THE ELLIE ALDRIDGE FOILING EXPERIENCE FEATURED AS ONE OF A THREE-PART VIDEO INTERVIEW SERIES IN KITEWORLD ISSUE #111 – READ THE FULL MAGAZINE NOW FOR FREE – CLICK HERE
Kiteworld editor, Jim Gaunt, caught up with Ellie on the event site while she was training at Hangloose Beach a couple of days ahead of the first 2021 IKA KiteFoil World Series event in Italy – where she would eventually finish third.
Ellie Aldridge, 24, is a kitefoil racer on the British Sailing team who is hoping to be part of the Olympics when kite racing makes its debut in Paris 2024.
Ellie’s story is really interesting because she was only kiting a little in October 2018 when she committed herself to kite racing, having been selected through the KiteForGold talent search, run by the BKSA and RYA in the UK.
Although she had very little kiting experience, Ellie was however already part of the British Sailing Team with her own Olympic campaign underway in the 49erFX category, but in a brave move she decided to make the switch to an entirely new sport, starting all over again in kiting – a faster and potentially more exciting class of sailing in her eyes.
Fast forward a couple of seasons and a year of pandemic and Ellie has a European individual title under her belt and won the Mixed Team Relay Europeans with race partner Connor Bainbridge last year.
In this video she explains her accelerated kitefoil learning curve and how in less than three seasons she’s transferred from being a leading contender in sailing, to an Olympic medal hopeful in kite racing.
