Any hopes of getting a golden ticket into the medal series Sunday were dashed when a late start forced race officers to begin the day with the semifinals for both men and women.
The final podium places after the finals mirrored Saturday’s top three, but to get there, an insane finals in both fleets saw crazy tight position changes and crashes before the champions were crowned.
Comeback Queen
The defining moment of the championship was certainly the first downwind of the women’s final.
Lysa Caval of France won the opening series despite damaging her right ankle during a dramatic crash on day one. She went into the first-to-three points finals with two bonus points ahead of Derin Atakan of Türkiye who had one bonus point.
If Caval won the first finals race, she would have the three points she needed to claim the title.
Squeezed out at the start, Caval was back in third ahead of France’s Zoe Boutang on the first downwind leg. Under extreme pressure, she put the hammer down, smoked past Magda Woyciechowska of Poland, and arched a perfect turn in front of Atakan with their kites nearly touching.
She went from third to first in less than a minute. Caval held on to win and is the women’s Youth European Champion. Atakan got the silver and Woyciechowska the bronze.
“It’s amazing I’ve never won a finals in my life,” said Caval who has won events but never in a finals showdown. “At the end when I crossed the line I said, ‘It’s done. I did the job and now it’s over, I’m so happy.”
The Under 17 riders were pushing the rest of the fleet and Karolina Jankowska of Poland won the women’s U17 on her way to an impressive seventh place overall.
Karl Maeder was tenth in the men’s fleet and handily won the U17 European title.
What an incredible series here at Torregrande. The new Olympic kite and foil equipment allowed for 2028 was on display and new faces were pushing the limits of formula kite racing.
With a few Olympians in the fleet, it’s a safe bet that the future women’s and men’s Olympic medalists were here in Sardinia!
RESULTS MEN
1. Maximiliam Maeder SGP
2. Riccardo Pianosi ITA
3. Gian Stragiotti SUI
4. Lucas Fonseca BRA
5. Jan Voester GER
6. Vojteck Koska CZE
7. Sam Dickinson GBR
8. Mattia Maini GBR
9. Jan Koszowski POL
10. Karl Maeder [U17] SUI
RESULTS WOMEN
1. Lysa Caval FRA
2. Derin Atakan TUR
3. Magdalena Woyciechowska POL
4. Zoe Boutang FRA
5. Derin Deniz Sorguc TUR
6. Ella Geiger GBR
7. Karolina Jankowska [U17] POL
8. Emma Rennie GBR
9. Marija Dolenc CRO
10. Dominika Braunova CZE
