really was like. Felt like he was a bit part of that family. And he was just awesome, mate. Just pushing it out, getting the height as well, you know that we've all known that those core kites can get the height, but, man, he looked good. One of his biggest downfalls had been the mental game like he'd always been. Had so much hype, but never delivered. And this was the first time he got it all together. And he said to me, I said, hey, I've got you in my fantasy. And he said to me, look at me. He goes, I'm telling you now, it's a good choice. Well, you've heard Shahar on the podcast, we'll get him on in a few weeks. He's got a really cool way of talking. You know, it's almost like sincere and childlike and that just in a beautiful way and honest. And him to say, hey. You know, when he spoke to heal, he said, hey, hi'. Or might not be my teammate anymore, but he always been my brother. Wah. I'm getting emotional, bro.
- [15:51]
A
It was nice. It was really nice. Moment. Yeah. That's enough positivity. A lot of people saying the frog heights were underscored. I spoke to Head judge Moraine about it. Overheard him talking to Hugo Wigglesworth about it too, who was kind of the main. The main victim. Stung victim. Yes. And it comes down to what Hugo says in the post show. Leading edge inflatable kite tube kite has a more aggressive spikier power delivery. It comes on and off very quickly. Personally, I think the foil kites look like they yank more and longer. It's a much longer delivery of power. It looks scary as shit. And I think it is a shame that. That it's underscored like it is. I think it's underscored. And if they were to score it properly, I think it would change the shape of the sport at the top end fundamentally. And I don't think that is in the interest of the gka, because the GKA is made up of all the brands, barely any of which make foil kites.
- [17:06]
B
Kind of felt like a bit like Charles Burdell at King of the Air. The crowd was into it. The crowd loved it, right? And those big jumps. But it's like, if you don't want them to use it, then you should probably rule them out or score them fairly. But, you know, it's a tough one. I can sort of see from rainside as well, you know, I mean, by the way, it was pumping wind. Howie was hanging onto that kite.
- [17:28]
A
I don't know. I don't know.
- [17:29]
B
It's absolutely crazy. Hugo again, he's a true professional, right? And he said, hey, look, I'm trending in the right direction. You know, I'm going. You know, let's be honest. I can be tough on myself, but I proved my results making it the semi final. If it make it to that final, it been. It had been crazy.
- [17:44]
A
That one thing I'll say, the fact that the GK is made up of brands that don't sell foil kites isn't the reason why they underscored him this. It's the reason why they won't change it.
- [17:57]
B
Let's talk about another winner. Giselle Pulido. Not the performance that she wanted, but the star power she brought. It was unbelievable. And you know what? We, you know, when she got knocked out on day one, she said, I'm going to change my flight and go home. I saw her the next day. She calmed down a little bit. She said, you know, I'm going to stay a little bit longer and enjoy this and just enjoy it. Because I think that shows how much she wants to win by saying that I'm going to go home is kind of what killer, prolific winners do. But she was there the next day with a smile on her face and I thought that was super cool. Great to see her in. Big ear. I hope to see her more. You know, it's dominated freestyle over the years, has been involved in racing for the last six years. But interesting how she said that. You know, this felt like racing before the Olympics when there wasn't the big prize money, but now we've got this big event with the prize money. I wonder if down the line, if we can continue to get these big prize moneys, then it will change the way people are.
- [18:52]
A
I was wondering whether we'd see a difference in this one. I really did because there was a lot of talk about, oh, it's 18 grand. It's 18 grand. I really thought there might be some more knives out, but it didn't seem it, did it? But maybe, Adrian, that's a. There's something to be said about there only really being about four people that can win it.
- [19:10]
B
Yeah. But I think the change is on its way. The young guns are coming.
- [19:16]
A
Who are they?
- [19:17]
B
Aya Kasabova, four time junior world champion. Steps up to the big leagues. Gets third in the world. She gets second. She opened. I think she was one of only seven girls who got an 8 and
- [19:27]
A
she's doing doobies in competition. Yeah, no one does that apart from her and Micah.
