Kitesoul Magazine #26 International Edition

50
RACING
Nocher Marks his Comeback by Grabbing World Series’ Opener
prize purse, the richest in kiteboarding,
and take a step closer to the IKA
KiteFoil World title awarded at the end
of the scheduled four-stop tour to the
best overall racer.
Most of the athletes will travel south
to Fujian province’s windy Pingtan island
for the second of back-to-back
KiteFoil World Series stop in China
next week, where another $40,000 of
prize money will be on offer.
In the women’s group, which raced
together with the men, the US’s triple
Formula Kite World Champion, Daniela
Moroz, still just 17, bested her rival,
Russia’s Elena Kalinina, and took 16th
spot overall in one of the highest-level
kitefoil fleets ever assembled.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Moroz. “I was
trying to do some new and different
things; taking many more risks to see
if they worked better for me. I’m certainly
more comfortable in the light
winds than I was two years ago.”
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments
was for Britain’s Guy Bridge.
After a faltering start, the teenager
looked untouchable at the mid-point
and briefly held the top ranking, only
to see his campaign come unstuck
with some bad luck that put him down
to fourth overall, just ahead of older
sibling, Olly Bridge.
“I feel a little disappointed, but I knew
that after the first few days when I
started so badly it was going to be difficult
with the three discards already
gone," said Guy Bridge. “I had a bit of
bad luck too, with the helicopter and
everything. But fourth is not bad.”