28. October 2026
Hugo Wigglesworth wins King of the Air Qualifier in Taiwan
Ticket to Cape Town secured.
The most prestigious big air event is back: the Red Bull King of the Air brings together the world’s best riders to compete for height, power and style. Last week, Hugo Wigglesworth from New Zealand won the Red Bull King of the Air Taiwan Qualifier in Hsinchu. With the win, the FLYSURFER athlete has secured his place in the final stop in Cape Town, reaching a goal he narrowly missed last year. The qualifier took place for the first time at Nanliao Fishing Harbor in Hsinchu, Taiwan’s “Wind City”, with 18 men and 6 women competing.
An approaching typhoon kept the conditions challenging: the water was very choppy, which made it hard to find clean take-offs. On the first day, strong conditions meant riders had to be helped into the water. On the second, cloud cover from the typhoon took power out of the wind. Hugo advanced directly to round 3 and then fought his way through the semi-final into the final.
For the final, Hugo was the only rider to choose a foil kite, the FLYSURFER SONIC⁵ 7m. He landed 19 tricks in 15 minutes without a single crash, and every one of them was different. Some would say this has never been done before. Even Hugo was surprised, although it all came down to his tactical thinking: “There was a lot going on tactically, thinking about which tricks I needed to do to maximize my scores, trying to find the good gusts and a clean take-off.” This led to a massive final, which he won against strong competitors Finn Flügel (GER) and Marten Koblischke (GER). Hugo himself didn’t see it coming, as he arrived in Taiwan injured. Less than two weeks earlier, a crash into the rocks at the British Kiteboarding National Championships had left him bruised.
Despite that, he showed once again that he performs when the pressure is highest. And the day after, when the wind was strongest, Hugo pumped up his kite and went kiting with Marten Koblischke during the typhoon, just for fun. The next stop is the Red Bull King of the Air final at Kite Beach in Bloubergstrand, Cape Town. The waiting window runs from November 21 to December 6, and the organizers will pick the competition days based on wind and swell. The other competitors are seeded based on last year’s results, the video contest and the qualifier rankings. For Hugo, it is a debut: his first King of the Air.
After narrowly missing out in 2025, he now has a guaranteed spot with no video contest to worry about. “I’m super happy to secure my spot in KOTA this year, especially by winning the only qualifier of the year, which is no doubt harder than being selected through entry videos,” he says. Hugo will head to Cape Town soon to prepare for the final. As he told us: “I’m going to Cape Town very soon to get as much time as possible to prepare in the conditions there. I will be specifically training to level up my left-foot-forward tricks into the kickers.”
The entire FLYSURFER team is proud to be part of Hugo’s journey. Congratulations on the win in Taiwan, Hugo! We wish you all the best for the final and can’t wait to see you in Cape Town.
Photos: Jasmine Chang / Red Bull Content Pool
