Wind Chasers Pt. 3: Brazilian Brothers' Strike Mission to Hermanus

With no wind in Blouberg yet again, the Brazilian Brothers loaded up for another strike mission — this time to Hermanus, where the forecast was calling for rain and 40-knot gusts. As always, the brothers brought the camera along to capture every bit of the chaos.

Nuclear Conditions and 40-Knot Gusts

The drive into Hermanus had its own moments. Halfway there, the brothers had to pull over on the side of a mountain just to get the drone up — the scenery was too good to pass. From there, the weather started shifting fast. By the time the spot was in sight, the wind had gone properly nuclear, with massive gusts ripping through the road as Hermanus got closer. Word travels fast on the South African kite scene, and the buzz was already building: the Brazilian Brothers were on a mission again.

Pulling up to Hermanus, the place was absolutely nuking. Kites were everywhere, sand was blasting across the beach, and the waves out in the ocean were huge. The lagoon behind the parking area was the more sensible option, but a handful of riders were sending it in the open ocean — pure madness in the conditions.

The Spot Is Gnarly

The walk down to the spot only confirmed how gnarly it was. Sand moving sideways, gust cycles swinging from a strong rip to almost nothing, and a sketchy dark cloud sitting offshore that nobody wanted to read too closely. Even with all that, riders were still committing — sending boogies, throwing massive loops, and going for huge jumps in the gust windows. The whole thing had that edge-of-the-storm energy where every minute could go either way.

Job Guijt on the Ozone Vortex

On the beach, the Brazilian Brothers caught up with Job Guijt — FPV legend, drone pilot for King of the Air, and a serious rider in his own right. Job had just come in off a session on a 9-meter Ozone Vortex, and his read on the conditions was simple: this was the gnarliest session he'd had all season. The wind was swinging from absolutely nothing to fully blasted, and the riders still out there were hitting two-meter jumps one moment and 25-meter sends the next. One rider had already ejected his kite out in the chop, which tells you everything about what the conditions were doing.

Despite the wild swings, Job had nothing but praise for the Vortex — his pick for the best kite of last year after testing plenty of competitors. He's curious to see what the V2 brings when it drops, which should be sooner rather than later.

Jett Bradshaw and Jacobsen Gear

As the weather got worse, most of the lineup started packing up — but that's exactly when Jett Bradshaw rolled in. The big air legend, known for his gnarly super loops and intense kite loops, pulled up to a thinning beach with the wind absolutely cranking. After a quick detour back to the car to fix a broken footstrap, Jett was rigging up on super short lines and ready to send it while the rest of the beach was calling it a day. Spot to himself: the perfect setup.

Jett was riding Jacobsen across the board, including the Jacobsen board and the Jacobsen Yes kite. For a startup brand to deliver a debut kite at this level is genuinely impressive — the "Yes" is a three-strut design (compared to the five-strut Orbit), and Jett absolutely loves it for short lines. In his words, it's perfect for the setup.

The 40-Knot Session

With the wind back up and Jett on the water riding what looked like eight or maybe 10-meter lines, things got real. A 40-knot gust came ripping through, Jett pulled out the GoPro, and the session went somewhere special. The sends were massive — the kite almost touching the water on the downloops, rain hammering sideways, total chaos — and Jett kept going for it. Then a squall rolled through, and for about 10 to 15 minutes the conditions locked in absolutely perfect.

That window was all it took. Jett got the shot, and after a session that wild, there was nowhere bigger to go. The brothers called it a day fully stoked. Hermanus is insane for short lines, and watching it unfold in person hits completely different than catching the clips on the internet.

Final Thoughts

Some strike missions reward you with butter flat water and clean wind. Others throw 40-knot squalls, sideways rain, and a beach full of people running for their cars. Hermanus delivered the second kind — and somehow, that ended up making it one of the most memorable sessions of the trip. The combination of nuclear conditions, a thinning lineup, and a pro like Jett Bradshaw deciding that was exactly the moment to send it created the kind of show you can't plan or predict.

For the Brazilian Brothers, it was another reminder of why these missions are worth it. Cape Town's surrounding coastline holds spots like Hermanus that come alive in conditions most people would write off, and being there in person — standing in the sand, getting blasted, watching legends throw down at arm's length — is an entirely different experience than scrolling through edits later. The clips are good. The real thing is better.

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