Winners and Losers | Red Bull Megaloop­ | The Megapod

Summary

Kitesurf365 – Winners and Losers | Red Bull Megaloop | The Megapod

Date: September 16, 2025
Hosts: Adrian Kerr (A), Colin Colin Carroll (B)

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Episode Overview

In this episode of the Megapod, Adrian Kerr and Colin Colin Carroll broadcast from Kite Mana, the world’s biggest kitesurfing shop, to break down the triumphs and disappointments of the much-anticipated Red Bull Megaloop 2025 event—covering both the men’s and women’s divisions. The duo delivers their signature irreverent analysis, reviewing standout performances, tactical developments, equipment choices, and the unique atmosphere of one of kiteboarding's wildest competitions. The show is structured around “winners and losers,” offering detailed insights, witty banter, and behind-the-scenes tidbits for diehard fans.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Atmosphere and Setting

• The episode is recorded amidst boxes of gear at Kite Mana, due to lingering stormy winds from the prior day’s event ([00:39]).
• The Megaloop had “one of the best crowds ever” for a kitesurfing Monday, with bad weather not dampening public enthusiasm ([22:08]).

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2. Biggest Winners

Lorenzo Casati

• "Biggest winner for me is Lorenzo Casati because he beat Andrea Pinchippi, his rival, at the biggest stage." (B, [02:04])
• Highlight Moment: With 2:40 left on the clock in the men’s final, Lorenzo landed a doobie loop with an added rotation and an impressively low kite, essentially clinching the victory ([04:07]).

  "I remember turning to you and say, that's it. He's just won the Mega Loop. No one's gonna top that." (B, [04:49])

• Technical Brilliance: Noted for unbeatable kite angle and consistency in high-scoring tricks across his heats.

  "He was rolling the dice more than anyone else, too. And when he hit a big score, it was way bigger than anyone else." (B, [02:32])

Zara Hoogenraad

• Dominated the women’s final, overcoming previous disappointments:

  "She didn't just win. She dominated… relentlessly and found that flow similar to Lorenzo. In the end, she was unstoppable." (A, [06:16])

• Took advantage of strong wind conditions that favored her style.
• Colin praises Zara’s "boogie loop" over Natalie—something neither rider seemed aware of in the moment ([06:39]).

Usil Parallax

• Standout young rider among the short line camp.

  "He impressed me from the beginning. … super cool, super calm. Didn't seem like he was under any pressure. Loved the moment." (A, [11:15])

• Praised for his board-off rotations on short lines and representing a future threat in major competitions ([12:03]).

Cohen Van Dijk

• Recognized for a much-needed strong performance, returning to form post-injury:

  "It was the performance he needed, you know? ... he's trending in the right direction." (A, [22:57])

• Needs to push more technical boundaries and capitalize on others' mistakes to challenge the current “big two” ([24:19]).

Natalie Lambrecht

• Lauded for her gutsy riding in the women’s division, executing high-difficulty tricks in tough conditions, which put her back on the podium after past disappointment ([30:12], [30:43]).

Dutch Cuisine (Honorary)

• Amidst food scarcity, Dutch event snacks are humorously declared winners:

  "It was a €4.50 for a white bun and a sausage cut in half." (B, [16:23]) "It was a 2.5 [out of 10]." (B, [16:53])

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3. Notable Losers

Short Line Competitors

• Despite the hype, the short line riders were at a disadvantage due to slightly less extreme winds than expected:

  "The likes of Jet Bradshaw, Usil Parallax… they're all guys that if they try and play the same game... they're gonna lose it." (B, [07:45])

• Short lines increased risk and spectacle, but didn't deliver a competitive edge at top level ([09:23]).

Baby Shark (Nickname)

• Delivered a disappointing and disorganized performance, arriving with none of his own equipment:

  "Another disappointing performance for him. I think he probably needs to have a good look at himself and think, do you want to do competitions anymore?" (A, [12:58])

• Possibly suffering from “swagger overload” and lack of preparation ([13:15]).

Doubles (Technical Moves)

• Nearly absent from the competition due to wind/execution risk, suggesting a possible shift in trick progression:

  "Is this the death of doubles?...I am in a position where I kind of want to move away from doubles. I like the big singles. Now, looking at those... that kite position from the 18s, it was... beautiful." (A, [15:01])

Equipment Setup: Floating Markers (“Boys/Buoys”)

• Absence of buoys to mark the event box made judging and spectator perspective trickier but created a more ‘authentic’ feel ([20:20]).

The Hosts’ Wardrobe & Eyes

• Both hosts lament their sandy, wind-battered clothing and eyes after the event ([22:00], [37:04]).

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4. Format & Technical Developments

• 18m lines and extreme kite angles changed the vibe, with greater risk, more freefall, but ultimately, “at the top end it didn’t make a difference at all” ([09:23]).
• Potential for the short line trend to evolve if kite designers begin catering specifically to that setup ([10:05]).
• One-on-one format and 8-minute heats praised as increasing psychological pressure and raising the competitive bar ([17:55]).

  "Eight minutes is also a really nice amount of time. ... the one on one part of it makes it a more psychological battle between the two riders." (B, [17:55])

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5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Women’s Grit:

  "These ladies are not big people. And they got more guts than me, man. That’s for sure." (A, [29:12])

• On Greek Crowd:

  "Biggest crowd that I've seen in person at a kite boarding event on a Monday." (A, [22:08])

• On Cohen’s Style:

  "Cohen rides in this, like, reckless style, which the judges really like… Whereas Andrea has, like, way more creativity in the air… and you go to Lorenzo, just so consistent." (B, [25:02])

• On Woo Worlds Participation:

  "2,500 sessions alone... 116,000 jumps... in two days? ...ridiculous numbers." (A, [32:42]) "Down the box I could just see people woosting as far as the eye could see." (A, [31:55])

• On Dutch Event Food:

  "It was a 2.5 [out of 10]." (B, [16:53])

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6. Equipment & Gear Talk

• Discussion about riding different kites and the move to shorter line lengths; speculation on how trends might move gear design ([10:05], [12:23]).
• Noted that all top jumpers in Woo Worlds were using Dacron kites—not newer materials like Alula or Brainchild ([36:06]).

