Aussie Victory: Jaspan & Potter Dominate in Hood River

Ewan Jaspan lands maiden GKA x KPL crown in Hood River
Back-to-back titles for Katie Potter at iconic venue

The Australian pair of Ewan Jaspan and Katie Potter were crowned at the first-ever Qatar Airways GKA Kite Park League World Championships which went down over a thrilling week in the iconic setting of the US’s Hood River.

For Jaspan it was his third successive KPL championship, though the first to be sanctioned as a world title by GKA under the banner of a World Sailing Special Event. Potter, like Jaspan a native of Melbourne, made it two in a row.

KPL was founded in 2016 and focused on Hood River, the birth-place of Kite Park. But after events in various locations around the world, KPL decided to concentrate on a one-stop world championship event, fostering the collaboration the GKA.

Kite Park’s roots owe much to wakeboarding, skateboarding and snowboarding. Its foundations in those “urban” sports are reflected in the relaxed vibe on the beach.

But in Oregon’s Hood River, on the fabled Columbia River Gorge, the action at the first Kite Park world championships was deadly serious. The top 17 men and three women from around the world were eager to see their names on the inaugural championship trophies.

The men’s contest in a dingle-elimination format opened with two heats, with the riders hitting two kickers and two sliders in challenging winds of more than 25 knots. The top two men in each heat went straight to the seven-man final.