- [19:31]
B
Massive.
- [19:33]
A
People go for it, but they don't land it. High pressure moments like that, epic from
- [19:37]
B
her, you know, started out, she landed those first three big tracks and then got on a bit of a stinker. And as I crashed, she said, I was hoping they were going to end it after three when she was actually leading Mika at that stage. I've actually got a screenshot that I sent her. After three tricks, she's. She's leading Mika, but, yeah, just unbelievable performance. Training with Niko as well, who's really sort of a mentor for her. Maxwell Dahl getting another sort of quarterfire finish, getting to the same level as he got in. Lords of tram sort of lacked the height. He was in that killer young guns quarterfinal. Didn't really get the height. But again, just a kid who's only 15, he's two years younger than Leonardo. So think about that. That's kind of crazy that we always thought Leo was this young kid. Max is two years younger than Leo. So that's a name for the future. It's great to see that these young ones are coming to the sport. Unfortunately we won't see Max in any Red Bull events. This is pretty much the last time we'll see him in the big air till next year, which is a real shame. But that's just the nature of it.
- [20:33]
A
So where the world details, isn't it Adrian?
- [20:35]
B
I think when I got into the sport I was interviewing Kevin and Jesse and Nick and Mark and Now I'm interviewing 15 year old girls. It's kind of crazy that that's the way sports going, but that is the nature of all types of extreme sports. Look at skateboarding and snowboarding. This is the way it is. They are more durable. I think the careers will be shorter. We've kind of maybe seen that with Andrea at the moment. You know, he doesn't seem to be as focused but I mean, Andrea thoughts?
- [21:07]
A
Yeah. Not. Not his competition, was it? Despite it being his spot, no one's ridden him more than he has. I thought it was epic though that yesterday, this is the day after the competition, he was out for hours and hours. That really surprised me.
- [21:20]
B
Yeah. Andre hasn't lost his love for kiteboarding. I don't think he doesn't love the sport anymore, mate. He's out there surrounded by just people who are out there on holiday. But maybe he's lost that love of competition.
- [21:32]
A
Fair enough.
- [21:33]
B
He might be the most prolific big ear winner ever. I mean if you think about how many titles he's won, he's won more big air titles than anyone else. But maybe his future is being the rock star of the sport and being at a turn up and people are excited to see him. But he's incognito a lot these days. You know, he's got the hoodie up the glasses on and you can sometimes just wander past Andre and not realize it's him because he's sort of not out there as he was in the four, you know, yelling in Italian and stuff like that. Which, which is totally cool too. And, and you know, many people ask me over the days, oh, you're going to speak to Andre. You're going to speak to Andre. I'm like, it just feels right to give him space. It doesn't feel right to try and, I mean, we're going to get him around here for a barbecue in the next few days and just sort of spend a bit of time outside of the. The competition area, which I think he'll. He'll app.
- [22:28]
A
All right, Surfer Data, this is what it's telling me. A lot less travel distance at Mykonos compared to Lord to Tran. I was thinking, is that to do with a spot? Is it less lofty wind here? Is it because it's. They're taking off on chop and little kickers as opposed to flat. But according to the data, it's probably because there was less contra loops here. People were contra looping the shit out of it at Lords of Tram. And we spoke to. Who do we speak to in the pre show that talked about that?
- [23:06]
B
Moraine spoke about it to us.
- [23:07]
A
No, there was something else. The bush. I was like, was it the bush? Zach. It was Zach in the pre show, basically. He was like, yeah, contradicts go higher because you're redirecting the kite forward so they go higher and take you further. I said, I think it might be the updraft from the bush. And he kind of laughed at me and then looked at me to think like, oh, maybe there's something in that. Anyway, a lot less contraloops here.
