15-year-old Max Maeder crowned as under-21 Kitefoiling Youth World Champion

Fifteen year old Max Maeder won the International Kiteboarding Association Kitefoiling Youth Under-21 World Championships which took place in Torregrande, Italy last Sunday (May 22).

Max, who is currently ranked sixth in the world, finished in first place in the finals, just ahead of China’s Qibin Huang (ranked 37th) and Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi (ranked first) who finished in second and third place respectively.

He earned direct qualification to the Finals after finishing in first place overall after 16 races in the opening series, where he surpassed 21 other international foil riders.

Despite a rough start to the final race after he chose the wrong side of the first upwind leg, Max was given a second chance due to a halt in proceedings as the breeze disappeared for an hour from the race course.

Following the race’s resumption, Qibin Huang and France’s Arthur Lehz who were initially in contention for the lead were overtaken by Max who went on to win the race and eventually clinch the title.

Max won his last title just two months ago, where he took the 2022 NSDF Formula Kite Asia-Pacific Championship title. Prior to that, he also managed to clinch multiple title wins from the 2021 KiteFoil World Series in Italy and the Youth Sailing Championships in Oman. 

The newly minted Kitefoiling Youth World Champion will next compete in the Kitefoil World Series in Traunsee, Austria which will take place from Jun 15 to Jun 19.

He will also compete in the Kitefoiling World Championships which will take place in Cagliari, Italy in October this year.