When the wind was suddenly gusting up to 45 knots across Lake Traunsee, the prospect of anyone going racing on day one of KiteFoil World Series Austria looked slim indeed.
While racing was officially on hold until the breeze settled down, British rider Sam Dickinson reckoned on getting out on the water to test out his brand new 11 square metre Ozone kite. After all, this event is the first of the new Olympic cycle following the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Games less than a month earlier.
Max Maeder, who won an Olympic bronze medal for Singapore, threw down a bet to Dickinson. Launch off the beach, get out to the turning mark more than a kilometre away and get back to the beach in one piece, and Dickinson would collect his winnings from Maeder.
Forty-five minutes later and the worst of the gusty wind had abated significantly. Now perhaps the greater challenge for Dickinson would be to make the most of the wind in the lighter patches.
By this time Maeder was feeling less secure with his foolhardy bet. Dickinson launched off the grassy beach in Ebensee and almost immediately his kite crashed to the water. But the Briton managed to get the kite back in the sky again and pumped his way up on to the foil. Less than three minutes later he had rounded the mark, while Maeder was beside himself with mock fury as at it looked increasingly likely that Dickinson would complete the challenge.
Another five minutes later after multiple gybes to keep the kite in the air in the lighter breeze near the shore, Dickinson stepped back on to dry land, triumphant.
“It was 45 knots of wind when I challenged Sam,” said Maeder. “In future I’m going to write stuff down, put it on paper. I let him get away with it because I didn’t give him a time limit. I should have said to him, get it done within the hour.”
While Dickinson managed to get out to the mark and back, the conditions never looked sufficiently stable to get the official racing underway for KiteFoil World Series Austria. Instead, a day on the beach was an opportunity for riders to catch up on news after the Olympic Regatta. Valentin Bontus, as one of two winners of an Olympic gold medal for Austria, is in hot demand to speak to local media and to autograph memorabilia for his fans.
Foil and kite designers have been busy developing new equipment for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle and this regatta offers an opportunity to test the gear in a competitive environment. With rival foil designers Chubanga and Levitaz bringing out new foil and mast sets, it will be interesting to see how the riders perform on the latest version of these high-tech carbon constructions.
The weather in Upper Austria is beautifully warm, which is also part of the reason why the wind has been so unstable and unpredictable today. The weather looks slightly cooler for Friday so that could bring better breeze. The races on the weekend, 7 and 8 September, will be livestreamed.
Live Stream Pull link: rtmp://live.restream.io/pull/play_3312007_f97e7931ee80208de5df
Text Credits: Kite Foil World Series
Photo Credits: IKA media / Robert Hajduk
Video Credits:ICARUS Sports