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7. Woo Worlds and Nations Cup (Community Events)

• Massive participation spike due to Megaloop hype; “Kite Mana” and others dominate the leaderboard.
• On team spirit and rivalry:

  "You've overtaken us at first. But let's talk about top of the top." (A, [33:47])

• Host banter over their respective teams’ performance brings comic relief ([33:47]).

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8. Behind the Scenes & Show Context

• The event’s organization and improvement since the last Megaloop are lauded ([16:55]).
• Personal stories, like Cohen and Heel’s friendship and sportsmanship, enhance the sense of community ([27:38]).
• Format evolution: Praise for “one-on-one” heats and the "psychological game" it introduces ([17:55], [18:24]).

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Segment Timestamps

• [00:39] – Setting and conditions at Kite Mana, remnants of Megaloop storm
• [02:04] – Winners and losers format; Lorenzo Casati named biggest winner
• [04:07] – Breakdown of men’s final, Lorenzo’s show-stopping trick
• [05:51] – Zara Hoogenraad’s win in the women’s division
• [07:38] – Wind conditions impact, short line competitor disadvantage
• [10:05] – Discussion on equipment innovation and line length trends
• [11:15] – Usil Parallax’s surprise success
• [12:55] – Baby Shark’s underwhelming, unprepared showing
• [15:01] – “Death of doubles”? Technical evolution in trick choices
• [16:08] – Dutch event snacks earn love (honorary winner)
• [17:55] – Praise for the new competition format (one-on-one heats)
• [20:20] – Absence of buoys and impact on event optics
• [22:08] – Noting the enormous crowd
• [22:57] – Cohen Van Dijk’s performance and ongoing progression
• [25:02] – Comparing top men’s riding styles: Cohen, Andrea, Lorenzo
• [30:12] – Women’s division: Notable moments and grit
• [31:55] – Woo Worlds: Post-competition riding frenzy
• [32:54] – Nations Cup updates and comic rivalry
• [36:06] – Woo Worlds current leaders and gear choices
• [37:24] – Eye-related suffering and banter
• [38:07] – Preview of the next episode: Flysurfer Sonic 5 and foil kite talk

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Final Notes

• Tone: Irreverent, passionate, in-the-know, and laced with dry humor that will be familiar to regular listeners.
• Value for Listeners: Deep event analysis, insider perspective on rider psychology and tactics, plus a mix of technical breakdown and gossip.
• Next Episode Tease: Deep dive into the new Flysurfer Sonic 5 and further Woo Worlds coverage.

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Transcript

[A]

Lorenzo just looked the best to me.

[B]

And he's upside down.

[A]

She dominated that final.

[B]

I remember turning to you and saying, that's it. He's just won the Mega League.

[A]

I love the kite angle.

[B]

Probably the standout shortliner of the day.

[A]

He impressed me from the beginning.

[B]

At the top end, it didn't make a difference at all.

[A]

Didn't seem like he was under any pressure yesterday.

[B]

He was the strongest short line rider.

[A]

Catastrophic equipment failure.

[B]

Going for the boogaloo double just to get the landing.

[A]

Had a couple of strings and it was extremely dangerous. Guys, I sent the trap and it is gold for Ellie Aldridge and gold for Great Britain.

[B]

So you're joining us here as we broadcast to you from the bowels of Kite Mana, the world's biggest kite shop. And we were meant to go in their sort of podcasty studio, but the winds are still so strong. Left over from Red Bull Mega Loop 2025, which was yesterday, that the. It's just how that corner of the building. And honestly, I don't think you lot would get through much more than 10.

[A]

Seconds of it before turning off. Yeah.

[B]

So we are sat in amongst hundreds and hundreds of boxes that are full of kites and boards and bars and foot straps, and we're going to be reflecting on what happened yesterday, which was. It was one for the ages, really, that final, the men's final was insane and incredible to see the women's division come to life as well. Where are we going to start? We're doing winners and losers.

[A]

Let's start with the winners, because I think the winners list is going to be a lot longer than the losers. Listener in this situation. Colin, give me your first winner.

[B]

Do you want the biggest winner or just a random winner?

[A]

Let's go biggest. Let's go straight from the top. You know, people might switch off halfway through this podcast. We might as well. Might as well get out the big hits first.

[B]

I like it when they tell us that they listen to it to go to sleep. That is just offensive.

[A]

The dulcet tones.

[B]

No, no, no. It should keep you awake. You should be on the edge of your seat. The biggest winner for me is Lorenzo Casati because he beat Andrea Pinchippi, his rival, at the biggest stage.

[A]

Absolutely looked amazing from off. You know, we always say in these big events, you sort of can see who's going to win early on, but in an event like this, which you need a lot of luck, you need a lot of things to go your way. Yeah, he was amazing. I mean, incredible writing.

[B]

Yeah. Just hitting the shit out of kickers that didn't even look like they were there. He was finding them consistently. If you look across all his scoreboards, he's got a minimum of like three big hitting tricks. So we talked in the post show that mega loop's more luck based because it's one trick for your whole heat is down to that one score. But Lorenzo was rolling the dice more than anyone else, too. And when he hit a big score, it was way bigger than anyone else. He was a high scoring trick of the day too.

