Lepanto 2022 Formula Kite Europeans

[Toby]

IKA News:

Lepanto 2022 Formula Kite Europeans

Storm Force from Nafpaktos

Day one of the Lepanto 2022 Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, and the weather forecast in western Greece was so apocalyptic that the government forbade any on-water activity today, and that included the kiteboarders.

NO SERIOUSLY, DUDE. DON'T GO OUT!

After principal race officer Michal Jodlowski called the 139 riders together for a morning meeting to share the bad news, there was a look of genuine shock and surprise to hear that this wasn’t just the race officer saying, ‘don’t go out’, it was the Greek government. When one rider stuck his hand up to ask if he could go out for fun anyway, event organiser Spyros Krotsis stepped into to say that it would be illegal to do so. Serious stuff.

So serious that it’s possible the beautiful 2.9km suspension bridge - the Rio–Antirrio Bridge - which spans the mouth of the Gulf of Patras, could be closed to traffic when the worst of the storm strikes. Or, in a better-case scenario, it could be that the surrounding mountain range holds off the worst of the weather and Nafpaktos escapes the apocalypse.

ATTACK OF THE ROBOT SPIDER

Either way, it’s an unexpected day off for the riders. Some get their adrenalin hit by doing wingfoil-skateboard races around the empty car park, some relax with guitar in the campervan, some try to terrorise their friends with a giant, remote-control, robot tarantula. Wednesday will be have to be the day when the more serious competition commences.

After two weeks of picture-perfect training on the Gulf of Patras, the riders know what Nafpaktos can deliver. With five more days of competition, there’s plenty of opportunity to test the world’s best on Greek waters.

FAST LEARNER

Greece has not yet shown much promise at delivering athletes capable of competing in kitefoiling at the Paris 2024 Games less than two years from now. However, there are five Greek competitors set to participate on home waters and there’s a feeling of optimism. Holding a major championship in the country has given a new impetus to the sport in Greece. Two months ago Vasilis Livas had never set foot on a foiling kiteboard but the 18-year-old has hurled himself into his new challenge and can’t wait to line up against the best in the world.

Originally a Laser sailor, Livas tried out twin-tip kiteboarding a couple of years ago and found he had an immediate affinity with sport. “I was doing jumps by my third day”, he laughed in self-disbelief. “But I also like racing in big fleets and I went back to the Laser.” A friend suggested he try out sailing in a Waszp, a one-design version of the popular foiling boat, the International Moth. “The Waszp was fun, I loved the foiling experience. But then I thought, maybe I should have a go at kitefoiling!”

TRAINING IN THE BEDROOM

Livas had been practising his moves on a balance board in this bedroom. Standing on a skateboard with the wheels removed, balancing the board on a rolling metal cylinder, Livas built up his sense of balance and muscle memory for kitefoiling even before he set foot on a foiling board. This homespun approach went part of the way to getting him launched into kiting very quickly. “I watched every YouTube video I could, watched the livestreams from the KiteFoiling World Series, and I’ve been watching the guys here in training.”

In June the teenager flew to Tarifa in the south of Spain for a seven-day training camp with one of the world’s best, Cyprus rider Denis Taradin and his coach Aleksei Chibizov. Within days of starting on the kitefoil, Livas was tacking successfully, and days after that he achieved his first foiling gybe. “You can learn a lot by yourself, but training with others, being here in the build-up to the European Championships with all these great riders here, that has really helped me. Now we are about to race and I’m going to learn a lot in the next week.”

All being well with the weather, racing will commence at 12pm local time on Wednesday. The fleets will split into gold, silver and bronze on Friday, and this Sunday will see the winners of the European Championships crowned after a frenetic day of elimination in the Medal Series. The last two days of the event will be livestreamed on YouTube.

[Toby]

Day 2: French set early pace in Female Fleet

ika.jpg (345.64 KiB) Viewed 2519 times

The French were fast out of the blocks on the first day of racing at the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece. Poema Newland, Jessie Kampman and Alexia Fancelli hold the top three places in the 47-strong fleet after four back-to-back races in 11 to 14 knot winds on the Gulf of Patras.

