Kitesoul Magazine #13 English Edition

70
EVENTs
Kiteboarding European Championships
It feels surreal to be in the water and all you can
hear is a slight hiss to the passing of the athletes
by the buoy... the speeds are impressing and the
departures with these blades that cut the water
are quite thrilling but that is the charm of this discipline,
which is taking competitions to a higher
level and riders to overcome their own limits.
The city of Cagliari, at Poetto Beach by the Italian
Army beach facilities, with the organization
of the Cagliari Yacht Club, welcomed with enthusiasm
the athletes coming from all over Europe.
The defending World Champion, Maxime Nocher
didn't disappoint the expectations, with his F-One
Diablo, he won race after race the first position
and nevert let it go. The blonde Kalinina, put her
opponents right behind her, including the tough
mum Steph Bridge.
The first men's races were a tight head to head
between Maxime Nocher and the Italian-Colombian
Riccardo Andrea Leccese, so much so that
after ten races they were sharing the lead. With a
pretty intense Mistral wind, 16 to 24 knots, the 40
competing athletes, with the leeward mark right
near the shore, put up a great show! During one
amazing heat, heat number 5, Riccardo Andrea
Leccese started with a great delay compared to
others, more than a minute but even so he performed
a brilliant come back, finishing in first place,
an emotion that neither him nor the bystanders
will ever forget so easily!
On the third day, the Mistral wind is still the protagonist
(not the best wind for racing at the Poetto
Beach, Ed.) and the Gold races began. Shifty
and gusty wind conditions made things difficult
on the course race, where the race tactics definitely
made a difference. Leccese is at his top