After the COVID-19 pandemic imposed time off throughout the 2020 season, the International Kiteboarding Association returns to the shores of Gizzeria Lido with two of its flagship events back to back.
The KiteFoil World Series, the sports premier racing circuit, will host the first Act of the 2021 season at Hang Loose Beach from 07-11 July. 100 competitors from 26 countries will race in two fleets and continue where the 2019 season left off. The world’s foremost competitors will be present and are hungry to race. Some of the favourites include defending champion Axel Mazella and runner-up Theo de Ramecourt (both hailing from France) as well as Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek who dominated the 2019 season coming out on top in all the events until an injury in the final Act at the Italian resort island of Sardinia brought his winning streak to an end.
Also, defending World Champion Daniela Moroz (USA) will be competing, and will have to fend off strong opposition from the Polish and GBR competitors.
The two-week kite racing festival continues with the Formula Kite and A’s Youth Foil World Championships, both being pathway events to the Olympic Formula Kite class which will be contested for men’s and women’s individual medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Many of the open fleet’s top sailors are under 19 years old and will now fight it out between them on the water for the class World Championship titles. The A’s Youth Foil class is a feeder class into the high-performance Formula Kite class, with strictly controlled one-design equipment aiming to develop talent amongst the under 17 and under 15-year-olds.
Racing in the Youth World Championships kicks off on 14 July and runs through to 18 July, when the winners will be crowned in the Medal series comprising of semi-finals and finals, a format that the senior Formula Kite class will also feature in Paris 2024.
Photo Credits: Alex Schwarz