1,2,3 FOR FRANCE

“The racing was very good, and I’m really happy to be here racing with everyone again,” said Newland who notched up a scoreline of 1,2,3,2 in her half of the qualifying group. Newland, the continental European Champion from 2021, leads by a point from Kampman who’s a point ahead of Fancelli in third.

Fancelli started out the session racing on her 21 square metre VMG kite but as the breeze increased she changed down to a 15 square metre alternative. “I felt very fast with the 15,” she said, “I had speed upwind and downwind and winning the third race was a special moment for me. We’ve done some good training as a squad and I’m coming to the competition with more confidence which really helped me today.”

WINNERS FROM THE FAR EAST

Other race winners in the women’s competition were Jingle Chen (CHN) who improved throughout the day, Breiana Whitehead (AUS), Lauriane Nolot (FRA) and Poland’s Izabela Satrian and Julia Damasiewicz. While it’s not that surprising to see France and Poland up the front of the pack, the fact that China and Australia produced winners today points to how much other countries are raising their game month by month in this fast-developing sport.

The breeze picked up for the men’s session later in the afternoon. With the 90-strong fleet divided into three qualifying groups, there was a lot of racing to get through. A rain cloud moving across the Gulf of Patras didn’t help with setting a fair course and the increasing gustiness up to 20 knots made launching and recovery from the narrow beach hazardous for some riders. With the breeze showing no signs of steadying out, the men only completed two races in each of the three groups.

THE MAUS THAT ROARED

Coming out ahead with scores of 1,4 was Germany’s Jannis Maus who looked very comfortable in the uncomfortable conditions. On equal points with the leader is Italy’s young rider, Riccardo Pianosi, while best of the strong French squad was Nico Parlier. The French rider was dominant for a four-year period up to 2019 when he took time out for his studies in physiotherapy. Although Parlier hasn’t completed many regattas this season he was looking very sharp, scoring 2,3 but carrying an additional point for a Standard Penalty which has him sitting in third overall.

While Parlier is working towards qualifying for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, for him the opportunity to race at events like the Europeans is more a return to a sport that he is passionate about. “I’ve been doing kiting for about 10 years, so a long time before it became an Olympic discipline,” he said. “I would be doing this anyway because for me it is a passion more than profession. It’s good to be here and seeing so many new riders all raising the game to a new level.”

CRASH, OR CRASH?

Defending European Champion, Max Maeder (SGP), started out well with a race win before falling to 9th in the next. No regrets for the 16-year-old from Singapore, however. “Denis [Taradin, CYP] crashed in front of me and I had two choices. I could have risked it, curve under him, possibly risking my board, my kite, my health by trying to get past him for a bullet on the finish line. Or I could crash [into the water] and avoid the worst risk. At the speeds we’re travelling you’re carrying so much kinetic energy it can be very dangerous, so I know I made the right choice, to choose to crash, even if as a rider you’re always pushing to win.”

Such is the split-second decision-making that these riders have to make when they’re moving in excess of 30 knots.

Aside from Maeder and Maus, other men’s race winners were Noah Runciman (USA), Toni Vodisek (SLO) and Jan Marciniak (POL).

Qualifying racing continues at 12pm local time on Thursday. By the end of the day, qualifying will be complete and the fleet will be reorganised into gold, silver and bronze groups. The last two days of the event - Saturday and Sunday - will be livestreamed on YouTube.

written by Andy Rice, Event Reporter

For more about the event: https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

Results Men
1 GER Jannis Maus 5p
2 ITA Riccardo Pianosi 5p
3 FRA Nico Parlier 6p

Results Women
1 FRA Poema Newland 5p
2 FRA Jessie Kampman 6p
3 FRA Alexia Fancelli 7p

Full results: https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

[Toby]

3-Bullet Boschetti sleeps his way to the top

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY

- 10 to 15 knot winds from the west in the Gulf of Patras
- 3 bullets from 4 races for Boschetti, Taradin and Maeder
- French hold the top 4 places in the women's fleet
- Jessie Kampman leads by 2 points from Poema Newland

Lorenzo Boschetti from Italy moved to the front of the pack on day three of the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece. With scores of 2,1,1,1 from his qualifying group, Red Group, the Italian took a one-point lead ahead of Denis Taradin from Cyprus who enjoyed his own three-bullet day in Blue Group. There was yet another three-bullet winner in Yellow Group, Singapore’s Max Maeder who moved to third overall in the standings.

Despite a very good day on the board, Boschetti almost didn’t seem bothered about his outstanding results. “Yesterday was stressful, I didn’t enjoy it”, said Boschetti. “I was putting myself under pressure about getting a good result. Today I said to myself, ‘I just need to have fun.’ That was it, and today I went on the water with the opportunity to have fun with all the guys in fleet. It was one of the hardest groups, with all the top Frenchies. And we had fun altogether and I'm super happy with my result of today.”

NODDING OFF

Boschetti put his success down to a different mentality. “This morning I was super chill. And I said to myself, whatever’s going to happen, it will be fine. The more I relax, the better I do. And I don’t know why but when I'm really, really focused and I'm sitting on the rib with the coach, my eyes are closing, and I just feel the kite on the bar and waiting. I’m almost falling asleep, but I don’t mind because when I’m like this I know I’m in a good place.”

Others commented on the change of mentality on the racecourse today. On Wednesday the reigning World Champion Theo de Ramecourt had been caught up in a four-way crash and tangle which had shaken him up, physically and mentally. “It was really gnarly and scary yesterday and even if I got redress it's never nice to end up in such a situation and be part of such dramatic action.”

“I think that a lot of riders understood that we have to stay safe and ride fair, where yesterday I think everyone was really under pressure and really pushed it too much”, said de Ramecourt. “It felt a lot more aggressive yesterday. Today felt a lot better.” Not that de Ramecourt completely avoided risk. “I did a port tack start where I saw a gap and went for it, and it went really well.”

WET WING TIP

“But later in the race I crashed my tack and then going downwind I was fighting for second or third with Toni [Vodisek, SLO] and I dragged my wingtip in the water and crashed the kite. So I had some stupid moments but mostly a good day.” Unfortunately for de Ramecourt, the day got worse after he came ashore when he was disqualified after being protested by Vodisek.

FRENCH FRONT FOUR

The French continue to dominate the women’s division, with Lauriane Nolot winning both her races to move up to fourth overall behind three of her teammates. In the other half of the qualifying group, Jessie Kampman from France also won both heats and moves into the lead ahead of fellow ‘Frenchies’ Poema Newland and Alexia Fancelli in second and third overall respectively. Best non-French rider in fifth place is Australia's Breiana Whitehead who continues to race very consistently.

Today marked the end of the qualifying phase. Friday sees the fleets reorganised into gold, silver and bronze. The gold fleet racing will be more intense than ever. The last two days of the event - Saturday and Sunday - will be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Results Men
1 ITA Lorenzo Boschetti 7p
2 CYP Denis Taradin 8p
3 SGP Max Maeder 9p

Results Women
1 FRA Jessie Kampman 8p
2 FRA Poema Newland 10p
3 FRA Alexia Fancelli 13p

https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

[Toby]

A Good Day to be a Teenager

HIGHLIGHTS

- 5 to 8 knot winds from the south-west in the Gulf of Patras
- Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) wins the only men’s race in gold fleet
- Max Maeder (SGP) takes the overall lead
- Race wins for Magda Woyciechowska (POL) and Gal Zukerman (ISR) in women’s gold fleet
- Jessie Kampman holds on to yellow bib
- All of today's race winners are teenagers

Race wins for Magda Woyciechowska (POL) and Gal Zukerman (ISR) moved the two teenagers further up the rankings at the end of day four of the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece. Still holding on to her lead by a single point is Jessie Kampman (FRA), with the French continuing to dominate the women’s podium.

Lauriane Nolot (FRA) made good moves up the leaderboard with the most consistent scores from a very light wind day on the Gulf of Patras, where keeping the kite in the sky and the board above the water was often easier said than done. Nolot’s 3,2 scores move her to second overall, just a point behind Kampman. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) continues to hold third overall while Zukerman’s race win lifts the Israeli to fourth place.

“I went to the left side of the course and was just focusing on my speed and to stop the foil from ventilating. I just tried to keep it simple,” said Zukerman. “I saw the gust on the left-hand side and wanted to get over there, but it was never easy. I was on my 18 [18 square metre Gin kite] and everyone else was on a 21 or 23 and it was hard to keep it going in the light winds. But it was really nice to win a race again. It feels like it has been quite a long time since the last one.”

Woyciechowska was beaming with excitement after her race win. “I had a really good start near the committee boat, so I was in front of everyone soon after the start. Then I think other people overlaid the layline and I judged it well and made a good gain there. The same on the downwind. I gybed and I saw other girls carrying on for longer and I started to wonder if I’m aiming for the wrong mark. But it worked out well and it was so good to win a race here.”

Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) won the only gold fleet race completed for the men today and the 17-year-old moves up to fifth overall. “I enjoy those conditions, I like the light winds,” said Pianosi. “It was a difficult day for the fleet but it’s always more enjoyable when you win a race!”

MAEDER MOVES AHEAD

Max Maeder (SGP) was second in the race behind Pianosi and the 16-year-old from Singapore now takes the overall lead by a point from previous yellow bib wearer, Lorenzo Boschetti (ITA). “I really enjoyed that race,” said Maeder. “It was very tight because you know in gold fleet that every single mistake is punished.”

Maeder was also lying in second place in another race that reached just past the halfway point when it was abandoned due to the collapsing breeze. He paid tribute to Jannis Maus (GER) who was leading the race by a big margin before the abandonment signal went up. “Jannis was the only rider to start on port at the committee boat,” said Maeder. “He went straight out to the right and it looked like it paid off big time for him. So great racing by him and Jan Marciniak (POL) who was just behind me at the leeward gate.”

With the riders brought back to shore late in the afternoon there was a faint hope that some sunset racing might be possible but the wind never re-appeared. The weather forecast is for better breeze on Saturday. Gold fleet racing will continue, and the big goal will be to make it into the top 10 before the end of the day. The final 10 in the men and the women will go forward to contest the Medal Series on Sunday.

MEDAL SERIES CLIMAX

The format has been carefully designed to reward the top performers from the qualifying and gold fleet phases with a points advantage, while leaving the door open for any of the top 10 still to have a realistic shot at the gold medal.

Results Men
1 SGP Max Maeder 6p
2 ITA Lorenzo Boschetti 7p
3 CYP Denis Taradin 8p

Results Women
1 FRA Jessie Kampman 10p
2 FRA Lauriane Nolot 11p
3 FRA Alexia Fancelli 17p

Full results: https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

[Breze]

Live stream is on

[Toby]

ika.jpg (163.85 KiB) Viewed 2263 times

Big Shifts in the Top 10 before Sunday's Medal Series

HIGHLIGHTS

- 4 to 21 knot winds from the north-east in the Gulf of Patras
- 5 races for the women, 6 for the men, big changes in the top 10
- Maeder and Vodisek book their places in the men’s final
- Two French, Nolot and Kampman, qualify for the women’s final
- Stunning performances lift Pulido and Satrjan to 4th & 5th respectively
- Strong westerly winds forecast for the medal series on Sunday

Day 5 of the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece saw plenty of place changing in the men’s and women’s fleets. Lauriane Nolot (FRA) took the women’s yellow bib away from Jessie Kampman (FRA) who slips to second overall. Both these French riders have booked their place in the four-rider final on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile in the men’s gold fleet, Max Maeder (SGP) extended his lead with three race wins from four in the morning session. Even an enforced retirement from the last gold fleet race of the afternoon barely made a dent in the Singaporean’s grip on the yellow bib. Behind the 16-year-old from Asia, a fierce battle played out for the other top spots. A late charge from Benoit Gomez (FRA) saw the big Frenchman rise to fourth overall and only a few points away from the two riders ahead of him.

Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) very nearly snatched second place away from Toni Vodisek (SLO) when the two rivals finished second and fifth respectively in the final gold fleet race. Finishing on equal points, Vodisek won the tiebreak thanks to his superior score of three race wins compared with the single race win by Pianosi. The importance of winning the tiebreak is that Vodisek has booked his place in the four-rider men’s final alongside Maeder. Whereas Pianosi will have to fight his way through from his four-rider semi-final to get a shot at the medals.

JUST MISSING THE CUT

At the other end of the men’s top 10, Max Zakowski (POL) edged out Jannis Maus (GER) by a point, leaving the German in 11th place overall from the men’s entry of 90. In the women it was Maggie Eillen Pescetto (ITA) who missed the medal series cut by three points.

The medal series format leaves the door open for any of the top 10 to win the European title. Previous events have seen riders rise from 6th place or lower to win major titles. However, by leading the qualifying and gold fleet series, Maeder and Nolot have given themselves the best chance of securing the European titles on Sunday. “Just one more race,” smiled Nolot with a hopeful grin. “If I can close it out in one race then that’s what I’ll do, and it looks like it’s going to be windy. This has been a 21sqm championship so far this week, but tomorrow I hope to use the 11sqm kite.”

Maeder was also encouraged by the stronger forecast. “In strong winds the margin for error in some ways gets bigger, in some ways smaller,” said the analytical rider, who is looking to defend his European title from last year. “I have done less training in lighter winds compared with a lot of riders on the tour, whereas I feel a bit more secure with my skills and experience in the stronger wind.”

"ONE OF THE BIGGEST CRASHES"

With that said, nothing is a given in high-speed kitefoiling. Lying second in the first race of the day with just a few metres to the finish, Gal Zukerman (ISR) suffered a spectacular wipeout which dropped her back to 14th place as the Israeli struggled to recover. “It was one of the biggest crashes of my life,” she said, smiling despite the pain she had caused to her back. “The crash ripped off my helmet and it hurt quite a bit, but I had a massage when we came ashore and I feel good again now.”

Zukerman had been leading the final race before being overtaken by Nolot on the second upwind leg. “Lauriane is fast! She has really good speed and she is hard to beat, but I’m happy with how I sailed today.” Gisela Pulido (ESP) and Izabela Satrjan (POL) also looked very comfortable in the stronger wind. The Spanish and Polish riders both raced very consistently to pull themselves up to fourth and fifth overall respectively. Perhaps the strong breeze will make them serious contenders for the podium on Sunday.

Results Men
1 SGP Max Maeder 16p
2 SLO Toni Vodisek 27p
3 ITA Riccardo Pianosi 27p

Results Women
1 FRA Lauriane Nolot 17p
2 FRA Jessie Kampman 31p
3 ISR Gal Zukerman 39p

Full results: https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

[Toby]

Nolot & Maeder win Europeans in high-wind drama

HIGHLIGHTS

- 15 to 20 knot winds from the south-west in the Gulf of Patras
- Quick-fire 6-minute races are packed with splashes, crashes and tangles
- Lauriane Nolot wins women’s European title for France
- Singapore’s Max Maeder wins the event for the second year running
- Toni Vodisek from Slovenia becomes continental European Champion

Lauriane Nolot (FRA) and Max Maeder (SGP) survived a dramatic day of strong winds to become the female and male winners of the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece. Because Maeder is from Singapore, second-placed Toni Vodisek (SLO) is the highest placed European finisher in the competition and becomes European Champion.

Both the female French and male Singaporean riders made short work of their finals racing, closing out the championship in the very first heat of their respective competitions. While they might have made it look easy, there was plenty of evidence in the semi-finals that south-westerly winds gusting up to 20 knots were anything but straightforward conditions for kitefoilers foiling at up to 35 knots through the waves.

MAEDER IS TOP MAN

Having finished in third and fourth place respectively at the end of the 25-rider gold fleet finals, Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) and Benoit Gomez (FRA) only needed one win from their sides of the two semi-final draws. Both managed to close out the semi-finals in their first heats and progressed through to the finals.

Maeder started a bit slowly out of the line and had some catching up to do while Vodisek, Gomez and Pianosi made very good starts. Vodisek was vying for the lead until a splashdown near the windward mark dropped the Slovenian back to last place. Maeder was coming back fast and on the downwind charge at almost 35 knots, Gomez and Maeder were neck and neck.

Up the final windward leg, Maeder edged into the lead with Gomez still hot on his heels. The Frenchman put the Singaporean teenager under pressure all the way, but Maeder punched the air as he crossed the finish line victorious, secure in the European title.

SEMI-FINAL BEACH PROTEST DRAMA

In the first of the women’s semi-finals, Gal Zukerman (ISR) made short work of the contest. Already sitting on match point, the Israeli rider raced solidly to a race win and booked her place in the final.

It was nothing like so straightforward for the other women’s semi-final. In the first heat, Poema Newland (FRA) was faultless. The French rider pulled into the lead and extended the advantage to more than 500 metres by the finish. She would still need to win two more races, however.

TANGLED

Gisela Pulido (ESP) was the semi-finallist who only needed to win one heat and she’d be into the final. In the second heat Pulido was locked in a close battle with Newland. Towards the bottom of the final run, Newland gybed just ahead of her Spanish rival but the French rider mistimed her manoeuvre and had a splashdown. Pulido did her best to avoid the crash but their kites became entangled. Izabela Satrjan (POL) shot past the stricken riders to notch up a race win and put herself on match point.

Newland needed to win the next race to keep her finals hopes alive. The French rider narrowly won the race, but Pulido put in a protest against Newland for a brief clash of kites. With a tense hearing on the beach, as the riders stood before the three international jurors with their kites above their heads, they awaited the outcome. After a few minutes, the jury reached a verdict. Newland disqualified, Pulido through to the final.

NOLOT TAKES THE INSIDE LINE

Pulido relaunched again, straight back into the finals battle against Zukerman and France’s Jessie Kampman and Nolot. As they launched out of the line, Nolot had a brief splashdown through a rogue wave but got up and running in no time. Despite the setback, by the windward mark Nolot had used her superior speed to draw level with the frontrunners.

Pulido was faster downwind and regained the lead by the leeward mark. The Spaniard had the French rider breathing down her neck all the way to the final gybe mark. Pulido took a wide turn to be safe. Nolot saw her moment, carved around the inside in a high-risk manoeuvre. It worked. Nolot’s risk led to her reward as she charged across the finish line and seized the European title in imperious style.

WORLDS IN A WEEK'S TIME

For the winners, a moment to celebrate, for the losers, a few days to lick their wounds and regroup before the Formula Kite World Championships which start in just a week’s time in Cagliari in the south of Italy’s idyllic island, Sardinia. Maeder and Nolot have marked themselves out as favourites for the world title, but in kitefoiling nothing is ever certain.

Results Men
1 SGP Max Maeder
2 SLO Toni Vodisek
3 FRA Benoit Gomez

men.jpg (322.49 KiB) Viewed 2183 times

Results Women
1 FRA Lauriane Nolot
2 FRA Jessie Kampman
3 ESP Gisela Pulido

women.jpg (323.21 KiB) Viewed 2183 times

Full results: https://www.formulakite.org/2022europeans

[Breze]

/"Newland needed to win the next race to keep her finals hopes alive. The French rider narrowly won the race, but Pulido put in a protest against Newland for a brief clash of kites. With a tense hearing on the beach, as the riders stood before the three international jurors with their kites above their heads, they awaited the outcome. After a few minutes, the jury reached a verdict. Newland disqualified, Pulido through to the final"/

Any idea where the "brief clash of Kites" happened in the Semis between Newland and Pulido?
I guess it must has happened somewhere here


Or was Newlands kite too low almost touching Pulidos head (1.39Min.19Sec)?
A pity, that the commentators gave no information/ replay about the incident and i can't see any "clash of kites"in this race.