Daniela Moroz – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com Sailing World is your go-to site and magazine for the best sailboat reviews, sail racing news, regatta schedules, sailing gear reviews and more. Mon, 11 Sep 2023 19:44:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.1 https://www.sailingworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/favicon-slw.png Daniela Moroz – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com 32 32 US Olympic Sailing’s Daniela Moroz Is On the Verge https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/us-olympic-sailings-daniela-moroz-is-on-the-verge/ Mon, 11 Sep 2023 15:23:33 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=76134 US Olympics-bound Formula Kite superstar Daniela Moroz shares the good and the tough life as she goes all in for her first Olympic appearance.

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Daniela Moroz with kiteboard
Daniela Moroz launches at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Test Event, Marseille, France. Fueled by a passion for kiting and competing, Moroz has risen to and held her place among the pioneers of Women’s Formula Kiteboard racing. Mark Lloyd/World Sailing

“I was relieved to have officially qualified for the Olympics,” writes Formula Kiteboard champion Daniela Moroz on her excellent and brutally honest blog post. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life, and it’s crazy to think it’s officially happening – I’m going to be an Olympian. Insane.”

But now comes the hard part. The final push to Marseilles. “There is a lot of work to be done in the next year leading up to the Games,” she writes. “For me, the most important thing will be to keep my head in the right place… there is no off season, no official time where you can recover and disconnect from the job. We think we have to keep training all year, which is completely unsustainable and leads to burnout…

“One of my biggest areas of improvement is gaining weight, so I will be working closely with our awesome team of US Sailing Team trainers based just outside of Miami. I truly believe that following this path will still put out net gains for my Olympic sailing because it will re-spark my fire for the sport. My mission is still clear: the goal is gold, and I’m ready to do everything I can to deliver a winning performance at the 2024 Olympic Games.”

Moroz knows next summer’s Olympic Regatta is not only her first shot at the sport’s first medal, but it could very well be her one and only shot given the emotional and physical drain this campaign has put her through over the past several years at the top of the fleet. There is an underlining urgency in her blog and an honest plea for financial support, which does not come readily from US Olympic coffers. I encourage you to read her latest writing in which she shares the tumultuous experience of her Olympic qualification. She is a legitimate best-medal hopeful for the US Sailing Team, an inspirational sailor that deserves our recognition and support, so let’s all chip in what we can to help her soar to the podium (a GoFundMe pages is now live as well). It’s what she was born to do. The following conversation was recorded at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago in June ahead of her qualification and published in the Fall 2023 edition of Sailing World Magazine.

—Dave Reed

Born to Soar

Daniela Moro at the 2023 Olympic Test Event in July in Marseille
Daniela Moroz, on the hunt for the first-ever Formula Kite Olympic gold medal, locked in her team berth with a bronze at the 2023 Olympic Test Event in July in Marseille. Sander Van Der Borch/World Sailing

There’s a reason why Daniela Moroz, the six-time kiteboard world champion and four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, is always quick to flash a radiant smile. Happiness comes easy for the 22-year-old foiling phenom from San Francisco, which most certainly has something to do with her parents, her upbringing on, in and now above the water, and the fact that she actually enjoys her training as she pushes ever closer to the Formula Kite’s Olympic debut. “I love pushing myself, and I love seeing how far I can go and how well I can perform,” she says. At the moment, she is performing as expected: fast and faster. In Marseille, France, on the very waters of next year’s Olympic regatta, she won a bronze medal in July and locked in her US Sailing Team spot. All that remains is to qualify the US, and from there it’s straight to the big stage.

Most sailors have likely never watched a kiteboard race. How does it go?

