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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 and the flag dropped.

For the Frenchman, on his distinctive red 21m Enata kite and foil, it appears to matter little whether he is pursued by just four rivals or the entire fleet. He led round the first top mark and never looked back, stretching his advantage to a comfortable lead by the reaching finish after two searingly-fast laps of the windward-leeward track.

Now the peerless Mazella has bagged nine bullets from 10 races over the first three days of five at the Pingtan stop of the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup, the penultimate leg of the series that wraps up in two weeks, when the IKA KiteFoil world champion will be crowned in Sardinia, Italy.

The tour’s Pingtan stop is being staged as part of the China International Kiteboarding Festival, which is also hosting the inaugural IKA TT:R World Championships being run in tandem.

But with the breezes again too light for the twin-tip competitors, it was down to the foil racers to take to the course at what is ordinarily a notoriously windy venue, though the weather patterns have been disrupted by a typhoon that passed nearby recently.

The women’s division, racing among the mixed fleet from 13 nations, saw former Formula Kite world champion, Elena Kalinina (RUS), cement her lead over closest rival, Alexia Fancelli (FRA).

In a rare mistake the Frenchwoman, who was late leaving the beach, missed a tack in her efforts to get upwind to the start line and put her 19m kite in the water, struggling to relaunch in the light breeze. Luckily for her the day’s second back-to-back race was postponed minutes before the start when the wind fell below the required 6kts.

Another rider who paid the price for the error of not getting out early enough was Alejandro Climent Hernandez (ESP). On his 20m F-one Diablo3 kite and Mike’s Lab foil he has been quick and posted good results in the opening days.

But he could only finish tenth which, even though he was able to discard the result, pushed him two places down the order to seventh overall. He believes that with more races he will be able to claw his way back up the rankings.

“I hope we get more races so that I can improve my position,” said Climent Hernandez. “I feel I’m doing well and I’ve improved my skills a lot. My speed is good and my gear is well tuned. These conditions are nice, too.”

Croatia’s Martin Dolenc, 17, lies just behind the Spaniard on the leaderboard, but has been getting quicker as the regatta progresses, taking second on the day to Mazella and building on a run of consistently high-placed finishes.

“In light wind like today I’m going really good,” he said, explaining his improving performances. “Either that, or strong wind and big waves. That’s when I go best, when it’s a bit technical.”

The IKA TT:R European champion, who is also looking to add the TT:R World title to his haul, may get his wish if the predicted freshening winds of the competition’s closing days show up.

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER 10 RACES (2 DISCARDS)

1. Axel Mazella (FRA) - 8 pts
1. Theo De Ramecourt (FRA) - 25 pts
3. Theo Lhostis (FRA) - 32 pts
4. Julien Kerneur (FRA) -36 pts
5. Alexander Bachev (BUL) - 38 pts

TOP RANKED WOMEN AFTER 10 RACES (2 DISCARDS)
1. Elena Kalinina - 89 pts
2. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) - 104 pts
3. Kirstyn O'Brien - 176 pts

Full results and live scoring:www.kitefoilgoldcup.com

Racing continues through to 23 September in tandem with the TT:R Open World Championships.

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 and penultimate act of the drama in Pingtan on the East China Sea.

He opened his account on day one of the five-day regatta that is part of the China International Kiteboarding Festival with two wins from two after much of the time was given over to the IKA TT:R World Championships which are being run in tandem.

Yet on day two in light, shifty breezes that started at around 10kts and eased slowly as the races progressed Mazella, on his 21m Enata kite and foil, took six of the seven races with apparent ease to leave clear blue water between him and the chasing pack on the leaderboard.

In the women’s division—racing among the mixed fleet of 21 riders from 13 nations—Russia’s Elena Kalinina was battling with Alexia Fancelli (FRA) and for the most part seemed to have he measure of the Frenchwoman, though their races were hard fought.

With the finale of the globe-trotting IKA KiteFoil Gold series just two weeks away in Italy at the Sardinia Kiteboarding Grand Slam, with the  trophy going to the tour’s best rider, and KiteFoil World Champion title going to the event winner, none are anxious to put a foot wrong.

In Mazella’s wake, his countryman Theo de Ramecourt was closer than most to giving the leader a run for his money. He pushed Mazella hard in race after race and often led for large parts of the two laps of the windward-leeward course, only to lose out on the last down-wind leg and reach to finish.

De Ramecourt, on his 21m Flysurfer Sonic Race kite, scored a bullet and a handful of second and third place finishes to leave him fourth on the leaderboard. But in day two’s first race he felt he had a win in the bag only to catch some debris that derailed his opportunity.

“On the last downwind leg I caught something in the water and ended up way back,” said de Ramecourt. “But apart from that I love the conditions here because they’re a bit more technical than we saw in Weifang. It’s a bit choppier, there are wind holes and it’s shifting, all of which I like.”

Bulgaria’s Alex Bachev, on his Mike’s Lab foil and 19m Ozone R1V2 kite, had another good day that built on his overnight second spot courtesy of two third place finishes on day one. Perhaps his day two foray was not quite so fortuitous, but consistent high-placed finishes kept him in the hunt even after he crashed and lost his board in one race just before crossing the line.

