“So yeah, feeling pretty relaxed today. Gonna go chill, take it easy, and as soon as it’s time to go, we go hard.”
Overview
Held from June 20 to July 6, 2022, in Tarifa, Andalusia, Spain, the 2022 Qatar Airways GKA Big Air World Championships Tarifa marked the first standalone Big Air World Championship event in GKA history. Welcoming Qatar Airways as the tour’s new title sponsor, the mega-event brought together over 60 elite athletes from more than 30 nations to battle simultaneously for five official World Titles across Twin-Tip (Men & Women), Strapless (Men & Women), and Hydrofoil divisions—ushering in the competitive double-kiteloop era and historic women’s aerial milestones.
Locations, Two Wind Regimes, and the Inaugural Kite Expo & Awards
Situated at the southernmost tip of mainland Europe overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco, Tarifa showcased two distinct wind regimes across two iconic beaches during the holding period.
Competition opened on June 26 at Playa de Valdevaqueros, where 20-to-25-knot westerly thermal Poniente winds provided an ideal arena for the Hydrofoil Big Air division.
Following a mid-event waiting period, action shifted on July 1 and 2 to Playa de Los Lances Sur—universally known as “Balneario”—where 30-to-40+ knot easterly cross-offshore Levante gales and steep natural kickers launched riders over 20 meters into the sky for the Twin-Tip and Strapless divisions.
Prior to competition, the GKA staged its inaugural “Visit Qatar GKA Kite Expo” (June 21–26) in front of the BIBO Beach House at Valdevaqueros, featuring gear testing and pro clinics, alongside the first-ever “GKA Awards” ceremony on the night of June 25—where Mikaili Sol won Female Rider of the Year and Move of the Year, 12-year-old Finn Flügel claimed Men’s Rookie of the Year, and Willow-River Tonkin received the Social Contribution of the Year award.
Format and the Dawn of the Double-Loop Era
“This really has been beyond expectation. We thought we might get 20, 25 knots of Levante. And guess what? We saw the sport pushed again by young riders… The riders have stepped it up to a level that we couldn’t have expected.”
Riders were judged on their best three out of up to 10 trick attempts (each scored out of 10 points), combined with an Overall Impression score (up to 3 points). Heats ran for seven minutes in the early rounds before extending to eight minutes for the semifinals and finals, with all semifinal and final rounds contested as head-to-head one-on-one duels.
Real-time telemetry from the “Surfr” tracker app was integrated into the broadcast, displaying jump height (up to 18.5m on hydrofoil and over 20m on twin-tip), hangtime (over 11 seconds), distance, airspeed (up to 88 km/h), and crash impact forces (exceeding 5G).
Above all, the event marked the moment double kiteloops and technical contra-loop combos transitioned from rare freeride video clips into mandatory competition weapons wielded by a fearless teenage generation.
Highlights and Epic Battles
1. Hydrofoil Big Air (June 26, Valdevaqueros): Jamie Overbeek’s 11-Second Flight and Perfect 10
Contested by a seven-man field—defending Hydrofoil World Champion Charles Brodel, 16-year-old Dutch prodigy Jamie Overbeek, Freeride Ski World Champion Maxime Chabloz, Dominican veteran Alex Soto, Joselito del Rosario, Maxime Desjardins, and 12-year-old Finn Flügel—the Hydrofoil division delivered massive amplitude in 20–24 knots of Poniente wind.
While Maxime Chabloz threw dangle passes on the foil and Alex Soto boosted 14-meter kiteloop board-offs, 16-year-old Jamie Overbeek stole the show in Round 3. Launching 18.5 meters high on a massive “Kiteloop Late Backroll,” he caught a second lift on the way down to stay airborne for over 11 seconds, earning the tournament’s first perfect 10.0 score. Jamie Overbeek then defeated Alex Soto in Semifinal 1, while foil-kite master Charles Brodel defeated Maxime Chabloz in Semifinal 2 to set up a France-versus-Netherlands final.
