On Monday the 8th of August, I came across a message (by total chance) from Josh Emanuel on a wind report group about an event in Sterkfontein Dam. The Takla Sterkies Classic.
The event was to take place on Saturday the 13th and was aimed at amateurs.
I just messaged Josh and wished him luck with event.
Josh’s reply; “Are you in SA and available?…”
For 2022, I decided to challenge my sanity and work with the Big Air Kite League.
The tour is in its infancy and is still dealing with some of the issues one would expect from any such organisation, but one thing is for sure: It’s the best thing to have happened to Kiteboarding in a long time.
I have always believed that the true soul of Kiteboarding is in the ability to send yourself into big jumps. No other sport can really do that, not in the controlled way kiters can.
So when Kiteboarding contests became driven by pure Freestyle (Which is more akin to Wakeboarding) and Racing (Which is closer to sailing) I was, to say the least, a little perplexed.
Then came Michael Macdonald who with incredible drive and enthusiasm decided to create the Big Air Kite League.
It not only filled the void that existed for all upcoming big air kiters to compete and push each other, but it also created the spectacle that only the “king of the air” produced only once a year for a handful of riders.
It’s for the riders!
It is with this in mind that the big air kite league was created.
All the people involved have a passion for riding big air kiteboarding style. Everyone has an understanding of how it works, what it takes and the respect the riders should receive for busting out those moves.
It’s a complicated process running a big air kite contest. It is risky! It is entirely reliant on the weather! It’s expensive and stressful. But when it all comes together it is quite a thing!
After organising the Cape Town event, Michael had offered me to be tour manager for the next two stops. The first one was Lords of Tram.
Tristan Hattu, the local organiser had already contacted me to be Race Director at the event, so being used to jumping in the deep end, it is with two hats that I caught my delayed QATAR flight.
First, by absolute chance I saw there was a problem with my flight and I had been re booked 2 days later than planned. That was followed by long discussions on the phone with Tristan… There was a massive forecast for the 1st day of the waiting period.
As a result of these coincidences, I traveled for 40 hours to reach the contest just in time.
It was wildly windy, it was brutally cold, but what a great event! An amazing team on the ground and a great venue at BARCARES with an amazing welcome. Tristan and his team really did an amazing job!
As race director, I had to deal with a contest with over 50 knots gust on the first day, and a fast disappearing wind on day two. But thanks to an amazing team of judges and head judge Philipos Tsamantanis we thundered through all the heats smoothly.
One serious event!
Full Power Tarifa was a different event from my point of view. Not being Race Director, I was going in purely as BAKL tour manager.
Once again encountered amazingly friendly people in the mecca of Kitesurfing that is Tarifa.
Ian Avera and Wladi Rodriguez were absolute champions in pulling this whole contest together. The venue lends itself to a spectacular show and the riders gave it their all. The images speak for themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwWT8cOti58
The next event is Tatajuba Fest in September.
Sadly I will not be attending.
It has been a great experience to be at the forefront of kiteboarding. Wishing all the best to BAKL in the future
Rock on!
In October 2021, I started chatting with Michael Macdonald owner of Big Air Kite League (BAKL) about the event he wanted to organise in Cape Town for the beginning of December.
I had been following BAKL the whole of 2021 with interest. The concept of a contest concentrating on the big air discipline and the creation of a new platform for new up and coming riders to take part in was something, in my opinion, that had been missing in the fractured world of Kiteboarding. With not much time to spare, I decided to jump in there and give Michael a hand to get this contest ready for the 6th of December.
Once again the little virus, or rather the uninformed media panic that seems to follow it, struck and the contest had to be delayed. We had no choice. Flights were banned, and much uncertainty lay ahead with half of the permit requests process already done and the possibility of South Africa to be shutting down over the festive season.
But we kept our hopes up. Where there is hope there is life! After a few weeks, we decided to continue the permit application process with a window period running from the 17th of December to the 30th of January.
Until now the forecast has not played along and as plagued us with much uncertainty, but we remain confident that the event will run before the end of the month.
The venue is Dolphin beach and the contest will be run by some of the best people in the business with the best up and coming riders in the world.
Cedric Vandenschrik: Contest organiser
Olaf van Tol: Race director
Su Kay: Beach marshall
Dave Kay: Flags
So watch the BAKL website and social media network carefully over the next few days as the green light is coming soon!!
