Nico Parlier: he tamed the gusty Mistral winds of Cagliari | Photo: IKA

Nico Parlier and Steph Bridge have been crowned the 2017 IKA KiteFoil world champions, in the Italian island of Sardinia.

The five-day event got underway at the Gulf of Angels, off Cagliari's Poetto Beach, and had great wind conditions for the world's fastest foilboard expert to showcase their riding skills.

On the second day, the gusty Mistral winds invaded the regatta field, hitting 40 knots and putting the fleet to the test.

Parlier went into the last race knowing that he had already collected enough bullets to be crowned world champion.

"I am really happy how it ended up. It was a very tight title, and it has always been the whole year with Axel. I could have stayed on the beach for that last race because I knew I had already won it,"

"Still, I had to stay focused for the whole regatta. As I expected, the level of competition was very high. So, I'm really delighted to win."

The regatta counted double for the fourth stop of the 2017 IKA KiteFoil GoldCup series, so Axel Mazella's silver medal earned him the season's title, after two convincing wins in Weifang and Pingtan.

"I'm really happy to win the Tour title. But it's slightly bittersweet. I'd have loved to take the World Championship title too. We've had all the top guys here, so it was very tight and interesting," revealed Mazella.

On the women's side, Steph Bridge claimed another world title, despite losing a few places in the overall rankings, in the dying races.

"It's been an incredible four days here. We've been super lucky with getting some racing in, really challenging racing for the competitors and also for the organization because the conditions have not been easy. But we got 12 races in." added Bridge.

"I had a bit of a disaster. I don't think I've ever in my life been out in such tricky and gusty conditions. But it's the same for everyone. It's just not good to end a great event on a sad note. I feel I should have done better."

2017 IKA KiteFoil World Championship | Top 3

Men
1. Nico Parlier (FRA)
2. Axel Mazella (FRA)
3. Maxime Nocher (MON)

Women
1. Steph Bridge (GBR)
2. Anaïs Mai Desjardins (FRA)
3. Sabrina Schlossnikel (GER)

2017 IKA KiteFoil GoldCup | Top 3

Men
1. Axel Mazella (FRA)
2. Theo de Ramecourt (FRA)
3. Theo Lhostis (FRA)

Women
1. Anaïs Mai Desjardins (FRA)
2. Alexia Fancelli (FRA)
3. Elena Kalinina (RUS)

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