Kitefoiling: Singapore's Maximilian Maeder tops fleet after first five races

PARIS: A significant delay due to light winds on Monday (Aug 5) meant only one race on day two of the Olympics kitefoiling opening series, with Singapore world champion Maximilian Maeder top of the standings. 

Games debutant Maeder has now accumulated 11 net points after five races in the opening series. He leads Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek, who also has 11, and Austria’s Valentin Bontus (12).

At the Marseille Marina, Maeder had started the day in third, two net points behind Vodisek and level with Bontus.

But in the day’s only race, he recorded a third place finish. Bontus took fourth, while Vlodisek took tenth.

Four races had initially been scheduled before lacklustre conditions permitted only one. 

There are up to 16 fleet races in the opening series for kite-foilers, before the medals are contested on Thursday.

The opening series makes use of a low-point system like sailing, where points are awarded based on an athlete’s finishing position. For example, the athlete who wins a race gets one point.

The top two move on directly to the final, while the third to tenth kitefoilers compete in two semi-finals for the remaining final spots. The winner of each semi-final moves on.

In the final, competitors will need three race wins to secure gold.

However, the top kitefoiler from the opening series begins the final with two wins and will only need one more to take gold.

The runner-up from the opening series will need two race wins to take gold, while the winning semi-finalists need all three wins.

In May, Maeder successfully defended his kitefoiling world title. Last August, the kitefoiler clinched gold in the men's kite event at the Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands.

Prior to the Olympics, the Asian Games gold medallist won five