The beach was quite narrow and my depth perception is quite bad without glasses. I landed, however, part of the kite was still in the water. The water caught the kite and brought it back downwind of where I was standing. The current was also strong. If I tried to relaunch or force the kite back to the beach, the situation could have been much worse.

The key point here is that if things don’t go to plan, use your safety system. In my years of experience, the sooner you use it, the easier and safer it is to get out of or prevent a dangerous situation.

Fueled by a breakfast of the champions, our six contestants head to Poetto beach for their first challenge. Every point counts from here on out, as scores start stacking toward that €25,000 prize. Who will get closer…and who will be left in the dust?