Raising the level of the Kiting squad

Five of the 10 sailing events at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be new, and among them is Men’s and Women’s Kiteboard. There is growing interest in this genre, with 91 men and 40 women from 29 countries and five continents just completing the 2021 Formula Kite European Championships.

Next up will be the 2021 Formula Kite World Championship next month in Italy, with four-time World Champion Daniela Moroz (USA) looking for another title following her domination of the 2021 Europeans.

“I’m super happy with how Europeans went – I think it sets me up really well for the Worlds,” said Moroz. “It was awesome to have Charlie McKee (two-time Olympic Bronze medalist) as our coach. Our squad has been working on a few things in preparation for the Worlds, and the Europeans acted as a perfect dress rehearsal.”

Moroz was joined at the Europeans by Markus Edegran (USA) who placed 16th, and McKee views how the Europeans will benefit the country’s effort toward Paris 2024. “Two of our squad sailors were able to experience the new format, get a sense for where the level of competition was, and build a list of things we need to work on back home.

“We have a camp next week in Long Beach and Markus and Daniela are eager to kick things off by sharing everything they learned with the rest of the squad. That’s the goal – compete at these large events, learn what there is to be learned, and bring it back home to raise the level of the squad.”

Format for Formula Kite Olympic discipline:
1. Both men’s and women’s fleets initially seeded into equal groups. For Formula Kite Europeans, men began in three groups of 30 (90 sailors total), and women began in two groups of 20 (40 sailors total).
2. All competitors race up to 12 races over three days then get sorted into bronze, silver, and gold for the men, silver and gold for the women, for 4 additional races with points carried over.
3. Upon completion of gold fleet day two racing, the top two kiters from both men’s and women’s divisions automatically advance to the Final.
4. Places 3 through 14 in both men’s and women’s gold fleets go into semifinals where they race two races in two groups of six, with the winners of each group advancing.
5. The Finals consists of the top 4 racing until someone gets to 3 race wins
6. The leading kiter enters the Finals with two points and must only win one race to bring the regatta to a close
7. The second-place kiter enters the Finals with one point and must win one more to take the title.
8. Third and fourth place kiters that entered the Finals with zero points must win three races.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470*
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class*
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class*
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFoil*
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFoil*
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17
* New events for Paris 2024.

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 26-August 11

Details: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/