[A]

Absolutely. You know, even though there's a lot of luck, I feel like when you get a bit of momentum going in this, I think you find that rhythm. We saw that a little bit with Zar and we can talk about Zar in a bit. Those people who get into that role and start leading, I love that sort of momentum that they feel. When you look at the other people in the heat there, they're looking like they're trying to find that. Obviously, Andre didn't start off great. He had to crash, which always puts you on the back foot, because I'm sure those guys want to land their first trick. They want to get a trick on the board.

[B]

You're talking about the final, the final year.

[A]

And I kind of felt like it took Andrea some time to get that momentum back where Lorenzo was just pedal down from the beginning. And it was actually, it was. It was beautiful to watch the way he rode and. And it was just something that he wanted for so long to. To get that second major. And it was. It was awesome to see his face after and how much it meant to.

[B]

Him, but he did. He was losing the final for a bit. Andrea Cohen was the first person on the board and it was a decent score. We'll actually put that clip on Instagram this afternoon so you can go and have a look at Cohen's opener from a different angle, because I don't think the live stream really did it justice. Cohen's opener was mint, but then Andrea took it and had it right up until, I think the fifth minute, and then Lorenzo turned it round. Let's talk about that trick now. So with 2 minutes, 40 seconds to go, Lorenzo goes to this doobie loop with an additional rotation and his kite is just so low. It's horrible. Looking like anyone else, an amateur kiter. That is a disaster for it to be in that position. And he's upside down because he's gone into his front flip rotation and his board's off and then additional rotation comes back down, hits It. And I remember turning to you and say, that's it. He's just won the Mega Loop. No one's gonna top that. And I think he must have known that then as well.

[A]

I mean, I think Lorenzo had the best kite angle all day. I mean, I know that there was, you know, a lot of the low loopers there. We're getting it super low. But at that height and consistent, Lorenzo just looked the best to me. You know, I mean, he was a deserving winner. I mean, it would have been heartbreaking if he'd lost that. I mean, I think he deserved to. But you know what, as we said in the post show, especially in the pre show, you only need one little bit of luck to take that away. We knew he'd won, but we were eyes on Andrea and at that time, actually interesting. He was quite far downwind and sort of got a bit stuck. Maybe he lost his board. His caddy was Zach Adams. Zach was plodding down the beach, you know, so slow. I mean, I would have been yelling. I would have been yelling if I could to run up, but he found his board and got going. But it was sort of like he was. He was out of position a little bit, like the way Nathalie was in that final. They were just so far down the box. They had sort of lost momentum there. But, yeah, the biggest winner of the day for me, too.

[B]

Yeah. So you can go in here from Lorenzo now. Over on YouTube, we did a post show, so you can go and click that in the description. Let's talk about Zara. Go on.

[A]

If Zara was bitterly disappointed to lose the event in Cape Town to Francesca again, she's putting those things to bed and she won that here. Unfortunately, Francesca couldn't make it through to the final. Would have been great to see the. The 1 and 2 in the world going for it. But again, Zara's filled up her mantelpiece there. She's got the World Championship, which she claimed, interestingly, to be more important to her than the Megaloopa. If you want to hear why, go check that video out. But it was great to see her win. And I feel like it's all those years of frustration and heartache if we go back to back, or she was always struggling, being a larger athlete, you know, struggling in the light of winds. She always said, I need the strong wins. If you want to see me perform, I need those wins. And we saw that yesterday. And she didn't just win. She dominated that final relentlessly and found that sort of flow similar to Lorenzo. And in the end, she was unstoppable.

[B]

Yeah, it was the boogie that did it as well. The one that went over the top of Natalie near enough. Strangely, Natalie didn't see. See that at all. And also when we asked Zara about it, she couldn't recall that moment, that exact moment either. So I think both of them were kind of unaware of where the other person was, funnily enough. But, yeah, you mentioned Francesca at the top. We talk about it in the. In the post show. At that point, we didn't know that she was fine, so we didn't say it, but she is fine. We saw her after she'd had her check. She was discharged and, yeah, she just had a concussion, but she will have a full recovery. He's smiling when we saw her.

[A]

Let's do a few losers. There's not too many of them. You brought up a good point. The forecast, even though it was amazing wind, right. We're getting, you know, up near that 40 knots. It never came through to what we thought we were hoping to see. That 45, gusting 50, we definitely had wind in the 40s. I mean, to put that in perspective, the guys are riding eights, the girls are riding seven. So it was super windy, but it wasn't the wind they expected.

[B]

And I think it hit the short line guys the most. They're a loser for me.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

The likes of Jet Bradshaw, you sell parallax. You could even put Van der Spee and Cheroti in there, too. They're all guys that if they try and play the same game that Andrea and Lorenzo and co and play, they're gonna lose it. So if it was 45 plus, the short lines really could have come in. And I think. I think the judges would have scored it really well if it was combined with a bit of technicality, like jets, late backs. U sell was probably the standout short liner of the day. And I think we're gonna see a lot more of him in the future. So he's. I know we're trying to do a loser, but he's a massive winner.

[A]

Yeah, it was interesting. Like, the short line guys, they went to short line out of desperation when they got, you know, like. Like we said, you know, with these. These top guys, they. It doesn't matter if it's 22 or 24 or 18, they're going to do the same stuff. And we. We saw that yesterday because the riding was at that level. I still believe that we haven't seen the short lines being scored perfectly yet. Maybe you're right. Maybe we need that crazy wind. But again, right? Yep. But I mean, 50 knots. Yeah, it's a tough one. Let's talk about the line next, because we're sort of going into that. For me, the 18 meters was. Was a winner. I love the kite angle. I don't think it changes anything else. Just it's a lot more kite angle, a lot lower. The guys definitely got more frights. There's a lot more slack. I mean, there's literally like a lot more free fall. I don't think it's here to stay. I think guys will go back to the 22s and 24s. I like that that's just the one event that we get to witness this, but I don't want to see it.