2. Men’s Twin-Tip Big Air (July 1, Balneario): Legends vs. Teen Phenoms and a 0.56-Point Semifinal
In 35-to-40-knot Levante winds at Balneario, King of the Air legends Aaron Hadlow, Kevin Langeree, Jesse Richman, Nick Jacobsen, and Marc Jacobs clashed with 17-year-old Italians Andrea Principi and Lorenzo Casati, 19-year-old Dutch “Viking” Giel Vlugt, and local Tarifa hero Liam Whaley.
After Lorenzo Casati stunned the beach in the opening rounds with a “Kiteloop Quadruple Front Roll,” Liam Whaley and Lorenzo Casati met in a nail-biting first semifinal. Blending massive height with dangle passes, Liam Whaley edged out Lorenzo Casati by just 0.56 points to reach the final on home waters. In the second semifinal, double-loop pioneers Andrea Principi and Giel Vlugt traded haymakers until Giel Vlugt suffered a brutal crash on his final attempt, sending Andrea Principi into the final against Liam Whaley.
3. Women’s Divisions & Men’s Strapless: World-First Women’s Boogie & Doobie Loops and an Upset of James Carew
In Women’s Strapless on July 1, 16-year-old Capucine Delannoy and Tarifa-based Swiss rider Camille Losserand advanced to a head-to-head final trading rodeo front roll and kiteloops (while Mikaili Sol faced Italy’s Monica Gilardoni in the mini-final).
When Women’s Twin-Tip resumed on the morning of July 2 in 30+ knot winds, France’s Angely Bouillot dropped a 9.67-point “Megaloop Double Backroll” in Round 1, and Sweden’s Nathalie Lambrecht answered Hannah Whiteley’s late “Contra Loop Front Roll” with a last-second “Megaloop Double Backroll” to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, four-time Freestyle World Champion Mikaili Sol—who had only begun training Big Air days earlier—made history by landing the first women’s “Boogie Loop” (an inverted kiteloop front roll) and “Doobie Loop” (kiteloop double front roll) in competition to book a final showdown against Dutch local favorite Zara Hoogenraad.
That afternoon in Men’s Strapless, Brazilian rookie Gabriel Benetton—making his GKA debut after two months of training in Tarifa—pulled off a massive upset by knocking out reigning Kite-Surf World Champion James Carew in Round 3 and defeating France’s Camille Delannoy in the semifinals to meet strapless king Airton Cozzolino in the final.
Show Detailed Competition Results (Spoiler Alert)
“I don’t have words to describe my sensation. Today it was crazy. I’m really happy about my results because I did all the tricks that I wanted to do. So, I couldn’t have gone better… At the end the wind was really strong. I was with my 8m Rebel and it was really strong and I changed kite for my last two or three tricks.”
— Andrea Principi
■ Hydrofoil Big Air Final Results
Switzerland’s Maxime Chabloz defeated Alex Soto in the mini-final to claim 3rd place.
In the Grand Final (Charles Brodel vs. Jamie Overbeek), Jamie Overbeek opened with a “Doobie Loop” on his 9m tube kite but struggled to find consistent gusts mid-heat. Riding his foil kite with unmatched hangtime and composure, defending champion Charles Brodel linked a “Boogie Loop,” “Kiteloop Double Backroll,” and “Contra Loop Board-off” to claim the inaugural GKA Hydrofoil Big Air World Title.
■ Women’s Strapless Big Air Final Results
After Mikaili Sol defeated Monica Gilardoni for 3rd place, Capucine Delannoy held off a fierce challenge from local standout Camille Losserand—stomping a massive strapless kiteloop on the final buzzer to capture her maiden GKA World Championship.
■ Men’s Twin-Tip Big Air Final Results: A 10-Point “Boogie Double Loop” and Liam Whaley’s Clock Confusion
In the mini-final, Giel Vlugt boosted 15-meter “Megaloop Backroll Board-offs” to defeat Lorenzo Casati for 3rd place.
Contested in howling 40-knot evening Levante winds, the Grand Final between local hero Liam Whaley and 17-year-old Andrea Principi delivered unforgettable drama. After Liam Whaley took the early lead with a massive “Boogie Loop,” building winds forced both riders to sprint to the beach mid-heat to downsize from 8-meter to 6-meter kites.
