Pioneering Youth Twintip World Championships decided in blend of Freestyle and Big Air disciplines
GKA Youth Twintip Kite World Championship St Peter-Ording
19-23 August, 2026 | Ording Beach, St Peter-Ording
The 2026 winners have been crowned in the pioneering GKA Youth Twintip World Championships after five days of spell-binding action in a mix of conditions at St Peter-Ording, Germany, that challenged the teenaged athletes to the full.
The format of the event hosted by the historic California Kitesurf Masters event was a blend of Big Air and Freestyle kiteboarding. The athletes could choose which style to focus depending on the conditions offered up by the North Sea.
The thousands of fans who lined the beach were rewarded when local hero, Germany’s Finn Flügel, landed the U19 Boys’ crown. Flügel is the reigning senior GKA Freestyle Kite World Champion, but chose to go with Big Air tricks that took him to victory.
Second placed Benedek Szente, of Hungary, chose to mix it up with Big Air and Freestyle tricks that were equally well rewarded by the judges. The Boys’ U19 third place was taken by Mano Lander, of Denmark, who concentrated on Big Air Tricks.
Bulgaria’s Aya Kasabova won the U19 Girls by focusing on Big Air tricks. The rising star took second place at the senior GKA Big Air season finale in Mykonos, Greece, in July. But Maja Ceran, of Poland, performed only Freestyle tricks, that earned her the second podium spot.Aya Kasabova
The decision to trial mixing the disciplines was taken to ensure that the championships could be completed in the relatively short competition window of five days. Big Air contests typically have windows of one month or more as organisers wait for perfect, strong wind conditions.
Sixty-one young athletes from 18 nations made their way to a stormy and chilly St Peter-Ording to battle for glory. Over the days of the competition the wind varied, picking up to 20 to 25 knots on the closing weekend.
A choppy North Sea on St Peter-Ording strand keep the young athletes on their toes as they tried to find the flat sections between the waves, or clean kickers, to perform their tricks.
The Girls’ competition, where Italy’s Alice Melesa won the U16 crown, was run on a turn-by-turn basis. But the Boys’ contest, where Tomasso Borgi, of Italy, won the U16 crown, was run on timed heats of eight or ten minutes because of the larger number of entrants and the need to get the competitions completed.
words: Ian MacKinnon
images: Daniel Pankoke / California Kitesurf Masters
GKA Youth Twintip Kite World Championships 2026 results
U14 Boys
1 Niam Martinez (ESP)
2 Tomasso Caglini (ITA)
3 Teo Sarquella (ESP)
U16 Boys
1 Tomasso Borgi (ITA)
2 Gonzalo Capela (ESP)
3 Basile Serre (FRA)
U16 Girls
1 Alice Melesa (ITA)
2 Asia Karol Nardo (ITA)
3 Maryam Graf (SUI)
U19 Girls
1 Aya Kasabova (BUL)
2 Maja Ceran (POL)
3 Kailani Friedrich (AUS)
U19 Boys
1 Finn Flügel (GER)
2 Benedek Szente (HUN)
3 Mano Lander (DEN)