It is course racing, just like what everyone else does in sailing. It’s windward-leeward courses, and it’s a three-minute start sequence. Instead of having an hour- or half-hour-long race, our races are only about 12 to 15 minutes in qualifying [races]. And then eight to 10 minutes in the medal races. It’s really fast. I learned recently that it’s actually the fastest Summer Olympic sport, which is pretty cool. Upwind we’re going 20 to 25 knots, and downwind we’re pushing into the high 30s pretty comfortably. If you want to go fast, it’s a great class to get into. The equipment is unique, and it’s very dynamic and exciting. I always loved going fast, so that was a big thing that pulled me into it.

Describe a typical starting approach; it must be madness with all the kites hovering overhead in one ­confined area.

It’s similar to regular sailing in that you still have your starting routine—do a few line checks, get a transit, check what side of the course has more wind. Then you’re fighting for position on the line and trying not to come off the foil that whole time. There are kites everywhere and RIBs—there’s a lot going on. Once you start, it’s amazing. I always feel like those first 30 seconds are always so interesting because, while holding a lane, there’s this moment of silence where I get into the flow, and I’m going 20 to 25 knots upwind, and I’m trying to see where I can tack out. Everything is happening at such a fast pace.

What’s the key to being able to hold that lane?

Hiking, which sounds weird for kiting, but that’s what I’m doing. I can be holding up to 120 kilos of load on the board, which transfers into my legs. So, it’s kind of like holding a squat or a wall sit for several minutes upwind. And I just heel over as much as possible. I’m managing all of the power of the kite and kind of putting it into the harness and feeling every little movement to try to point higher and go faster. I’m trying to get the vector from the kite to the board to be as close to 180 degrees as possible.

From there, what are the ­tactical fundamentals you have to play out while also managing the kite, the foil, and the rest of the fleet?

Speed helps. As always, it’s nice to have a speed edge. When I’m sending into the left corner off the start, I’m always trying to see what my options are. There’s a lot to manage, and I have to get into the flow right away and be conscious of what I’m thinking about and make sure I’m thinking about the right things. In kiting, there’s so much feel that goes into it. The longer you’ve been kiting, the better your field is and the better your reaction times will be to anything that happens with the kite and the foil. The kite and board have to be an extension of your body because you have to be so in sync with it to be able to go fast.

Daniela Moroz
Behind Daniela Moroz’s ever-present smile is the inner struggle for balance. At the Allianz Sailing World Championships in the Hague this summer, Moroz didn’t medal, but secured her Olympic berth. Sailing Energy / World Sailing

When you started competing in international events and won your first Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (in 2016 at the age of 15, the youngest winner ever), the field was tiny—no more than a dozen female competitors. But now the numbers and the competitive field are enormous. It’s amazing to think you’ve been at the tip of this spear for so long.

Yeah, it’s really interesting because there’s all these established Olympic sailing classes that have been around ­forever, so when it comes to the Olympics, there’s kind of a formula. With kiteboarding, we don’t know what the pathway is, and we have to figure it out.

You’ve said recently that your technique is sound, but your next hurdles are the ­equipment and your weight.

I’ve been kiting for pretty much half of my life now, so my technique is pretty good, my feel is really good, and my boathandling is good. But now it’s a matter of figuring out how to make the most gains and improvements with the equipment. For each regatta, we can have four kites that are different sizes—usually 9, 11, 15 and 21 square meters. We can register only one foil for the whole regatta. I’ve never really been a technical person, and I always blame myself before blaming any of my gear, but now I really have to be more technical and have confidence in my skills and my technique. I know what a fast kite should feel like, and I know how a good foil should feel.

What does a fast kite feel like?

It’s impossible to describe. It just feels good, and it just takes you where you want to go.

What about the weight—is it more advantageous to be heavy or light?

As with almost any foiling discipline, weight is important. In kiting, weight is righting moment, so I’m trying to get as heavy as possible. But it’s hard because I want to feel good and I want to feel strong, fit, agile and athletic, but then I also need to be heavy to just be able to go with that. It’s been an interesting mental challenge because I want to have confidence in my body and what I’m able to do, but it’s not always super easy to do that when you know what our sport demands. It’s an interesting balance, but my goal is to be competing for a medal at the Games, and I’m going to do everything I can that’s in my power to do that.

