Poetto beach in Cagliari, Sardinia will play host for the sixth time for the Formula Kite World Championships. This popular destination mostly delivers Scirocco winds from the Sahara and easterly winds which produce on-shore waves, however, a light start is predicted for the first two days of racing and a stronger offshore Mistral wind is forecasted towards the end of the week.

The 2022 World Championship is highly attended and the event quotas have been enforced. The high-demand event has a limit of 150 participants, where we will see 92 men and 58 women from 44 countries representing all six continents compete over the next week.

All eyes are on American sailor Daniela Moroz, and if the five-time World Champion can defend her title once again here in Sardinia. Moroz, who has travelled to Sardinia every year since 2018 believes this is a difficult place to race with its challenging conditions.

“It’s not just about going fast, it’s also about sailing smart and understanding how the wind behaves with the local geography. I really enjoy sailing on the offshore Mistral wind days because I love the challenge of the shifty wind,” Moroz shared about the venue.

Men's Kite Fleet European Championships CREDIT IKA Media 

The World Championships is the last big event of the season and is taking place just a week following the European Championships in Greece. Most of the riders arrived straight from the European Championships as there is high importance for them to get familiar with the conditions and different types of wind and waves at this location.

The entry list almost mirrors last week’s line-up in Naftpakos, however, some big names chose not to compete in the Europeans in an effort to save the energy for the Worlds. This includes the British Sailing Team riders and Kitefoil Team NL, who are now present and will be strong contenders.

Italian riders will be fighting hard to win in home waters. Italian, Riccardo Pianosi is optimistic about the Worlds after just missing out on the European podium in fourth place.

“Italians like me will play at home, we trained a lot and we like this location a lot,” Pianosi shared. “More than one rider can aim for gold, above all Max Maeder (SGP) - the fastest of us, also the French guys have good chances, as well as (Denis) Taradin (CYP) and (Lorenzo) Boschetti (ITA).”

Breiana Whitehead  and Women's Fleet CREDIT IKA Media

Four athletes will represent Australian Sailing this week, supported by their team coach Shane Smith. The line-up includes squad members and siblings Breiana and Scott Whitehead from Townsville Yacht Club, QLD as well as Australian Sailing Future athletes Hector Paturau representing Ron Tough Sailing Foundation (WA) and fellow western Australian, Alexander Landwehr.

Breiana Whitehead made it all the way to the Semi-Finals at the Europeans, showing her ability to compete at a high level. “I didn’t have so much experience in this format of racing,” Whitehead admitted. “Having such a small fleet with just a fact that you need to win, but that’s how it’s designed.

"Taking that bigger risk is definitely the big decisive moment of a race. Everyone’s taking risks, it’s how much risk do you take," Whitehead finished. 

Two more Australian riders will be hitting the start line this week, including Jane Taylor from Kiteboarding WA, fresh from competing at the Europeans along with Australian Sailing Squad, and Tasmanian Zac Pullen from Hobart who is chasing the Olympic dream and plans to campaign towards Paris 2024.

The race schedule is packed, with a maximum of 12 races in the three days of qualifying and a maximum of eight races in the two days of the final series. In the first qualifying round the competitors with be re-assigned to a new fleet daily. The next qualifying phase will see the split into Gold, Silver, and Bronze fleets before the top 10 athletes move into Semi-Finals and Finals.

The live coverage schedule will start on Friday, 14th October and will continue through the weekend into the Finals live on Facebook and YouTube on 15-16th October.

Racing will kick off on Tuesday 11^th October with the first possible warning signal for the Men at 13:00 (CET) followed by the women at 15:00 (CET). Depending on wind conditions on the day the Race Commitee may rotate the fleets with the intention to run four races for each fleet.

You can follow the event via the event website: formulakite.org

Daily results will be uploaded to the following links:

Men: formulakite.org/sailwave/liveresults_men

Women:formulakite.org/sailwave/liveresults_women

Australian Sailing Squad (ASS), Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) and other Australian (AUS) entries in the 2022 Formula Kite European Championships:

Male:

Scott Whitehead (ASS)
Alex Landwehr (ASF)
Hector Paturau (ASF)
Zac Pullen (AUS)

Female:

Breiana Whitehead (ASS)
Jane Taylor (AUS)

By Anna Zyk/Australian Sailing Team Media