Standing by for Green Light

Luca Ceruti proceeds to Round Four. Photo Paul Ganse / Red Bull Content Pool

RED BULL KING OF THE AIR UPDATE 2 DECEMBER

Event Status: STAND-BY
Weather update: Winds increase to moderate to fresh south-easterly until tonight when winds veer to moderate SW. On Monday afternoon, the wind's back and increasing to strong SE, reaching near gale on Tuesday. Seas increase to 2.5-2.8m SW swell till tomorrow before moderating to 2-2.5m. On Tuesday seas increase to 2.5-3.5m mixed SW swell and SE wind swell.

We are still focusing on Tuesday, 5 December, as there is a moderate/good probability of strong SE winds in the afternoon.

Be ready for a possible WARNING (yellow light) with tomorrow's update.

Who will take out this year's crown? North is proud to bring you front-row seats to the drama unfolding in Cape Town. Watch the Red Bull King of the Air 2023 Live stream here with North.

Day One

Day One is done and dusted, with the North team riders battling it out in true style.

There wasn't the nuking wind we wanted - most riders were underpowered on 10m, but we saw great kickers with 11 sec periods.

Andrea Principi laid down his best tricks to beat Cohan van Dijk in Round Two, in a competitive showdown worthy of a finals heat.

Because of the variety score, you really need to be able to pull off a handle pass to win this year. The judges are also looking for height and extremity, which is harder for those heavier riders, but they did have good kickers.

Cohan van Dijk. Photo Zach Zinn / Red Bull Content Pool

Cohan pulled off an impressive Unhooked KiteLoop BackRoll Handlepass scoring 5.7 in round two, followed by a KiteLoop BackRoll X3 Board Off to score 5.72. But it wasn't quite enough to beat the Italian's ContraLoop FrontRoll X2 Board Off score of 6.62 and KiteLoop BackRoll X2 Rodeo scoring 6.05. 

Josue San Ferreira. Photo Tyrone Bradley / Red Bull Content Pool

Play by play...

written by James Robinson.

Cohan. Round 01, heat 01

Cohan was up first in heat 1, pitted against Jeremy Burlando (ESP) and Arthur Guillbert (FRA). Despite his huge efforts and wide variety of tricks, he was sadly beaten and forced to fight his way through in round 2.

He used a large variety of tricks, showcasing his freestyle background in the lighter wind conditions for the heat.

Cohan. Round 02, heat 08

The highest-scoring heat of the second round. The two powerhouses, Cohan and Andrea (IT), go head-to-head. Despite throwing down huge and innovative tricks (Cohan's Kiteloop FS 360 Handlepass), Cohan was eliminated by Andrea and will not continue in the competition.

Photo Paul Ganse / Red Bull Content Pool

Marc. Round 01, heat 04

Despite the lighter winds, Marc lay down a solid heat against team-mate Josue San Ferreira and local Josh Emmanuel (SA). We've never seen Marc spin so quickly! He looked very dialled in but needed more height to get the big score - low wind speeds. Overall an impressive 10 tricks to take the win. Total Score 23.22. Impression Score 6.82. Through to Round 03, where Marc will come up against Dutch rider Jamie Overbeek

Josue. Round 01, heat 04

Baby Shark came in strong to the heat with Marc Jacobs and Josh Emmanuel. He was getting great extensions in all his trick attempts. Despite being a newcomer to Cape Town, he looked like a natural out there. Scored second place, through to the 2nd round.

Josue. Round 02, heat 07

Battle of the South Americans, Baby Shark and Beto Gomez (COL). Josue started strong and only gained momentum throughout the heat. Josue continued to pressure Beto in the 1v1 scenario, and Beto crumbled—total dominance from the newcomer, scoring an impressive Total Score of 24.66 and Impression Score 6.58. Next up, Round 3 against South Africa's Jason van der Spuy.

Luca. Round 01, heat 05:

There was a very tight heat between Luca and Giel Vlugt (NED); however, Luca managed to keep the moment through the whole heat, putting pressure on the other riders. Luca took a very calculated approach to his 1st heat of the day, starting with the basics and then adding the spice towards the end to ensure he got the top scores and progressed to the 3rd round. Next up the South African will face Andrea Principi in Round 03, Heat 17.

Check out the Live Scoring here

Watch the Live coverage here

Watch the Red Bull TV Day One Replay here