You’ve been transparent about your burnout a few years ago. What happened?

At the end of the 2019 racing season, I was just starting college and able to take some time off and focus on that. But when I got back on the water and back into kite racing, I didn’t feel that fire in me anymore. It was weird because for so many years all I wanted to do was go kite and go shred and have fun on the water. Suddenly, that desire wasn’t there anymore. That’s not normal. That’s not who I am. When COVID happened and all of the 2020 racing season was canceled, I took six months off, and I remember being at a certain point where I didn’t even want to look at my race gear—I didn’t even let myself keep it in the car so I didn’t even have to think about it. It was probably the best thing I could have done for myself at this point because it had taken this weird toll on me where I didn’t want to do it anymore. The thought of going kiting was so unappealing, which was a really weird feeling to have.

What got you back on track?

I eventually realized kiting is all I’ve really been doing with my life for six years and I needed to have something besides kiting. Because as much as we love sailing and we love foiling, it is not everything in life. You also need to be happy in order to perform, you need to be enjoying what you’re doing, and you need to be connected with your sport and with nature and with what you’re doing. So, I got a Moth.

The vagabond pro-kiter lifestyle must be pretty attractive. You get to play and live in some amazing waters and venues.

Last year, I spent maybe 40 days at home. I’m on the road most of the year. There are downsides to that, but I always remember that I really, really love what I’m doing. And when it comes down to it, I love going out and training actually, and I love pushing myself, and I love seeing how far I can go and how well I can perform. So, I always remind myself that I’m super lucky to get to do this and to even do something I love so much. We get to experience the world in such a unique way that few people get to experience.

Speaking of experiences, what is your top speed to date?

It was around 38 knots—a burst in a bear away, but not before a wipeout.

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United States SailGP 2021 Team in Place https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/united-states-sailgp-2021-team-in-place/ Mon, 12 Apr 2021 22:27:41 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=70120 With the addition of two additional female sailors to its roster, United States SailGP under Spithill fills its squad ahead of the season opener in Bermuda at the end of April.

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sailors on SailGP united states team
United States SailGP’s latest team additions (l to r): Daniela Moroz, CJ Perez, Paul Campbell-James and coach Philippe Presti Courtesy US SailGP

The United States SailGP Team has revealed its complete SailGP Season 2 lineup today with the announcement of athletes Daniela Moroz, CJ Perez, and Paul Campbell-James to its roster in addition to its acquisition of Philippe Presti as head coach.

The announcement comes amidst the team’s early arrival this month in Bermuda to take advantage of open practice ahead of the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess, April 24-25.

The additions bolster an already competitive lineup that also includes Rome Kirby, Andrew Campbell, Cooper Dressler, and Alex Sinclair — all handpicked by helm Jimmy Spithill to challenge SailGP’s impressive talent pool for the championship’s $1 million winner-take-all prize.

Moroz, a four-time Formula Kite World Champion and two-time U.S. Sailing Rolex Yachtswoman-of-the-Year along with Perez, a highly skilled competitor from Hawaii’s flourishing WASZP sailing circuit, both bring an impressive amount of foiling experience to the American squad.

Both athletes join the roster as the top-selections from the team’s open application process for American female athletes, a search that began in February as part of the league’s commitment to helping create an inclusive future for the sport.

“We were overwhelmed by the quality of athletes who applied, and our entire sailing team took part in the selection process,” said Spithill. “Daniela and CJ both bring to our team an impressive amount of foiling ability which is paramount to racing at this level. We’re excited to welcome them to the roster and develop their talent further.”

Moroz will join the team this month to start a development process aimed at introducing her to the team’s F50 racing platform while, at the same time, Perez will begin a remote training program in Hawaii as she prepares for SailGP events later this season.

