A perfect day of sun, wind and kitefoiling in Gizzeria, Italy, at the Hang Loose Beach, for the last five races of the qualification series. The 100 competitors took to the water as scheduled and alternating went in and out of the water for the different races of the two fleets. A steady 15 knots breeze pushed the kites all afternoon on the flat waters off Gizzeria Lido, and apart from a few tangles here and there, everyone had fun flying over the racecourse.
The first to hit the water were yesterday’s 50 riders of the blue fleet, who had to re-sail the race canceled last night due to the dying wind in their race and in consideration of the overall fairness of the competition when competing with the yellow fleet for the coveted places in the gold fleet. Connor Bainbridge (GBR) won the re-sail and kept his lead from yesterday, but it was only temporary. The day was going to unfold with five more races for both fleets.
Connor got another bullet, two fourths, a 20th and a 10th, that he was able to discard, but nonetheless brought him down to third overall. Axel Mazella (FRA), went up one spot from yesterday’s third position. A bullet and an astonishing four seconds in a row bring him to second overall, but all these low scores shockingly didn't make him the best of the day.
Russia's Denis Taradin's four bullets (and a second), skyrocket him to the provisional leading spot. “It was so unexpected, I have never won so many races back to back until today. It feels surreal and nice, I am just excited that this is happening for the first time. The plan from now on is to stay out of trouble, race clean with no crashes, and just be as consistent as possible. We’ll see where I get”, said Taradin after racing.
Toni Vodisek (SLO) closed the day in fourth position on a strong comeback, with three wins on the scoreboard today. He is the defending winner of the 2019 edition of the KiteFoil World Series Gizzeria, and on top of that he is vice European Championship in 2019 and holds a Youth Olympic silver medal from Buenos Aires in 2018. He’s been slowed down by a shoulder injury last year, but has already proven he is back. “I can’t really say I’m 100% myself after the injury since I haven’t had the chance to train so much because of my shoulder, other than doing the medical exercises to fully recover. I hope to be able to kite much more this year” commented Toni. “Yesterday I’ve made some mistakes and little ones today too, so the plan for tomorrow is race clean and havie fun.”
The fastest girl is still Daniela Moroz (USA), 26th overall, who shone brighter in the lighter wind yesterday as you would expect. Poema Newland (FRA) is not too far behind, in 32nd tightly followed by Ellie Aldridge (GBR) in 34th. “It was better for me today, I think I’ve been more consistent. We’ve had more stable and stronger wind which was nice, and we got so many races in. After these events, I am training for the Europeans and the Worlds, a win there would be amazing, but the main goal is for me to stay in the top group and get better”, said Ellie.
Tomorrow the sailors will be divided into Gold and Silver fleets, with the top 50 in the gold fighting to win the first of a five event season. The first starting procedure is scheduled at 12pm and the goal is to get five races in for each group.
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