The Pingtan tour stop’s final fifth day saw no racing after the mounting wind and seas whipped up by a passing typhoon finally made competition unsafe for the athletes. But after 17 high-octane races over four days’ hectic action in breezes of up to 27kts, a rolling swell and growing shore-break, none quibbled that the victors had more than earned their share of the $40,000 prize purse.
Vodisek’s stellar record speaks for itself, but the young Slovenian did not have it all his own way on the Yellow Sea track, constantly harried by the French trio of Axel Mazella, Théo de Ramecourt and Formula Kite world champion, Nico Parlier.
“Finally, I’m happy,” said Mazella. “I’m really pleased with my second place. I’m feeling better for sure, but still very tired. It’s tough to face the best competition in the world over nearly 40 races in two just weeks. That’s a lot.”
Fellow countryman De Ramecourt, who took the third podium step with dazzling racing and in spite of some spectacular crashes on the treacherous downwind legs, echoed the sentiment and paid tribute to his rivals.
“It was a really tough week,” said De Ramecourt. “It was super-tricky, with Toni Vodisek and Axel Mazella pushing really hard. I’m glad I made the podium against such good riders in the difficult conditions. It was hard to race cleanly. The conditions were super-technical.”
Reigning IKA KiteFoil world champion, Kirstyn O’Brien (USA), has the bruises to prove it after several hard crashes in the increasingly-gnarly conditions of day four. But she did enough to hold her second podium step just ahead of Russia’s Elena Kalinina.
“I’m really pleased with second,” said O’Brien. “After my first crash I sailed a little more conservatively, but then in the last race I was pushing and crashed again. Still, it’s good to see I’m getting closer to where I want to be with my goals.”
2019 KiteFoil World Series Pingtan (men): 1 Toni Vodisek (SLO) 2 Axel Mazella (FRA) 3 Théo de Ramecourt (FRA)
2019 KiteFoil World Series Pingtan (women): 1 Daniela Moroz (USA) 2 Kirstyn O’Brien (USA) 3 Elena Kalinina (RUS)
Text Credits: Ian MacKinnon Photo Credits: Alex Schwarz
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