Vodisek ready to go from hunted to hunter

“Do I stay on my 23, or do I go into the shore and switch to the 15?”

The 23 is the 23 square-metre kite, the biggest of the four that the Slovenian kiteboarder had measured in for the Formula Kite competition.

Two of the other riders, Max Maeder from Singapore and Valentin Bontus from Austria had also opted for the 23.

But Axel Mazella (FRA) was looking quick in the stronger breeze on his less powerful but more aerodynamic 15 square-metre kite. Vodisek was concerned that he had made the wrong choice.

Actually, ‘concerned’ is not a word that really enters the Vodisek vocabulary. Not for a moment does the confident Slovenian seem bothered by a scintilla of self-doubt.

Vodisek made the extraordinary decision, soon after the start of the third heat in the men’s final, to come ashore and make a rapid change of kites. His caddy already had the 15 ready on the beach.

“Going through my mind, I said, OK, I made a mistake,” recalls Vodisek.

“I had a small crash and that put me behind and I know it’s going to be impossible to pass him because me and Max are really, really close in our riding style, our speed and our decision making. We are basically almost the same.

“So I was thinking, ‘OK, what’s the best next best thing to do?’ Max had a really, really good first race and Axel won the second and was leading the next race on a 15. So let’s go out of the race. Let’s change, let’s be 100% for the next one.”

The next one never came, because Maeder overtook Mazella for a title-deciding race. Any regrets for Vodisek?

“A little bit.” Then a moment later: “But no regrets at all. Because I’m really happy that there was actually somebody in front of me this time, because now I’m more eager and keen to do even more.”

Vodisek seems to prefer being the hunter than the hunted, but he also likes to take a lot of time away from kitefoiling.

“I like video games, I play them a lot, maybe almost as much as I do kiting. And I like to party. You need to take time away from the board. I see other riders here who didn’t perform how they expected. I think it’s because they do too much and they don’t give themselves a break.”

Having the world title last year in Sardinia when he narrowly beat Maeder, the tables were turned in The Hague.

So you’d think he’d be out for revenge at the 2024 Worlds.

“I don’t know who’s going to win, and to be honest, I don’t care. The Olympics is what I want, that’s something I haven’t accomplished yet. Slovenia has never won a gold medal in Olympic sailing. I want my name to be remembered in the history of sailing and I want to get an Olympic medal for my home town in Slovenia.

“My home town has never had a medal in any sport. Those are the things that matter to me. This week I achieved my goals. To qualify my country for the Olympics, to have fun and to not get injured. I am happy that Max won the world title.”

By Andy Rice, World Sailing Event Correspondent

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