[B]

All the time at the top end. It didn't make a difference at all, did it? Like, you know, Lorenzo's winning heats, doing tornadoes. That's the maximum heel just about do on 22 meter lines. So, yeah, it just increased the risk and the. The aesthetic of the whole competition, too. I think, though, it's an insight into what the judges actually like and want going forward. And therefore, I don't think it'd be so stupid for a lot of these riders to turn up at the next event. Maybe gets called away. Maybe it's king of the air with the short line setup. Maybe this is how it's going to go. You know, 22s, 24s are for amateurs.

[A]

It's interesting if this becomes more stable and more people want to do it. You know, DK said in that techcast, he said a lot of the changes get driven by the way the riders want their gear to go. And if a lot of people want to ride 18s full time, that is actually going to put some pressure on kite designers to actually get bridling, tuned to those kites. So we might see that move that direction. But in general, I thought that 80 meters was a. Was a massive positive. Let's talk. You mentioned.

[B]

Sorry, I can't see it trickling down into consumer gear.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

It's like blades engulf. You don't want to play with that. Or in tennis, playing with, like, really thin control frames. You just don't. This just won't be nice.

[A]

We're in an interesting position. Right. Because our high, the highest end of our sport is what actually consumers write. They're not writing anything different.

[B]

For the first time in kiteboarding history as well.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In previous iterations of kiteboarding's identity, the freestyle kites Weren't what the weekend warrior wanted at all. So, yeah, that's been a big change for the industry as well. Carry on.

[A]

Sorry. Yeah, yeah, you mentioned Usil. I'm going to call him a winner. And he got knocked down in round three by Andra. There's no shame in that at all. But he impressed me from the beginning. He came out there. He's a 20 year old kid, man, super cool, super calm. Didn't seem like he was under any pressure. Loved the moment. And yeah, I want to see more of this kid in competition. I was dubious when they first picked him. I was like, that's a strange selection, but I want to see more of this kid. I like him. I like what he brings to the table. I like that he brings that big smile. You know, you don't often see the riders sort of super happy to be there. Mainly they're sort of focused. But he's walking around, big smile, love the opportunity and I want to see more of use in competitions. I think he could be dangerous. I'm not saying he's going to knock anyone big off at the moment, but I want to see him build into that and, you know, get some more comps under him. Maybe King of the Air is actually a chance for him now.

[B]

I mean, he was doing board off rotations on really short lines.

[A]

He was one of the guys who had committed to short line from the.

[B]

Beginning, but he was. Yeah. And yesterday he was the strongest short line rider by far. Yeah.

[A]

By a long way.

[B]

And he's not even. He's on the. He's on the pace from core. He's not on the xr and he's.

[A]

Not on the pace pro.

[B]

No, he's on the exit X pace.

[A]

Yeah. Which is incredible. And he. If you go and listen to his podcast. We actually did a podcast a few weeks ago and he talks about that. Really interesting why he chose that kite. And I like the fact that, you know, all the guys are. All the guys and girls ride slightly different stuff and it's, it's like anything, you have to ride something that suits you, that suits your style. Heel and Zara were riding different kites, so yeah, it's interesting to see. And yeah, I'm on Team Usil. I'm down to see more of this kid.

[B]

Okay. Too much positivity. Give me a loser. Make it, make it a nasty one as well. Really dark.

[A]

Oh, okay. Let's go, baby shark.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I mean, another disappointing performance for him. I, I think he probably needs to have a good look at Himself and think, do you want to do competitions anymore? I just feel like he's lost that little swagger and that spark that he used to be so excited about.

[B]

I think the swagger's there.

[A]

You think? You think Too much swagger. That might be it now.

[B]

Swagger overload. Yeah, I think, yeah, he looked really out of sorts yesterday. Uncomfortable in the conditions. I spoke to him, he said, yeah, it's really hard. It's really hard. But then he's been in Brazil, so.

[A]

Yeah, I mean.

[B]

I mean, of course you're gonna find it hard.

[A]

He turned up with no gear. I love it. He just rocked up. He just grabbed his bag and jumped on a plane and came. And then just, you know, obviously the North Action Sports office up here just sorted him out, which. Which is totally cool. But I think at some stage, you know, you want to have something of yours that you. You trust, you know, you've warmed into, you know, that's always. I mean, no, nothing.

[B]

Not even a harness.

[A]

Didn't bring anything. Just a bag of clothes.

[B]

Whoa. Okay. That is quite loose. That's even. That's okay. That's even more than Tom Bridge. One kite with a hole in it.

[A]

Well, I mean, you know, famously jet turns up one. What do you say? One kite, one bar, one set of lines. That's all I need. You know, I mean, that's even less than that. But I don't know if baby shark needs a break from competition and just sort of find that desire back. You know, we speak to him. He, you know, he's. He seems like he's in a good space socially. Like, he's happy to talk to you and stuff like that, but when it comes to getting out on the water, it's. Yeah, I don't know what's going on.

[B]

There because this is a kid, right, that debuted at King of the Air, lost to Marc Jacobs, but it was an amazing performance. He has, like a cat like ability to land, which is the envy of every rider. And the likes the trap talk about him as like a major talent. And at the moment it looks like he's not getting the most out of himself for sure. I agree.

[A]

Yeah. It's like he's just in first gear and doesn't want to put it into second gear. Just going through the motions. I don't. I'm not saying he was happy to be knocked out, but it's just. I don't know his mindset right now. Let's talk about another loser. Is this the death of doubles?

[B]

Yeah. We only saw Two right. One from Sara Siddiq, which was loose, and one from Leonardo Casati, who I guess was just seeing how that was going to score. Yeah, maybe for his big brother.

[A]

I think he did it because he was. He was behind. It was in a desperation mode against Stino. He was down against Stino.

[B]

Smart against Dino, though. Stino's not going to do that.

