Thursday, 26 September 2019 22:12
Tight racing in perfect conditions at Europeans leaves little to choose between top of order
In breathtakingly close racing at the Formula Kite European Championships on the sumptuous Italian resort island of Sardinia, the gap between the leading pack could hardly be closer, with just four points separating the top four men. But France’s Théo de Ramecourt edged to the top of the order with with a storming display that netted him a perfect five bullets in breezes that built from around 14kts, finally gusting to more than 22kts, blowing over the Gulf of Oristano’s flat waters. It was a remarkable record that was almost derailed. In his day’s final race French team-mate Benoit Gomez…
Wednesday, 25 September 2019 22:59
First skirmishes at Europeans upset the form book in thrilling racing in Italy
The opening exchanges at the 2019 Formula Kite European Championships being fought out on the glorious track on the Gulf of Oristano off the Italian resort island of Sardinia threw up a host of surprises with several unexpected winners and losers.But after five scintillating races for each of the men’s and women’s fleets, France’s Axel Mazella got his nose in front after he seized four bullets, a feat matched by Formula Kite world champion Daniela Moroz (USA).Battling in the alternate men’s “qualifying series” flight, Mazella’s fellow countryman Benoit Gomez, 18, landed a pair of bullets and seconds in searingly-quick racing …
Tuesday, 24 September 2019 21:40
Young hopefuls line up to battle for prized European championship titles in Sardinia
A large fleet of young kitefoil athletes—its ranks swollen by growing numbers of women—has lined up on the spectacular Italian resort island of Sardinia to fight for the coveted European championship titles.The Mediterranean track, framed Torregrande’s expansive sandy beach on Oristano Gulf, will play host to five days’ intense race action in the Formula Kite class, the format for kiteboarding’s Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games' watersports venue in Marseille.The inclusion of mixed relay kitefoil racing in the Olympics’ elite roster has drawn 90 athletes—30 of them women—to the European championships. All the athletes, including a sprinkling of young teenagers,…
Thursday, 05 September 2019 07:54
Formula Kite Equipment Registration for the Paris 2024 Olympic Quadrennium opens
Manufacturers are invited to register new equipment for the period leading up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.Equipment currently listed on the IKA Registered Series Production lists and where manufacturers wish to have the equipment considered as equipment for the 2024 Olympic Games also needs to be re-submitted.The relevant class rules of the Formula Kite Class can be found here: http://www.sailing.org/32807.phpIKA approved hydrofoil systems and kites are mass produced kiteboarding equipment manufactured in a series production run of at least 100 pieces per model/size.Each piece of equipment shall be produced using the same manufacturing specification and materials and shall be within…
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Monday, 26 August 2019 22:56
Landauer takes North Americans at Crissy Field
The IKA Formula Kite North American & Caribbean Championships alongside an open kitefoil event came to St. Francis Yacht Club to showcase some of the world’s top kite racing talent. With an eye toward the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris—the scheduled debut of kiteboarding as an Olympic sport—the dual regatta did not disappoint. Nico Landauer, representing Uruguay, took the laurels on the Formula Kite North American & Caribbean Championships, followed by Americans Evan Heffernan and Will Cyr. Next in fourth, Kirstyn O’Brien claimed Top Woman honors for the regatta, and Sweden’s Markus Edegran rounded out top five. “What an amazing…
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 15:28
Polish Teenager Grabs Her First Title While Russian Veteran Cruises to Victory
Poland’s Magda Woyciechowska landed her first international title when she sealed victory in the 2019 Formula Kite Asian Championships “open” division with a steely performance in fickle breezes in China. The 14-year-old was able to see off a strong challenge from her training partner and fellow countrywoman, Julia Damasiewicz, also 14, over four intense days of competition and 16 hard-fought races off Guangxi province’s Beihai city. Both finished ahead of China’s Jingle Chen who racked up a formidable haul of bullets and looked as if she could storm to victory at one point. But she stumbled in the light airs,…
Tuesday, 28 May 2019 13:46
KiteFoil Athletes Grapple with Fresh Challenges of Mixed Team Racing
Ambitious kitefoil athletes have had to reset their approach to top-level competition in the face of a new set of challenges since national mixed team racing was chosen as an Olympic discipline for the Paris 2024 Games.In what has until now been an essentially-individual sport, Formula Kite relay racing that will feature when kiteboarding makes its historic debut at the XXXII Olympiad’s Marseille sailing venue demands a fresh mindset.For Formula Kite veterans and ingenues alike, the mixed discipline is an exciting and intriguing breath of fresh air that adds an unexpected layer of complexity to already tricky windward-leeward racing on stratospherically-quick…
Monday, 27 May 2019 12:59
Flying Polish Teenager Cements Her Position at Head of Order
Poland’s Magda Woyciechowska stretched her lead at the 2019 Formula Kite Asians, just besting her countrywoman and training partner Julia Damasiewicz in a day of scintillating racing in perfect foiling conditions in China.Local favourite and key rival, Jingle Chen (CHN), threatened to unseat the Pole when she exploded out of the blocks on the regatta’s fourth day at Guangxi province’s Beihai city—taking three bullets, two in the opening races.But even after pipping Woyciechowksa in a photo finish after audaciously stealing the lead on the final downwind leg in the day’s race four, Chen suffered disaster when she twice dropped her…
Sunday, 26 May 2019 17:11
Polish Teenagers Surge to Top of Order in Tough Conditions at Formula Kite Asians
Polish training partners Magda Woyciechowska and Julia Damasiewicz grabbed the top spots in the standings in the women’s fleet at the Formula Kite World Championships in China in fickle breezes that got the best of most of their rivals. The duo, both just 14, leap-frogged overnight leader, local favourite Jingle Chen (CHN), to secure the leaderboard’s first and second spots respectively in finely judged racing. In breezes that toyed with race officials, often dipping below 6kts and rarely getting above 8kts, Woyciechowska scored two bullets from the only two races possible in the start-stop racing off Guangxi province’s Beihai city.On…
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