GWA Wingfoil World Cup France In Leucate 2022

[Foxi]

GWA Wingfoil World Cup France In Leucate 2022 Is On





MASS LANDING!
It's day one and we are excited to announce an official new record for number of riders registering for an event! Here at the 25th Mondial du Vent in Leucate, which hosts round one of the world tour season with the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France, we have 80 registered riders to compete across the Surf-Freestyle and Surf-Slalom disciplines!

This first event marks what could be a really important moment in the sport with so much progression taking place over the off season and with some famous riders motivated to make their debut on tour now.

TRAINING AT NEW STANDARDS!
Although the wind may be light on this first day, several riders arrived early and took advantage of some excellent conditions over the weekend. Two explosive training sessions on Saturday and Sunday saw upcoming youngsters causing a stir amongst the leading riders from the last two seasons. Experienced rider Balz Muller from Austria was definitely feeling the pressure.

“We had two amazing days of wind over the weekend and it feels like a long time since we were riding together. The young riders have improved so quickly and I’m just not sure if we are still on top.”

The previous winner of the final event of the 2021 season, the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Tarifa, which took place in late December, saw Riccardo Zorzi (ITA) claim his first win in the Surf-Freestyle discipline. He already seemed to be handling the weekend’s conditions here in France with expertise, throwing down some big moves in the tricky Tramontana conditions.

“I am slightly nervous because the level has gone up massively since the last event, the guys are really pushing what is possible on a wing. But, I am staying positive as I have been training hard in the off season in Mexico with the Slingshot team.”

Riders have traveled from far and wide for the GWA WingFoil World Cup in Leucate, for example, New Zealand newcomer, Jeremiah McDonald, (then no relation) the Mcdonalds trio (father, mother and son!) from Hood River and Hawaii’s phenomenal watermen, Zane Schweitzer (HAW).

Never before has the GWA seen a whole family trio entered into the competition but the Mcdonalds family are ready to take the competition by storm. Chris Mcdonald, one of the youngest riders at 16 years old is definitely one to keep your eye on.

WOMEN

In the womens’ divisions we have a range of both experienced and new competitors to the tour. There are 10 registered female riders and it is all to play for.

Accomplished rider Flora Artzener from France has been making the most out of the windy conditions over the last few days, preparing for the event.

“I competed last year in Leucate in the GWA Wing Foil World Tour and the conditions were amazing. I am really happy to be back here again, reunited with all the riders and we have already had some great conditions to train in.”

Rider briefing
This morning had an atmosphere of great anticipation for the first rider's briefing of the season. Although the wind is looking light for the moment, after 25 years of Mondial du Vent windsport action, we know this place can transform very quickly, plus we have a stronger wind forecast already in for the end of the week.

[Toby]

DAY ONE - GLOBAL APPEAL

MOTIVATED TO TEST THEMSELVES AGAINST THE BEST

"I might be considered a sound wave rider on Maui, but I am entirely humbled here, seeing the world level of freestyle wingfoiling. Now I get to embrace that humility and become a student again”.
ZANE SCHWEITZER (Scroll down for his interview and video)


Day One (yesterday) at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate may not have delivered suitable winds for the contest, but it gave us plenty of time to explore the reason some of the amassed 80 competitors decided to make this their first event and travel from so far away. There’s certainly a building anticipation for the rest of the week.

The sport of wingfoiling may be in its infancy, but as you’ll hear in these interviews, the rapid evolution has left riders simply wanting to come and push the sport and improve together! These are the times that legends of the future will reminisce about…





Hear from Zane Schweitzer (USA), Timma Flanagan (CAN) and Jeremiah McDonald (NZ)
ZANE SCHWEITZER, MAUI, HAWAII
Zane Schweitzer (28 years old) was born and raised on the island of Hawaii. He is renowned for his big wave surfing and SUPing but, has come to the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in France to progress his level in wingfoil freestyle and learn from the best in the world.

Zane Schweitzer, the Hawaiian legend and all-around watersport phenomenon, travelled halfway across the globe to compete in the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate. There is nothing this guy hasn’t done when it comes to water sports. A two-time SUP world champion, Zane also won the IWT Windsurfing Big Wave Open Pro in 2021 with a monster wave at Jaws. From riding huge waves to throwing freestyle tricks on a wingfoil, Zane is a true master of the ocean.

"I might be considered a sound wave rider on Maui, but I am entirely humbled here, seeing the world level of freestyle wingfoiling. Now I get to embrace that humility and become a student again”.

TIMMA FLANAGAN, CANADA (LIVING IN THE USA)
Timma Flanagan, born in Canada but recently moved to Hood River, began her wingfoil journey in the snow. Flanagan ventured from Canada to Leucate with the aspiration of pushing her wingfoil level and sharing the stoke for the sport with many other female riders.

