Mykonos Waits: GKA Big Air World Cup Sits in Its Window as Overbeek Hunts a Title

The GKA Kite World Tour has never been to Mykonos before. That changes this month.

The second and final Big Air World Cup of the 2026 season is running its competition window from the island in the Cyclades — the one the Greeks call the Island of the Winds — waiting for the right day of Meltemi to run its heats. The men's and women's Big Air world titles will be decided here.

As of Tuesday morning, the Meltemi hasn't delivered competition-grade conditions. The riders are on island. The equipment is rigged and waiting. The forecast is being monitored.

What Got Here

The first event of the GKA Big Air season ran in Barcarès, France in the spring. Lords of Tram — the annual Big Air event on the French Mediterranean — produced the season's opening results and set the championship standings that now arrive in Greece.

Men: Jamie Overbeek of the Netherlands won Lords of Tram with a performance that the scoring system registered at 28.80 from a possible 30 for his three counting tricks. Finn Flügel finished second; Leonardo Casati third. Overbeek arrives in Mykonos in the lead and, if the points math holds, within reach of a maiden Big Air world title with a strong result here.

Women: Alessa Sophia Mensch of Germany beat defending Big Air world champion Mikaili Sol by 0.3 of a point at Lords of Tram — the thinnest margin the season opener has produced in several years. Lana Herman was third. Mensch now leads the women's standings; Sol sits second, close enough that the title could go either way depending on what happens in Mykonos.

The Wind

Big Air kiteboarding requires wind in the 20–30 knot range, with gusts higher, running consistently enough to produce the approach speed that launches riders into the manoeuvres the format scores. The Meltemi — the dry northerly that dominates the Cyclades from late June through August — produces exactly those conditions, routinely, sometimes with 35-knot-plus peaks that make the open water south of Mykonos one of the most powerful kite venues in the world.

The GKA operates this event on a waiting window precisely because of the Meltemi's variability. The wind doesn't follow a schedule; it responds to pressure systems building north of Greece and funnelling between the islands. When it arrives on the right day — consistent, at the right angle, at the right speed — the GKA calls competition. A Big Air final can run start to finish in a morning when the conditions are right.

The current pattern, as of June 16, hasn't produced that day yet. The forecast through the week shows improving prospects.

The GKA selection of Mykonos for the world title event is a statement about how the tour wants to position itself. Big Air kiteboarding at a competitive level has spent the last decade building toward recognition as a mainstream action sport. Mykonos is not a technical kite destination — it's the most internationally famous Greek island, with a tourism infrastructure built around high-end visitors and an international media presence.

Putting the Big Air World Cup here means the competition shares space with the audience that already comes to Mykonos in June. The Meltemi is reliable enough in summer to justify the booking. The logistics are more complex than a rural French beach but the visibility payoff is significantly higher.

For the riders, it's a different kind of competition environment. Some of them have trained on Mykonos's kite spots — Ftelia Bay on the north coast, Kalafati on the southeast — for years. Several have it listed as a regular training stop. Others are here for the first time.

The Stakes

The structure of the 2026 GKA Big Air season is simple. Two events, two sets of world championship points. Whoever accumulates the most points across Lords of Tram and Mykonos wins the title.

Overbeek's Lords of Tram win gives him the lead in men's. A strong result in Mykonos — a final appearance, ideally a win — likely secures his first Big Air world title. A poor result (knocked out early, conditions not going his way) reopens the championship for Flügel or Casati or whoever else makes the final.

Mensch's 0.3-point margin over Sol at Lords of Tram is thinner than a single good trick. Sol is the defending champion. She finished second at the season opener by a distance the width of a referee's call. She knows what winning a world title feels like. She knows what it feels like to be one trick away from losing one.

That's the women's final, whenever it runs. Mensch leads. Sol is right behind her.

Waiting

The athletes on Mykonos this week are doing what all riders in a competition window do: stretching the waiting into useful work. Free sessions on days with marginal conditions. Gear checks. Reading the forecast fifteen times a day and then putting the phone down.

The competition has not started yet. The island is windy. The title is real. The Meltemi will arrive.

For the destination guide to kitesurfing Mykonos and the Cyclades, read our Mykonos kitesurfing guide.