A super short track racecourse and the latest 6.5-meter double-profile wings couldn’t save nearly half the women’s and men’s fleets on day two as some riders sank up to their knees waiting for a puff to get foiling in the six- to eight-knot winds.


© IWSA media/Robert Hajduk: Men completed two races despite many falling off foil

After Wednesday’s two steady distance races split the men’s fleet into three groups, Thursday was shaping up for some tight, small fleet action. The race committee recorded the minimum winds for competition and made their best calculations to run fair starts, completing two races for the men and two for the women.


© IWSA media/ Robert Hajduk: Suardiaz is currently sitting in 3rd

Lost Races
But, despite the race committee’s best efforts, less than half of the male riders completed racing and both women’s races were eventually abandoned.

Light wind masterclass
A select few women and men kept up on their foils and gave a masterclass in light wind foiling. But the luck of the winds on a bumpy sea took out some competitors with many riders not even getting off the starting line.

“I’ve trained a lot in light conditions because I’m from Nice. I think it helped me a lot for this type of conditions” said Julien Rattotti of France who won both races in his group using a comparatively small Gong 5.5-meter wing that has a trending double-profile, an extra membrane on the underside of the wing making a more pure, low-drag shape.


© IWSA media/ Robert Hajduk: Fast off the starting line

“It’s really physical,” said Rattotti. “In a race like this we have more than 180 BPM (beats per minute heart rate). You cannot think as you want in deciding to tack or strategy. It’s super difficult.”

Rattotti ended the day in first overall, winning a tiebreaker with countryman Mathis Ghio who is in second. Poland’s Kamil Manowiecki was also hot on day two winning both his races and is in third.

Though the women started two races, neither counted, so the overall results after Wednesday’s long distanced races still stand. The difficult decision to abandon the first race was made since only a handful of women were flying during the starting sequence.

“I think it was the lightest I ever raced in, maybe six knots,” said Nia Suardiaz of Spain who was third in the second race. “For sure my goal was just to stay on my foil. Thank god we had a boat or I would have not made it to the race.”


© IWSA media/ Robert Hajduk: Light winds but some fast racing.

Learning and loving the foil
Despite not starting any races Thursday, Lin Xinlan of China is here to learn. “I want to get a higher ranking [in the World Cup],” said Xinlan who only started wing foiling six months ago. “I’m learning a lot from all the people here in Italy.”

Xinlan’s teammate Yin ‘Ananas’ Sheng said wingfoil racing is growing quickly in China. “There’s more than 200 wingfoilers in China and more than 30 at my club,” said Sheng who added that there were only a few in 2023 at their club “From Wing to Win.” Last year Sheng travelled to New Zealand to surf and race with his sponsor and one of foiling’s pied pipers Army Armstrong of Armstrong foils.


© IWSA media/ Robert Hajduk: Manowiecki and Ceris explain the latest in double-profile wing design

Despite the disappointing conditions and the lost women’s races, organizers have three more days to build a regatta ending in a medal series.

In a sport that is rapidly developing with prototype wing and foil designs on display each day, there’s sure to be some new equipment that will be able to fly in even the unstable and gentle breezes we are having here in Cagliari.

The weekend’s racing will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.

RESULTS MEN

RESULTS WOMEN

It was a dramatic first day of the Wingfoil Racing World Cup Italy with two grueling long-distance races that had riders shaking their arms to send blood to cramping forearms.

A wincing sailor was staring at a bleeding foot, riders ducked through the prop wash of the rabbit start boat hammering at more than 30 knots and a lost leader of the fleet lead a group the wrong way around the course.

The six-mile-long races were almost five times the length of the normal Wingfoil races. So different but so important since the fleet is ranked based on these results going into the next stage of the competition on Thursday.

- No wind on the final day, so the medallists go for a Pikachu ride
- Mathis Ghio wins the men's fleet
- Nia Suardiz wins the women's fleet
- Kamil Manowiecki comes second, and the Pole predicts a brighter future in the light

- Not enough wind for Gold Fleet means competition cuts straight to Sunday's Medal Series
- But... any of the 113 riders can still win, thanks to the 'Golden Ticket'!
- Can Romain Ghio battle his way out of the long-distance race and beat his bro, Mathis?
- And will any of the women be able to topple Nia Suardiaz from the top of the tree

- Not enough wind, but that doesn't mean not enough fun!
- Who can topple Mathis Ghio as the top men's winger? Kamil thinks he can
- Armie Armstrong on the bright future of wingfoiling across the globe
- Saturday is the day for Gold Fleet finals

- Windy in the morning, lighter in the afternoon, makes for a wing-choice headache
- But another day of warm water and warm breeze still makes for a great day's racing
- Four men's and two women's qualifying groups for the opening series
- Perfect 5 from 5 for top women Nia Suardiaz (ESP) and Maddalena Spanu (ITA)
- Almost perfect for the top three men - Ghio, Manowiecki and Cappuzzo

- A fleet of 113 riders gather on Pingtan Island for first ever Wingfoil Racing World Cup in China
- Warm winds of 20 knots make for great long-distance racing
- Kamil Manowiecki of Poland is fastest out of the high-speed rabbit start
- Mathis Ghio (FRA) and Nia Suardiaz (ESP) are winners of the Marathon Race
- Bastien Escoffet (FRA) clocks up highest speed on the race track, 33 knots

- Mathis Ghio [FRA] and Maddalena Spanu [ITA] are the new Formula Wing European Champions.
- Conditions didn’t allow for the Golden Ticket Race to run; Julia Repschlager [GER] and Jeremiah Mcdonald [NZL] retained their 10th position spot from the fleet racing and progressed to medal series.
- Wind eventually filled in to enable an exhilarating medal series to be completed.
Low cloud and a touch of drizzle made for a very atmospheric day in Silvaplana. With the wind not filling in until 14:00, there was sadly no time to run the highly anticipated Golden Ticket long distance race. This meant that Repschlager [GER] and Jeremiah Mcdonald [NZL] could keep their 10th place spots and thus progress into the semi-finals. As the lightwind filled in, the racing was incredibly exciting, with critical importance of staying in the pressure and making no mistakes. Executing this to perfection were our two new European Champions, Mathis Ghio [FRA] and Maddalena Spanu [ITA].

- Mathis Ghio [FRA] takes the lead in the men’s rankings.
- Maddalena Spanu [ITA] continues to dominate in the women’s fleet.
- Marta Monge [ITA] and Oscar Leclair [FRA] book their tickets straight through to the finals.

Wingfoilers are certainly a tough breed! Event race officer Mirco Babini couldn’t believe his eyes at the impressive display of “ice gladiators” battling for bullets on the racecourse. As temperatures plummeted to lows of 1˚C, riders completed two races in the morning session to wrap up the qualifying series before the fleets were split and the Gold fleet racing began!

- Wind conditions didn’t allow for racing today on Lake Silvaplana.
- Riders went to St. Moritz to enjoy a variety of alternative foiling activities.
Unfortunately, there was no racing today due to inconsistent light winds on Lake Silvaplana. Instead, the riders made the most of the free afterpumfoiling, SUP foiling, tow foiling, and even showcasing an impressive display of lightwind wingfoiling many years and is a paradise for a multitude of windsports and foiling activities.