The Red Bull Airborne series has been filling the appetites of two types of surf fans lately: those that can’t get enough of competition surfing now that the Championship Tour is in full swing, and those who desperately need a change of pace from your run-of-the-mill CT heats.
The brainchild of Josh Kerr, a guy who understands a thing or two about aerial surfing’s place in the sport, it’s given athletes a platform to show off something they wouldn’t otherwise get to in a CT heat. It’s worth noting that Jack Freestone’s win this week at the Red Bull Airborne Bali makes CT competitors three for three in winning the specialty event. Yago Dora won the first-ever event at last year’s Quik Pro France. Italo won the Gold Coast event last month and then doubled down with a win in the CT event.
“I’m so stoked to win this event,” Freestone said. “It was so much fun. To share the water with all of those guys was so sick. I’ve got a really good relationship with Keramas. I love it and it seems to suit me perfectly. My plan now is to take this confidence into the main event and hopefully get through some CT heats this weekend.”
Freestone beat out Kalani David, Eli Hanneman, Mason Ho, Ian Crane, and Eric Geiselman in the one-hour final held during an off-day for the Corona Bali Protected. And while plenty of fans have been complaining about the conditions being less than stellar for a CT event lately, the guys put on a show for the Airborne.
“This event is the best thing that has happened for a lot of these guys,” David said. “It’s so great that WSL, Red Bull, and Josh Kerr put this event on because it gives the freesurfers and air specialists an opportunity to showcase their talent on the world stage. This kind of event definitely pushes performance levels for sure.”
