Biggest and Fastest Fleet in Years Set to Ignite Formula Kite Worlds

[Toby]

IKA News:

Biggest and Fastest Fleet in Years Set to Ignite Formula Kite Worlds

The lure of Olympic glory has drawn the largest fleet in years—studded with all the world’s fastest kiteboard racers—eager to do battle on northern Italy’s spectacular Lake Garda at the 2019 Formula Kite World Championships.

A full complement of 87 men and a remarkable roster of 30 women, many of them novices in the high-octane discipline of kitefoil racing, will take to the track at Campione del Garda in five days of competition.

Last year’s decision to include mixed kiteboard team racing in the line-up for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has encouraged many young athletes from a total of 29 countries to join the fray to hone their skills and race-craft, with nations like Britain, Poland and France showing impressive commitment.

The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) Pascucci Formula Kite Worlds will be decided over four days of fleet racing action, with a clutch of reigning and former world title holders fighting it out at the top of the order.

The regatta—sponsored by Pascucci and supported by Regione Lombardia—will crown the world champions after the men do battle in qualifying and finals’ series, while the women fight it out separately in their own series.

The stunning panorama of snow-capped mountains framing the lake’s crystal-clear waters will serve as a fitting tapestry to find the world champions at the event being hosted by Campione Univela.

France’s Nico Parlier, the current men’s champion, will be defending his crown against bitter rival and former title holder, Monaco’s Maxime Nocher.

Reigning European Formula Kite champion, Britain’s Guy Bridge, will undoubtedly push the pair all the way, while his returning brother, Olly, can never be ruled out in the hunt for podium positions.

Fellow countryman Connor Bainbridge, who posted strong finishes in last year’s IKA KiteFoil World Series, has been training hard through the winter in Mexico in the hope of challenging for the coveted crown.

Frenchmen Théo de Ramecourt, Axel Mazella and Theo Lhostis will never be far off the pace in what is bound to be tight and enthralling action played out before the lake’s breath-taking splendour.

Defending three-time women’s Formula Kite title holder, the US’s Daniela Moroz, still just 18, will have to see off challenges from her new young rivals as well as seasoned former champions Russia’s Elena Kalinina, Britain’s Steph Bridge, and France’s Alexia Fancelli.

Towards mid-regatta, one day will be given over to testing the format for the mixed team Formula Kite relay racing in what will likely be an intriguing and challenging match-up for the world’s best men and women kiteboard foil racers.

Full results: http:/www.formulakite.com

[fernmanus]

I wish it was freestyle. Yes, racing takes commitment, skill, and ambition. Too bad it is like watching paint dry.

I guess the upside is that we won’t see an insurgence of newbies sparked by Olympic glory to kite.

[JakeFarley]

You took the words right out of my mouth...

[cglazier]

This is going to be a great event with Nico Parlier in the race. We shall see if he can hold off Maxim and young Connor. And the Bridge brothers are always a threat.
It's great to see the most talented racers in the world in one event. I hope they post the results promptly (unlike the last race in Baja when it was a struggle to find out what happened every day).

If you have never seen a race of this caliber, it is stunning to see how fast and skillful they are.

And let's see if any women can give some competition to 18 year old Daniela Moroz, and how well she can finish overall. She's certainly a crowd favorite.

I hope they get good wind.. and best wishes to all the competitors.


CG

[Peter_Frank]

Amazing, cant wait to see this if casted properly.

I find kite racing (or sailing especially the fast classed) is by far the most exciting thing to watch, on par with wave contests, and sometimes even more exciting as always something happening and changing.

It is so easy for everyone to follow and understand - the one who comes first wins.

At least when you (like in the worlds last year and Americas Cup etc) have live GPS on all contestants and can see their speed and where they go, so you know who is 1-2-3-4-5 etc.

Combined with closeups of the pure speed and technique, I find it is by far the most exciting thing to watch on TV

Unfortunately NOT great to watch live, compared

What makes both wave riding and particularly racing even more interesting, compared to other disciplines, is things can change and it will also show the ability for the kitesurfers to read and understand the nature

Peter

[Foil]

Amazing, cant wait to see this if casted properly.

I find kite racing (or sailing especially the fast classed) is by far the most exciting thing to watch, on par with wave contests, and sometimes even more exciting as always something happening and changing.

It is so easy for everyone to follow and understand - the one who comes first wins.

At least when you (like in the worlds last year and Americas Cup etc) have live GPS on all contestants and can see their speed and where they go, so you know who is 1-2-3-4-5 etc.

Combined with closeups of the pure speed and technique, I find it is by far the most exciting thing to watch on TV

Unfortunately NOT great to watch live, compared

What makes both wave riding and particularly racing even more interesting, compared to other disciplines, is things can change and it will also show the ability for the kitesurfers to read and understand the nature

Peter

Totally agree,
it can be on the edge of your seat viewing as they fly around the marks, real scary stuff, when they are so fast and so close together,
and the excitement never stops as the front runners can so easily crash at any time.
Once you see the top guys doing their stuff close up you cant help but be in awe of their skill.
Get yourself out to Flag beach in Jan/ feb/march/April time, I have watched many of the names set up and practice there including the Flysurfer team, Levitaz team, Ozone guys, 3 months ago I was amazed at the big names on the beach, one day Steph bridge and son Olly turned up, Olly was so approachable as are all the big names which is great to experience.
Want to see boosting on a foil that will blow you away? then Florian Gruber(X world foil champ) has sailed there for the last 2 seasons with the works team for a week at a time, and he goes higher than you would believe possible, scary and unbelievable.
when on the beach he just blends in fussing around with his gear as we all do.

[tkaraszewski]

I always love watching these guys. It's actually why I started kiting in the first place. I was racing sailboats in San Francisco, and after racing, we'd be hanging out on the balcony and watching the kiters practice for their races was one of the coolest things I'd ever watched. Made our boats look like snails in comparison, and at 10x the price.