Did you enjoy the Tokyo Olympics Markus? Which sports were you most impressed by?
This year’s Olympics were very different. Because it was not possible to leave your hotel or venue, exposure to other sports did not happen. I think the new additions of skateboarding and surfing were quite successful.
Do you think kiting will generate as much of a buzz as them?!
It will be different as kiting is not coming in as a new sport, but rather as a new discipline in an existing sport – sailing. Having said that, and knowing that the French are crazy about foiling (and kiting in general), and the stadium atmosphere that will be created in Marseille with grandstands right at the racing area, I am sure we will impress very much. Especially as we can sail in all conditions Marseille might throw at us, as proven in the 2019 Sailing World Cup Final when we were the only ones out there for one and a half days in 40+ knots.
Nice! So, what do you anticipate the conditions will be like in Marseille at that time of year?
The course for kites will be right in front of the beach. Conditions can be anything from super light, to a standard 12-15 knot seabreeze, to 40-50 knots offshore mistral which is brutal…
Can you talk us through what the event in the Olympics will look like?
Originally, kiting was given one medal – mixed team relay – as there was no room to add two medals. When the International Olympic Committee rejected the World Sailing’s proposal for an offshore sailing event in Marseille, the easiest and least disruptive solution was to split the mixed team relay into individual medals for men and women. So basically it is racing on a windward-leeward course, men and women separately for one medal each. What is new is the final day format (the medal series), which will be semifinals and finals. The top
