Kiteboarder Marc Jacobs has harnessed the power of the wind - along with some upsetting personal news - to achieve a lifetime goal.
He's won the prestigious Red Bull Big Air competition at Cape Town, South Africa, after an extremely challenging build-up.
"It's been a long dream of mine," he says. "I've dedicated my life to this for the last three years."
Preparations were tough. Kept off the water during Auckland's COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown, he and girlfriend Sophie were helping her terminally ill mother.
Three days before he left for Cape Town, his girlfriend became his wife, fulfilling a last wish for his now mother-in-law.
"We didn't want to risk that, so we just took action and went for it, even with the restrictions of only having 10 people for a wedding," he explains.
His marriage, combined with winning his sport's biggest prize, has made November a month to remember.
"You feel like Superman when you have no board on your feet, you're holding onto the bar and holding onto your board and you're just rotating."
In near gale-force conditions, Big Air athletes can soar more than 30 metres into the air and reach speeds of 100 kph, making it extremely dangerous if things go wrong.
"In 2016, a guy knocked himself out and was in a coma for two weeks," says Jacobs.
Thankfully his piloting skills saw him land safely over the weekend and, in true Kiwi fashion, he did the celebrations justice.
"I got home at 6.30… AM," he chuckles.
No doubt he'll continue to live off the high before returning home to family in two weeks' time.