Adding to the U.S. SailGP Team’s new-look roster is veteran British wing trimmer Paul Campbell-James who joins the team with a combined four SailGP and America’s Cup campaigns to his name.

Campbell-James is expected to bring an additional performance advantage having been instrumental in the development of the new modular wings debuting in SailGP Season 2 which will enable racing in a broader range of wind conditions and could push the F50 to record-breaking speeds.

“Paul is one of the most talented wing trimmers in the sport and we are lucky to have him.” said Spithill.

“He also represents an incredible learning opportunity for Daniela and CJ as we look towards their careers. We’ve designed our roster to increase the U.S. SailGP Team’s competitiveness, both now and in the future, and we can’t wait to start racing.”

Key to that competitiveness will be the learnings from the team’s new head coach Philippe Presti. Presti, who coached the Australia SailGP Team to a Season 1 championship win, is expected to have an immediate impact on the U.S. team’s performance given his collaboration with Spithill across multiple successful campaigns in the past.

Racing at the upcoming Bermuda Sail Grand Prix will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network — April 24 at 6:00pm EDT (delayed) and April 25 at 1:00pm EDT (live) — as well as free live streaming on the SailGP APP and SailGP Facebook and YouTube channels.

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Kites to the Olympics https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/kites-to-the-olympics/ Wed, 06 Mar 2019 02:38:54 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=72374 America’s top female foil talent is deep into her studies in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games.

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Kites to the Olympics Sailing Energy/World Sailing

What comes next for an 18-year-old three-time world champion and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year? How about schooling in basics she might have missed along the way to those three world titles in kitefoil racing. Daniela Moroz came out of the blocks as a phenomenon. Now, with kiting set for Olympic competition in 2024, she has work to do.

“There will be girls coming into kiting from dinghies and skiffs,” she says. “I lack that background. I need to work on strategy. I need to work on tactics. And I want to start sailing on a college team next year and get in a lot of races.” And that, frankly, is a unique take on the relationship between Olympic competition and college sailing in America. For Moroz, who grew up on San Francisco Bay chasing two-time women’s world champion Erika Heineken around the buoys, the journey begins anew.

Meanwhile, anyone anywhere with kiting ambitions for 2024 will be going to school, one way or another.

“The proposed Olympic format could be very cool,” Moroz says, “but it’s nothing we’ve seen before — a relay race pairing a male and a female. From what I understand so far, men and women will alternate leading off, with partners waiting in a holding area, and I think surely there will be a component of GPS tracking so racers in the next flight know when to take off.

“Obviously, it would be hard to literally pass a baton. A GPS trigger sounds realistic, but we’ll find out,” she says. “The 2019 world championships are in May on Lake Garda, and that will be everyone’s first shot at this format. Then the exhibition event at the Tokyo Games will give us a solid picture of what’s up. Tokyo is two years out, but I’m already counting the days.”

For 2019, Moroz will pair with Dane Wilson, a high-­performance sailor and coach who campaigned a 49er ahead of the 2016 Games. “Dane and I trained together last summer and again in Mexico over the winter,” she says. “We get along, and I respect his outlook. Unlike a lot of kiters, he understands how much discipline goes into training. I’ve always been competitive, and I started as a swimmer. To swim well, you have to go to every practice. I’ve translated that to kiting, and any time I’m on the water I’m trying to learn something. I tell myself to make it count. Every Olympic-level athlete understands that.”

Unlike other realms of Olympic sailing, kiting does not have an established structure of coaching for a teenager to grow into, but maybe that’s just fine, Moroz says: “Between coaching and no coaching, kiting is somewhere in the middle.

Everybody’s still figuring things out, and we’re a community where we share secrets

“There is a lot of support, but not a culture of rigorous practice, so it comes down to self-discipline.”

As to how long the ­openness will last as Olympic squads form, we’ll see.

