Poor conditions make Sail Melbourne hard work for kites
Those fins are supposed to be IN the water!
The ISAF World Cup is being held in Melbourne this year, and for the first time ever, kite racing was included in the programme. Despite the fact that it was only included because of the pending Olympic decision that ultimately turned sour, kite racers were allowed to continue entering and guaranteed some racing at the event. Could that have turned out to be a mistake?
On Tuesday racers were met with 47 knot winds, pushing most riders down onto their 7m and 9m emergency kites. All of the Olympic classes had their racing called off, but kiters were sent out in spite of the strong gusts and left to battle the elements on their own. The huge swell and howling wind meant that all kiters were in survival mode the entire time, with several riders coming unstuck in a big way during the downwind legs. It really wasn't the best showcase for the sport, adding to the debacles earlier in the week, where several riders got in a tangle and brought a huge amount of attention to the kite racing from other sailing classes.
As for the results, German kiterboarder Florian Gruber is well in front, with 6 wins from 6 races. Putting him in an almost unbeatable position now, short of a major catastrophe later this week. Following him are Torrin Bright from New Zealand and Matt Taggart from the UK.
In the girls fleet, it's French girl Ariane Imbert followed by Lisa Hickman from the Sunshine Coast. Apparently the girls fleet really had to tough it out in the conditions on Tuesday, with the same size course set as the guys, despite the fact that all the girls had to make much longer digs upwind to reach the mark due to their light weights.
With half the races down, and a few days left of compeition, what will happen to kite racing down in Melbourne? Will it be the first and last kite racing event in the ISAF World Cup? Lets hope not! With the forecast looking lighter for the rest of the week, lets hope kite racing shines!
WELLINGTON POINT, QLD
