Jesse Richman has taken out the 2020 Red Bull King of the Air at Kite Beach, in Cape Town, South Africa.
The elite field headed to Blouberg in South Africa’s legislative capital city, looking to use monster waves and wind to produce stunning tricks for the judges and fans.
The American kiteboarder got the better of fellow former Red Bull King of the Air champions Nick Jacobsen and Aaron Hadlow to win for the second time.
The prestigious big air kiteboarding event lasted seven hours.
It featured a new format with Rounds 1 and 2 – video entry winners, wildcards, and the four “Fly to Red Bull King of the Air” winners – completed before lunch.
The top six from 2019 then joined the fray as seeded competitors in Round 3 for the 10,000-strong crowd with the iconic Table Mountain in the background.
A Dream Come True
Richman was runner-up to three-time champion Kevin Langeree last year and used that to fuel his later progress against Dane Jacobsen and Briton Hadlow.
The 27-year-old won after 34 heats and seven hours with consistent winds from early on in the biggest single day ever in the history of Red Bull King of the Air.
“This feels incredible. This is magical. It is amazing to have my newborn daughter here and share it with this crowd,” explained Richman.
“I’ve had really good heats leading up to the finals in many years and usually crack in the final, having peaked too early.”
“So, this time, I adjusted a few things and felt confident with my plan and my strategy. It was really cool to see it play out and have it all run in one day, just like in 2013. It was an epic day.”
The organizers state that they managed to get the competition running on the best day of the weather window.
They believe it is very unusual that they could start so early on in the day and have consistent conditions throughout.
New Zealand’s Marc Jacobs won the “Woo Highest Jump of the Day” after soaring 22 meters into the air, while ‘Mystic Move of the Day’ went to Jacobsen for a kite loop board-off scored with 9.02 points out of a possible 10.
2020 Red Bull of the Air | Final
1. Jesse Richman (HAW) 34.10
2. Nick Jacobsen (DEN) 31.52
3. Aaron Hadlow (UK) 29.94
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