GKA Big Air season opener returns to Barcarès for first of two-stop world championship title race
Lords of Tram GKA Big Air Kite World Cup France
28 March—26 April, 2026 | Le Barcarès
The opening stop of the GKA Big Air 2026 season is set to kick off at Lords of Tram, in Barcarès, southern France, with the action fuelled by epic Tramontana winds that blow of the Pyrenees over the lagoon.
Reigning GKA Big Air Kite World Champions, Spain’s Lorenzo Casati and Mikaili Sol, of the US, are ranked top seeds and will be eager to open the defence of their titles in the stadium-like setting of Lords of Tram.
The competition, the fourth consecutive year GKA and Lords of Tram have teamed up, will have a month-long holding period to guarantee the best winds for spectacular action. The north-westerly Tramontana winds can blow up to 60 knots at this time of year.
The world’s top 24 men and 12 women Big Air twin-tip athletes have made it into the draw for the first Big Air event of the year, with the champions due to be crowned in mid-June when the GKA makes its debut in Mykonos, Greece.
Lorenzo Casati won the title last year at Lords of Tram. His second place at Barcarès was enough to give him the title and he went on to win the Red Bull King of the Air (Kota) crown in Cape Town at the end of the year.
Italy’s Andrea Principi won the Lords of Tram last season, and is seeded number two for the 2026 edition. The younger of the Casati brothers, Leonardo, who competes under the Italian flag, is seeded three and was runner-up at Kota last season aged 16.
This year’s line-up also features the multi-talented German teenager, Finn Flügel, who clinched the GKA Freestyle Kite World Championship title last season. Another young rider who made the cut is the Dane, Maxwell Dahl, the GKA U16 Youth Big Air World Champion.
The Netherlands Jamie Overbeek is one of the Selected riders for Lords of Tram and definitely one to watch even though he is seeded 15. Overbeek and Flügel were inexplicably missing from last years Kota line-up.
Mikaili Sol was in a class of her own last year when she was crown world champion at Lords of Tram. But former King of the Air winner, Britain’s Francesca Maini, is seeded number two this year, with the Italian powerhouse, Alice Ruggiu, third seed.
The Netherlands’ Pippa van Iersel, a former winner at Lords of Tram, will undoubtedly be in the mix. But one of the biggest threats must come the Swede Nathalie Lambrecht, who missed LoT last year through injury but went on to win the Red Bull Kota crown.
Another Dutch athlete, Zara Hoogenraad, is a former GKA Big Air World Champion, who will no doubt push the others to the limit and beyond. Join us here for all the action.
words: Ian MacKinnon
images: Andy Troy
Spot Info: Barcarès
Wind: The Tramontana blowing northerly, or north-westerly offshore, is best. The spot is non-tidal, with flat waters and temperatures of 10-20C.
The best wind for Big Air is 25-40 knots. (On Windguru the perfect forecast is 25 knots, with gusts of 30-35 knots—with the gusts as a reference point for the true wind.)
The wind is usually 5-10 knots in excess of the forecast, especially if the air temperatures are cold.
The spot: The wind funnels in the corner of the jump zone, with result that riders can often jump three metres to five metres higher than usual.
The jump area has deep water, which makes it safer in the event of a crash.
The best seasons for the Tramontana run from March to June, and September to December. During summer, southern France’s hot weather can disrupt the pattern.
Within 500 metres the spot boasts two cable parks: a full-size Téléski Nautique and the “out and return” Sailor Wakepark. Just a kilometre away there is a full-size indoor and outdoor skatepark—Shakapark.
At the competition spot there is a bar-restaurant, The Spott, and a Duotone branded kiteschool, Surf&Kite.
Event Info:
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