By Neto Baptiste
After another windless day in Marseille, France, Antigua and Barbuda’s Tiger Tyson fell one spot in the Men’s Kite event, moving from the 16th to the 17th position in the overall rankings on Tuesday.
Competitors were only able to complete two of four scheduled races on Tuesday due to low levels of wind in which Tyson finished in the 19th and nine positions respectively, and with only one day of racing left and no promised improvement in the wind levels, it is highly unlikely the Antiguan will be able to challenge for a podium spot.
Tyson, following a slow start on Sunday’s opening day, improved on day two of the competition. The Antigua and Barbuda athlete jumped two spaces, moving from 19th to 17th following Monday’s (August 5) action on the high seas.
Participants were however, only able to compete in one race on day two as winds were not as forthcoming as they were on opening day. Tyson managed a ninth-place finish in Monday’s lone race.
On day one, Tyson finished 19th overall from amongst 20 participants after placing 16th, 19th, 19th and 17th in his four races on the day.
Qualifying races will climax on Wednesday’s final day.
All 20 kite-boarding athletes will compete in 16 races for the qualifying round with the top finisher claiming one point, second place getting two points, third taking three points in that order stretching all the way down to the 20th competitor.
In every four races, the athletes get to discard their worst score which means that after 16 races, the riders will tally their best 12 scores with the top two lowest totals heading in the final. Third through 10 positions will compete in two semifinals of four athletes each. The first to three wins qualifies to the final.