[A]

Yeah. I just don't think he could get the height, you know, it wasn't windy enough, really. I mean, even though they can do doubles in this, in this, in these conditions, I kind of felt like that was like a last minute Hail Mary, you know, let's try and get a knockout here when, you know you're down on points. But we always questioned and we always wondered if 18s were a doubling line length. The boy said to us, yeah, you can double them. But none of those boys did. Maybe it's the line length thing, but I am in a position where I kind of want to move away from doubles. I like the big singles. Now, looking at those. That kite position from the 18s, it was. It was beautiful. It was amazing.

[B]

Bo. I like doubles. I like it. Yeah. If they're above 20m.

[A]

Oh, for sure.

[B]

Sticking it around the window twice, maybe three times. Maybe reverse it. Go for a little snake one. Right. They're my favorite, honestly. Adrian.

[A]

Let's go back. Give me another winner. It's all winners from now on.

[B]

For me, it was a good day for the Dutch cuisine. Dutch cuisine, because if you turned up without food, that was the only thing you could get.

[A]

You didn't have a choice.

[B]

It was a €4 50 for a white bun and a sausage cut in half.

[A]

It's a meatball pro. It was a meatball, not a sausage.

[B]

No, it was. It was outside because I, I went outside during a break and I got. Got what the punters get, and that's what they have.

[A]

Give it a on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being delicious, 1 being unedible. Where was it?

[B]

I mean, it was edible.

[A]

So you look three.

[B]

It was a 2.5. Yeah.

[A]

This is 2.5. That's not very good. Let's talk about the. The Red Bull team here in. In the Netherlands. They did an amazing job. I thought it was very, very well run, super organized, you know, a great team this year. They had a lot more time to get ready. Obviously, the last time in 2023, it was literally get everything done in 12 hours. But what an awesome team to work with and, and to be around and just to see how Stoked they were with the. With what happened was. Was awesome to see.

[B]

Yeah. It was similar to the last one round as well. Can you remember? And that was kind of Andrea emerging for the first time. He had those crazy interviews on the beach and yeah, we saw a much more mature fleet and a much kind of more mature comp as well. I guess that that iteration doubles when happening and it was. But it was still stuck in the one trick format. There wasn't the 80 meter lines. It wasn't one on one. Those small changes made a big difference yesterday.

[A]

And.

[B]

And I really, really like the one on one nature of it. Eight minutes is also a really nice amount of time. We were seeing an average of like two landed tricks. Like eight minutes just zipped by for the men's and women's fleets. I think also the one on one part of it makes it a more psychological battle between the two riders. Like you can get in your opponent's head if you're the only other person there. There's no other distractions.

[A]

I like the format too. The only person I can think of who did something different for that format was Andrea. He would start always out the back, I mean literally miles out the back, do a big trick. You know, he's saying he was looking for that big kicker, looking for that stronger wind out there. And then he would do a right foot forward coming in. You have to be careful because you can easily get out of position. And I think that the guys learned very quickly that this is an event that you had to be very, very picky on. You had to take your time and not hit anything because if you did get. If you connect with something and you were out of control and you crashed while you're losing half the heat, you to eight minutes, it's not long to come up 200, 300 meters to get back in position. So yeah, love the format, love that puts the guys under pressure. I love the one on one. For me, it's always the best. Right. Because there's always a bit of gamesmanship. I think Andrea did that to Stino. He sort of went to look like he was going to jump. Maybe putting Stino off a kicker. Whether that's unsportsmanlike, I don't know. I think that.

[B]

In what way is it not unsportsmanlike?

[A]

He's upwind, right? He's in the. He's in position.

[B]

So he has right away.

[A]

Yeah, but he clearly wasn't going to jump. But he went to do a jump and so. And then Steener had to bear away and then he just kept on taking down by. We've not. I've seen Andrea do some short taking in, you know, in finals before. He sort of wasn't coming into the beach, was sort of staying on that sort of second formation area. But yeah, I mean one on one is the easiest to watch for. Sure.

[B]

Personally, I don't think Andrea is doing that consciously. I think he's just in the zone. I don't think he's thinking about anything else.

[A]

Well, he said in talking to us after, I'm just in the zone, man. I'm just doing my thing. My watch didn't work.

[B]

And Stino refers to it as well.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

That moment.

[A]

I love that he stole Stino's move to beat him with, which is that Stino's been. Stino's always famous for that, you know, board off back from the fin. But he's working on doing the board off front roll from the fin. And Andrea said no, I'm going to do that. But Steno just laughed about it. It's awesome to see. To see the sort of. That sort of relationship.

[B]

I got a loser.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

Boys. The boys, the ones that float out at sea.

[A]

Yeah. Where were they gone? Did they just rip away?

[B]

I don't think we were ever put in place.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which did change the optics cuz there's no box. Normally there's a box. And it meant that Andrea could piss off way into the distance which was interesting. It made it more realistic to normal kite boarding though. I quite like that.

[A]

You know, we'd spoken about that as we had the boy. I guess they couldn't put boys out in those water. You need a. You need a bloody bus full of concrete to keep those boys in place. But the thing that was interesting to me is when the riders got stuck downwind we talked about Nathalie being downwind and Andrea being downwind. It's very hard to know where they are in the box. Can they hit a kicker there or do they need to waste time to come back up? So we couldn't hear the riders many because we're in quite a small area. We're sort of at the backside. So maybe there was some talk of riders there but I wasn't privy to that information. But I do like to see the boys. I think it's important, you know, for the crowd to have some perspective of where the guys can ride. But I think in one on one it doesn't really matter if the judges have to look down to. To watch someone down the box for Me, it's no problem.

[B]

You know, the one thing I haven't checked is the quality of the live stream, but no one was moaning about it to us. And we usually hear that very loudly if it is rubbish. So I think it must have been quite good.

