2024 Formula Kite Youth Worlds in Gizzeria, Italy Day 4
by Marina Psychogyiou 6 Jul 2024 14:28 PDT
Defending champion Lysa Caval [FRA] takes the one-win ticket to the final - 2024 Formula Kite Youth Worlds © IKA media/ Robert Hajduk
It was a bit of a slow start this morning for the wind, but once it started blowing, it stayed for 6 full rounds of racing.
It was the last day before the medal series, and the main goal for all sailors in the gold fleet was to make the cut.
Such is the format of the Formula Kite events, that anyone who makes it into the top 10 can then go on and win the event on the medal series day by being the first to get 3 wins in the 4 riders final.
Of course, depending on their performance so far, this task can be easier or harder. The first and the second in the ranking go directly to the finals, carrying two and one wins respectively, and are waiting for the other two, who will come from the two semi finals without a carry forward win.
Swiss Gian Stragiotti and Argentina's Olympian Catalina Turienzo, with stellar performances, grabbed the two-win ticket to the final without ever been threatened, but behind them there was real drama. Brazilian youngster Lukas Fonseca, after a bad first day was struggling to recover and although he started the penultimate day in 5th and outside everyone's radar, consistent good finishes lifted him to second and secured him the one-win ticket to the finals. Fonseca was 4th in 2023 and is looking to improve his result this year.
German Jan Voester and Czech Voitech Koska who have been scoring bullets early in the competition, will have to go through the semi finals process to secure their place in the 4-kiteboard final. They will be in opposite semifinals and it is very likely that they will both make it to the next stage.
Derin Atakan, the World Sailing Youth Worlds gold medalist and Turkiye's entry to Paris 2024, has been sitting in 2nd place until the last moment. Defending Youth World Champion Lysa Caval scored a bullet on the last race of the day and with that the Frenchwoman punched her one-win ticket to the finals, leaving Atakan to face Poland's Nina Arcisz, the 2022 Youth World Champion, in semi-final A..
The medal series is scheduled for Sunday, starting at 1300 local time.
Results after Day 4:
Men
1. Gian Stragiotti SUI
2. Lucas Fonseca BRA
3. Vojtech Koska CZE
Women
1. Catalina Turienzo ARG
2. Lysa Caval FRA
3. Derin Atakan TUR
For more information visit www.kiteclasses.org.