Surfing
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All you need to know about Red Bull Airborne 2019
Our rolling coverage of the Red Bull Airborne Series continues as Ian Crane wins in Hossegor, France.
Ian Crane tastes the 'pagne at Red Bull Airborne in France
© Ryan Miller
Ian Crane almost landed the biggest trademark Back Stale of his life today
© Ryan Miller
Ian Crane winning Red Bull Airborne with a classic, stomped, frontside punt
© WSL/Poullenot
Ian Crane chaired up the beach, victorious at Red Bull Airborne in France
© Ryan Miller
Red Bull Airborne Series – France, event three
Californian surfer Ian Crane today won Red Bull Airborne in France, overcoming a burly field of the world's best aerialists, hell bent on tackling the mega ramps of Hossegor's La Gravière head-on. In conditions that could generously be described as challenging, the surfers rose to the occasion and matched the massive waves' power with a brutal showing of their own. While there was plenty of carnage and many a spectacular wipeout, the aerial wizardry of the squad stole the show at day's end.
Watch the event on demand here:
Notable moments were endless though it was Finn McGill who dominated the highlight reel in the early rounds with a huge indy grab alley-oop to qualify first for the final, while Matt Meola won a peer-nominated award for sending it the hardest after a string of hure rotations flung miles out into the flats.
3 min
Vaughan Deadly's Red Bull Airborne explanation
Vaughan Deadly finds out more about Red Bull Airborne ahead of the third stop in Hossegor, France.
Come finals time, and with stand-outs like Meola, Chippa Wilson and Noa Deane failing to progress, the door was left open for one of the underdogs. After Championship Tour surfers won the first three outings of Red Bull Airborne, Griffin Colapinto was left to carry the hopes of the Top 34 into the final, but in the end it was the spirit animal of the event and star of Red Bull Airborne mockumentary 21 Hours, Ian Crane, who took the most popular win in the history of the series, as the packed beach and competitors area roared their approval. Local wildcard Nomme Mignot pushed him all the way to come second, while Australian young gun Reef Heazlewood flew to third place at the end of a long and insanely physical day.
7 min
21 hours with Ian Crane
Meet rising surf star Ian Crane ahead of Red Bull Airborne in France.
Stay tuned for updates and highlight reels to come, but for now Crano's coronation beckons. Congratulations to all of today's surfers, thankfully the few injuries sustained were minor and to the winner goes the spoils. Onya Crane!
Pre-event hype reel:
"I can't wait to mix it up with all the crew," says Wilson, "it looks like the previous events have been all time, I'm keen to get involved and see how we go!"
1 min
Red Bull Airborne France Qualifier
Watch the action as 16 French surfers compete for a place at Red Bull Airborne in Hossegor.
Alongside Wilson and the usual Red Bull Airborne series suspects, local hopes Nomme Mignot and Maxime Huscenot dominated the trials to earn places in this week's draw, and the pair will be chomping at the bit to fly the French flag high when the action kicks off.
The 2019 French field:
Heat Draw
Round 1
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS), Eithan Osborne (USA), Kalani David (HAW), Reef Heazlewood (AUS), Matt Meola (HAW), Albee Layer (HAW)
Heat 2: Noa Deane (AUS), Kevin Schultz (USA), Griffin Colapinto (USA), Ian Crane (USA), Matt Banting (AUS), Nomme Mignot (FRA)
Heat 3: Chippa Wilson (AUS), Jack Freestone (AUS), Eric Geiselman (USA), Finn Mcgill (HAW), Cam Richards (USA), Maxime Huscenot (FRA)
Round 2
Heat 1: Noa Deane (AUS), Jack Freestone (AUS), Eric Geiselman (USA), Ian Crane (USA), Matt Meola (HAW), Albee Layer (HAW)
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS), Kevin Schultz (USA), Finn Mcgill (HAW), Reef Heazlewood (AUS), Matt Banting (AUS), Maxime Huscenot (FRA)
Heat 3 Chippa Wilson (AUS), Eithan Osborne (USA), Griffin Colapinto (USA), Kalani David (HAW), Cam Richards (USA), Nomme Mignot (FRA)
Red Bull Airborne Series – Bali, event two
After kicking off the year on Australia's Gold Coast, where Brazil's flamboyant Italo Ferreira claimed a huge win over Australian sensation Reef Heazlewood (scroll down for highlights), the Red Bull Airborne Series has moved north to the east coast of Bali, Indonesia.
