Slowing down for fair play and sportsmanship

At the Kitefoil World Series, kiteboards not finishing within a prescribed time limit after the race winner finishes are scored Did not Finish. This prevents stragglers from delaying the event schedule, but can be frustrating for someone’s effort to be erased with an alphabet score.

So, it was during the KiteFoil World Series Sardinia (October 1-5) when Paris 2024 bronze medalist Max Maeder (SGP) came up with a plan in one of the races. He was locked in a tight race with Axel Mazella (FRA), some way ahead of Martin Dolenc of Croatia in third, who in turn was a long way ahead of the rest of the pack.

But for the last 200 metres into the finish, Maeder and Mazella slowed down for Dolenc, and the trio trickled across the line in order, at the slowest pace possible. Maeder explained, “I slowed down so I could give the others [the rest of the fleet] a chance of getting a finish score.

“As soon as the first person finishes, the timer starts ticking down and when the timer runs out, everyone else gets a DNF [Did Not Finish] on the scores. We had managed to catch the right wind shifts in that crazy wind but the fleet was really spread out and it seemed right to give the others a chance of getting a finish, so the three of us agreed to slow down together.”

Maeder said he had been given the idea a week earlier by Italian friend and rival Riccardo Pianosi when competing at the Italian Championships. “It was a nice idea that Ricky gave me and we’re here to have fun, right? We’re all here to learn and improve and it would be a shame if you get cut out of the results for no reason.”