The last time we met up with Maxime Nocher, in January 2016, he had announced his intention of breaking the record for kiteboarding from France to Corsica. Did he do it? He smashed it! “I had to abandon my first attempt because of the weather, but then I made Calvi from Monaco in 4hr 13min.” One hour less than Raphaël Salles in 2009. Anything else to report? Just the routine, of a sort: “Last year I won two world championship titles, one in Foil, the board with an attachment that flies you over the water.“ The other in Formula Kite, the equivalent of Formula 1 racing, relatively speaking. So now he’s a nine-times kiteboarding world champion – impressive indeed but his goal is still the Olympics, with Formula set to be included in the 2024 Paris Games, when the 23-year-old champ will represent Monaco. Although born in France, Nocher practises in the Principality, specifically at its Yacht Club. “I compete in the colours of the club that supports me financially and technically.” There his path crossed that of Pierre Casiraghi, Princess Caroline’s second son. “We’ve plans together for the Malizia, the 60ft foil catamaran that the Prince is preparing for the Vendée Globe 2020 with skipper Boris Herrmann. Kiteboarding is a real innovation laboratory for boats.” Nocher admits to being thrilled with life, although sensibly intends to complete his master’s degree in finance at Edhec. “I prefer to prepare a second string and consider the future, because although you can compete up to the age of 36 in my sport, there’s always the risk of an accident forcing you to stop everything from one day to the next.“ So even when he’s spending his time flying through the air, he has his feet on the ground!
Par Alexandre Benoist
Photo Jean-Michel Sordello
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