And as to the first, aborted introduction of kiting to the games, Moroz sees how that could have led to a dichotomy like the one in windsurfing, where the fastest windsurfers are high on foils but the Olympic RS:X still bangs along on the waves. The attempt to ride that tiger on behalf of kiting — encouraging development while precluding surprises at the games — comes down to a plan by which kite and foil manufacturers register a range of equipment, and sailors have a window in which to try them, choose, and declare what they will use in the next Olympic cycle.

This system covers sailors of different sizes and strengths, and with four kites of different sizes allowed in the quiver, they have a good chance of sailing, whatever the conditions. Rapid equipment development remains the norm, but not at the blistering pace of a few years back. While that remains the case, this hybrid model won’t drag leading-edge kite sailors into a sideshow glorified with Olympic gold.

As developments go, and looking ahead in 2019, we see an evolution to three rows of bridle lines spanning the kite canopy instead of the familiar four.

“A lot of that is about reducing drag,” Moroz says. Then there is the higher aspect ratio of the latest kites that “sit farther forward in the wind window. That’s an advantage upwind, but there is a fine line to draw to be competitive downwind, where a lower-aspect kite does better.” (The wind window is the half dome of air in which the kite can fly.)

Moroz observes, “There are a half dozen foil makers in the game, but last year at the Combined Worlds in Denmark, 17 of the top 20 sailors rode foils from Mikeslab. That’s cool for me because I’m part of Mike’s testing program on San Francisco Bay. It’s fun to see my work paying off.”

As for the science of foil testing, she says, “A lot of it is about just lining up with Mike [Zajicek] and a few other people to see what happens. There are foils that feel fast because they’re stable, but they’re slow, and there are foils that are hard to ride because they’re unstable, but they’re fast. There are so many variables.

Kiting’s hang-loose beach culture will surely survive, far from the thin air of Olympic competition. And by 2024, perhaps, we will move beyond occasional arguments about the proper fit for kites and foil boards in what we call sailing or (pssst) yachting.

“Sometimes we go to Sherman Island, on the Sacramento River, and we line up and get a certain result. Then we come back to the bay and line up in a similar breeze and get a completely different result. That’s the difference between fresh water and salt water. Another thing that happens is that on the river, even though the foil looks as clean as a knife blade, every little fissure in it collects algae — microscopic stuff — and that changes how the foil behaves.”

Current trends in foil design go toward higher aspect ratios and wider wings.

“Everyone was riding on 58- to 60-­centimeter wings,” Moroz says. “Now there are wings as wide as 72 centimeters, and they’re more efficient in the light stuff for the bigger guys, so we’ll be seeing more of that. I’m smaller, so I do fine with 64-centimeter wings. The manufacturers will register a range, and we’ll have time to test them before we declare what we’re going to use to qualify for 2024.”

What will it mean to kite foiling to join the biggest show in sports?

For starters, it’s unlikely that “just lining up” will remain a forefront system of testing for either foils or kites.

Other countries went deep on technology years ago, and one of the goals of US Olympic Sailing is to catch up through its partnership with Autodesk (motto: Ready to Make Anything) working from the company’s skunk works in San Francisco. Kiting’s hang-loose beach culture will surely survive, far from the thin air of Olympic competition. And by 2024, perhaps, we will move beyond occasional arguments about the proper fit for kites and foil boards in what we call sailing or (pssst) yachting.

Moroz fondly remembers her time as a little girl watching from the race deck of St. Francis YC as her parents raced windsurfers. Two decades earlier, however, there had been a minority of members who objected when the club invited windsurfers in from the beach and amazed them with post-race hot showers. But that went well, and the greatest advocate was the club’s 1972 Finn Olympic representative, Ed Bennett.

Much later, it was other club members, and former dinghy racers, who wanted to find out whether it was possible to race kiteboards. Three world champions and two Rolex award winners later, that too has gone rather well. If history records Moroz as the 2016 US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, it must be yachting.

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