Daniela Moroz claims fifth consecutive Formula Kite World Champion Title
by US Sailing Team 17 Oct 23:11 PDT
Daniela Moroz atop the 2021 Formula Kite World Championship podium celebrating her fifth consecutive title © Robert Hajduk
After much anticipation during the light wind postponement on shore, Daniela Moroz (Lafayette, Calif.) took the win in her final race, securing her fifth Women's Formula Kite World Champion title.
Under the new scoring system that will be utilized in the kite's Paris 2024 debut, Moroz only needed one more race win on the final day of racing to bring home the gold. Joining her in the finals was Great Britain's Ellie Aldridge, finishing second, France's Lauriane Nolot in third and Poema Newland in fourth.
In the thrill of the adrenaline and high emotions, Moroz reflected on her accomplishment, saying "it feels really good. I have to give all my props to the whole squad, the coaches, the team, my parents, friends, and family for the support. It takes a village and I'm really thankful to have their encouragement behind me. I'm absorbing it all right now... the conditions were very difficult this week, even when it was windy, it was super shifty, so making a good plan was tricky. You had to change your decisions and tactics on the go and the regatta was full of reacting to what was happening on the course. It was very technical racing and I'm happy with how I did throughout the event. I sailed really well and saw improvement in my sailing even since Formula Kite Europeans last month."
Light winds caused a delay on shore for the four male and four female athletes who qualified for finals. While on shore in the suspense and anticipation with a fifth consecutive title so close in reach, Moroz said "this morning I tried not to think about racing too much. I had a relaxed breakfast with the squad and our team and tried to stay calm and confident. Once I was on the water, I got a little nervous, but as soon as the warning signal went off, I switched modes and dialed in."
"For the final race, I didn't have the best start," said Moroz. "I was on time, but I didn't have the best positioning on the line. The right was a little favored and I ended up going further left than the rest of the women and had to roll the fleet on a port tack when I crossed back. When I reached the starboard lay line, Lauriane Nolot (from France) had already tacked to lay the mark, so I tacked inside of her. I ended up laying the line a little better than her and had a better rounding which set me up for the downwind and the leeward rounding. I had a great few roundings after fighting for the positioning on the first windward mark, and that was the move that won the race. By the final upwind leg, I had the bullet locked in."
Racing was tight all throughout the event for the women and provided a spectacular show for spectators, coaches, event organizers and race officials. Because finals day only consists of the top four athletes at the end of day four, none of the men of the US KiteFoil Squad sailed the last day of the event.
US KiteFoil Squad results: (closing out the largest World Championships of Formula Kite history)
1st - Daniela Moroz (Lafayette, Calif.)
15th - Markus Edegran (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
28th - Kai Calder (Alameda, Calif.)
33rd - Evan Heffernan (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
34th - Will Cyr (San Diego, Calif.)
Full results available here.