Moroz aims to 'go into sixth' at the Formula Kite Worlds
by Sardinia Grand Slam 4 Oct 2022 22:13 AEDT
8-16 October 2022
Daniela Moroz is ready for the 2022 Formula Kite World Championships © IKA Media / Markus Hadjuk
The five-time Formule Kite world champion arrived over a week ago in the Sardinian capital to become familiar with the sea and the winds, in view of the Sardinia Grand Slam (8-16 October): "Nolot and Aldridge are both my rivals and friends. The Gulf of Angels is a great tactical and mental challenge"
The countdown for the Formula Kite World Championships is almost over: the new "Olympic board", debuting at Paris 2024 Games, will be in the spotlights at the Golfo degli Angeli in Cagliari, together with its top performers, next October 8th to 16th.
The 2022 World titles will be awarded at the 6th stop of Poetto on the occasion of the Sardinia Grand Slam, a traditional sailing event organized by GLEsport, with the financial support of the Tourism Department of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the Municipality of Cagliari, under the aegis of World Sailing (the International Sailing Federation) and IKA (the International Kiteboarding Federation), as well as FIV - Italian Sailing Federation and CKWI, the Italy's Kiteboarding and Wingsport Class, and with the collaboration of the Chia Wind Club.
The event will bring 156 athletes (94 men and 62 women) with their respective entourages to Cagliari, for a total of 6,000 estimated presences in two weeks. Anyway Cagliari, its structures, its beaches and its sea have been populated with faces known to kite lovers.
Among them there is an authentic queen, the five-time World champion Daniela Moroz, Women's title holder: "I'm really excited to be back in Cagliari. It's just as I remember - beautiful, mostly sunny, warm, challenging conditions, and the best coffee every morning! I have been coming to Sardinia every year since 2018 (except for 2021) and every year has been incredible! Because it is one of the last big regattas of the racing season, I think it is also a challenge mentally since everyone is generally quite tired from a long year of racing" the Women's World champion explains.
Daniela expresses honey words for Cagliari: "It is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world - it's extremely unique and I always love coming here every year. The people are always nice and welcoming, there is beautiful scenery, amazing food, and of course, really good sailing conditions, so it doesn't get much better than that! When I am not sailing here, I love going on different hikes, walking around the old town in the city, going swimming, and biking along the Poetto beach path".
By the way, Daniela spent the most of her time saling, to figure out the challenging winds of the Poetto: "I think this is a really difficult place to sail no matter what the conditions are like. It's not just about going fast, it's also about sailing smart and understanding how the wind behaves with the local geography. I really enjoy sailing on the offshore mistral wind days because I love the challenge of the shifty wind". Daniela considers to become familiar with the location of the race in advance as a key point on the road to the Worlds: "It was important for me to get familiar with the conditions and the different types of wind and sea state that we can see here this time of year. In addition to getting lots of hours on the water I also go to the gym every morning to lift weights and go swimming".
Daniela is very clear what skills you need to win the World Championships ("It's always a combination of speed, boat-handling, strategy and tactics, equipment, and the right mindset") and sees great balance in both classes, male and female ("We've seen several different people winning different regattas throughout the year"). She also identified who her main rivals will be: "I think the most competitive riders will be the French and British teams. They have been doing really well all year, especially Lauriane Nolot and Ellie Aldridge. Everyone has improved so much, it will be a really competitive regatta".
Like icons Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal showed in tennis, also in the kiteboarding world rivalry meets friendship: "Lauriane and Ellie are some of my closest friends, and I think everyone in the kite fleet is quite close and always look out for each other. I feel really lucky that I get to compete with some incredible women and I have so much respect for all of them". The five Worlds title won by Moroz are incredible too, just like her hunger to win more and more: "I just love my sport and learning how to improve every day! I am incredibly lucky to get to do something I love which allows me to travel around the world with some of my closest friends and have fun. I am also just extremely competitive and have a drive to be the best no matter what I do, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing right now".
Moreover Daniela started looking the Paris 2024 Olimpyc challenge on the horizon, that could be an icing on the cake for her career: "I think this World Championship is another important step towards the Olympics and it is an opportunity to practice competing under pressure and delivering your best performance. I think the Olympics are on everyone's mind, it's definitely the long term goal and it's exciting that kiting will be part of the Games in 2024".