16-year-old Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder crowned world champion

SINGAPORE: Kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder clinched gold in the men’s kite event at the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Saturday (Aug 19).

The 16-year-old Singaporean took victory in the medal series, while Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek finished in second place. 

After a second-place finish at the end of the opening series of the event, Maeder had also confirmed a quota spot for Singapore at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He had scored 23 nett points in 20 races over five days, behind Vodisek (22 points), before the medal series.

Maeder is currently ranked seventh in the world and just last month won his third consecutive title at the Formula Kite Youth World Championships.

A total of four sailors represented Singapore at the last edition of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with Ryan Lo in the laser event, Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low in the 49er FX and Amanda Ng in the RS:X.