[A]

I did see some gra. Graphic errors. You know, there were some graphic errors on there to make that happens. You know, that, that, I mean, it shouldn't happen at rebel level, to be honest. But it does happen. But I mean, yeah, I also haven't had a chance to, to look back because I, I, I mean, I prefer to watch Life, of course. Yeah, yeah. But you've got a better perspective of height and angles and, you know, often where the cameras are, they don't give that same perspective. So.

[B]

Yeah, my trousers are a loser.

[A]

Oh, my shoes. My clothes. My eyes. My hair. The sand.

[B]

Your eyes.

[A]

There's still sand in me. Let's talk about the crowd. I think the biggest crowd that I've seen in person at a kite boarding event on a Monday.

[B]

Yep, Definitely on a Monday. I think maybe just all days of the week. It was more than King of the Air, for sure.

[A]

More unbelievable. And we're not talking just kite. We're not doing just kite. We're talking. I was standing next to the people. Oh, we don't kite, but we love to come down to watch. It's amazing. I mean, who would want to stand in those conditions? It was horrible for four or five hours. I mean, it's the, it's classic Dutch weather. It's rain, sun, wind. All at one time. Yeah, Literally all at one time. You don't know whether to stay out or go in or do what.

[B]

This outrageous conditions, really, I laid down at one point. Such was the confusion.

[A]

Let's talk about Kohen Van Dyke, Massive winner. I think it was the performance he needed, you know? Okay. He didn't listen. He's up against two of the greatest competition riders we've ever seen. But I think it's a return to the position that Khan has wanted to be since, I'm gonna say 2023, 2024.

[B]

But he can do it. Of course he can win.

[A]

But he's trending in the right direction.

[B]

What does he need to do to get there? What's the difference?

[A]

Well, I mean, I want to see.

[B]

Him take out these motherfuckers, you know?

[A]

Well, from now on, we're going to formats that. Formats that are a body of work. But again, I say that. But then I think of Andrea Lorenzo. Those guys have got way more in the toolbox. Does he need to take more risks? Does he need to really push himself? But again, I don't want him to get to that position where he potentially gets injured. But that's the way Cohen used to ride. Super risky. After that, knee injuries never really pushed it hard, but it's great to. That's what I'm saying. The trend is there. He's going that right direction. When it gets to king of the air, that's what I want to see. If he's going to win, that's what he's got to do. And he's got to also take advantage of people's misfortune. If someone does crash, that's when he has to put the pedal down. And because you have the variety, you have the impression score, these things are random scores that get pulled out, which he needs to win. He needs to win all those scores, not just rely on big tricks.

[B]

So your advice to Cohen to beat them is to capitalize when they fuck.

[A]

Up, but do it with a form of pressure.

[B]

For many years, it's been the kite, but it kind of looks like now he's got the kite sorted. That thing looked lifty.

[A]

Yeah. Actually was quite a good reference. Right. Because we saw the other boys riding the new orbit that's come out, and he was riding the prototypes and that kite was going a lot higher. Yeah, it was. It was a lot better. So it's going to be great to see when that's finished and finalized and then the other team riders get it. Yeah. But I mean, Cohen, to perform like that in front of the Dutch crowd in the helmet, you know, two Red Bull athletes on the podium, man, it was. It was a huge win for those guys.

[B]

Yeah. Let's talk about the differences. Right. Cohen rides in this, like, reckless style, which the judges really like a super fast landing, kite stalling, really early looping sickness. Right. Whereas Andrea has, like, way more creativity in the air kind of looks. Apparently he is manifesting it. He is planning it and then doing it. But it doesn't look it. It looks like he's like, oh, I'll front roll here. Okay. Board off. Okay. Round the back. Okay. Through the legs. Tic tac. Okay. All on backwards. Flip it back around. Oh, there we go. We've landed. Apparently he's planned it doesn't look like it, but that's kind of Andrea's magic. Right. And you go to Lorenzo, just so consistent, like, able to do pretty much that robotic almost and just be inching that kite down like an inch lower every Time until he the limit. He's got like that doobie loop with the front flip on lock. He's got the tornado with on 18 meter lines, kite under him on lock. He was the only person really doing that. We saw Van der Spee actually do a sick one as well to be to beat Balando. But for me, that's where Cohen could improve. Bringing the recklessness to the really technical stuff. Whether it's the Andrea way of spinning the board around your body and spinning the board itself, or it's in the body rotations of Lorenzo.

[A]

I like that Cohen's making that board off big mega loop with the walking legs. It's becoming almost like his signature trick.

[B]

You know, but it's too basic.

[A]

But it gets the big pops.

[B]

The judges don't love it as much as they do the Lorenzo stuff or the Andrea stuff.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It is sick though.

[A]

If we took Lorenzo Casadi and Andrea Principe out of the mix, man, this sport would be a lot more fun. The problem is we've got these two guys. We can spin the story any way we want. I think he's going to run into a problem.

[B]

I think Cohen would win most events without those two at the moment.

[A]

That's exactly what I'm saying.

[B]

I think he's a firm third in the world.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And there's a gap between third and fourth and fifth.

[A]

Cohen knocked out heel again. Heel rode awesome.

[B]

He rode his ass off. This was his event, his conditions. He just needed a tiny bit more wind.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he had a massive comeback from that horrendous, horrendous crash.

[A]

So big that Cohen stopped what he was doing and came down to check on heel.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean in a, in an eight minute heat where you don't want to be going downwind, he veered off and went straight down to check on his mate. And then, then when he saw the thumbs up, he started to carve back up win. But yeah, I mean, hill is just a beast. I love the heel and Zara story. You know, heel getting into the competition scene around 25, you know, helping Zara, coaching her on the beach. It's like the story of these two have gone this amazing trajectory in the sport. Zara going on to win the big ones. Heel being a legend of the game. And yeah, I mean he will be super happy with his performance. I mean, obviously he wants to go on, but he's happy for Cohen. 100. He's happy for his friends.