Day 2: Jack Freestone steals the show and bangs the gong
2 min
Red Bull Airborne 2019
Check out the best of the aerial action from the second stop of the 2019 Red Bull Airborne Series
After winning two WSL World Junior Championship events there in the past eight years, Jack Freestone carried the confidence of an unbeaten record at Keramas all the way to the top of the Red Bull Airborne Series dais, defeating Kalani David, future star Eli Hanneman, Ian Crane, Eric Geiselman and Mason Ho in the final, after two rousing days of competition on Bali's east coast. On a day that saw many of the Championship Tour surfers wondering why they weren't in the water, the rag tag Red Bull Airborne crew ran amok in perfect 3-4ft ramps at surfing's most high-performance venue.
In the second round, Freestone again shone with his variety and consistency, while others like Crane attempted the same manoeuvre – a massively difficult and technical backside stalefish air-reverse – over and over, scoreboard be damned. The crowd roared when Crane finally rode away from his passion project, and although he locked in the highest score of the event for it – a 7.23 out of 10 – the biggest buzz for the Californian was the reception he got from his peers, the toughest and most astute judges of them all.
Never mind the "future star" talk, 16-year-old Eli Hanneman showed he's already a force to be reckoned with by constantly landing big, clean aerials, and not once showing a sign of nerves, despite his tender age, while older surfers like Mason Ho and Eric Geiselman reminded us all once again why they've been loved for so long.
Come the final and Hanneman was the first on the board, while Freestone spun both ways – air reverse and alley oop – to soar to the top of the leader board. With just the one air counting it was Jack's tail-high and massively tweaked air reverse that narrowly got the nod over a strong Kalani David alley oop, though if it had been a surfer's best five airs that counted Jack would have lapped the field a couple of times, such was his incredible make rate.
Day 1: Long-time Keramas aficionados light up the black sand
2 min
Red Bull Airborne Series – Bali, Day 1
All the best airs and attempts from a crazy day at Keramas, Bali, the capital of high performance surfing.
Day one was held in perfect conditions for aerial surfing, the local trade winds blowing lightly onshore, the tide filling in over the reef, and more than enough swell on offer to serve up the famous Keramas ramps that surfers covet the world over.
Eli Hanneman and Jack Freestone traded blows in the first heat and despite Jack's stylish stalefish alley-oop it was the shortest surfer in the field who ended up winning the bout from the tallest. Eli's tweaked tail high reverse and super smooth landing put him on the top of the leaderboard after the first heat, a position he would still hold at day's end.
Conditions backed off a little in heats two and three but that didn't stop Eric Geiselman and Kalani David showing they'll be threats on the final day. Geiselman is a regular visit to Keramas and his experienced showed as he banked two solid scores to move into second, while David threw a huge alley-oop to again remind us all that not only is he one of the world's best bowl skaters, he's also one of the best aerial surfers in the world as well.
A brief history of Keramas
Since it first burst onto the global surfing radar a dozen-or-so years ago, the lava reef and volcanic black sands of Keramas Beach have witnessed more than their fair share of iconic aerial moments, so it's only fitting that the Red Bull Airborne Series stops in the Island Of The Gods for its second event of 2019, with the window open from May 13-19.
Think of Keramas and you think of Andy and Bruce Irons shot from a helicopter in Taylor Steele's seminal ode to travel, Sipping Jetstreams. Cast your mind back to John John Florence's incredible alley-oop at the 2013 Oakley Pro. Remember Jack Freestone claiming his second World Junior Championship with a display of above the lip surfing never again seen in the junior ranks, in 2012. And how could we forget Julian Wilson's groundbreaking flat spin alley-oop that highlighted his blistering Wayward edit, just two short years ago?
10 min
No Contest 2018 – Bali
See the surf world tour's best railing perfect waves in Bali, Indonesia.
After Italo Ferreira claimed glory on the Gold Coast we've switched a few surfers in and out of the roster, and look forward to welcoming a ton of Indonesian talent to the field as well, headlined by young gun Bronson Meidy and long time local standout Lee Wilson. Others joining them include Hawaiian wunderkind Eli Hanneman, who filmed the majority of the edit below at Keramas, long time Bali-lover Eric Geiselman, and resurgent former Championship Tour surfer Matt Banting.
There will also be local trials run on May 12 at Padma Beach in Kuta, which will see hometown stars such as Garut Widiarta, Raditya Rondi, Betet Merta, Lempog Jackson and Rio Waida, to name but a handful, vying for the last available spots in the main event. If you thought the Gold Coast event was good, you ain't seen nothing yet!