“I had a good opening day, and I think we’re all quite close performance-wise,” said Bachev. “So in the end it’s all about not making any mistakes and good strategy. You’ve got to read the wind shifts. Sometimes it was stronger outside, sometimes inside. When you’re going upwind, you can feel the power and make a call where it’s likely to be best.”

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER 9 RACES (1 DISCARD)

1. Axel Mazella (FRA) - 8 pts
1. Theo De Ramecourt (FRA) - 32 pts
3. Alexander Bachev (BUL) - 36 pts
4. Florian Gruber (GER)- 40 pts
5. Alejandro Climent (ESP) - 43 pts

TOP RANKED WOMEN AFTER 9 RACES (1 DISCARD)
1. Elena Kalinina - 92 pts
2. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) - 104 pts
3. Kirstyn O'Brien - 176 pts

Full results and live scoring:www.kitefoilgoldcup.com

Racing continues through to 23 September in tandem with the TT:R Open World Championships.

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 first race. He finished well ahead in the 7kts to 8kts of breeze on two laps of the windward-leeward track on the Yellow Sea’s smooth waters.

In the light airs Bridge, on his 21m Flysurfer Sonic Race kite and Levitaz Bionic foil, could only manage third behind his other key rival, Enata’s Theo Lhostis (FRA). But in the day’s second race as the breeze freshened to 9kts Bridge was hot on Mazella’s heels all the way around the course, with only a few seconds separating them at the end.

“I am really happy,” said Mazella. “In the first race I was a bit nervous because Guy Bridge was close enough on points that if he won and I came second or worse, I could lose the overall lead. When I got the win in that race I was able to relax. Still, in the second race, when the wind was a little bit stronger, he was better and it was much closer.”

The contest among the women, racing in the mixed fleet, was similarly tight. But even with former Formula Kite World Champion Elena Kalinina (RUS) and France’s Alexia Fancelli locked together on points at the start of the day, the Russian edged it when she twice crossed the line just ahead of her rival, with the fast-improving Anaïs Mai Desjardins (FRA) close behind taking the third podium spot.

The fifth and final day of the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup was marked by the light breezes that characterised the event which, with €50,000 in prize money up for grabs is the richest of the four-stop tour that travels south to China’s windy Pingtan Island next week.

The tour will wrap up next month at the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup finale in Italy at the Sardinia Kiteboard Grand Slam on Cagliari’s Poetto Beach, with the event winner crowned the IKA KiteFoil World Champion, while the KiteFoil GoldCup trophy will go to the best rider of the tour.

Despite Mazella’s win in Weifang, Guy Bridge, 18, could stake a claim to being the most exciting rider. On day three of the five-day regatta, Bridge racked up an amazing four bullets from six races and was a whisker from taking a fifth in the stiffer breezes that hit 12kts to 14kts.

For the younger brother of seasoned racer Olly Bridge (GBR), it was a stellar performance and marked his breakthrough on a day when he lived up to the promise he had hinted at for some time, always showing great pace but lacking consistency.

After grabbing the overall lead with his audacious performance, his disappointment was palpable when he surrendered the top spot to Mazella on day four after he struck something in the water and was thrown from his foil, struggling to get going again in the ultra-light breeze.

But even as he battled to close the two-point gap to Mazella in the final day’s two races, he knew it would be tall order to overhaul his French rival in the lighter breezes that favour his physique and Enata foil and kite set-up.

Bridge was phlegmatic about his runner-up spot. “I’m pleased with that, especially in these light winds. I’ve never done anywhere near as well at a major event so, really, it’s all good. I didn’t expect too much coming to China.”

Bridge was pushed all the way by Lhostis, also 18, who took the third podium spot, and was delighted with his showing that similarly signalled his best run at a big event.

“I’m very, very happy,” said the ever-cheerful Lhostis. “I think my pace and racing is getting better and better. It was so close between me and Guy Bridge. On the course I was looking out, ‘where is Guy, where is Guy?’”

For Elena Kalinina the worry was where was Alexia Fancelli?  The Russian found herself stretched as they almost matched raced one another around the track in both races.

“She was pushing me at the start, on the the up-wind and down-wind  legs when she didn’t want me to tack or gybe,” she said. “But I’m happy. It was very interesting. Very often at events the level is so different. But we were very similar and it was good. We were so close.”

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER 12 RACES (2 DISCARDS)

1. Axel Mazella (FRA) - 14 pts
1. Guy Bridge (GBR) - 19 pts
3. Theo Lhostis (FRA) - 23 pts
4. Oliver Bridge (GBR) - 51 pts
5. Theo De Ramecourt (FRA) - 56 pts

TOP RANKED WOMEN AFTER 12 RACES (2 DISCARDS)
1. Elena Kalinina - 152 pts
2. Alexia Fancelli (FRA) - 154 pts
3. Anais Mai Desjarding (FRA) - 181 pts

Full results and live scoring:www.kitefoilgoldcup.com

The fleet is now heading to Pingtan Island for the second part of the Chinese back-to-back regattas starting on September 18, 2018.