The final day of the Kitefoiling Youth World Championships delivered five new champions
- Formula Kite Female – Nina Arcisz of Poland
- Formula Kite Male – Max Maeder of Singapore
- A’s YouthFoil U17 Male – Gian Andrea Stragiotti of Switzerland
- A’s YouthFoil U17 Female – Karolina Jankowska of Poland
- A’s YouthFoil U15 – Jakub Balewicz of Poland
Max Maeder of Singapore won the Formula Kite Male world title, as many might have expected, but only after recovering from a disastrous start to the Final.
After a break to wait for the wind to reappear, Maeder won the final race to take the world title. Qibin Huang’s second place across the line lifted the Chinese to silver medal position, relegating Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi to bronze.
Britain’s Mattia Maini finished in 11th place in the gold fleet and Sam Dickinson 10th in the silver fleet.
In the women’s Formula Kite world title, Nina Arcisz of Poland saved her best for last.
Arcisz battled her way out of her side of the Semi-Finals draw to overtake Polish teammate and last year’s world champion Julia Damasiewicz to earn her place in the four-board Final.
Arcisz sailed out of her skin all day and the Polish rider was lost for words when she stepped ashore the champion. Israel’s Maaya Ashkenazi took the silver and Heloise Pegourie of France the bronze.
Britain’s Francesca Maini finished in 15th place in the women.
A’s YouthFoil Championship
There wasn’t enough wind to get the Youth Foil U17 on the water Sunday, so Gian Andrea Stragiotti of Switzerland was crowned the world champion ahead of last year’s winner from Poland, Jan Koszowski, with bronze also going to Poland, Jakub Balewicz.
It was also a Polish success story in the female division, the title going to Karolina Jankowska.
The Youth Foil class is less than two years old but it is growing all the time, providing a great entry-level opportunity for young riders who want to work their way through to the high-performance Olympic class Formula Kite.
Formula Kite Male
1. SGP Maximilian Maeder
2. CHN Qibin Huang
3. ITA Riccardo Pianosi
Formula Kite Female
1. POL Nina Arcisz
2. ISR Maaya Ashkenazi
3. FRA Heloise Pegourie
A’s YouthFoil Male U17
1. SUI Gian Andrea Stragiotti
2. POL Jan Koszowski
3. FRA Enzo Louber
A’s YouthFoil Female U17
1. POL Karolina Jankowska
2. ITA Maddalena Maria Spanu
3. ESP Eider Berakoetxea Alba
A’s YouthFoil U15
1. POL Jakub Balewicz
2. POL Jan Koszowski
3. ITA Julio Houze
Full results available here . . .
Related Post:
IKA Kitefoiling Youth U17 and U21 Worlds – Torregrande Day 2