Photo: Paul Ganse / Red bull content pool Ozone’s Big Air team rider Jamie Overbeek secured a remarkable second place on the podium in his first appearance at the Red Bull King of the Air in Cape Town, South Africa, throwing down a stunning array of high-flying, complex tricks.
At just 16 the young Dutchman is the youngest athlete to grace the podium at the iconic KOTA event, which marked its tenth anniversary in Cape Town with perhaps the most spectacular contest ever, all fought out in stellar conditions.
Photo : Paul Ganse / Red Bull content poolThe three-berth final saw Overbeek up against two other teenage rookies, Italians Lorenzo Casati and reigning GKA Big Air world champion, Andrea Principi, 18. The trio signalled a changing of the guard in the fast-evolving Big Air discipline, with the old guard put to the sword in the heats.
“It feels amazing,” said Overbeek. “It feels like my dream came true. It just couldn’t have been any better. My aim was just to get through Porsche Golden Ticket qualifier into the main KOTA event. But I got all the way to the final.”
Photo: Paul Ganse / Red Bull Content Pool The Dutch Ozone rider might not have made it into KOTA but for a little good fortune. Overbeek had won a place in the maiden Porsche qualifier, a three-man elimination heat just before KOTA, with the winner advancing. Overbeek came second, but an injury to Airton Cozzolino opened up a second KOTA slot.
Yet, in his opening heat against reigning KOTA champion Marc Jacobs and Principi, Overbeek came out all guns blazing. His opening hugely aggressive contra loop on his black Ozone Edge 7m2 earned the highest score of the contest to that point, a 9.08 out of a possible 10.
Red Bull commentators, Lewis Crathern and Colin Heckroodt, were blown away by the “outrageous, magical heat” they witnessed. “Jamie Overbeek and Andrea Principi went mental,” said Crathern. “They were outrageous.”
Photo: Craig Kolesky / Red Bull content pool With Principi pressing, Overbeek changed his kite for a teal blue 6m2 Enduro V4 for the double kite loop board offs that matched his Italian rival and maintained the lead, earning the heat win.
“That was a great way to start,” said Overbeek. “It gave me a lot of confidence. The conditions were perfect for my 7m2 Edge. I really like my 7m2 Edge. I trust it the most and know I can go high on it.”
Overbeek had the dubious honour of going up against fellow countryman and three-times KOTA victor, Kevin Langeree, 34, in the quarter final. Overbeek used his Edge V11 and Enduro V4 kites, teamed with an Ozone Code V3 132cms, to devastating effect.
Photo: Craig Kolesky / Red Bull content pool In a stunning upset, Overbeek beat Langeree as the wind built to 50kts. Langeree seemed to have no answer to the new moves the new generation were throwing down, like the double kite loop with a backroll that Overbeek nailed.
“Jamie Overbeek is walking away with it,” said Cathern at one point in the heat, barely able to believe what he was watching. “Overbeek in overdrive!”
An all-rookie semi-final saw Overbeek up against Colombia’s Beto Gomez. But starting on his 7m2 Edge V11 with a megaloop board off and “the most committed doobie loop with his kite completely inverted”, Overbeek never looked troubled and clinched a coveted final berth.
Overbeek was revelling in the nuking conditions brought by the Cape Doctor winds, which showed up on the third day of the two-week holding period, and played to his strengths. “These were the strongest winds KOTA has ever had,” said Overbeek. “It was more than 50kts. The conditions were great. I just loved them.”
In a KOTA billed as the “clash of the generations”, the young guns put their stamp on the competition, sweeping away the veterans and dominating the final in what Cathern dubbed a “new generation of kiteboarding”.
Photo: Craig Kolesky / Red bull content pool The 15-minute final was a thriller in the setting sun, with a cloud-shrouded Table Mountain as the dramatic backdrop. A packed Kite Beach loudly hailed every breathtaking trick, but even Overbeek’s double megaloop backrolls were not enough to edge out the winner Casati, just turned 17.
“Actually, it was a good heat,” said Overbeek of the final. “I landed all my tricks and found the kickers. I was able to do my ‘doubles’. I was really happy with the final. The three of us on the podium were 16, 17 and 18. We blew the older guys away.”
Photo: Craig Kolesky / Red Bull content pool In a nod to Overbeek’s youth, he was puzzled on the podium about opening the bubbly for the Champagne shower and had to be helped by Casati. “I didn’t have a clue how to open it,” said Overbeek. No doubt there will be plenty more opportunities in future.
words: Ian MacKinnon/Ozone
Photos: Red Bull content pool / Craig Kolesky and Paul Ganse