"I actually started wingfoiling for the first time in Canada in the middle of winter. The first wings were available then, so I went for it and learnt in the snow! I got my skis on and we built jumps and ramps to fly off with the wings. It was amazing, and I was completely hooked on this sport. It was quite different from sailing (I sailed 49ers) as winging is an individual sport, so I have more freedom to express myself."
Timma Flanagan GWA Wingfoil

JEREMIAH McDONALD, NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand newcomer, Jeremiah McDonald, has ventured far from his backyard to compete in the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate. This is the first event for Mcdonald so he is eager to see how his level compares to the best wingfoilers in the world.

"The Wingfoiling freestyle scene in New Zealand is very small. I am the only rider trying these new freestyle tricks in winging in New Zealand, So for me, when I came to Leucate, I wanted to see how my level compared to some of the best riders in the world."
Jeremiah Mcdonald GWA Wingfoil

SEE ALL INTERVIEWS AND VIDEO

https://www.wingfoilworldtour.com/gwa-w ... ng-global/

Crowds at the Mondial Du Vent Event In Leucate
This morning (Wednesday) was another bright and sunny day here in Leucate and riders are as eager as ever to get out on the water and throw down their new, improved manoeuvres. The wind is looking light for today but we may get lucky with thermal winds this afternoon. Regardless, the tow-foilng fun continues and we are confident the competition will commence soon!

[Toby]

CARVING NEW LINES . MEET THE CROSS-OVER WORLD CHAMPIONS

The GWA Wingfoil World Cup Day 2 (Today) in Leucate kicked off with sunny skies and light winds.

The lack of wind in the morning provided us with the perfect opportunity to catch up with all the multiple world champions we have amongst us and ask them what inspired them to diversify into wingfoiling. We hear from two of them here...

Get an update from host Jo Ciastula at the Mondial du Vent event site where the activities never end!





MAXIME CHABLOZ
Maxime Chabloz is no new name to the watersports world, This man has been at the top of the kitesurfing freestyle scene for the last few years and he has recently become the Ski Freeride World Tour Champion.

"At the first event of the Freeride Ski World Tour, I got 5th which I was thrilled with and then at the following three competitions I managed to win them all, which was pretty unexpected as I had only just qualified the year before. The biggest reason I won was that I went into these events with no expectations, not really wanting a world title but just being realistic with myself about my level. I knew I had the level to win the events, but I never thought to myself I had to win these events."
Maxime Chabloz GWA

FIONA WYLDE, 25, HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Fiona Wylde from Hood River, Oregon. Fiona is a 3 x Sup Race World Champion and holds a PWA Youth World Title in Windsurfing. Fiona has been competing for over 12 years now, and her competition experience has helped her build a strong mindset and correctly prepare herself to perform at her optimum. Fiona is pushing the women's side of wing foiling and had some promising results over the last year on the GWA Wingfoil World Tour 2021.

“I find the woman’s side of wingfoiling interesting because when I am wingfoiling in Hood River, there are so many women with me on the water. However, when I come to the events, there are not as many women entering the competition as expected."

It might not have been a windy day in Leucate, but it was great to see a buzzing atmosphere at the 25th Mondial Du Vent event.

At the signing session, we had many eager young groms talking to the professional riders about how they could pursue a career in watersports and become a professional athlete.

The wind gods look to be moving to our favour from early Friday morning, which gives us three days of firing competition to come!

[Toby]

JUDGING FORMAT FOR SURF-SLALOM AND SURF FREESTYLE

While riders physically and mentally prepare themselves for an intense three windy days ahead, it is also critical for everyone to understand the race/ freestyle formats planned for the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France in Leucate.

Yesterday we spoke with GWA Wingfoil judges and race directors Juan Antonio Aragon Diaz, Alvaro Onieva and Rui Meira, who combined, have over 30 years experience in their fields. We were able to thoroughly decipher the Surf-Slalom and Freestyle Wing disciplines.

WHAT IS SURF-SLALOM?

An exciting and evolving format usually focused on high speed downwind courses will also develop to include challenging, longer-distance, downwind adventure events. Surf-Slalom heats demand a dynamic skillset from the world's best wingfoilers, whatever the distance, on lakes and in open ocean environments. Competitors will need to accelerate hard and hold their nerve to negotiate any terrain as quickly as possible, whether negotiating flat waters or rolling swell and wave situations.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT FOR SURF-SLALOM?

For the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate, the Surf-Slalom format has 72 riders entered overall which is a record number of competitors. The men's early round format will be four heats with 18 riders in each heat. The top nine from each heat will advance through to the next rounds. The women's ladder features ten riders and as many rounds as possible in the given conditions are run.