[B]

And let's talk about the women's riding. We're still yet to see a really solid doobie. Left foot forward. I think that is what would have won the event yesterday and will probably win King of the Air for a woman. Left foot forward.

[A]

A doobie loop.

[B]

Yeah, big one. Left foot forward. Very scary. Needs loads of commitment because when you pull the trigger, you're upside down.

[A]

The kite position was noticeably different with the ladies. You know, after what we'd seen, the men, it looked crazy how high they were. Ah, the ladies, you know, they. They rode out of their skin. You know, we. A lot of them were scared. They came in, but they loved it, you know, and we saw upsets and we saw, you know, people going to the final. Alyssa, Mitch went to the final. She wasn't. Two days ago, she wasn't even in the competition. You know, she found out late. Unfortunately, we had a couple of ladies who couldn't make it. She got in and went all the way. So, yeah, the ladies really impressed me. I enjoyed watching the ladies. I think people on the beach appreciated watching the ladies because they realized, man, these are tough conditions and these ladies are going out to do it. A lot of these ladies are not big people. And they got. They got more guts than me, man. That's for sure.

[B]

Yeah. And they will have shut up a lot of people yesterday because going into this, I think I've said it before, but I can't tell you how many times I've been out for dinner with one of the top female riders in the world. They're at the table, there's a couple of them and some other pro, obnoxious pro male will be like, you. Like, you're not going to be able to do it. You're not even going to be able to. Barely be able to pump your kite up in that kind of wind. You struggle to run your lines. I think you'll forget left from right, like, and mansplaining. Yeah, yeah. Yesterday, they just got out there and did it.

[A]

I mean, Sara Sadiq went for a double loop. It's crazy, right? She was.

[B]

I can't believe she went for that, considering what was happening on a single loop. She was getting so yarded, like, oh.

[A]

That one crash when the kite caught her and just.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Yeah, tough, tough. We were sitting next to each other, joking. She said, when are you coming back to Baby Bay? I said, that's not Baby Bay out there. And she's like, no, but I mean, some of those. If I can think of some single tricks, I think of Natalie Lambreck's back roll kite loop, which she Won. I think she got a 75 and. And went through straight through the final. That was the same move that sort of put her on the big air map which she did the, the back roll kite loop at.

[B]

Yeah. In perfect conditions.

[A]

In perfect conditions.

[B]

She did that right foot forward. This is left foot forward off a kicker as well.

[A]

Both left foot forward actually.

[B]

You reckon? Yeah, I think what that clip, I think that clip in baby bay is right.

[A]

What? Even if it is, it's, it's outrageously a different. I mean it's the same trick. One of them so stretched out, she's literally flying upside down and, and stuck it. And I, I was super happy for Natalie. She's a massive winner for me. Great to see her on the podium. She deserves that. Obviously she wants to win, but I mean, hey, I mean after the, after the disappointment of, of Cape Town, this will be a massive boost for her, her spirits and I think that she, she'll look forward to Cape Town again. To go back there and perform. Another winner for me is Woo. The reason I say that is because these are all time conditions and you know the guys who are getting knocked out. Let's use Hugh as an example. Great example, Hugh. He was so disappointed. He's like, oh, I think I got underscored on that first track. But I said, are you not getting changed, mate? He stayed in his wetsuit. He just got his board, took his woo out, put it on. He said, mate, I'm off to, off to do some woo training for the Woo Worlds. And down the box I could just see people woosting as far as the eye could see. It was crazy. Every person was going for it. It was kind of awesome to see. So the guys who got knocked out, they might have been disappointed, but they went to work and the nations cup is an important Woo Worlds to win. So a lot of them were riding for their teams and for Nations Cup. And by the way, there's some massive numbers came in yesterday.

[B]

So a couple of things on WOO Worlds because unfortunately the launch of it got caught up in the mega loop happening. The, you know, the second biggest competition in kiteboarding. So it's been chaos on the kite media front and the airwaves have been clogged. Woo Worlds is happening right now and you're going to blow our minds with some Data.

[A]

There was 2,500 sessions alone sessions and that totaled 116,000 jumps on one day. No since the Woo world started. But it mainly came in, came in over the last few days. Isn't that crazy?

[B]

I mean less crazy now. I know that's over a few days. How many days?

[A]

Since the woo world started on the 13th.

[B]

So in two days?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Over a hundred thousand jumps.

[A]

Amazing. Hey.

[B]

In two days?

[A]

Yeah, it's ridiculous numbers. The boys at Wu must have just been seeing that. And I was like tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. So yeah, pretty interesting. Let's talk about Nations Cup.

[B]

I'm not happy about this.

[A]

No, no nations.

[B]

This is a sensitive topic for me. So. No, just let me, let me have my bit.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. So Adrian and I have obviously in different teams and with I am the Colin and the Chipmunks. He's named after a sum the Wu Tang Clan. Yeah, and Wu Tang would be horrified to know that.

[A]

Especially when they saw the age of us all.

[B]

Anyway, Adrian's really looking rather pleased for himself right now. Gazing over me with his stupid microphone and his stupid hand. And I'm also just upset of who he snipered from my clutches. He's taken the infamous Steezy Pete. Who although completely useless is excellent for morale. And I feel it's hit the shipmunks hard. Which is which you can see in our on water performance so far.

[A]

Well Colin, I'd like to you have obviously hadn't seen the updated scores. You've overtaken us at first. But let's talk about top of the top.

[B]

Serious.

[A]

Top of the pile is Kite Mana. Yesterday we were 28th, now you're seventh.

[B]

And where are you?

[A]

I'm scrolling down, scrolling.

[B]

No way.

