Grand Haven City Beach, Michigan 
Sept. 4-7, 2003

View Results
Pictures - Hundreds more coming soon!

From Oct. 4th until Oct. 11th. the Hawaiian island Maui will be THE place to be for the kite-scene. The greatest and best kitesurfers will battle each other during the Red Bull King of the Air. Each participating country is organizing a qualifier, from which the two best kitesurfers (1 male/ 1 female) will be sent to Maui. There they're going to challenge the other qualifiers. Their final goal is to obtain a place amongst the pros. One of them might even go home with the prestigious title: Red Bull King of the Air.

Thursday, September 4th through Saturday September 7th, Grand Haven State Park will be THE place to be for the great lakes kite scene.  Look for the Red Bull Tent.  Grand Haven is a three hour drive from Chicago.  Rider check in will take place Wed., Sep. 4. Competitor meetings will take place daily at 10:30AM, with competition commencing at noon.

Riding Conditions:
September spells the start of the fall windy season for the great lakes.  Winds generally range between 10 and 20 knots, and the most used kites are between 10 and 20 meters.

Lodging:
Days Inn, Fountain Inn, Best Western in Grand Haven
Nearby camping is available in Grand Haven State Park.  For any lodging, be sure to check in advance for reservations.  More news will be posted on our message board right before the event.

Register by contacting Joe Bidawid (248) 227-0670 directly, or by visiting the website, www.kingofthegreatlakes.com, where you can also find more detailed competition information.

Event Contact
Heather Reid, Field Marketing Manager   |   Ph: (810) 394-0269
Email: heather.reid@us.redbull.com

Red Bull King of the Air Results - Grand Haven, Michigan

MEN:   Alex Zavadsky/Damion Leroy     |     WOMEN:   Julie Simsar


MEN'S DIVISION
1. Alex Zavadsky - Naish
1. Damion Leroy - Cabrinha
3. Matt Myers - Naish
4. James Otis - Naish

WOMEN'S DIVISION
1. Julie Simsar - Globerider
2. Nadina Kaminer - Naish
3. Beth Duri - Naish

HANG TIME WINNER: Tim Blanchard - 7.5 seconds
BEST TRICK WINNER: Matt Rutledge - Unhooked deadman to blind

The qualifier brought more kiteboarders into one place on Lake Michigan than we have ever seen before.  The conditions on Thursday were about 20 knots sideshore the first day, but the competition had to be put on hold due to the unfortunate drowning of a child off a nearby pier.  The drowning was unrelated to the competition and the competitors went down to another beach to do some free riding.  More pictures from this day and the actual event will follow soon.

Friday, no wind...

Saturday started with light winds, which increased as the day went on.  By the time the finals rolled around, there was plenty of wind for the competitors to put on a good show.  It was blowing around 12-15 knots.  Alex Zovostky from Mt. Hood, OR and Damien LeRoy tied for first place in the men's division.  Damien had already earned a trip to Maui due to his win in the Hatteras qualifier, so Alex received the trip to Maui for this event.  Third place in the Men's division went to Matt Meyers from Traverse City, which is just up the road from Grand Haven.  James Otis from Holland, MI advanced to the finals as well.  Holland is just down the road from Grand Haven. 

Julie Simsar from Charleston, S.C. won the women's division.  Second and third went to Nadina Kaminer and Beth Druri.  Nadina and Beth are both from Ontario, Canada.  If I'm not mistaken, all three women had just started kiteboarding within the past year.  It was really impressive to see them out there!

The wind was a bit lighter than expected during two days of the competition, but I think the location and setup for the event was great.  We hope to see the qualifier back on the shores of Lake Michigan again for next year.  For more pictures or information, check back to our website or post on the message board.