The competitors will commence at the start line, marked by two race boats. They then race down to the first marker and go downwind around the other five markers. After the first heat has gone, the following heat will proceed one minute after. The start of the race requires extreme focus as riders must play their tactics right if they want to cross the start line in the first position.

WHAT IS FREESTYLE WINGFOILING?

Freestyle wingfoiling has evolved from a combination of windsurfing, foiling and kitesurfing. Riders use the apparent wind that the foil generates to catapult themselves into the air. The sport is evolving rapidly, and wingfoilers are already pulling off crazy aerials, backflips, front flips and 720 rotations. Freestyle Wingfoiling is idyllic in strong conditions with big waves or choppy waters. It can be performed on oceans, lakes and even snow.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT FOR FREESTYLE WINGFOILING?

The format for Freestyle Wingfoiling at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate will be a dingle elimination ladder. Those who win their first heat will go straight through to round three, and those who come second or third will go through to round two. This allows every rider a second chance to perform their tricks if they lose in the first round.

The heats will be seven minutes long, with overall scores consisting of 80% tricks and 20% overall impression. Riders must complete different tricks from the different trick categories to achieve the highest scores possible. For example, riders might perform a front 360 and a backflip to score in various categories.

[Toby]

SURF-SLALOM RIPPERS TAKE CENTRE-STAGE

Day three of the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France in Leucate started bright and early with riders on the water at 6:30 am.

We had a perfect 15-20 knots offshore breeze with butter flat water. This allowed riders to swiftly zig zag their way round the six markers all the way to the finish line, 500m offshore. The conditions made for prime slalom-racing with riders reaching pure top speeds.

Womens’ Surf-Slalom

We went straight into the womens’ round one with Fiona Wylde (USA) dominating the first heat. Wylde had a flying start, placing herself at the front of the pack from the very beginning. The firing Frenchie Flora Artzner was close behind but could not match the blistering pace of the American hotshot.

In the second round Fiona had a turbulent start which left her unable to gain her momentum. Czech charger, Paula Novotna took full advantage of this slip up and powered through the fleet to take first place in the 2nd round.

Nevertheless, it was the formidable Frenchie, Flora Artzner who came out victorious. Flora managed to take the win in both the 3rd and 4th round which was enough for her to take the overall lead in the Surf-Slalom discipline.

Mens’ Surf-Slalom

In the men’s surf-slalom we had 18 riders in each heat. There were some very tight heats with riders pushing each other all the way down to the line.

Current reigning champion Titouan Galea was proving unstoppable during the first few elimanation rounds but Camille Bouyer and Mathis Ghio were hot on Titouan's toes.

In the round 3 finals we had the firing Frenchie Mathis Ghio leading throughout the whole race but at the final buoy the pressure became too much and he took a hard crash. This gave Titouan the opportunity he needed to take first place, once again, proving undefeatable.

NEW COMPETITORS ADJUST TO THE PACE

For many of the competitors, this was their first time racing so naturally there were a few false starts and miscalculations in the beginning. Nevertheless, competitors quickly got into the swing of things picking up the pace throughout the rounds.

New rider to the tour Alan Fedit (FRA) shared his experience of his first time competing in Surf-Slalom with us.

“The pack is so fast. When you are not used to riding amongst that many people, the pressure to stay on the board and not crash is pretty high! You don’t want to fall off and lose your place but you also don’t want to fall off and mess up the race for everyone else. It’s a lot to think about and you have to take calculated risks.”

We still have two days of possible competition over the weekend. Saturday looks like we'll hopefully get the Surf-Freestyle kicked off too. Skippers' meeting at 7.30am!

[Toby]

This is Surf-Slalom! GWA Wingfoil World Cup France

Enjoy some visual action from the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France yesterday in Leucate at the Mondial du Vent where we had 12 hours of intense Surf-Slalom heats!

[Toby]

[Toby]

SUARDIAZ IMPRESSIVELY SEALS HER FIRST WORLD TOUR WIN IN LEUCATE!

GWA WINGFOIL WORLD TOUR FRANCE - DAY FIVE

SURF-FREESTYLE

11 hours after the 7.30am rider's briefing on the beach here in Leucate on Saturday morning, Spain had their first event champion of the season in this year's GWA Wingfoil World Tour.

The action took off at 10.30am in light 10 – 15 knot conditions and as the sun gradually warmed up the atmosphere the Tramontana wind was fully pumping by the afternoon.

The event crew pushed the men's event (46 riders) as far as possible right up to sunset, reaching the start of the quarter final stage with just one more possible day of action coming on Sunday, but for the rest of this post we are going to celebrate Suardiaz' superb performance.

