Queensland athlete Breiana Whitehead has backed up her breakthrough race win at the 2022 Lepanto Formula Kite European Championships with another consistent day to enter tomorrow’s Gold Fleet races in fifth place.

The female fleet had to wait till 5pm to get out on the water, with kite selection once again proving crucial. Most riders hit the water with smaller kites, but as the breeze got lighter toward the end of the day it showed that a bigger kite was better.

Whitehead played it safe today and came out on a smaller kite which was right on the balance point for the available wind. After her successful day yesterday she only needed one good race from today’s two races to secure a place in the Gold Fleet and she did that and more banking a fifth and a third.

“It was a dying breeze and a difficult racetrack, so I’m pretty happy with the outcome,” said Whitehead. “I was in the group with the French girls [Poema Newland and Loriane Nolot] and they were absolutely sending it. I went out on a 15m kite to start with, but everyone with bigger kites were faster on the downwind. I did a quick change and made it back out with a 21m and that helped me to keep up on those downwinds and stay in the race.”

The late start to the afternoon session was due to the severe storm on day one which has left a lot of debris near the launching area. The Race Committee attempted to setup the racecourse further out in the bay with more stable wind, but it was too deep to anchor the marks meaning it was 14:00 before wind stabilised and men got green light for the first warning signal.

Australian Sailing Futures rider Hector Patarau was the best of the Australians with two top ten results today leaving him in 29th overall.

“Wind was up and down and shifty again, and it was all about finding the pressure and the shifts,” said Patarau. “My starts today were a little bit better [than yesterday]. A lot of people were pushing over the line and getting UFDs, so I was careful on that. In the opening race of the day I had a crash on one of the final gybes, so after that I tried to concentrate a bit more and finished the next race in 6th. I also managed to do well in the last race, even though I got a tangle and I had to go back and start on port behind the whole fleet.”

Patarau has finished agonisingly short of qualifying for the Gold Fleet, with the Race Committee announcing that only top 25 best placed riders (not 30) will be selected, so he joins the Silver group still in a very good position.

“It’s my first European championship and it’s good to race in such a strong fleet and get closer to those big names like Max Maeder, Denis Taradin and some of the French guys.”

Only two points behind him is Scott Whitehead (ASS) with 50 points at the top of Silver fleet.

“In the 1st race I didn’t have a good start,” said Whitehead. “I was lined up on the start and then someone put their kite into mine. I had to bail out and tack under the fleet, and after that I didn’t have many options for the race. Then I had two good starts and one average sort of start, but it was ok. There was quite a lot of debris around the starting line, which was difficult to avoid. The best way [to avoid] was just race like you normally do hoping you don’t hit it.”

Even if Scott doesn’t admit it, the time that the male fleet spent on the water today was exhausting. Maybe not so much physically, but mentally. “Lots of sitting, not much racing,” he continued. “You go out, wait for around for 40 minutes [if you are in the last group to start], race for 10 min, then wait again for 40 minutes and do that for the rest of the day.”

At the end of another difficult and shifty day Shane Smith, ASS Formula Kite team coach said; “Scott gave himself a good opportunity to show what he is really good at, so there is room for improvement. The fleet is so strong for the men, that somebody is going to miss out. There is an opportunity to develop and get better for the World Championship that is coming up very soon.”

Alexander Landwehr (ASF) scored 9, 15, 19, 14 today, he is currently in 41st place also going to the Silver fleet. Daniel Self (AUS) was one of those who got UFD in Race 3, after that scoring 25, 22, 25. He will join the Bronze fleet tomorrow.

After six races for both male and female fleets, racing continues in fixed groups as of tomorrow. Gold fleet will start the 2nd qualifying phase, with Silver and Bronze fleets to follow. First warning signal is scheduled for 12H00 Eastern European Time.

Visit the event website for full results.

Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) at the 2022 Formula Kite European Championships:

Overall results after 6 races – men (with 1 discard):

29th - Hector Paturau (ASF) – 15, 10, (16), 6, 10, 7 (48 points)
31st - Scott Whitehead (ASS) – (13), 6, 12, 12, 8, 12 (50 points)
42nd - Alex Landwehr (ASF) – 4, (31 DNC), 9, 15, 19, 14 (61 points)
76th - Daniel Self (AUS) – 18, 24, (31 UFD), 25, 22, 25 (113 points)

Overall results after 6 races – women (with 1 discard):

5th - Breiana Whitehead (ASS) – 4, 1, (7), 3, 5, 3 (16 points)
24th - Jane Taylor (AUS) – (15), 12, 9, 11, 14, 7 (53 points)

By Anna Zykova/Australian Sailing Team media