Hydrofoil Pro Tour – Day 4 – Training partners clinch the first title

by Hydrofoil Pro Tour Media on 30 Nov 2016 For his rivals it was an ominous warning. France’s Nico Parlier grabbed the inaugural Hydrofoil Pro Tour crown winning every race of the climactic final stop at Rockingham, Western Australia, despite conditions that ranged from light airs to ballistic breezes at the close.

The 21-year-old’s perfect performance, in the face of intense competition, even bettered his stellar record at the tour’s two earlier stops where he competed, and he is already looking forward to next year with relish.

“For sure it’s a great honour for me to win the first Hydrofoil Pro Tour,” he said. “During the whole year we saw that all the fastest riders were at the events. The Hydrofoil Pro Tour has been a really great series with great conditions. We’ve been to awesome venues specially-picked for the riders.”

His delight was matched by his San Francisco training partner, the US’s Daniela Moroz, just 15, who never put a foot wrong. She, too, won every one of her 17 races in the women’s division, in the process pushing many of the leading men racing in the same spectacular 56-strong fleet and also securing the overall Pro Tour crown.

“I’m very happy to win the first Hydrofoil Pro Tour title,” said a beaming Moroz. “It’s so exciting and I’m sure it’s going to be a great step for the tour next year. Hopefully, we’ll get more girls on the start line racing at some of the best venues in the world.”

The final day of four at the stop hosted by The Cruising Yacht Club of WA delivered memorable conditions at the close as the fabled Fremantle Doctor breeze kicked in early and hit gusts of 31kts blowing over Rockingham bay’s flat waters.

Parlier at one point between races clocked his speed at 41kts while testing his pace and angles on his 9m Ozone R1V2 kite and Mike’s Lab foil, a measure of the perfect combination of wind and flat turquoise water Rockingham habitually serves up.

But even with such scorching speed the Frenchman did not have it all his own way. Britain’s Olly Bridge, 19, who took the second podium place at the stop and overall, harried Parlier at every turn and again in the day’s four races thought he would finally get the better of him.

On the first 0.95 nautical miles upwind leg of the two-and-a-half lap course Bridge rounded the top mark in the lead in every race, only frustratingly to see the tables turned by the second leg’s leeward mark, and then have to watch helplessly as Parlier eased away.

Even an unusual crash by Parlier in the gusty conditions as he approached the final windward mark on the penultimate race failed to break the spell. Bridge, riding a Levitaz Bionic foil and 9m Ozone R1V2 kite, was too far behind, and Parlier gathered his board and still squeezed over the line comfortably ahead.

“It was really good racing today, though the last race was a bit crazy in the gusty winds,” said Bridge. “I was ahead in every race at the top mark, but going down wind Parlier was just locked in and gone. In the end I’m pretty happy with the second spot.”

Italian-Colombian Riccardo Leccese pushed the leading pair hard — so hard exploded spectacularly on one downwind leg — but recovered to finish and maintain his high-placed finishes to cement the tour stop’s third podium spot.

Leccese has been a fervent supporter of the tour, but suffered an injury at the San Francisco stop and withdrew, missing the Mauritius leg shortly after, despite a promising start in La Ventana, Mexico, at the beginning of the year.

Frenchwoman, Alexia Fancelli, brought her Pro Tour year to a close with a similarly successful outing, pushing up the order to take the women’s second podium spot, ahead of Russia’s Elena Kalinina. It was an order that was reversed in the year’s overall rankings.

Australia KiteFoil National Championships

For the the home-grown racers who made the tour’s final stop possible, their chance to share in the glory came with the awarding of the prizes for the Australian Kitefoil Nationals, a division of the Pro Tour aggregating their results from the event’s four days.

Andy Hansen (on Ozone R1v2 and KFA Mako) a local Perth rider and co-founder of both Perth Kite Racing club and the Hydrofoil Pro Tour, followed up on his title win last week at the Australia Nationals Formula Champ, and takes the top podium with a dominate performance over his Australian rivals with 13 wins out of 17 races for the Australia KiteFoil National championship which was hosted as a division of Hydrofoil Pro Tour.

Marvin Baumeister Schoenian, a German native of Townsville, Queensland claimed second, with Alty Frisby third, and sixteen-year-old Mani Bisschops fourth. Gina Hewson showed her interntaionla level experience and took the title in the female division over Melbourne rider Natalie Flintrop-Clark.

Overall standings after 17 races (three discards) Rockingham:

Male

1 Nico Parlier (FRA) — 14pts
2 Oliver Bridge (GBR) — 28pts
3 Ricci Leccese (ITA) — 47pts
4 Florian Trittel (ESP) — 57pts
5 Florian Gruber (GER) — 75pts
6 Nico Landauer (URG) — 93pts
7 Guy Bridge (GBR) — 97pts
8 Martin Dolenc (CRO) — 102pts
9 Matt Taggart (NZL) — 111pts
10 Adrian Geislinger (AUT) — 132pts

Female

1 Daniela Moroz (USA) — 14pts
2 Alexia Fancelli (FRA) — 36pts
3 Elena Kalinina (RUS) — 37pts
4 Steph Bridge (GBR)— 41pts
5 Gina Hewson (AUS) — 61pts
6 Natalie Flintrop-Clark—85pts

Australian KiteFoil Nationals (division of Hydrofoil Pro Tour)

Male

1 Andy Hansen (AUS) — 15pts
2 Marvin Baumeister Schoenian — 33pts
3 Andrew Cooksey (AUS) —41pts
4 Mani Bisschops (AUS) — 47pts
5 Alty Frisby (AUS) — 88pts

Female

1 Gina Hewson (AUS) — 14pts
2 Natalie Flintrop-Clarke — 31pts

Hydrofoil Pro Tour Overall Winners:

Male

1 Nico Parlier (FRA) — 3pts
2 Olly Bridge (GBR) — 10pts
3 Nico Landauer (URG) — 14pts

Female

1 Daniela Moroz (USA) — 54pts
2 Elena Kalinina (RUS) —71pts
3 Alexia Fancelli (FRA) —81pts