Wednesday, 04 October 2017 22:08
Prospect of Mouthwatering Climax to KiteFoil GoldCup Series
The stage is set for a thrilling finale of the globe-trotting IKA KiteFoil GoldCup series with the world’s fastest riders lining up for a showdown on the leading Italian resort island of Sardinia. The fourth stop of the KiteFoil GoldCup tour will be hosted off Cagliari’s Poetto Beach at the Sardinia Kiteboarding Grand Slam, with a trophy going to the best rider over the entire series which opened in Korea in May, followed by back-to-back regattas in China last month. But the winner at the Sardinia Kiteboarding Grand Slam event will also claim the coveted world champion’s crown in the…
Sunday, 24 September 2017 04:55
Unbeatable Mazella Scoops Back-to-Back GoldCup Victories in China
The only blemish on Axel Mazella’s astonishing scoresheet at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in eastern China was an uncharacteristic second place that deprived him of a perfect tally. Otherwise the Frenchman’s record shows a sea of “gold”, courtesy of 14 bullets from the 15 races, earning him an undisputed victory at the tour’s third and penultimate stop in Pingtan. The win built on his equally emphatic—if not quite so dominant—performance a week earlier when he clinched victory at the second stop of the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup series in Weifang, China. His stellar record must put him in…
Friday, 22 September 2017 17:42
Four French Riders Top the Order in Perfect Foil Racing Conditions
It is a measure of French dominance of kitefoil racing that four of the nation’s riders have a lock on the leaderboard going into the final day’s competition at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in China. But while the quartet from France—the cradle of kitefoiling—are close friends off the water, and even in some cases Enata foils and kites team-mates, they are bitter rivals on the course seeking any opportunity to best on another when the starting flag drops. All are at a loss to explain, though, how their sometime training partner Axel Mazella (FRA) has so utterly…
Thursday, 21 September 2017 16:03
Mazella Stretches Lead in Teasing Breezes that Vex Some Racers
In what turned out to be a long day at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KifeFoil GoldCup in Pingtan, eastern China, France’s Axel Mazella extended his commanding overall lead. The onshore breeze blowing over the East China Sea’s flat waters unexpectedly built quickly to an adequate 7kts to 9kts, leaving some riders scrambling to get off the beach and upwind to the course area. But in the day’s first race—ultimately the day’s only race after the breeze faded, not to return—Mazella was only one of five of the 21 riders on the start line in time when the horn sounded…
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Wednesday, 20 September 2017 17:31
Mazella Nearly Untouchable in Opening Foil Races
If the venue had changed, the storyline remained the same. France’s Axel Mazella was almost flawless in the first clashes of the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup on Pingtan Island, eastern China. Mazella racked up an incredible eight bullets from nine races in Pingtan, picking up where he had left off a few days earlier in Weifang at the first of the two back-to-back KiteFoil GoldCup stops in China. But if the Frenchman had been composed to take victory at the second stop of the KiteFoil GoldCup tour—scoring a clutch of bullets—he appears close to peerless in the third…
Wednesday, 13 September 2017 17:33
Mazella Holds Nerve to Clinch Victory in Tense Final Races
In an anxious final day France’s Axel Mazella sealed victory at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in eastern China with a pair of assured bullets. But heading out on to the water with his 21m kite in the light airs that had taken most of the day to fill, overnight leader Mazella was aware that Britain’s Guy Bridge just behind in second place overall was breathing down his neck and the slightest mistake could cost him the event. In the end the Team Enata foils and kites’ poster boy held the lead almost from the start of the…
Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:25
Tough Day for Racers as Fickle Breezes Again Stalk Regatta
It was all change yet again at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in eastern China as the lead in the men’s and women’s divisions switched hands on the penultimate day of competition. But the fickle breezes that have dogged the regatta on the Yellow Sea off Weifang’s Joy Sea Beach returned and the one race that was possible when the wind briefly struggled above the 6kts threshold threw up upset. The overnight leader, Britain’s Guy Bridge, who had gone top after scoring four scintillating bullets on day three of the five-day regatta, suffered the crushing disappointment catching debris…
Monday, 11 September 2017 16:43
Stellar Racing Upsets the Order in Near Perfect Foiling Conditions
British teenager Guy Bridge notched up a remarkable four bullets to seize to top of the leaderboard at the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in eastern China. Bridge, younger brother of Olly, might even have made it five wins had he not misjudged a dramatic wind shift that saw him overhauled by his closest rivals on the long reach to finish line on the last of day’s six races. But Bridge’s stellar showing at the second of the four-stop IKA KiteFoil GoldCup tour in Weifang saw him leapfrog his nearest competition in the standings, France’s Axel Mazella…
Sunday, 10 September 2017 14:52
Team Enata Cement Top Spots in Breezes that Played Cat and Mouse
France’s Axel Mazella and Alexia Fancelli tightened their grip on the leaderboard’s top spots with wins in the men’s and women’s divisions at the International Kiteboard Association (IKA) KiteFoil GoldCup in China. Mazella scored his third consecutive bullet from three races while Fancelli made it two wins from three. Both recently signed with the ambitious Dubai-based kite and foil brand, Enata, whose riders are giving rivals something to think about. But if day two of the second stop of the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup series in Weifang Binhai went according to script for the French duo, the same could…
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