Paris 2024 Olympics: Kite foiler Breiana Whitehead flies higher and faster than any before

Helmet, knife, impact vest. Check. About the only things missing from Australian sailor Breiana Whitehead’s James Bond style sailing kit are a microchip implant and a martini shaker.

Helmet, knife, impact vest. Check. About the only things missing from Breiana Whitehead’s James Bond style sailing kit are a microchip implant and a martini shaker.

But it's the sound of silence Whitehead craves.

The extraordinary quietness of flying more than 80km/h above the water driven by wind, a giant kite and her own skill and strength.

It’s special, a little eerie and some things she describes as “just the coolest”.

It comes with dangers and Whitehouse knows better than most the pain and indignity of bouncing on her bum across the water after a high-speed crash.

She just doesn’t remember much about it.

Kite Foil sailor Breiana Whitehead. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for the AOC)

“It just happens so fast you don’t know what’s happening,” said Australia’s entrant in the fastest class in sailing being played out in the Bay of Marseille in the south of France.

“I have crashed at 40 knots. I just bounced along the water a bit on my bum. You learn how to crash pretty quickly without hurting yourself too much.”

The Townsville kiter, who spent part of her childhood living on a boat, went from an unknown to Olympic medal contender with a win at a major lead-up event in Palma, Spain, earlier this year.

The first race of the women’s kit racing at the Olympics.

She made her Olympic debut on Sunday after being forced to wait a week to get wet as the last class at the Olympic regatta to start racing in the Bay of Marseille.

“This is such a cool sport,” said Whitehead, who wears a helmet to help prevent concussion and impact vest to prevent injuries if touched by the dangerous foil in a crash.

“You still have the wind and hear the waves. It’s just like you are floating. It’s feels pretty cool.

“It’s why I do it, for that special feeling.”

Gal Zukerman of Team Israel training in Marseille. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images.

The Formula kite is one of two new classes introduced to the Paris Olympic sailing program.

The other is the iQFOiL windsurfer in which Sydney windsurfer Grae Morris picked up Australia’s first medal with his silver at just 20.

Foiling – where sailors are raised above the water on their boards or boats – is more spectacular and exciting to watch than other mainstream classes and attracting a new generation to sailing loving the high speeds and edge-of-the-seat racing.