Returning to the water first, Andrea Principi launched a jaw-dropping “Boogie Double Loop”—rotating through a front roll while looping his kite twice—and recovered from directly underneath his kite to earn a perfect 10.0 score and seize the lead.
Meanwhile, disaster struck Liam Whaley during his kite change on the beach: in the chaos of the 40-knot swap, his safety released without a leash attached, sending him flying unhooked into a thick patch of nearshore seaweed while clinging to the bar with bare grip strength.
Compounding the chaos, Liam Whaley and his team had not realized that while earlier heats were seven minutes long, the semifinals and finals had been extended to eight minutes. Grabbing his board with seaweed tangled in his lines, Liam Whaley glanced at his 7-minute watch timer and mistakenly believed only 10 seconds remained before the buzzer. Despite actually having more than a full minute left on the official clock, a panicked Liam Whaley immediately hucked a never-before-landed “Double Loop Backroll” without sufficient height, slamming hard into the water as his unleashed kite blew away—crowning 17-year-old Andrea Principi the inaugural GKA Men’s Twin-Tip Big Air World Champion.
■ Women’s Twin-Tip Big Air Final Results
Sweden’s Nathalie Lambrecht defeated American Michaela Pilkenton in the mini-final to take 3rd place.
In a tricky final where the wind dropped slightly from the morning peak, Mikaili Sol used her veteran competition savvy to outscore Zara Hoogenraad with clean megaloops and rotations, adding the 2022 Big Air World Title—her fifth career World Championship—to her four Freestyle crowns.
■ Men’s Strapless Big Air Final Results: Walking Off Before the Buzzer
Two-discipline phenomenon Lorenzo Casati defeated Camille Delannoy in the mini-final to claim his second top-four finish of the event in 3rd place.
In the Grand Final against Brazilian sensation Gabriel Benetton, strapless pioneer Airton Cozzolino unleashed a barrage of sky-high kiteloop board-offs and combos. Knowing victory was sealed, Airton Cozzolino famously walked out of the water onto the beach before the final buzzer even sounded, celebrating his sixth career World Title and his first-ever Strapless Big Air World Crown.
“It was amazing, you know. This morning I woke up really focused, you know, I was like with a lot of energy. And yeah, I was feeling that something was happening, you know, because always when I heard about this world championship, I’ve been training a lot, man. I like I say, wow, I can’t lose what I started, you know, I think I was the only one in 2014 which started to go bigger, started to loop a bigger kite. So, yeah, it was really nice to win a Big Air crown in strapless, I’ve never done that before.”
— Airton Cozzolino
[All 5 Divisions Final Results (2022 GKA Big Air World Champions)]
■ Men’s Twin-Tip Big Air
1st: Andrea Principi (Italy) *2022 World Champion
2nd: Liam Whaley (Spain)
3rd: Giel Vlugt (Netherlands)
4th: Lorenzo Casati (Italy)
■ Women’s Twin-Tip Big Air
1st: Mikaili Sol (Brazil) *2022 World Champion
2nd: Zara Hoogenraad (Netherlands)
3rd: Nathalie Lambrecht (Sweden)
4th: Michaela Pilkenton(USA)
■ Men’s Strapless Big Air
1st: Airton Cozzolino (Italy / Cape Verde) *2022 World Champion
2nd: Gabriel Benetton (Brazil)
3rd: Lorenzo Casati (Italy)
4th: Camille Delannoy (France)
■ Women’s Strapless Big Air
1st: Capucine Delannoy (France) *2022 World Champion
2nd: Camille Losserand (Switzerland)
3rd: Mikaili Sol (Brazil)
4th: Monica Gilardoni (Italy)
■ Men’s Hydrofoil Big Air
1st: Charles Brodel (France) *2022 World Champion
2nd: Jamie Overbeek (Netherlands)
3rd: Maxime Chabloz (Switzerland)
4th: Alex Soto (Dominican Republic)
Search Aliases: 2022 TarifaQatar Airways GKA Big Air World Championship, 2022TarifaQatarAirwaysGKABigAirWorldChampionship