Bruna Kajiya on the year she lands sixth world title as Finn Flügel grabs his first aged 16
Brazil’s Bruna Kajiya clinched the Freestyle world title on home waters in Taíba to take her haul to six. Kajiya, at 38 the most senior woman on tour, is as passionate as ever about Freestyle and believes it is having a moment again. She talked to Ian MacKinnon from her home in Portugal. Germany’s Finn Flügel won his first title at just 16. He is just as pumped about Freestyle, as he told Kitesurf365 podcast from his home in El Gouna, Egypt.
Bruna Kajiya | 2025 GKA Freestyle Kite World Champion
Ian MacKinnon: Congratulations. Six world titles, how does that sound?
Bruna Kajiya: It’s quite a unique feeling; a hard one to describe because of the history of the sport. When I started I made a video and one of the questions was: what would you say to a younger Bruna? But being a world champion is not a singular thing. It’s multiple things. Because when I started I thought maybe one day you’ll be a world champion. It felt like a thing to become. Not, like, you could achieve many world titles. It feels quite mind-blowing.
IM: Have the titles got harder to get as time has gone on?
BK: It’s never easy. I don’t think it got harder. I had harder titles when dealing with injuries. My first world title I was dealing with a broken finger. My fourth title, I was coming back from multiple knee injuries. So, I’ve harder times. It’s never easy; always a challenge.
IM: Does the sixth title feel as good as the first?
BK: It’s hard for me to say. It’s a bit like asking a granny which is her favourite grand-child. She’ll likely say ‘I love them all the same’. So, it’s kind-of like that. The first title was new. The last one was so different. But I love them all. But the last one was so satisfying, the way it happened. It felt in many ways better than before. The first one was a lot of emotion.
IM: Over time you’ve seen Freestyle progress and you’ve progressed too. How do you feel about it?
BK: I love it. The progression of Freestyle is so interesting to me. The progression made me really motivated to train. Now we have all the toe-side tricks, the ‘blinds’, the Combos. Having those in competition opens so many options for me. It’s so much fun and the progression for me is super-exciting. For me, it’s almost like what I was craving. So, I’m super-excited.
IM: Do you feel Freestyle gets enough love from the sport and the industry?
BK: I feel like it’s not only about Freestyle getting enough love. In the past it was getting a lot of love. Everything works on trends. The whole world works on trends. There was Freestyle, then there was strapless freestyle for a moment. That was the big thing. Then strapless died off a bit and it’s not getting as much attention as before. That’s normal. Then Big Air came and they were loving that. But they’ve seen a lot of it now and it’s not so new any more. What’s cool is that Freestyle has always been such a core discipline. We have core fans and that has been constant throughout. That remains strong and that’s what’s really good.
I feel Freestyle is having a moment. It’s coming back, getting stronger and stronger. We’re seeing new Freestyle kites. Aaron Hadlow is having a whole line of Freestyle kites again [with Harlem Kitesurfing] just launched a month ago. Brainchild x F-one made a Custom Freestyle kite for Maxime Chabloz and you see other brands wanting to get involved.
IM: Is it more difficult to maintain your fitness as time goes on?
BK: I don’t think it’s getting harder. It was never easy to begin with. With this discipline you have to be really on top of it 100 percent. It demands a lot. It’s a constant grind, but that’s what I love about it. It can be a brutal discipline as well. But that motivates me and what I love about it.
IM: What’s your goal for the coming year? Another title?
BK: Yes. I love it and want to keep doing it. This year was so much fun for me. For sure I want to keep doing and keep pushing.
Finn Flügel (GER) | 2025 GKA Freestyle Kite World Champion
Kitesurf365: You won the 2025 Freestyle world title. Was is difficult [essentially] having only one event?
Finn Flügel: It was super-hard. In Abu Dhabi it never looked like we were going to run it. For Brazil we were all in for one event and the pressure was on to perform. And to get the win was just wild.
KS365: How long have you been dreaming about that?
FF: Like, in 2023 it started when I made my first final. After that I knew I could get the top three and four spots. I knew I could get it. I was top three in every single final. I was first, twice and I just missed the title. That pushed me more. ‘I can do this, if I’ve the chance again, I’m going to do it.’ This year in Brazil it was quite hard. We had 20 to 22kts. It was perfect. To win there was even more special, to just have one event was wild.
KS365: That semi-final in Brazil was one of the greatest heats ever seen. You had Arthur Guillebert with 34.53; “Kimo” Mahmoud 29.53; Maxime Chabloz, with a 10, on 35.07; and you with 35.96. Were you in a flow state?
FF: The semi was Maxime, “Kimo”, Arthur and me. Last year’s top four. It was insane. It was crazy. I was in the flow state. Everything was perfect. It was my day; completely in the flow. It was just like every day in the lagoon here [in El Gouna]. Trick after trick it got more hyped. I didn’t even think I was going to crash. There was not doubt about it.”
KS365:You’re part of the next generation of Freestyle coming through. How does that feel?
FF: I’m so happy that we’re pushing Freestyle again, because it’s such a technical discipline. I just love it. For me it such a good balance with Big Air. This event [in Brazil] was so good for us in Freestyle. I’m happy that we’re pushing it even more.
KS365: You compete in Twin-tip Big Air, Hydrofoil Big Air and Freestyle. What’s your goal for next year?
FF: I like spending as much time on the water as possible. Here in Egypt I have to do everything to be on the water every day. One day we have light wind, the next day it’s crazy. For the next two days we have a forecast of 30kts—great for Big Air. Then 15 or 16kts, when I’ll do Freestyle. Every day I do everything to stay on the water.
KS365: Where do you see your future in Freestyle, Big Air and Hydrofoil Big Air?
FF: For sure it’s not easy. If you just focus on one, you can do it. This year we had few events, so it was easier. For the first part of the year I could focus on Big Air, then in the second half I could focus on Freestyle. If we had five Freestyle stops, like before, it would be difficult.
KS365: Freestyle looks sick when you see it up close.
FF: Yeah. For Freestyle we have to do a better job with high-quality livestream, with better camera angles, so it looks better. At the beach it looks insane. If you say Freestyle is just too hard, too much technique, you should come to the beach and see how it looks.
KS365: What’s your favourite trick?
FF: For Freestyle my dream was a Blind Backside 9. I started working on it at the beginning of the year, in February, with Nico Delmas [coach]. I was so close already. But it took me until the summer in Greece to land it the first time. It was crazy. There’s so much technique and small adjustments to get it. Freestyle requires so much brain work. The Blind Backside 9 I pretty much have it on lock. The other favourite is the KGB9.
images: Svetlana Romantsova