After a stunning series of big air competitions across an eight month period, 17-year-old Jamie Overbeek finished off the Qatar Airways GKA Big Air World Championships as one of only four riders to compete in two disciplines in Tarifa. We salute his huge performances at recent twin-tip and hydrofoil big air events!
All on the line at the Red Bull King Of The Air in Cape Town, South Africa on November 26, 2022 Photo: Paul Ganse / Red Bull Content Pool After what is being hailed as the most extreme ever Red Bull King of the Air back in November 2022, Jamie cemented his name as one of the true leading lights in big air. Finishing second in bonkers Cape Town conditions, our flying Dutchman pushed World Champion, Andrea Principi, into third.
KOTA charger Photo: Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool Up next, the GKA Kite World Tour kicked off the first of two 2023 Big Air World Championship events with the ‚Lords of Tram‘ in Bacares, France, in April where the winds were nuclear and the riders were going stratospheric off the butter-flat offshore waters.
Going bonkers in Bacares at Lords of Tram / Photo: Samuel Cardenas / GKA Kite World Tour As we’ve grown accustomed to, none were going bigger than Jamie on his Ozone Edge, who consistently boosted the highest and furthest according to the live measuring data. In the end, Jamie got his own back against Red Bull King of the Air winner, Lorenzo Casati, in the mini-final claiming third and back-to-back podiums in doing so.
The video below is not from the comp, but one of Jamie’s epic training sessions at Bacares!
VIDEO
Tarifa staged the GKA Big Air World Championship climax in early June (and has just finished).
Although Jamie was disappointed to lose by such a small margin to 2021 KOTA winner, Marc Jacobs, in the twin-tip quarter finals, it was nail-bitingly tight as the Kiwi stole the lead on his very last trick. Agonisingly, Marc took the lead for the first time in the entire heat with a megaloop back roll board off, giving him the win.
Competing in the twin-tip division in Tarifa / Photo: Samuel Cardenas Jamie: „I was really well prepared and had some new tricks to show, like the Tornado, which I performed in my heat with a total of five rotations. It felt like I was riding a strong heat against Marc although I would have liked more wind as it had dropped a little at that time.
„I expected my solid performance would get scored a bit higher and be enough, but sadly it turned out not to be and I lost by a very small margin to Marc Jacobs. I rode the heat to the best of my ability with the conditions I had. So no regrets.
„Now it’s time to regroup and prepare myself for the next comp, the Cold Hawaii Games in Denmark in September. I know what changes I have to make in my strategy so I will put all my energy into that. Hopefully Denmark will deliver crazy storm conditions because that’s my territory to shine.“
Huge on the hydrofoil in Tarifa Photo: Samuel Cardenas Jamie did however claim another hydrofoil runners-up podium at that event in Tarifa, finishing second only to reigning world champion, Charles Brodel by less than a point at the end.
Runner-up GKA Hydrofoil Big Air World Championships 2023 Jamie’s unique approach, competing at the very top in the wild and experimental end of big air, in both hydrofoil and the ultra competitive twin-tip division, takes an incredible mix of skill and bravery. Although he shreds and competes in a different stratosphere to most of us, his riding approach certainly reflects the pure enjoyment all of us share when engaging with the elements on a kite.
Congratulations to you Jamie. We can’t wait to see you at the next one, which will be the Cold Hawaii Games in September which will run once again in Denmark.
