Stormy skies make for a great event! Pic: Brenton Owens

That’s it for the Gold Coast’s biggest ever kiteboarding event! After 3 days of kiting and a rest day, kiteboarders from all over Australia are looking back on an amazing event that will no doubt return bigger and better next year.

The Kite Jam was a Queenslander take on the popular Merimbula Classic style event, where kiteboarders ride all day long and judges award points based on overall performance, not just during heats. The casual style of competing makes for a relaxed feel, no pressure and good times around the BBQ at the end of the day. It also encourages more participants, which is one of the reasons the Kite Jam was such a huge event! Just check out the list of results to see how many divisions and extra prizes were handed out, and that’s just the top of the pack! Every day the beach was packed, the waves shared by one, two or three riders at once and many a freestyler jumping over competitors in order to get a free spot!

One such freestyle was young gun from Brisbane, Ryan Parsons who took out the Big Air prize. This lightweight was able to get out when nobody else could on a 12m kite, making the most of the beach to himself, boosting huge off the waves and throwing in some impressive freestyle, watch out for this guy in the future as he’s making some serious noise at only 13 years old!

Also of note were the two sunshine coast guys Lucas Hearn and Tom McGregor who literally tore apart the waves all weekend long. At one point Lucas disappeared into a wave, presumed a wipeout until he later emerged – still smashing the wave to pieces like nothing ever happened. Tom was also hot on his heels with an incredible show of technical surfing in the sideshore and challenging conditions.

In the masters, Rob Sellar from Wellington Pt showed that the oldies can still mix it up with the kids. Not being afraid to throw down in the middle of the pack was the key to his success, picking the smallest of gaps to load up and often landing in only what could be described as millimeters of water. Dave Atkinson from Redcliffe also proved that some wave kites can jump, using an Ozone Reo to get some respectable height in pretty light wind.

But the big question, will it be back? Of course says event organizer David De Witt! The event is already planned for the 13th to 176h of December 2014, so if you want to get amongst it next year, book some tickets and head to the gold coast for one of the best events kiteboarding has ever seen!

Check out the results and for pics of the event, have a browse through the galleries on the Kite Jam Australia Facebook Page. 

Freestyle Awards:

OPEN:
1st DAN SMITH (Elanora)
2nd Dan Sweeny (Melb.)
3rd Elliot Drury (Syd.)

Women:
1st SAMMY PEARCE (Sun. Coast)
2nd Kelly Gearing- waves (Newcastle)
3rd Linn Thomassen- Waves (Norway)

Masters:
1st ROB SELLARS ( Wellington Point)
2nd David Atkinson (Clontarf)
3rd Rory Baker ( Gold Coast)

JUNIOR:
1st JOSH STEVENS (Noosa)
2nd Kye Evans (Brisbane)
3rd Tristan Payne (Bli Bli Qld)

Waves:
OPEN:
1st LUCAS HEARN (Sun. Coast)
2nd Tom McGregor (Curramundi)
3rd Lee kavanagh ( Taree)

Masters:
1st Marty Carter ( Gold Coast)
2nd Matt Green (*Banora Pt. NSW)
3rd Troy Divine (BWSurf Aust)

JUNIOR:
1st BEAU BLAKE (Nth NSW)
2nd Tim Cyprien (Gold Coast)
3rd Taj Prasad ( Gold Coast)

Big Air Guru:
Ryan Parsons (Junior) (Toe side back rolls above Judges heads)

ROOKIE AWARD:
Kate Rudolf (Gold Coast)
TEAM WINNERS: $500 CASH: "KAOS" from 'In the LOOP'
Josh Van Brederode / Anton Richardson/ Nic Yanez / Kev Ferret
DAY WINNERS: $300 CASH
DAN SMITH :
LUCAS HEARN:
GLEN BENNETT: