Francesca Maini: The Queen of Big Air Dominating Kiteboarding and Elevating Women’s Watersports
The howling winds of Cape Town’s “Cape Doctor” whipped across the shoreline as 22-year-old Francesca Maini soared 18 meters above the roiling Atlantic. Below her, three-meter swells churned like liquid mountains. Above, her kite sliced through 40-knot gusts with surgical precision. In that gravity-defying moment—board detached mid-megaloop, hands numb from cold, heart pounding—the half-Italian, half-English phenom wasn’t just chasing victory at the 2024 Red Bull King of the Air. She was rewriting the rules of women’s extreme sports.
From the frosty shores of Herne Bay, UK, to the sun-soaked swells of Cape Town, Francesca Maini isn’t just rewriting kiteboarding history—she’s redefining what’s possible for women in extreme watersports.
At just 22, this half-Italian, half-English phenom has skyrocketed to fame as a Big Air specialist, Red Bull King of the Air champion, and a fearless advocate for gender equality in kiteboarding. We dove into her journey, her groundbreaking achievements, and the sports she’s revolutionizing.
At just 22, this half-Italian, half-English phenom has skyrocketed to fame as a Big Air specialist, Red Bull King of the Air champion, currently ranked number two on the 2024 world tour, and a fearless advocate for gender equality in kiteboarding. We dove into her journey, her groundbreaking achievements, and the sports she’s revolutionizing.
From Icy Beginnings to Global Stardom: The Francesca Maini Origin Story
Francesca’s love affair with the ocean begins 1,300 miles north in Herne Bay, a sleepy English coastal town better known for its fish-and-chip shops than world-class athletes. At age 10, armed with a hand-me-down kite from her Italian father (a former windsurfing instructor), she faced her first adversary: the bone-chilling waters of the Thames Estuary.
“Most kids would’ve quit after five minutes,” he laughs. “Fran? She’d stay out until her lips turned blue.”
What followed was less “adversary” and more obsession. Battling icy waves and fierce sibling rivalry with her brother, Francesca spent her teens mastering tricks in conditions that would send most riders scrambling for drysuits.
“I’d crash over and over until my hands were numb,” she recalls. “But every wipeout taught me something. By 15, I knew I wanted to fly higher than anyone else.”
That grit paid off.
By 2022, she’d transitioned from local hero to multitalented international rider, debuting at Lord of Trams 2023 Big Air tour with a style that blended technical precision and raw audacity.
Big Air Kiteboarding: Where Francesca Maini Soars
Big Air kiteboarding isn’t for the faint of heart. Riders launch off waves or flat water, using wind and kite tension to catapult a kite into the air, executing flips, spins, and loops before (hopefully) sticking the landing. Judged on height, technical difficulty, and style, it’s a sport where milliseconds and millimetres separate glory from disaster.
Francesca’s mastery of Big Air is rooted in her signature move:
The “Yellow-Tail” Kiteloop Board-Off: A heart-stopping trick where she releases her board mid-megaloop and reattaches it before landing. Her secret? Slamming backfoot pressure to stabilize the board mid-flight.
