After a day of light wind prevented any Formula Kite action on the water, the standings remained unchanged heading into the crucial Medal Series. The top ten athletes on both the men’s and women’s sides have qualified for the Medal Series. Those ranked third to tenth will compete in the Semi-Finals, going into two groups of four.
© World Sailing: Lauriane Nolot is determined to win gold in home waters
Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi and Austria’s Valentin Bontus finished third and fourth overall in the Men’s Kite, while USA’s Daniela Moroz and the Netherlands’ Annelous Lammerts finished third and fourth in the Women’s Kite.
© World Sailing: Axel Mazela in front of home crowds
All four athletes will head into a separate Semi-Final and will carry over two wins, while the fifth and sixth seeds carry over one victory. The first athlete in each Semi-Final to get three wins will qualify for the Finals.
© World Sailing: Elena Lengwiler will try to get into the final tomorrow
In the four-athlete Final, the top overall seed from the Opening Series will begin with two wins, the second seed with one and the two winners of the Semi-Finals will start from scratch.
That means Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek will start the Men’s Final with two wins and France’s Lauriane Nolot will open the Women’s Final with two wins.
© Sailing Energy: Riccardo Pianosi needs one win to advance to the final
Singapore’s Max Maeder and Great Britain’s Ellie Aldridge will enter their respective Finals with one win for placing second overall in their Opening Series standings.
Once again, the first to three wins gets the gold and the remaining medals are awarded based on the number of race wins and seeding.
HOW IT WORKS
Opening Series: On the first four days of the competition, riders compete in up to 16 races, with the objective to earn as high a ranking as possible. The top two at the end of this Opening Series qualify automatically for the Grand Final, while those ranked 3rd to 10th go into the Semi-Finals.
Semi Finals: Those 8 remaining riders are split into two equal strength semi-finals. The goal is to pick up three race wins, with the higher ranked in each semi-final carrying over two race wins, while the second in each semi-final carries over one race win. One rider from each semi-final, qualifies to make up a final four in the Grand Final.
Grand Final: The leader from the opening series starts with two race wins, and the second ranked has one. The goal is to secure three race wins, with competition ending as soon as someone achieves this. That means that the Grand Final can last from a single race to as many as six.
© Sailing Energy: Another day of very light wind
