Parlier reigns supreme in Hydrofoil Worlds

by Bernie Kaaks on 27 Nov 2016 Whatever the shortcomings of the Fremantle Doctor on the first day of competition, were made up for in spades on day two, when the wind kicked in early at 15 knots and quickly built to 18 with gusts as high as 26. The Rockingham course is perfectly suited to such conditions. The south westerly breeze kicks over the land mass over the north facing beach, making for flat water despite the strong wind.

Frenchman Nico Parlier simply continued where he left off from the first day, starting well without being aggressive and powering away from the fleet to establish his dominance. Moving to a smaller kite, he lost none of his performance advantage to finish the day with a perfect five wins from five starts, a remarkable performance.

Britain’s Ollie Bridge, using Parlier’s tactics, occasionally headed his rival in the early stages, but lacked the power and speed to maintain the advantage. None the less, the young Englishman’s consistent performance resulted in a series of second places which leaves him well clear in second spot on the leader board.

The surprise packets on the day were two youngsters – Ollie Bridge’s young brother Guy and Croatia’s Martin Dolenc, just 16 years old. Guy finished two races in third place, just behind his brother before gashing his hand on the foil of his board, a cut that required stitches and forced him to miss the last race of the day. Dolenc’s consistency has quietly moved him up to sixth place on the leader board and is poised to go higher. “I started with the 15m but that was a bad choice,” Dolenc stated. “I went to the 11m and that was better. The wind’s very gusty and very strong.”

Another injury involved American rider Daniela Moroz, who was mixed up with Spain’s Alejandro Hernandez. Although she hobbled away from the incident with a knock to the ankle, it seemed to do little to slow her down and she enjoys a comfortable lead in the women’s competition. Behind her are Steph Bridge (Ollie and Guy’s mother), Alexia Francinelli and Elena Karinina all bunched closely together.

Mishaps were bound to occur with the conditions. Many riders scurried back to the beach between races to change to smaller kites while on the course there were enough high speed spills to keep volunteers from Rockingham’s Cruising Yacht Club busy.

At the halfway mark through the regatta supported by Rockingham Apartments, Italy’s Ricci Leccese currently holds down third place, followed by Spain’s Florian Trittel who shot up the placings with three successive fourths to end the day, Germany’s Florian Gruber and Croatia’s young gun Martin Dolenc.

Summary:

1. Nico Parlier (FRA) 6 points
2. Ollie Bridge (GBR) 12 points
3. Ricci Leccese (ITA) 20 points
4. Florian Trittel (ESP) 28 points
5. Florian Gruber (GER) 35 points
6. Martin Dolenc (CRO) 45 points

Ladies:

1. Daniela Moroz (USA) 101 points
2. Steph Bridge (GBR) 166 points
3. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) 167 points
4. Elena Karinina (RUS) 170 points