GWA Surf Freestyle World Cup

Wingfoilers in synchronized flight

24 July 2024 – As part of the 36th Fuerteventura World Cup, the wingfoilers of the GWA World Tour were able to show once again on 24 July how well they can control their wings and boards during aerial manoeuvres.

In a super session outside of the World Cup rankings, the aim was for two riders to team up and perform jumps as synchronised as possible. These complex flying manoeuvres on their own are something for specialists. However, the wingfoil pros showed that they had the formation flight well under control even in this scenario.

The team of Alan Fedit (Germany) and Axel Gerard (France) managed the challenge particularly well. Second place went to 16-year-old Frenchman Noé Cuyala and his 14-year-old compatriot Ezio Bastianelli. The PWA Windsurf World Cup will start on Fuerteventura on 25 July 2024 with a total of five disciplines.

World Champions: Christopher Macdonald and Nia Suardiaz secure their titles as surf freestyle world champions by winning on Fuerteventura

23 July 2024 - Non-stop to victory: the season couldn't have gone any better for Christopher Macdonald and Nia Suardiaz, as their third victory in their third competition sees them both win the Surf Freestyle World Championship ahead of schedule.

The two wingfoilers not only confirmed their world championship titles from the previous year, but also their exceptional talent.

With 28.89 points, Chris Macdonald achieved the highest score of the event in the final. And yet it was still close, as Frenchman Axel Gerard was right on his heels with 28.00 points, including a triple backflip combo that earned him 9.7 points.

Only an almost perfect frontside 1080 from Chris Macdonald was scored higher. Two more 9s were enough for the American to win the contest. Third place went to the Spaniard Xavier Corr.

The competition was overshadowed by the injury to co-favourite Malo Guenole in the second semi-final.

The Frenchman had already qualified for the final, but failed a toeside back mobe in an attempt to increase his score. Malo fell backwards and crashed into the wing from above with his arm twisted.

The rescue crew was quickly on the scene with two jet skis and recovered him and his equipment. A shoulder injury was diagnosed in hospital, but by dinner time Malo was back at the hotel with his arm strapped.

The women's competition was also tighter than usual, with Nia Suardiaz taking a relatively long time to score a third successful trick in the final.

If that hadn't worked, the Spaniard Mar De Arce, who was also foiling confidently today, would have overtaken her. But as it was, the two were separated by just 1.86 points.

Austria's Viola Lippitsch catapulted herself to third place on the podium in the women's competition with a solid performance, including a solid backflip.

The contest has been decided and the world championship titles have been awarded. This will be celebrated tonight in the event's party tent.

Combo tricks and trick combinations

Last year, combo tricks (= with touchdown followed by a jump) such as a frontflip into frontside 360 scored top marks; one year later, both rotations can be seen within one jump.

And it's not just the Frontflip 3, but also one-handed variations such as the Backloop Spin 3 or Back Mobe 3.

Combo tricks are not history, however, but are now being jumped three times by some riders. Or more blatant combinations such as frontflip into backflip or backloop spin into frontflip (or backflip).

On the water, it was full throttle today from 11:30 until shortly after 19:00, with only a half-hour break at lunchtime. The field of 16 participating women has been reduced to the top eight and 24 of the 28 men still have a chance of making it to the final.

Now, of course, one wonders why only a total of 12 riders were eliminated after a full-day contest for both men and women. The answer lies in the dingle elimination system (a combined single+double elimination), in which the losers are also allowed to compete against each other again in order to fight their way forward round by round.

There are only three heats left for the women on Tuesday and 11 for the men, which means that the surf freestyle title on Fuerteventura will be decided. All the favorites are still in the race. Among the men, the two Austrians Tomas and Aleksander Acherer are still in the running, among the German riders Lasse Harbacek and Benjamin May.

In the women's event, the two German participants, Maria Behrens and Julia Repschlaeger, did not make it into the top eight. The Austrian Viola Lippitsch is still in the running. We will find out how the contest will end as the day progresses, stay tuned for the next report.