Held in Hyeres, a town on the Mediterranean coast, the French Olympic Week is an annual sailing regatta. This was the 53rd edition of the competition. Once again, the Olympic sailing elite will be in Hyères for one of the most anticipated events of the season. For the first time in France, the SOF will bring together on the Hyères field of play the 10 classes that will be present in Marseille for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Our athletes fought in various weather conditions against their competitors and brought home another win in the Formula Kite category. The final day brought very light wind and once again the FLYSURFER VMG shows its exceptional efficiency in the hands of our riders.
- SGP – Maximilian Maeder – FLYSURFER
- FRA – Axel Mazella
- FRA – Maxime Nocher
- USA – Daniela Moroz – FLYSURFER
- FRA – Lauriane Nolot
- GBR – Ellie Aldridge
Before last Saturday’s victory in France, Maximilian had won March’s Formula Kite Asia Pacific Championships in Thailand. He will now prepare for the May 16-22 Formula Kite Youth World Championships in Sardinia, Italy, where he hopes to continue his good form.
What Max said:
“I needed one win and luckily managed to seal the deal on the first race. We started in 5-6 knots, but I made sure to do my warmup and I got to observe the races without the stress of racing.”
“So, I had a phenomenal start; it’s one I’ll remember. I had space to tack whenever I wanted 20-30 seconds after the start and as soon that happened, I tried to dig in and sink my teeth into the lead.”
“To be honest, I think I’ve exceeded my expectations so far. I hope to be at the peak for the Olympic qualifiers (next year). Going to the Olympics is prestigious and it’s my biggest goal but it’s all about the journey and what I learn along the way is important as well.”
After her comeback win at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca Regatta where Daniela Moroz (USA) was under pressure from her friend and rival Laurianne Nolot (FRA), the duo was again battling for the win in France. But the vastly experienced five-time world champion improved her form day by day, finally heading into the medal series as the leader.
What Daniela said:
“Going into the finals today I only needed to win one race to win the event”
“It was super light wind so there was a lot of pumping out of tacks and gybes. It was key to stay under the pressure and get to the right side of the course as quickly as possible and I ended up coming away with the win on that first race of the day and securing the gold.”
“We sailed a wide variety of conditions and rode almost all the kite sizes in our kit to adapt to the wind and the sea state. It was tough, and I had some very tight battles with Lauriane Nolot [from France] but overall enjoyed a great week in Hyères.”
France’s Laurianne Nolot took silver and Britain’s Ellie Aldridge jumped up into bronze from fourth.
We would like to thank especially our race team and all competitors who trust in our FLYSURFER VMG kites and train hard to fulfill their dreams!
Credits: US Sailing Straittimes FFvoile