- [23:38]
B
Maybe it's just not the bush. Maybe it's all this also, that sort of. There is a sort of embankment, a concrete bankman that runs up where the sort of people sit on there. Maybe that the wind is coming down, hitting that and maybe ricocheting up. I mean, it's all. And this is what I'm loving about the sport, is there's more data coming into the sport.
- [23:53]
A
Yeah.
- [23:54]
B
You know, and look. And we've been getting amazing data from, you know, surfer in the Win Games. And like all sports, you know, Data is becoming a big player. So, yeah, it's cool to see that. There's. What did I say, 69 laid backs, which is the normal kite loop. And less contraloops this time, where before the data was more contraloops. So, yeah, that's interesting. I also think maybe the wind's a bit. What's way warmer. There's got to be something in the density of the wind as well, which is affecting that.
- [24:20]
A
Yeah, for sure, for sure. I think another factor is that the judges were really. What they want to see is how Lorenzo rides, which is you get up unbelievably high, you put the Kite unbelievably low. And this is the critical bit. You're doing the most technical part of your maneuver whilst the kite is level with you, ideally fluttering and stalling a bit. And then you put your board on last second and it all comes together tickety boo. Putting your kite lower usually means, and the stats back this up, that you're not going to go as far. So I think that's a major contributor to people actually leaning into the judging criteria.
- [25:02]
B
Yeah, absolutely. We did see some big jumps and we saw some, some distance traveled, actually. Interestingly, the first day. We can add this into one of the other losers. The viewing on the first day was terrible because they were competing like about 300 meters out to sea. It was almost impossible to see. The next day they bought that box and I think another 150 meters close to the shore. I think they were worried seeing those videos that Lorenzo had put up where he was traveling 300 meters and they were thinking that they had a buoy line that was about 100 meters off and they were encouraging them not to land.
- [25:36]
A
You're saying you reckon they watched Zip and thought, ah, hang on, not just
- [25:40]
B
Zip, but the surfer, that surfer data came through, you know, and, you know, Marine had said, you know, on Lorenzo's got the longest jump here. And I was like, I was here, I saw it's on dop.
- [25:49]
A
But Lincoln bio, they had these boys
- [25:52]
B
set out 100 meters off and you weren't. There wasn't a rule if you land in there, you got disqualified because, you know, we saw baby shark and round one land into that distance, but that was like a safety barrier. I think they realized that they weren't getting that same distance and they had a bit more flexible and they bought that box a little bit closer. So the viewing on day two was definitely better. Let's talk about another winner, Colin. Alyssa Minch. Again, a bit like Jamie, but not in the same position. Right. I mean, she wasn't the favorite to win, wasn't the favorite to go on, but again, just so open and honest about her writing, taking positives from every opportunity, ranked second in the world. So it's a huge step up for her. Great for her sponsors. I mean, she's been a, a long time battler in the, in the ladies division, has missed out on the Red Bull events at times and been disappointed. You know, spent lots of time in Cape Town working on that and I finally think that this hard work is starting to pay off. She's going big, she's doing the tricks really really well. She's consistent and I think she's also starting to enjoy riding. I think at times. You know, we spoke to her last year and she was nervous about some of the competitions. I think we heard that in Little Ayah as well saying, you know, more comfortable in stronger wins. So I'm loving that she's finding her flow. You don't have to ride like Micah. It's impossible to ride like Mika. You've got to ride like you. And I love in that she owns that. And yeah, just the big smile, you know. Happy with the results. Yeah, it was, it was beautiful.
- [27:22]
A
Yeah. And many athletes in her same position would have been crushed by pressure and fear and she wasn't. I think she rode with a lot of courage and should be really proud of that. I think she's a winner.