In Bali the field is:
- Noa Deane (AUS)
- Jack Freestone (AUS)
- Eli Hanneman (HAW)
- Lee Wilson (IDN)
- Made Darmayasa 'Blerong' (IDN)
- Ian Crane (USA)
- Eithan Osborne (USA)
- Matt Meola (HAW)
- Mason Ho (HAW)
- Oliver Kurtz (USA)
- Eric Geiselman (USA)
- Yago Dora (BRA)
- Jay Davies (AUS)
- Reef Heazlewood (AUS)
- Finn Mcgill (HAW)
- Kalani David (HAW)
- Bronson Meydi (IDN)
Red Bull Airborne Series – Gold Coast, event one
Day 1
Watch as the top surfers go head-to-head at the first of three epic Red Bull Airborne events this season.
History will show that Italo Ferreira took out the first event of the Red Bull Airborne Series for the year at Duranbah Beach, before winning the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast a few days later. For all the highlights from an epic final day hit the highlights above and soak up the magic.
Italo Ferreira goes loopy, wins Red Bull Airborne
© Steve Sherman
Day 2: Duranbah turns on the ramps for the Final
Reef, Italo and Yago sing the blues for you
© Steve Sherman
And while the heavens opened up on the Gold Coast, the song remained the same. Last year it was Yago Dora who took out Red Bull Airborne, this time around it was compatriot and 2018 Championship Tour world number four Italo Ferreira who leapt to the top of the leaderboard. Toledo was the man to beat, but iceman and aerial savant Ferreira couldn't be kept down as Aussie young gun Heazlewood leapt for the heavens but fell an inch short.
Day 1: Defending champ Yago Dora kicks off the action
Next up, two of the Championship Tour's finest – Filipe Toledo and Italo Ferreira – came up against some of the biggest names in the air game – Noa Deane, Matt Meola and Kael Walsh to name a few – and it was the former partnership that took home the honours.
Get to know Josh Kerr, the man behind Airborne
Come and meet Josh Kerr, the man behind Red Bull Airborne, which will be held at three World Surf League CT events throughout 2019 – the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, which starts on April 3, the Corona Bali Protected and the Quiksilver Pro France.
Before his long career on the Championship Tour and his brief but successful swing on the Big Wave World Tour (and before owning a brewery and enjoying a recent 'retirement' run of surf travel and adventure) Kerr used to run riot on the air show scene of the late '90s and early 2000s.
1 min
Red Bull Airborne ready for takeoff in 2019
After debuting in France last October, aerial wizard Josh Kerr is bringing the Red Bull Airborne Series back in a play that will see the world's best sail the skies of Australia, Indonesia and France.
Kerr didn't grow up bouncing on a fit ball, grimly studying the ocean and doing endless heat drills with an army of coaches. Kerrzy grew up under the wing of surfing's outcast aerialists, guys like Jason 'Ratboy' Collins, Shawn 'Barney' Barron and Aarron Cormican in the US and Ozzy Wright, Nick Wallace and Kirk Flintoff in Australia. They toured the world's busiest beaches to party like madmen by night and pushed aerial progression by day. Aged just 17, Kerr finished 2001 as world air show champion.
Jack Freestone tweaking a stalefish
© Laurent Masurel/WSL/Red Bull Content Pool
Kael Walsh kicks his tail to the sky and puts it down smooth
© Laurent Masurel/WSL/Red Bull Content Pool
Kalani David stomping a stalefish en route to a fourth-place finish
© Laurent Masurel/WSL/Red Bull Content Pool
Eithan Osborne throws a huge lien grab and lands in the finals
© Laurent Masurel/WSL/Red Bull Content Pool
The essential details you need to know about the Airborne Series
When does it run?
Red Bull Airborne enjoys the same waiting period as the three World Tour events it runs over. The contest only takes four hours, meaning the WSL can call it 'on' at short notice. This might happen when onshore or cross-shore winds hamper the waves for traditional surfing, but create perfect conditions for aerials.
What's the judging criteria?
Each air is scored from 0-10, even if a surfer completes multiple aerials on one wave. Airs are judged on completion, commitment, degree of difficulty, innovation and progression, style, speed, power, height and technicality. The goal of the judging criteria is to push the limits of aerial surfing.
Who gets to compete?
Eighteen surfers compete in each Red Bull Airborne event. The field is a combination of CT surfers, underground talent, and local wildcards, with each competitor surfing two rounds of three-man heats and the six highest scoring surfers advancing to the final. The field is hand-picked by Josh Kerr, while the local wildcards compete in trials before the main event.
At Snapper the field is:
