Formula Kite World Championships Cagliari 2022

[tkaraszewski]

Moroz aims to 'go into sixth' at the Worlds: "Riding with Paris 2024 in my mind and Cagliari in my heart"­
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The five-time Formule Kite world champion arrived over a week ago in the Sardinian capital to become familiar with the sea and the winds, in view of the Sardinia Grand Slam (8-16 October): “Nolot and Aldridge are both my rivals and friends. The Gulf of Angels is a great tactical and mental challenge”
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The countdown for the Formula Kite World Championships is almost over: the new “Olympic board”, debuting at Paris 2024 Games, will be in the spotlights at the Golfo degli Angeli in Cagliari, together with its top performers, next October 8th to 16th.

The 2022 World titles will be awarded at the 6th stop of Poetto on the occasion of the Sardinia Grand Slam, a traditional sailing event organized by GLEsport, with the financial support of the Tourism Department of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the Municipality of Cagliari, under the aegis of World Sailing (the International Sailing Federation) and IKA (the International Kiteboarding Federation), as well as FIV - Italian Sailing Federation and CKWI, the Italy's Kiteboarding and Wingsport Class, and with the collaboration of the Chia Wind Club.

The event will bring 156 athletes (94 men and 62 women) with their respective entourages to Cagliari, for a total of 6,000 estimated presences in two weeks. Anyway Cagliari, its structures, its beaches and its sea have been populated with faces known to kite lovers.

Among them there is an authentic queen, the five-time World champion Daniela Moroz, Women's title holder: “I’m really excited to be back in Cagliari. It’s just as I remember - beautiful, mostly sunny, warm, challenging conditions, and the best coffee every morning! I have been coming to Sardinia every year since 2018 (except for 2021) and every year has been incredible! Because it is one of the last big regattas of the racing season, I think it is also a challenge mentally since everyone is generally quite tired from a long year of racing” the Women's World champion explains.

Daniela expresses honey words for Cagliari: “It is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world - it’s extremely unique and I always love coming here every year. The people are always nice and welcoming, there is beautiful scenery, amazing food, and of course, really good sailing conditions, so it doesn’t get much better than that! When I am not sailing here, I love going on different hikes, walking around the old town in the city, going swimming, and biking along the Poetto beach path”.
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By the way, Daniela spent the most of her time saling, to figure out the challenging winds of the Poetto: “I think this is a really difficult place to sail no matter what the conditions are like. It’s not just about going fast, it’s also about sailing smart and understanding how the wind behaves with the local geography. I really enjoy sailing on the offshore mistral wind days because I love the challenge of the shifty wind”. Daniela considers to become familiar with the location of the race in advance as a key point on the road to the Worlds: "It was important for me to get familiar with the conditions and the different types of wind and sea state that we can see here this time of year. In addition to getting lots of hours on the water I also go to the gym every morning to lift weights and go swimming".

Daniela is very clear what skills you need to win the World Championships ("It’s always a combination of speed, boat-handling, strategy and tactics, equipment, and the right mindset") and sees great balance in both classes, male and female ("We’ve seen several different people winning different regattas throughout the year"). She also identified who her main rivals will be: “I think the most competitive riders will be the French and British teams. They have been doing really well all year, especially Lauriane Nolot and Ellie Aldridge. Everyone has improved so much, it will be a really competitive regatta”.

Like icons Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal showed in tennis, also in the kiteboarding world rivalry meets friendship: "Lauriane and Ellie are some of my closest friends, and I think everyone in the kite fleet is quite close and always look out for each other. I feel really lucky that I get to compete with some incredible women and I have so much respect for all of them". The five Worlds title won by Moroz are incredible too, just like her hunger to win more and more: "I just love my sport and learning how to improve every day! I am incredibly lucky to get to do something I love which allows me to travel around the world with some of my closest friends and have fun. I am also just extremely competitive and have a drive to be the best no matter what I do, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing right now".

Moreover Daniela started looking the Paris 2024 Olimpyc challenge on the horizon, that could be an icing on the cake for her career: “I think this World Championship is another important step towards the Olympics and it is an opportunity to practice competing under pressure and delivering your best performance. I think the Olympics are on everyone’s mind, it’s definitely the long term goal and it’s exciting that kiting will be part of the Games in 2024”.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8th
h 11.00 Local press conference
h 12:00-18:00 On-site registration

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9th
h 08:00-18.00 Equipment inspection

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10th
h 08:00-13.00 Equipment inspection
h 14:00 Practice race
h 15:00-18.00 Equipment inspection
h. 08:00-18:00 Profile picture photo shoot (MANDATORY)
h. 18:00 Technical meeting

TUESDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th-15th
h. 10:00 Races

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16th
h. 10:00 Final races
h 17:00 Prize giving and closing ceremony

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17th
Departure, venue closes

[Toby]

Pianosi to target the Worlds: “The Sardinia Grand Slam is my rainbow dream”
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At the Formula Kite World Championships (Olympic Class) in Cagliari, the 17-year-old Italian World ranking leader aims to improve the third place held in the 2021 Worlds and the 2022 European Championships. The first regattas are to take place on Tuesday, October 11th, whilst the finals are scheduled on October 16th
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The Formula Kite World Championships (Olympic Class) started in Cagliari on Saturday, October 8th with the registrations of the 150 participants, opening the 2022 king event whose regattas will kick-off on Tuesday, October 11th to end with the finals scheduled on October 16th. Italian Riccardo Pianosi, 17, European Championships bronze medallist a few days ago, one of the most awaited competitors at the Sardinia Grand Slam, doesn't hide his ambitions: “The favorite for the Worlds is Maeder but I won't settle for a podium spot: I aim to fight for the most important medal”.

Seventeen years, a natural talent and a veteran awareness, Pianosi is not only aspiring to add more bronze medals to his precious collection built up at the 2021 World Championships, 2022 Kite Worlds Youth and European Championships. "I have high expectations because I come for a good performance at the European Championships, where I stood up to the strongest rivals, with the possibility of preceding them. I hope to do better than the third place I held at the European Championship and at the 2021 World Championship. Of course, sailing with the goal to improve the bronze of last year's edition could make me a little anxious, but I'm confident of performing a good race" Pianosi says.

Number 1 in the Men's World Sailing Ranking, Pianosi arrived in Cagliari several days ago, together with a very rich patrol of athletes come, day after day, to a total number of 150 participants (92 men, 58 women) from 44 countries of 6 Continents. "Italians like me will play at home, we trained a lot and we know the location. I like the Gulf of Angels a lot, I'm actually trying some boards to choose the best but for sure I have good feelings with this place”, Pianosi words.

Riccardo has no doubts about who the main rivals will be: "There is more than one rider who can aim for gold, above all Max Maeder, actually the fastest of us and the man to beat. Also, the French guys have good chances, as well as Taradin and Boschetti: Sardinia Grand Slam will be a great show". In view of an event where the details can make the difference, Pianosi entrusts a wish to the sea breeze: "I'm the lightest man in the top ten, so I prefer to compete in light wind conditions, which allow me to express myself at my best".

The Sardinia Grand Slam is the traditional sailing event organized in Cagliari by GLEsport, with the financial support of the Tourism Department of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the Municipality of Cagliari, under the aegis of World Sailing (the International Sailing Federation) and IKA (the International Kiteboarding Federation), as well as FIV - Italian Sailing Federation and CKWI, Italy's Kiteboarding and Wingsport Class, and with the collaboration of the Chia Wind Club.

The Formula Kite World Championships will have its first official moment with the press conference scheduled on Monday, October 10th at 11.00 am at the Sardinia Grand Slam Village, at the sixth stop of Poetto beach (entrance from Il Nilo kiosk). The regattas schedule will start on Tuesday, October 11th at 10.00.

[Toby]

It's World Championships time: Formula Kite and Sardinia Grand Slam to rock Cagliari ­
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After the triathlon “rainbow race”, the Sardinian capital also hosts the World Championships of the Olympic Class, on October 8th to 16th at the Poetto beach. Live streaming from October 14th on the Facebook and Youtube platforms of the event and IKA ­ ­
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The great sail lives in Cagliari, whether Sardinia's capital is hosting the Luna Rossa crew in view of America’s Cup or welcoming the stars of the Formula Kite, a discipline warming up to debut at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Sardinia will host the highest Formula Kite World Championships for the second year in a row, moving from Torregrande (Oristano) to Poetto beach (Cagliari): two seaside locations distant only a hundred kilometers and united by the passion for great sailing.

After hosting the queen stage of the KiteFoil World Series last autumn, Cagliari gives encore with the Sardinia Grand Slam (October 8th-16th) assigning the World Championships titles in the Olympic Class. Welcoming 150 athletes (92 men and 58 women) from 44 countries and 6 continents, the event is organized by GLEsport with the financial contribution of the Tourism Department of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the Municipality of Cagliari.

The Formula Kite World Championships are held under the aegis of World Sailing (the International Sailing Federation) and IKA (the International Kiteboarding Federation), in addition to the FIV - Italy's Sailing Federation and CKWI, the Kiteboarding and Wingsport Italia Class and with the collaboration of the Chia Wind Club.

In the traditional press conference on the eve of Monday 10 October, held at the Sardinia Grand Slam Village, at the sixth stop of Poetto, the President of the organizing committee Gian Domenico Nieddu and IKA'a number one Mirco Babini introduces the event, in the presence of Mauro Contini from Department for Sports of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia; Alessandro Guarracino, Councilor for Technological Innovation, Environment and Sea Policies of the Municipality of Cagliari; Fioremma Landucci, Councilor for Sports at the Municipality of Cagliari.

DE RAMECOURT AND MOROZ TO DEFEND THE TITLES
The defending champion Théo de Ramecourt will try to defend the 2021 title in Cagliari from the attack of several rivals, starting from his friends from the strong French team. Second-placed in Oristano's World Championships and a brilliant protagonist and winner of the Sardinia Grand Slam 2021, Axel Mazella stands among them. Cyprus' Denis Taradin, leader of the KiteFoil World Series, and Slovenian Tony Vodisek, new European champion, are other two serious prospects for success, as well as the English team and Singapore's Maximilian Maeder, actually one of the fastest athletes in the World.

2021 Worlds and 2022 European championships bronze medallist Riccardo Pianosi, leader of the World ranking, doesn't hide his ambitions, as well as German Florian Gruber and Lorenzo Boschetti, second and third respectively.

Five times World champion and star of Sardinia Grand Slam in past editions, US' Daniela Moroz will try to hold the title among Women. British Ellie Aldridge and French Lauriane Nolot, silver and bronze at the 2021 World Cup, are supposed to be her main rivals. Gisela Pulido Borrell will also fly over the waters of Cagliari: the Spaniard leads the seasonal ranking ahead of Nolot, the new European champion and winner of the Sardinia Grand Slam 2021, and Moroz.

The athletes reached Cagliari with their entourage since the early days of October, for a total of 6,000 estimated presences in two weeks.

LIVE STREAMING FROM FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
The images of the Formula Kite World Championships will be streamed live on the Facebook and Youtube platforms of the event and of IKA, the international kiteboarding association, from Friday, October 14th to Sunday, October 16th. The regattas will start at 12.00 pm CET, except for schedule modifications due to weather conditions. The event will reach over 140 countries around the World, with dedicated services and focuses. Highlights at the end of the day are also scheduled. The event will be broadcasted on Sardinia Grand Slam and IKA Facebook and Youtube platforms.

WEATHER FORECAST: REGATTAS STARTS AT 12.00 PM CET
Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11th, in Cagliari expected an air temperature of 22°C, whilst the winds will rise in intensity at 12.00 pm CET, the scheduled start time for the regattas.

THE PROGRAMME

Monday, October 10th
h 08:00-13.00 Equipment inspection
h 14:00 Practice race
h 15:00-18.00 Equipment inspection
h. 08:00-18:00 Profile picture photo shoot (mandatory)
h. 19.00: Pasta Party Welcome Athletes and Coaches
h. 20:00 Technical meeting

Tuesday-Sunday, October 11th-15th
h. 12:00 Races

Sunday, October 16th
h. 12:00 Final races
h 17:00 Prize giving and closing ceremony

Monday, October 17th
Departure, venue closes

[Toby]

4-Bullet Gunslingers on day 1 in choppy Cagliari

HIGHLIGHTS

- Solid breeze from 160 degrees, increasing from 9 to 14 knots during the afternoon
- A total of 20 qualifying races completed
- Daniela Moroz (USA) and Lauriane Nolot (FRA) lead the women’s qualifying fleets
- Axel Mazella (FRA), Toni Vodisek (SLO) and Max Maeder (SGP) are top of the three men’s groups.
- Four riders shot out of the start like a bullet with perfect four-from-four scores on day one of qualifying at the 2022 Formula Kite World Championships in Cagliari, Sardinia.

In the 58-rider women’s fleet, Daniela Moroz (USA) opened her defence of the world title with an unbroken series of four victories on her side of the qualifying draw. Lauriane Nolot (FRA) did the same in her fleet, four straight victories for the recently crowned European Champion.