- [27:38]
B
I've got some losers. Okay, I'm calling them the old guard now. The Luca Trudy's, the Josh Gillets. You know, Jason proved us wrong and made it to the semis. But these guys are under immense pressure now. They were the young guys five years ago putting pressure on the marks. Do you remember how Mark used his experience to beat Luka at King of the year? The next thing, Luka stepped up. So these guys who are putting pressure on that old guard and forcing them out up already. We're talking about careers getting shorter. You know, those long 10 to 15 year careers. You know, Aaron, Aaron's still in the sport, 25 years old. It's crazy. But these careers are getting shorter because we've got this. It's like a pressure pump. It's like a coffee plunger of young talent coming up and they know it. And it's going to be very interesting to see with these, the pressure on these guys and where they can go and what they're going to do. Because you know, I was watching guys out riding way after all the pros had left and I was seeing high quality riding from young kids just going off the beach and it was awesome. And yeah, these guys are under pressure big time.
- [28:45]
A
I think it will result in us seeing a lot more crashes because they're going to have to ride to the ceiling of their abilities and I think they're going to have to take risk where it's not sensible to in order to try and hold on and keep up. At the moment it's 20% of all scored attempts are crashes. I think that's going to come up. That's some win game data for you.
- [29:12]
B
That'll be an interesting step for us to to make a mental note of. Right. And just to see, you know, I might ask Maureen what the percentage of crash was in lzatram. A very difficult landing, by the way, in l', Orzatram, Jamie only crashing one trick in three weeks is kind of outrageous. But, yeah, that'll be interesting to see if that rises or falls. I think that's a really good point. You have to take more risk. You have to start pushing harder. And I think they probably got a bit comfortable on the rolls, maybe comfortable with the tricks they're doing, maybe not looking to go for the extra rotation or flip that board one extra time like the young Zachs are and, you know, things like that. So that'll be super interesting to see another big winner for me. I thought again, Baby Shark turn up again. You know, we, you know, you and I are speaking this morning about him and, you know, he's going through this time where he's getting new kites and they're trying to establish the brand. He hasn't had the training. He's always like, I haven't had the training. I haven't had the brand. But he's still putting the performances. It's time for some consistency now with him because in that post show, he has that moment. We said, I keep having this dream about winning Kota now. That's a beautiful dream to have to make your dreams come true. You can't sit back. So I'm liking the space he's in. He's back to the baby shark of old, if not a little bit more mature. Well, a lot more mature. I think we can all say that. But he's also got that little bit of a buzz about him. And there's not many riders that everyone knows is good. You know, people now are like, oh, man, I got off and gets Baby Shark. It's a tough one. And people normally spoke about Andrea, Jeremy, Jamie, Lorenzo like that. Now Baby Shark's back in that group. He was once in that big five, but I think he's close to that again. He's ranked 6 in the world. So great to see our little brother back and got the little swagger back, you know, the little bit of cockiness, but it's cockiness. It's control cockiness. And I think his coach has a lot to do with that as well. By the way, I want to say one more winner just came to my mind. Now. The Beach Boys, mate, those guys were working overtime. I mean, they were controlling a lot of kites. There was a lot of craziness going on we did see a couple of kites go into the buildings, but man, those, those, those guys did a great job on the whole.
- [31:17]
A
Yes, but occasionally the kites were destroyed.
- [31:20]
B
There hasn't been many losers in this event. I mean it was just a really great positive event.
- [31:25]
A
I'm really over sequence riding. Can we just please get rid of it? I don't want to see four riders go in sequence taking a minute and a half between each go. Please just make a box and let them go at it. My argument is that the judging is not that accurate when they're doing sequence. So just let them not be that accurate when they're doing Free for All. I want to see. You've got 10 minutes. Go for your life. They can use action replays if they need to get some extra judges in there. Oh, just make it, just make it better to watch, please.
- [32:06]
B
I understand.
- [32:07]
A
And it also makes it fairer because if it picks up for your. If you get a gust in your special slot, you've got massive advantage over everyone.
- [32:16]
B
I understand Buckeriers and I understand Tarifa where it's a very small takeoff spot.
- [32:22]
A
Oh, that's small.
