ALESSA VICE WORLD CHAMP

It all came down to the wire in Mykonos.

30+ knots. Close heats. Big tricks. Tricky landings. An upset or two. The GKA Big Air World Championship delivered everything you want from a world-class event, and Team Naish showed up ready for all of it.

Alessa Sophia Mensch and Jason van der Spuy advanced heat by heat, round by round, all the way through to the semi-finals. Both put in the work. Both pushed for more. And when the dust settled, both finished 7th overall on the day. But for Alessa, the math told a bigger story.

Alessa: the points that mattered most

Coming off a win at Lords of Tram and a hard-fought semi-final run in Mykonos, Alessa's results stacked up into something no single podium finish could express on its own. The overall points added up, and she claimed the Vice World Champion title right there on the island.

Alessa's road through the draw wasn't straightforward. A second-place finish in her opening heat put her into the second round with something to prove. She answered. Made the heat, moved through cleanly, and pushed deep into the semi-finals. The last trick didn't land the way she needed it to. The points weren't quite enough to advance further.

Seventh place finish. Vice world champion. It's that kind of sport.

She ran the Pivot NVision and the Alana throughout the event. The Pivot NVision is built for exactly these moments: sharper on the bar, forward drive meets smooth drift, and fast recovery from loops in conditions where you can't afford hesitation. The Alana gives smaller and lighter riders the grip and control to push hard at speed, with 3D shaping, aggressive channeling, and the bite needed when the wind is stacked and the heat is close.

Jason: finding the gusts when it counted

Just when it looked like things weren't going his way, the wind went light.

A heat against Lorenzo Casati, Andrea Principi, and Zac Adams. Two world champions and a top-ranked rider from Kota. Wind dropping. Pressure on. This is where the event reveals who can stay focused when the conditions stop cooperating.

Jason did what he does. He read the water, found the gusts, timed the takeoffs at the right moment, and moved through into the semi-finals. It was the crucial heat of his event.

In the semis, he put together one of his best heats of the competition. Fell short on the points by a margin. Finished seventh. But the way he got there, that last heat especially, was the kind of riding that reminds you why you follow this sport.

Jason's setup was the Psycho Q and the Drive. The Psycho Q is built for riders who want to go bigger than they thought possible: vertical takeoffs, maximum hang time, and a kite that holds above you for a second lift out of kiteloops. Confidence-building by design. In a heat against riders of that level, in shifting wind, that confidence isn't a nice-to-have. The Drive pairs lightweight carbon construction with reliable edge hold and a responsive feel at speed. One board for every condition. Always ready to go.

The bigger picture

Two riders. One island. 30+ knots and some of the closest competition on the circuit.

Seventh place finishes for both. A vice world title for Alessa. A season-defining run for Jason. Mykonos delivered the nerves, the drama, and the moments that make big air what it is.

Follow the rest of the season at Naish.com, and explore the full big air lineup here.