DAY OF DOMINANCE

In the 92-rider men’s fleet, the qualifying takes place across three groups. Toni Vodisek (SLO) and Axel Mazella (FRA) scored four out of four in their respective groups, although both acknowledged that Max Maeder (SGP) had it hardest in the talent-packed red group. The 16-year-old Singaporean won his first three heats but slipped to fourth in the last.

Maeder holds himself to high standards and was not entirely happy with his almost impeccable day. “I came ashore at the end of the third race because I had some ventilation issues with my foil and I wanted to spent two minutes to clean the foil for the last race,” said Maeder. “It was a bad decision because I didn’t give myself enough time to be properly ready for the next start. It was a bit hectic and I had a touchdown. Then I was playing catch-up and it was good to get back to fourth, but I paid the price for some rash decisions on the beach.”

STRESSFUL START

The day had begun even more stressfully for Maeder even before the first starting gun had been fired. “We were just 50 metres off the shore when someone dove their kite into mine,” he said. “It goes to show people are under a lot of stress at the Worlds because sometimes they tend to be almost blind. But I managed to come back and change the kite and get out there and win some races. So overall I have to remind myself that this was a good day and there are many people who had a much worse day than me.”

The ventilation issues that Maeder mentioned were felt by all riders. Even the faultless Daniela Moroz said she could feel it through the foil. “It was quite choppy out there, so it could be when your wingtip breaks the surface, or there might be just some stuff in the water that makes it pretty unstable.”

VENTILATION AGGRAVATION

Toni Vodisek agreed: “I felt fast today, but I wasn’t pushing so much because I wanted to avoid the crash. There were a lot of water ventilations and I think everyone was feeling it. Maybe just tiny bits of seaweed were causing the problem, I’m not sure.” Having recently finished runner-up to Maeder at the European Championships, the Slovenian knows the 16-year-old will be hard to beat this week. “I have to say congrats to Maxie. He had the hardest fleet today and he still pulled it off. Real good job. But I’m coming for you, little man!”

Defending world champion Theo de Ramecourt scored a set of four 3rd places today and was pretty happy with his first day at the event. “I had quite a tough group with a lot of good riders, so I’m happy that I managed to race clean. There was a lot of strategy to think about on the race course and it was a really challenging day. You had to focus, you always had to adapt, you couldn’t stick with one thing and make it work all day.”

FOILING CENTRAL

After two days of measurement checks, a number of riders were penalised for removing equipment from the event tents. Each of them was given a 1.6 point penalty to add to their race one score, although any further infringements are likely to incur tougher punishments as the regatta progresses. The racing is getting more serious than ever, and further along Poetto Beach are other Olympic aspirants out training in the bay, including Italy’s gold-medal-winning foiling Nacra 17 squad. In two days’ time Luna Rossa launches its 40ft foiling monohull in Cagliari, so this corner of southern Sardinia really does feel like Foiling Central this week.

[Toby]

[Toby]

Lots of rain and zero wind in Cagliari: unexpected rest day at the Worlds
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The Sardinia Grand Slam - Formula Kite World Championships (Olympic Class) organizers and athletes had to deal with adverse weather conditions on the Day-2. Competitions will resume tomorrow, October 13th­ ­
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First the rain, then the absence of stable wind: after the rich program of the Sardinia Gran Slam - Formula Kite World Championships (Olympic Class) Day 1, no races started at Cagliari's Poetto beach on Wednesday, October 12th. In fact, the adverse weather conditions overruled any will or attempt.

After the heavy rain of the morning, the sun came out on the Gulf ot the Angels and therefore the race direction tried to set the start of the Women's heats at 3:00 pm, followed by the Men's ones. However, the ideal conditions for race hasn't come in the expected time. The race decided first to postpone the start, waiting for stable winds, trying then to set up a route for the appropriate checks.

The official communication about the schedule cancellation came at 5.10 pm. The Words' heats will continue tomorrow, October 13th, before the race for the medals to enter in the decisive days from Friday to Sunday, October 14th-16th.

[Toby]

[Toby]

Moroz makes sense of the mushy Mistral

HIGHLIGHTS

- Mistral offshore breeze of 5 to 12 knots shakes up the pack on day 3
- Daniela Moroz (USA) the only rider still to have won all races
- Toni Vodisek (SLO) stays at the top of the men’s fleet
- End of qualifying means disappointment for those who had hoped for gold fleet glory

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The offshore Mistral breeze looked promising but only half-choked into action for day three of the 2022 Formula Kite World Championships in Cagliari, Sardinia.