- [32:22]
B
And someone crashes. You know you're basically. You can't do anything. But here it's huge. Go left. Someone crashes. Go left.
- [32:29]
A
Yeah, but you can't do anything.
- [32:30]
B
That's fine.
- [32:31]
A
You have to wait. It's just how. Why is that a problem?
- [32:34]
B
Well, they work best in places like King of the Air where The box is 300 meters long. Right. You can just go up wind or downwind and you can always be out of each other's ways.
- [32:42]
A
They can do it at King of the Air. I don't see why they can't do it here. They can do it in the King of the Year final and there's three of them.
- [32:47]
B
The four man hits are. Look, you're right, but that's their problem. Not on our problem.
- [32:51]
A
I also want it one on one more.
- [32:53]
B
Yeah, one on one's the best. Yeah, for sure. But you know what? My last loser. The scoring just seems a little bit inconsistent. I think the scoring. I think the judges were in the wrong position. I think the judges should have been up on the side car park so they had a side on view. I think looking directly on is not the best way to judge distance or travel on. I think that in what they are going to do this again 100%. I think they will look to maybe have something up there. I think it's the best viewing. The, the judging did see a little Seem a little bit all over the place at times, but.
- [33:28]
A
Yeah, but every single event, doesn't matter how close they get it. Everyone's going to say that someone will be bummed out. No, no, no. Yeah, they get moaned out. No matter how well they do, even if it's immaculate, someone will moan. You're moaning right now.
- [33:42]
B
I am mining. Yeah. But, you know, maybe it's my. Maybe it's my sort of love for some riders that when they don't get it. But you know what? You're absolutely right. The judging, the guys are doing the best job they can and, you know, they've got a good team. I would like to see them take a. I still think the Red Bull approach is more professional. They do training throughout the year. They get given videos, they have to score and send it back. They have a bigger team, they can give judges breaks. I mean, these are long days. I mean, king of the ears, five hours. I mean, these ones can be long days where the judging is sitting there going on and on and on. So I do think that we should have maybe 30% more judges. So you can give people breaks, get them in and out, let them freshen up. You know, imagine if your job is to be mentally focused for six hours. It's difficult.
- [34:27]
A
I couldn't do it.
- [34:28]
B
The trick calling is difficult.
- [34:29]
A
You couldn't do it?
- [34:30]
B
No way. I can't. I'm already thinking about the cup of tea, so it is tough. But again, as more money comes into the sport, which looks like there's some great sponsors around who wanted to make this more of a professional. Let's spend some money on judging. Let's spend more money on tech. I'm loving the tech.
- [34:49]
A
Coming up again, there's more tech.
- [34:51]
B
Yeah, the tech is cool.
- [34:52]
A
You know, that's more tech.
- [34:54]
B
When that comes out, I'm going to be in my wheelchair, sitting there on my rocking chair, watching it lying. I used to be there when it was people judging, but, yeah, the future is coming. An absolute positive event. It was one of the best events I've been to in a long time, I must say. Great turnout, well run, great writing, unbelievable performances, great storylines, great prize money. Wow. The prize money. Crazy, crazy prize money. And guess what? I hope we see more of this because these guys deserve it. They're risking a lot. I mean, Zach crashing, having that huge crash. You know, these guys deserve to have the best medical that they can get and be looked after. Surprisingly, we only have one ambulance again. I mean, that always blows my mind that as you guys probably watching the stream. The AP flag went up because they had to take the ambulance. Way to take Zach to hospital. Surely it's not difficult to get another ambulance.
- [35:46]
A
Yeah, it was twice the price. Might not need it.
- [35:49]
B
We had eight times the prize money.
- [35:50]
A
You might not need it.
- [35:51]
B
You might not need it. At least they got someone to talk to.
- [35:55]
A
Okay, think to us as always. We'll see you in the next one. Go watch the Post show. If you haven't, that'll be in the thing and goodbye.