2022 KiteFoil World Series Gizzeria, Day 2 - Aldridge and Vodisek into the lead

by Andy Rice / IKA 22 Jul 2022 22:14 BST 20-24 July 2022

Day 2 of KiteFoil World Series Gizzeria produced slightly lighter winds and threw some subtly different challenges at the 96 riders competing in the south of Italy.

Highlights

Lighter winds of 10 knots make for a trickier challenge
Ellie Aldridge wins two races to move into the yellow bib of the women's fleet
Toni Vodisek takes the yellow bib from Denis Taradin in the men's fleet
Gian Stragiotti extends his lead in the A's Youth Europeans

Ellie Aldridge leads Poema Newland across the finish - 2022 KiteFoil World Series Gizzeria day 2 - photo © IKA Media / Martina Orsini

Aldridge fires into the lead

Winning the first race of the day meant a lot to Ellie Aldridge (GBR).

"That first race was the best. I haven't won a race in a long time, always been a bit behind the leader for second or third, so I'm happy to have won the race and sailing as well as I did." Once she had won once, Aldridge bulleted her way to victory in the next race. Something has switched in her mind.

"Daniela [Moroz] and Lauriane [Nolot] are normally some way out ahead of the rest, so it's good to be competing at the front with them. Yes, after today more confident and happy now, especially because light winds haven't always been my strong point."

Up close and personal - 2022 KiteFoil World Series Gizzeria, Day 2 - photo © IKA Media / Martina Orsini

The last of today's five races went down as many riders' favourite, mainly because the predominantly one-way track to the right-hand side opened up as the breeze shifted to the left. Going out to sea now became a viable option and one that Aldridge exploited in her bid to overtake Nolot from France. At the finish three riders crossed within three seconds of each other, Nolot holding on for the race win ahead of Aldridge ahead of Moroz from the USA.

"There was an opportunity to go left, try something different," said Aldridge. "I had a bit of a gap behind me so I thought I'd see what I could find on the left and when we came back together I was much closer to Lauriane."

Nolot tried four port tack starts today and only in the final race did she start on starboard, spotting the options out to the left side of the course in the changing breeze. The French rider repeated her feat of day one by again winning the last two races of the session, yet she remains ambivalent about the venue.

"For me the races are too long, it's very tiring. I had a lot of problems with my gear here last year and it was the same for me yesterday. If you think about it too much it starts to affect you, but I was working hard to get motivated again, because I really wanted to win the last races."

The French rider even found motivation from scoring a UFD in the second race of the day when she was one of a few riders to break the start line a fraction too early.

"It's quite annoying to get a UFD but it shows that my starts are close, and that's the good point of a UFD."

The yellow bib wearer Poema Newland (FRA) also struggled with a difficult start to the day, including a UFD in the same race as her teammate. The winner of the 2021 KiteFoil World Series drops to third overall behind Aldridge and Moroz.

"I made some bad lay line calls and crashed too many times," Newland said. "It's a mental thing that I need to change. It's not possible to do well with so many mistakes in such a strong fleet, but tomorrow I go out again and do my best."

Vodisek takes yellow from Taradin

So committed to the port tack start is Newland that she wears two watches on her left sleeve. "Why would I need a watch on my right hand if I'm not going to start on starboard?" she laughed. The same could be true of Toni Vodisek (SLO) who is one of the strongest enthusiasts of the controversial port-tack start in the men's fleet. The young Slovenian won two of today's five races and moves four points into the lead, taking the yellow bib away from Denis Taradin (CYP) who drops to second overall.

In third place is Lorenzo Boschetti (ITA) with the red bib wearer Axel Mazella (FRA) just a point off the podium in fourth overall. Riccardo Pianosi (ITA) is only two points behind Mazella and then it's a big points gap back to reigning World Champion Theo de Ramecourt (FRA) in sixth overall. That said, the nature of the Medal Series on the final day of competition in kitefoiling events means that any of the top 10 will have a good shot at the overall title this Sunday.

The slightly lighter breeze made it very hard to achieve consistency throughout the day. Mazella started in the best way possible, with a race win.

"I started near the committee boat behind Theo and Denis. I saw they were both slow with kites high in the sky, so I tacked around them, went directly to the beach, two tacks at the beach, a good option, rounded in second behind Toni and just had to keep racing hard from there."

It all sounds so easy, but it was nothing of the sort for Mazella.

"My second, third and fourth races, I wasn't really happy with my speed or my tactics, I didn't line up well for the top mark, lots of mistakes. For the last race I tried to switch my mind for a different result. The wind shifted to the left and that opened up the game, there were options both ways on the course and I was second."

Stragiotti - Three from four again

Just as on day one, reigning Youth World Champion in the A's Youth class, Gian Stragiotti (SUI), took three wins from four races. Once again, the only rider to take a win away from the Swiss leader was Jan Koszowski (POL) who continues to hold second overall.

Racing is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 1300 hours with the Livestream Broadcast due to commence at 1230 hours. It's the final day of fleet racing before Sunday's finale when the top 10 will go forward to see who emerges victorious in Gizzeria.

For more about the event: kitefoilworldseries.com