[A]

I'm back in 22. So we've had a quite a revolve the last. Let me just explain what's happened the last two days. Colin has been very very mopey. But yeah, I mean look, we're not the stories here. Kite Mana, 148 meters in first place.

[B]

You're 22.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

With how many meters?

[A]

Just let me get through these things.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Kite Surf Harlem in second place. And then Aussie FSC in third place. So huge jumps coming out of Australia. But Kite Marta is miles in front there, 148. And the second is 132 flying in.

[B]

Who's in this bloody Kite marner team.

[A]

Well that's where it gets embarrassing. First place on that team for the with a height of 32.7 meters. Evan Klein 30.2 meters. In second place, Jamie Overbeek, Viggo Janmaat 29 meters. Stein Costa 28.8. And then Timo Boisma 28 meters. And only six guys have jumped in that team. And the top five guys are just a massive score. So they're in a really great position to. To. To do on that.

[B]

Boo Climana.

[A]

Why boo?

[B]

No, no, the chipmunks will get by the end, don't you worry.

[A]

First prize in. In the max height is €2,000 iron online shop credit. So that's. That's pretty cool. I wonder what Kite Mana. If Kite Mana win 2000 Euros of Iron Online shop credit, do you think they're going to use it or buy it? Maybe buy it and give it away. Or maybe buy mate. Oh, you know what they're going to do? They're going to. They're going to get their price and just sell in the shop. Here, take the prop. They're going to double down the profit. That's basically a three to one return. No shopping, no shipping, straight profit.

[B]

Must be nice.

[A]

Yeah. So the Woo Worlds continue obviously. The Woo Worlds. A little bit of a tough start. You know you mentioned with. With the Megaloop being called also obviously you know Graham Howell's incident as well. So obviously it's been a bit of a rough start to the Woo Worlds for that. But yeah, lots of people out on the water yesterday. Lots of big scores coming through and yeah, we're only in the first few days of this whole month competition but there was a massive score yesterday and.

[B]

It'S legit, it's been certified.

[A]

Yeah. So Levi Smith. 36.4 meters. Interesting. Top three kites are all Dacron. No Alula, no Brainchild. The top three scores on Wu are all Decron kites.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Odd. You wouldn't have thought that, eh?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Great to see the Orbit back there. That's not really been a big jumping.

[B]

Is he on the Orbit? Yeah. Which one?

[A]

Yeah, on the Orbit Pro.

[B]

Which color?

[A]

It's in a bag. I can't tell. But he is riding one of the old Atmos boards as well. That looks like a 23 Atmos.

[B]

Show me. No, younger 22 that is.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

Come on, mate.

[A]

Don't need all the new. No get to the top. No, you just need the biggest balls.

[B]

Need a good team. Behind you. Who's he? Who's he riding for? Please say the monks. Is he in my squad? I don't recognize his name. Can't remember.

[A]

He's a German, so.

[B]

Or he could be. Could be. Could be a key.

[A]

He's been like B. Timo Martin. What a good sign. No, hope he's not Timos team.

[B]

Terrible. Okay, your eyes, how are they feeling today? Why weren't you wearing the goggles for the. We couldn't have both worn goggles for the posture.

[A]

We couldn't have looked a bit.

[B]

So the pros weren't.

[A]

That's true.

[B]

But why weren't they?

[A]

Because I, I wanted to look my best for the camera.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

All right, that was. Winners and losers for the Megaloop 2025 will be back this Thursday. We've got actually a great episode coming up. The new Sonic 5 from Fly Server's being released. We're going to hear from Benny Bolly who's one of the. The best kite designs out there.

[B]

Yeah. So, so just quickly on that. They've been putting loads of stuff up on Instagram where you can't see the kite or what's doing and they're like, oh, what is it? We're going to be unveiling that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Benny Bod is going to tell us exactly what's happening and exactly how he's done it.

[A]

But yeah, that, that's, that's going to be super fun. And I also spoke to Luca today and he actually gives some great insights on why you should ride four kites versus Lei in different situations. So, yeah, if you are a little bit curious about the foil kites and you've seen the guys trainer. Yeah, definitely listen to that.

[B]

I think if you're serious about, you need to be thinking about foil kites.

[A]

Really? Yeah, yeah. I mean I think even Jamie said it to us on the boat. He's. He said, I've got 9, 8, 7, 6 and anything bigger than that is foil kites just for the, the, the, the fact that you get so much more airtime and Luka talks about it as well and talks about why he uses it to train and how they've gone to improve that. Yeah. So I don't know if we're going to see that in competition. Luka keeps saying he's going to ride it. I think this new. They're bringing it, I believe a 7 meter, which I don't want to tease a little bit, but that's the, that's apparently that's the secret weapon right there.

[B]

Okay. Okay. And aside from that, we'll be giving you the latest of what's been happening in Woo Worlds. I actually can't believe in the time that I've taken to check the leaderboards that the shipmunks have overtaken your gang of misfits twats. By the way, Misfits makes it sound cool.

[A]

Misfits.

[B]

It's not cool at all, unfortunately.

[A]

You know, we were really focusing on total distance, and we've lost our spiritual leader and I kite boarding. She's unfortunately double booked on that weekend because she doing the Weymouth speed week.

[B]

Which to me, I would say that's just terrible. But the. That wouldn't happen in the ship. Monks, they don't break rank. Yeah, they know.

[A]

Yep. Formation. They stay in formation. Hold the line. Hold the line. I'll be like the military. To the back. Hold the line. Okay, Charge.

[B]

Okay, over the top.

[A]

Go, go, go, go, go. You coming, sir? Nope. I'm getting the next group ready. All right, you guys ready? Go. Adrian Kerr, here's your medal for bravery for leading those troops to death.

[B]

On that note, thanks as always. We'll see you in the next one. Goodbye.