15.09.2020

Cold Hawaii Games 2020 Report

Nick Jacobsen, Kevin Langeree, Lasse Walker, Stig Hoefnagel, Steven Akkersdijk, Clement Huot, Simon Bruhn, Rene Barner, Jamie Overbeek and many more to follow… wow! This is only a part of the incredibly promising riders list of the Cold Hawaii Games 2020 Big Air contest that took place in the small, picturesque surfing and fishing village Nørre Vorupør. Not only, that the Big Air contest was the first opportunity in a long time to compete, it also counts as a qualification event for the next Red Bull King of the Air.

Luckily, the prayers have been heard and a storm was forecasted to hit the coastline of Denmark on Sunday, 13th of September, which was the first day of the event window – 40 knots and 2.5m waves. We could not resist and took the drive up to Northern Denmark not to miss the promising Big Air action and we were not disappointed at all.

The Cold Hawaii Games 2020 was the first larger event to happen in 2020 after the Red Bull King of the Air. All other major events, had to be cancelled unfortunately, due to travel and hygiene restrictions during the pandemic. The Cold Hawaii Games are currently taking place from the 13th – 20th of September 2020 in the beautiful setting of Northern Denmark. A mix of Big Air kite action, SUP racing, skate and windsurf competition, yoga, a body board contest and a social bike ride on the country roads of the national park Thy make this event so special.

The Big Air contest on Sunday was the kick-off for the event, conditions were lining up and the riders were looking forward to show off their skills after mainly kiting their home spots this season. The event format consisted of four rounds. The riders winning the heats in round 1 skipped round 2 and were immediately qualified for round 3. The others had to battle it out in round 2, who got qualified for the final rounds. Round 4 was followed by the grand finale that decided, who takes home the title and the wildcard for the next KOTA in Cape Town. For the judges, 70% height and 30% extremity, were the criteria to find out, who is worthy to win this event.

However, on Sunday morning the forecasted 30-40 knots were more like 20 knots – not class A Big Air conditions at all. Luckily, the wind kept picking up to a consistent 30 knots gusting up to mid and higher 30ies for the rest of the day.

As many others, we were really looking forward to the performance that Tom Bridge would put on the water. Unfortunately, we only saw one very steezy handle pass by this young gun during the warm up. Next thing we know is, he lands his kite and limps off the beach… later on, it got announced that Tom Bridge would not compete anymore due to a knee injury – such a pitty! We keep our fingers crossed for a quick recovery!



Kevin Langeree, the three times King of the Air winner, was also expected to put on a big show and he did. Kevin jumped higher and further than everyone else, always fully in control and very consistent throughout the whole competition. Completely justified, he took every heat and ended up in the grand finale with the two other Dutchies Lasse Walker and Stig Hoefnagel. Even though Kevin was very strong, Lasse and Stig outcompeted every other contestant as well, so the crowd was really excited for what was going to happen during the final heat. Lasse showed several really sick and low mega loops and kite loop board-off variations on his brand new Duotone Dice 2021 and so did Stig on his Naish Pivot 2021. Somehow, Kevin managed to fly even higher and showing the full repertoire of rotations, kite loops and board-off with an immense control and style on his Reedin Supermodel. At the end, Kevin took the win over Lasse and Stig by three points.

We were really impressed with the performance of all riders during the competition, but some managed to stick out a bit more. Jamie Overbeek put his name on the list of talented, high-class international big air riders. He showed one of the most consistent performance throughout the whole competition and was a real crowd pleaser with his crazy high jumps and low kite loops on his Ozone Edge. Jamie Overbeek is definitely a name to remember, especially if you consider this young gun is only 14 years of age and is already a worthy competitor for the legends of the sport. We also want to shine the light on another promising talent – Simon Bruhn. Simon battled his way all the way through to compete against legend and local hero Nick Jacobsen. Nick gave the crowd a big show with his kite loop board-off, but Simon was very strategic and managed to find a kicker each time riding out, pulling a sick maneuver and sticking it. Both were leading throughout the heat at some point, but Simon performed more consistently during the heat and got in front of Nick with his incredible steezy inverted boogie loop one footer and took the win of the heat.

Now, we are looking forward for the rest of the action that is going to happen here in Denmark until Sunday and also the Big Air contest of the Cold Hawaii Games 2021. This event was very professionally organized on a lower budget, together with passionate locals and volunteers and you can feel that in every aspect. Friendly locals, great sportsmanship on the water in a beautiful scenery – what else to ask for?! Thanks and till next year!

Photo credit: Nils Wuensch (nils-wuensch.com)