For the riders who chose to sit out the recent Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships in Nafpaktos, Greece, this was a day to prove that the extra training time out of Poetto Beach had been worth it.

OFFSHORE SHIFTY
Daniela Moroz (USA) gave up the chance to defend her European title in order to improve her chances of defending the world title. “We haven’t had many offshore racing days on the circuit this season and I wanted to come here early to experience the whole range of conditions that Cagliari offers,” said the American. There was only one race for the women today, but Moroz did at least win her side of the qualifying heats, and counts a perfect five wins from five races.

Lauriane Nolot (FRA) admitted she didn’t enjoy today’s more tactical conditions although a 2nd place was far from a disaster for the fast Frenchwoman. “Flat water, the whole fleet was on 21 square metre kites and everyone going the same speed,” said Nolot, who is used to exerting a speed advantage in wavier conditions. The winner of the race was Ellie Aldridge (GBR), part of the British squad who had also missed out the Europeans for more training time in Sardinia.

“Today was a reminder that we made the right decision to spend more time here, for sure,” said Aldridge, runner-up in last year’s Worlds. “The offshore stuff is very tactical. It’s about spotting where the pressure is coming from, avoiding the big holes and making sure you’re taking the right wind shift to take you towards the best pressure. The more you sail in it, the more you get used to it, and you know what to expect from it.”

Aldridge switched to kiting after growing up racing in dinghies, including two years of campaigning the 49erFX Olympic skiff. “I think that a sailing background really helps you out on a tactical, shifty day like we had today,” she said. Also going well is another former 49erFX sailor, Leonie Meyer (GER), who is being coached by 49er Olympic gold medallist and now kiteboarding addict, Iker Martinez. Meyer’s 2nd in the race behind Moroz puts the German in third place overall going into Friday’s gold fleet competition.

VODISEK & MAZELLA AVOID THE POT HOLES

Two races for each of the three qualifying groups in the men’s fleet, and from those six races came six different winners. None of the multiple-race winners won a race today, yet two 2nd places keep Toni Vodisek (SLO) at the top of the pile, with Axel Mazella (FRA) on equal points with the Slovenian once the discard is taken into account. Best performance of the day came from Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) who scored 1,2 to rise to 8th overall. Considering Pianosi has no former background in watersports, coming instead from a street life of parkour and skateboarding, it’s impressive that the athletic Italian made sense of such difficult, tactical conditions.

The 17-year-old Italian has often had to live in the shadow of the 16-year-old Max Maeder (SGP), twice taking the Youth Worlds silver medal behind the double Youth World Champion from Singapore. However today saw Maeder suffer a rare slip from form as scores of 9,10 dropped the Singaporean to 9th overall, 3 points behind Pianosi.

NO SUCH THING AS BAD LUCK

As ever, the wiser-than-his years Maeder was allowing himself no excuses. “Maybe I was on the end of some bad luck, but maybe not. Someone crashed in front of me and I couldn’t avoid them in time, so maybe I need to work better on my spatial awareness. And in the other race I did a port tack start behind the fleet aiming towards what I thought was the better breeze, and it didn’t come through for me. Looking back at it, I should have started on starboard and stayed with the fleet.”

Denis Taradin (CYP) scored 3,1 from his races, lifting the Cypriot rider to third overall. “There were ventilation issues again in the water so I wasn’t pushing too hard,” said Taradin in spite of his good scores. “My goal was to try to stay in the centre of the course and not push too much to the edges. It's harder for everyone because the wind is more gusty and shifty. You really have to be able to see the gusts and react accordingly.” It might have been two wins for Taradin today but for picking up a plastic bag on his foil. “I had to slow down to shake it off and Theo [de Ramecourt - FRA] went past me. Not much you can do about that, we have to deal with it.”

The end of qualifying is for some the relief of making it through to the gold fleet, but for others is the agony of just missing out. Valentin Bontus (AUT) struck a semi-submerged water bottle that was anchored to the sea floor and crashed out of gold fleet by two places and four points. “It’s frustrating because it broke my foil, I couldn’t carry on. I guess it was something a fisherman put in the water, and it looks like I just missed out on making gold fleet because of it.” Such are the frustrations of high-speed foiling when things go wrong. “All part of the game,” is an oft-heard expression on days like today.

READY TO GO LIVE

Friday sees the 150 riders re-organised into gold, silver and bronze. Starting 1315 hours local time the gold fleet racing will be livestreamed.

[mede]

Where will the gold fleet race be live streamed?

[Toby]