MOROZ AND TARADIN WIN THE KITEFOIL WORLD SERIES’ SEASON OPENER AT GIZZERIA
The first act of the KiteFoil World Series kicked off on 8 June in Gizzeria (Italy) at Hang Loose Beach Club, a very appreciated spot among kiters around Europe. After a long, forced leap year, the kiters were back for a full season, with 100 athletes from 26 nations hitting the water in the first of five events of the 2021 season.
Men
Denis Taradin (RYF) claimed the victory in the Men’s category. He fought until the very last race with Axel Mazella (FRA), who came only one point behind him in the final ranking. Toni Vodisek (SLO) became third, becoming an excellent achievement for the Slovenian rider as he was forced to a halt because of an injury at the end of the 2019 season.
“I looked at the results after the last race, and I saw Axel was only one point ahead of me, but I had more bullets in case of a tie, so it came down to the one of us who won the last race, just the way I like it. I am very excited to have won. It is very unexpected. I am happy I performed well with light wind, living in Tarifa, it’s a blessing and a curse, as we always have strong winds, especially in the summer”, commented Denis Taradin.
“It started out light; we were on the 19mt kite, I did a good job on the first race, after which I was on a tie for first with Denis, then I won the second and got one point ahead of him before the last race. On the last start, there has been a tangle with Denis himself, and I guess I could have protested him, but I would never want to win that way, and I think he deserves the win cause he has been a very strong competitor and I am happy for him and for my performance”, said Mazella at the end of the last race.
“I’m happy for my third place. The competition was so much fun, and it brought back a lot of memories from two years ago. I haven’t trained much this year, and I wasn’t really in the game this week. Congratulations to Denis and Axel, it was a blast”, said Toni Vodisek.
Women
After four competition days and 17 races, Daniela Moroz (USA) was the fastest among the women and finishing 31st overall. Silver went to Poema Newland (FRA) – 34th – and bronze to Ellie Aldridge (GBR) – 37th.
“I am super happy, and it was super fun. Both boys and girls put up a nice fight and made it so much fun. I am happy I managed to take each race at a time and just kept following the plan even if some things didn’t go the right way. For the next event, I would like to improve on anything. There’s always room for improvement, right?!” commented an excited Daniela.
All the categories took place on the same course, as the KiteFoil World Series are open. Men, Women, Youth (U19) and Masters (35+) all race together:
Top 3 Men
1 Denis Taradin (RYF – 117)
2 Axel Mazella (FRA – 69)
3 Toni Vodisek (SLO – 120)
Top 3 Women
1 Daniela Moroz (USA – 113)
2 Poema Newland (FRA – 118)
3 Ellie Aldridge (GBR – 76)
Top 3 Grand Master
1 DEN James Johnsen (DEN- 65)
2 DEN Thomas Beckett (DEN – 75)
3 GRE Dimitri Maramenidis (GRE – 85)
Top 3 Master
1 TUR Ejder Ginyol (TUR – 92)
2 ITA Valerio Venturi (ITA – 95)
3 DEN James Johnsen (DEN – 65)
Top 3 Youth (U19)
1 ITA Riccardo Pianosi (ITA – 31)
2 SGP Maximilian Maeder (SGP – 32)
3 RYF Mikhail Novikov (RYP – 116)
As the curtain falls for this year’ first KiteFoil World Series Act, it opens right away for the Formula Kite U19 Individual World Championships and A’s Youth Foil Worlds starting on 14 July in Gizzeria. The next KiteFoil World Series event will be held in Traunsee (Austria) from 15 to 19 September.
All results are available here.
Source: https://kitefoilworldseries.com
Photo credit: IKA Media / Martina Orsini
