It has been almost a year since the kiteboarders have raced on their smallest kites, so day 3 of the 2024 Formula Kite European Championship came as a bit of a shock to the system.
With the wind gusting close to 30 knots at times, the decision was whether to go for an 11 square metre kite or maybe even change down to the rarely used 8 and 9 square metre options.
Whereas the lighter breezes see a monotone of identical Flysurfer kites in the sky, Thursday produced a rainbow of multiple colours as riders unpacked their lesser-used small kites from brands like Ozone and F-One.
At the front of the women’s fleet it’s still the French trio making the running and holding the top three places.
Reigning World Champion Lauriane Nolot scored three wins in her group to keep the top spot, two points ahead of Poema Newland, four points ahead of Jessie Kampman in third.
Elie Aldridge in fourth leads the British trio in the top ten.
In the men, Max Maeder crossed the finishing line first in all four of his Yellow Group races, but was ruled over in the first race. He keeps the lead, four ponts ahead of Riccardo Pianosi ITA.
Axel Mazella FRA is third tied on 14 pts with Bruno Lobo BRA.
Britain’s Connor Bainbridge retains his sixth place.
Friday sees the start of Gold Fleet racing, which is expected to take place in more moderate breezes and on some of the bigger kite sizes.
Women 2024 Formula Kite Europeans – 11 races (51 entries)
1st FRA 131 Lauriane Nolot – – -4 -7 1 -2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 – – 8 pts
2nd FRA 98 Poema Newland – – 1 2 2 -4 1 1 1 1 -27 -4 1 – – 10 pts
3rd FRA 125 Jessie Kampman – – -27 -8 1 1 2 2 2 2 -27 1 3 – – 14 pts
4th GBR 154 Eleanor Aldridge – – -5 1 4 3 3 3 -5 -27 3 2 2 – – 21 pts
5th SUI 34 Elena Lengwiler – – 3 -11 -6 4 -5 5 3 3 1 3 4 – – 26 pts
6th GBR 110 Lily Young – – -10 3 3 1 5 3 3 4 -6 -12 4 – – 26 pts
7th USA 152 Daniela Moroz – – 2 -27 -10 6 -27 4 4 4 2 5 2 – – 29 pts
8th GBR 172 Madeleine Anderson – – 5 1 5 5 6 2 5 2 -27 -10 -9 – – 31 pts
9th ISR 87 Gal Zukerman – – 2 2 3 -8 4 -10 -9 5 7 8 7 – – 38 pts
Men 2024 Formula Kite Europeans – 11 races (86 entries)
1st SGP 37 Maximilian Maeder (U21) (U19) – – 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -30 1 1 1 – – 9 pts
2nd ITA 45 Riccardo Pianosi (U21) – – 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 – – 13 pts
3rd FRA 138 Axel Mazella – – 3 2 4 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 -30 – – 14 pts
4th AUT 78 Valentin Bontus – – 1 1 2 1 2 6 4 1 2 2 2 2 – – 14 pts
5th BRA 148 Bruno Lobo – – 3 6 4 3 1 1 1 5 1 1 3 1 – – 15 pts
6th GBR 59 Connor Bainbridge – – 4 2 1 2 4 -30 2 3 1 2 2 7 – – 19 pts
7th CRO 73 Martin Dolenc – – 6 8 1 2 -30 1 3 8 4 3 3 1 – – 24 pts
8th GER 126 Jannis Maus – – 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 11 2 11 4 5 – – 25 pts
9th FRA 149 Maxime Nocher – – 6 3 5 5 3 9 8 3 3 7 3 2 – – 33 pts
10th ISR 8 Dor Zarka – – 5 4 -30 7 13 3 21 8 3 2 4 3 – – 39 pts
