KiteFoil Gold Cup - Thrilling display in four days’ intense racing

by Ian MacKinnon on 14 Jul 2015 Many of the world’s leading kite foilers staged a peerless exhibition of the sport’s newest discipline over four days of hotly contested course racing on flat Mediterranean waters in ideal breezes, with Italy’s Calabrian hills serving as the stunning backdrop for the action.

But when the spray cleared the young Monaco rider Maxime Nocher emerged head and shoulders above the competition of 48 racers from 18 nations, the actors in a drama that unfolded over 38 captivating races in the KiteFoil GoldCup Italy.

The second stop of the four-event world tour — following the first in March in La Ventana, Mexico, where Nocher was runner-up to Nico Parlier (FRA) by the thinnest of margins — lived up to all the high-octane kite hydrofoil class’s hype.

In keeping with the lightly-regulated “open” developmental class, a raft of new equipment and tweaks to existing kit have raised the bar further in the months since Mexico, pushing possible top speeds to an incredible 40kts in the right conditions.

Nocher demonstrated that his Taaroa Sword2, with new high-aspect wings developed over the last month, and F-one Diablo foil kite were virtually unbeatable. In the hands of the Formula kite world champion his technical mastery, and speed and angles upwind and downwind were virtually unmatched.

Airush’s Julien Kerneur (FRA), who took the third spot on the podium, deployed both the Flysurfer Sonic FR and Paraavis GVX foil kites in his campaign to devastating effect, even occasionally overhauling the otherwise imperious Nocher on the finish line.

But Benni Boelli (GER) was perhaps an even bigger surprise, taking fourth overall. His weapon of choice in the kite hydrofoil “arms race” was the newcomer Levitaz Aspect Bionic hydrofoil. With its long steel fuselage for stabilization and tiny rear winglet, he teamed it with a Flysurfer kite — a combination used by team-mate Peter Mueller (GER), who took sixth spot.

The event hosted by Hang Loose Beach opened with two days of qualification for the “yellow” and “blue” fleets. The first day threw up classic conditions with the thermal wind building from nine knots to fifteen knots during the afternoon, while the second saw an unusual 180 degree switch and gusty cross-offshore breezes that allowed just three races for each fleet.

With each fleet’s eight races sufficient for seeding purposes, the riders were divided into top “gold” and bottom “silver” fleets for the final two days of on-the-water battles. The perfect conditions as the thermal wind reasserted itself ensured both fleets got their 10 allotted races on the windward-leeward track, that were typically completed in 12 to 13 minutes by the winners.

In the increasingly fine margins in the “gold” fleet inevitably there were few tangles as riders fought for position at marks. But the packed seafront at Hang Loose Beach was treated to the exhilarating spectacle of the foilers ripping over the smooth waters close to the shore as the racers sought the lift on the right side of the track.

The wind shift also prompted a number of riders to gamble on a port start, though in the end all had to duck below the rest of the fleet crossing the line on starboard. After a number of races most of the starboard starters also tacked inshore at the first opportunity to avail themselves of the same lift.

The final day’s wind also permitted the start and finish line to be set right in front of the busy beach, throwing up some edge-of-the-seat photo-finishes as the riders raced at full-tilt on a reach to the line.

In the process some over-reached and crashed spectacularly. Axel Mazella (FRA), just 17, went down in hail of spray metres from the line as he vied with countryman Kerneur for honours in one of the closing races. But Mazella it did not damage his prospects and still took second spot on the podium, along with victory in the Under21 class.

The pocket roster of seven women battled for podium spots among the men in the “silver” fleet. Britain’s multiple Formula kite world champion Steph Bridge earned top spot with a solid third overall in the fleet, Alexia Fancelli (FRA) was runner-up with fifth overall, while Elena Kalinina (RUS) grabbed third coming seventh overall.