Formula Kite PanAmericans conclude in Cabarete

After several days of ideal sailing conditions for training, the weather decided to play games with the 30 competitors, representing an impressive 13 countries, registered to the event. The wind turned to the north on day 1 of the event, but despite the challenging conditions, the 4 scheduled races were completed.

Michail Novikov from Vanuatu has returned to racing and it seems that he will be a strong contender, after finishing 2nd in the first race and winning the other three. The rest of the riders would need to wait till the last day of the competition to challenge him, as the waves that the north wind created, made it impossible for riders and official boats to launch, and to everyone's disappointment, there was no racing on days 2 and 3.

On the final day, the conditions were still not what the place is famous for, but the seas were lower and 4 further races were sailed, offering an unprecedented spectacle.

Ari Barshi is a competent ILCA sailor who has been living in Cabarete for many years. Founder and manager of Carib Wind, the high performance ILCA training center, he was offering technical support during the event. Ari is not new to sailing competitions, but even he was impressed with the kiteboarders:

'These athletes really have to have amazing control of the kite and board to win the Cabarete event this year. On top of the big waves, there are wind shifts and gusts, that usually we don't get with trade winds from the East.'
And amazing control they did have. After a total of 10 races, Novikov confirmed his good form winning the open trophy, while the PanAmerican title went to local boy and Youth Olympics gold medalist Deuri Corniel. Corniel also sealed the Dominican Republic's ticket to the PanAmerican Games Santiago 2023, with master kiteboarder Federico Aguilar earning the second available spot on behalf of Argentina.

In the women's fleet, Kirstyn Obrien (USA) walked away with gold, while the Emily Bugeja earned a ticket for Canada to Santiago 2023.