WOMEN'S SURF FREESTYLE:

In just her second GWA Wingfoil World Tour competition, 16 year old Spaniard, Nia Suardiaz, took her first event win with impressive composure against a fleet of female Surf-Freestyle riders that had grown to ten at this event.

By the time the women's final ran around 6pm, the wind was firing at 25 knots, gusting up to 30.

The pick of the Suardiaz tricks in the final was a toeside frontside 540 that she landed in the middle a total of eight clean tricks landed from 11 attempts.

In the end her opponent from the Czech Republic, Paula Novotna, 29, brings a decade of kitesurfing competition experience to the game and had stacked up the highest heat score of the competition in the semi final (24.69) against Flora Artzner from France (current leading rider over in the Surf-Slalom discipline which also features at this event).

As is her customary style, Paula doggedly dug in and fought to the very end of the final, finishing just over a single point behind the teenager who took the win on 19.77 points.

Congratulations Nia!
Nia carved her way through the elimination after dominating her first heat in round one, doubling the score of her closest competitor. In that three rider heat she beat Novotna for the first time (by a much bigger distance than she did in the final) and also American 3x SUP World Champion Fiona Wylde.

The round one win meant Nia skipped the often tricky round two dingle elimination heat and went on to beat Wylde for a second time in the semi-finals, (though Wylde must be commended for bravely starting her quest to become the first woman to land a front flip, and is fighting at the front of the Surf-Slalom discipline, too!).

After the beach podium when interviewed in Spanish for our upcoming highlight video, Nia smiled widely and said that she's very proud of her achievement, thankful for all who have helped her so far in her career and very much looking forward to the rest of this world tour season.

WOMEN'S SURF-FREESTYLE RESULTS - FRANCE:

1 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2 Paula Novotna (CZE)
3 Flora Artzner (FRA)
4 Fiona Wylde (USA)

[Toby]

ROUND ONE: GWA WINGFOIL WORLD CUP FRANCE IN LEUCATE





WRAP-UP
After an epic barrage of action, in the end 129 surf-freestyle and surf-slalom heats were crammed into three action packed days and winners of both disciplines were crowned on Sunday in Leucate.

The 25th Mondial du Vent will go down as a huge success for the sport of wingfoiling and this first round gets the GWA Wingfoil World Tour 2022 season off to an amazing start.

MEN'S SURF-FREESTYLE
BALZ MULLER (CHE) V ‘GOLLITO’ ESTREDO (VEN)
Sunday's grand finale of the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France saw two rivals from the world of professional freestyle windsurfing battle it out for the top spot on the podium.

WOMEN'S SURF FREESTYLE:

In just her second GWA Wingfoil World Tour competition, 15 year old Spaniard, Nia Suardiaz, took her first event win with impressive composure against a fleet of female Surf-Freestyle riders that had grown to ten at this event.

SUNDAY'S SURF-SLALOM FINALE:

After a full-on Friday stacked with non-stop Surf-Slalom eliminations, the drama resumed on Sunday afternoon in the remaining event hours once Balz had climbed off the Surf-Freestyle beach podium.

Both the men's and women's Surf-Slalom competitions were delicately poised with ties for the lead, broken only by the slenderest of discards.

In the women's, Nía Suardiaz clearly had a spring in her step after her maiden win in Saturday's Surf-Freestyle. She won elimination round 8 and 9 which skipped her up the rankings, but not to the top.

Flora Artzner, a marine biologist who has decided to put her career on hold, inspired by her wingfoil experiences, was determined to hold on to the slight lead she had over American Fiona Wylde from Friday. In the end she proudly prevailed on home soil for her first event win.

Titouan Galea steals up the inside of Mathis Ghio on a fast downwind gybe. Tight turns and then catapulting out onto the next straight are the World Champion's speciality, which he uses to devastating effect!
In the men's Camille Bouyer and Titouan Galea were similarly broken apart only by a small discard on Friday. Sadly, their ultimate showdown final battle for the win was stolen from us when Bouyer was adjudged to have crossed the startline early and was disqualified.

In the end that left reigning World Champion Galea to light the thrusters without care. Flying round the marks, his ever increasing lead only diminished once he let the gas off towards the end.

FINAL RESULTS:

Women's surf-slalom
1 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2 Paula Novotna (CZE)
3 Flora Artzner (FRA)

MEN'S SURF-FREESTYLE:
1 Balz Muller
2 Gollito Estredo
3 Camille Bouyer

Women's Surf-Slalom
1 Flora Artzner (FRA)
2 Fiona Wylde (USA)
3 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)

Men's Surf-Freestyle
1 Titouan Galea (FRA)
2 Camille Bouyer (FRA)
3 Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)