Bridge brothers create wave in kitesurfing circuit
MUSCAT: With the top fleet stacked with the world’s fastest kite racers the battles at the Formula Kite World Championships in Oman just got a lot fiercer in awesome conditions that provided a perfect stage for the riders’ supreme athleticism.
France’s Nico Parlier dominated in breezes that freshened and hovered between 9 and 11 knots for much of the day off Muscat’s Al Mouj Beach on the Gulf of Oman, framed by a dramatic mountain backdrop.
On smooth waters, Parlier was pushed all the way by his friend and countryman Axel Mazella – who managed to overhaul his rival in race one – and Britain’s Olly Bridge. Often with just metres between them, the three had thrillingly-close finishes after high speed sub-eight minute laps of the race track.
In the women’s fleet, the reigning International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz, from the US, showed she is human after all when she missed out on winning two of today’s five races. The 16-yearold’s superiority on the leaderboard is so dominant however, that a second and third place, plus a hat-trick of wins, was enough to cement her top spot. The Bridge brothers from Exmouth, Devon in the UK, Oliver and Guy, have been creating waves of their own since they began appearing on the kitesurfing circuit about five years ago.
After an eventful first day where both tasted success, the siblings sat down for a free flowing conversation at the Al Mouj.
Olly looked back at the early years of their initiation with fondness.
“Our parents got us started at a very young age, we switched over from freestyle to foiling when it came and that’s how it began,’’ he added.
However, Olly said kitesurfing was not the only sport in which he was
The epic day at the 2017 IKA Formula Kite World Championships, hosted by Oman Sail with associate sponsor Al Mouj Muscat, was marked by fractious drama on the water when reigning IKA Formula Kite World Champion Maxime Nocher, from Monaco, collided with a number of other riders while on port tack.
The incident, the subject of a number of protest hearings in the jury room, forced the USA’s Riley Gibbs and France’s Theo Lhostis, to withdraw from racing for the rest of the day. Nocher also changed out of his wetsuit and pulled out of the fray for the remainder of the day.
Day three of the championship saw the leading riders divided into gold, silver and bronze fleets for the two-day finals series, seeded on the basis of the opening exchanges in the qualifiers. Day five of the competition, dedicated to a medal series, will pit the top 10 men against one another for the crown and the spoils.
On the basis of Parlier’s near-peerless day, riding on his biggest 19m kite, he would appear to be in the box seat for the title. At one time, Parlier struggled in lighter breezes interested. “I liked sailing as revealed.
Meanwhile, Guy had a soft corner for sailing, football and other sports as well.
Guy indicated that it was the nature and format of the sport that drew him to it as a young boy.
“I guess it’s just about being out there with people, the speeds you can do and the chance to go in the air and fly a bit,’’ he added.
Olly spoke about his experiences competing in the last five years and the high points of it.
“I have been competing for five years now as I mentioned earlier. We go around the world and we’ve had some great experiences. Last year, we went well,’’ he to the World Championships in China where I won the second place, that was quite good,’’ he revealed. that perhaps favoured lighter rivals, but he now appears to have mastery of all conditions.
“It’s definitely been a little bit tighter today,” said Parlier. “It’s mostly between me and Axel Mazella as usual, but now that we’re competing with Olly Bridge and some other good riders, it changes everything.”
As overnight leader, Bridge, who had been competing in a different fleet in the opening qualifying series, knew he would have his work cut out for him with the French duo in the mix. He finished in second place on the leaderboard, splitting the pair. “It’s definitely been more difficult today,” he said. “But I’m getting better. Nico Parlier is just very, very fast. Upwind, downwind, everywhere. But with Axel Mazella, I’m quite close, so I am happy with things.”
The brothers also participated in the ISAF World Cups, two of which were held in Abu Dhabi and one in Melbourne, one in Santander in Spain.
Olly had great things to say about Oman and the conditions here.
“It’s been pretty good, it’s our first time. Yesterday was cool, good wind and all the top guys were competing, so it was fun,’’ he added.
The Bridge brothers credit their mother Steph for their initiation into the sport at a young age and she had some wonderful things to say about her sons.
“Both of them had a natural ability for kitesurfing and it was their strength. When they started Olly was 10 and Guy was 8. They initially learnt with a kite on land, a smooth power kite and then water,’’ she added.
“They also had passion and the (Provisional results before protest hearings) proximity to the sea since we lived close by really helped,’’ Steph said.
The brothers have a younger sibling named Thomas and there was a healthy competition between the three in the early days.
“There was competition between the brothers in a nice way and that helped them sharpen their skills,’’ she added.
Steph was all praise for Oman accompanying her sons on their first trip to the Sultanate.
“Oman is a really amazing place and people are particularly friendly..the weather is great this time of the year. We hope to come back next year after this experience,’’ said the mother of the Bridge brothers, echoing their feelings as well.