Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023
Product Feature
Typhoon Runswick F/E
Typhoon Runswick F/E

2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup China Day 2

by Andy Rice 22 Aug 16:00 BST 19-26 August 2024
Kamil Manowiecki pulls off a port-tack flyer across the fleet at the start - 2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup China, Day 2 © IWSA media / Robert Hajduk

Nia Suardiaz and Maddalena Spanu dominated their sides of the women's qualifying groups on day two of WingFoil Racing World Cup China.

Even though they notched up a perfect string of wins across their five short-course races, nothing ever felt very certain for the two leading women or the rest of the 113 riders competing out of Pingtan Island.

The racing was divided into a morning and afternoon session, and most of the riders were caught out by the drop in breeze during the lunch break. It's always a tough decision which size wing to run with, but today was more difficult than usual.

Changing up a gear

A few - like Great Britain's Rafferty Read - rushed back to the beach to change up to a bigger wing for more power in the lighter breeze, but it was a difficult call either way. "This morning on the beach it wasn't that windy near the shore but by the time you got out on the race course it was breezy," said Read. "Then in the afternoon it was the opposite, it seemed pretty windy on the beach but the breeze was a lot less on the race course. It was a panic getting back to change to the bigger wing but I finished the day with a second place so I think it was probably a good call."

Similar for Bastien Escofet who felt he wasn't going to be able to keep foiling on his 5.0 metre wing. "I decided to come back between race one and two of the second session and change to the 5.5," said the Frenchman. "I got stuck near the beach because there was no wind and I missed the start of the next race by a minute, but I managed to catch up through the fleet to get a third. Then I won the last race and it was even lighter, so it would have been nice even to have the 6.0 but at least I was OK on the 5.5."

Mathis keeps it simple

The race area is quite a long sail out from the beach, so making any change during a session is a brave call. Maybe it's easier to persevere with one size through the wind range, although that's not an easy call either. It was what Mathis Ghio decided to do, using his 6.5 metre wing throughout the two sessions. "I was quite happy about my choice of wing," said Ghio, the double World Champion who won five of his six races in the men's opening series. "This morning was pretty strong wind so I had to handle it and be very careful with it, but for the afternoon it was the best choice. Probably the 5.7 would have been even better but I wanted to have similar wings to other people in my fleet and not be too far apart from them."

Aside from the wing size conundrum, there was plenty else to think about on the race course. Ghio's brother, Romain, said he managed to run Mathis pretty close in some heats. "Any tiny mistake and you get punished on these race courses," said Romain. "I was able to compete with Mathis on the upwind and downwind legs, but on the reaches I tried to push as hard as him but he was still a bit faster."

Cappuzzo chills out

Even the usually faultless Ghio came unstuck in one race as he hit a plastic bag and lost the lead to Nicolo Spanu from Italy. "I removed the piece of plastic from my front wing and tried to close the gap to Nicolo but couldn't quite catch him," he said. Like Ghio, two others also managed to win five of their six heats and get second in another - Poland's Kamil Manowiecki and Italy's Francesco Cappuzzo. "I don't normally sail the qualifying phase well," smiled Cappuzzo. "But today I told myself to relax and not get too tense, and it worked. I enjoyed the racing and the results came. It's been too long since I won a World Cup so it's good to be going well here in China."

Wherever they are in the fleet, every rider is working on developing their skills and stepping up to the next level. It's amazing to think that just two years ago even the best were struggling to race upwind but the standards are continuing to improve at a rapid rate. A huge number of riders from China and other countries like Japan, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei are competing against the best from other continents. Wai Yan Gai from Hong Kong is fifth in the women's fleet and just behind her is Meijuan Xiao from China.

Every day is a learning day at Wingfoil Racing World Cup and lighter winds for Friday will throw yet another new set of challenges at the riders.

Results Men

    1. Mathis Ghio, FRA - 4.5 pts
    2. Kamil Manowiecki, POL - 5.0 pt
    3. Francesco Cappuzzo, ITA - 5.5 pts

Results Women

    1. Nia Suardiaz, ESP - 5 pt
    2. Maddalena Spanu, ITA - 6 pts
    3. Karolina Kluszczynska, POL - 12 pts

More information and full results at wingfoilracing.com/2024europeans

Related Articles

The battle for Jericoacoara
Fighting to preserve a wind sports paradise What is the definition of paradise? As co-owner of Vila Kalango, Marco DalPozzo, points out, one of the original definitions of paradise is 'a protected garden'. Posted on 12 Dec
19 classes set for Foiling Week Pensacola 2025
Six new classes and only three weeks until early bird entry closes Excitement is building for the first-ever Foiling Week Pensacola 2025, the premier international foiling regatta and World Sailing Special Event, taking place in less than three months in Florida's Panhandle. Posted on 10 Dec
2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil overall
Big wins for Suardiaz, Manowiecki & Ghio There was a flurry of victories on the final day of the Sol Wingfoil Racing World Cup Brazil. The wind was blowing hard in Jericoacoara, delivering great Brazilian conditions for the conclusion to a competitive 2024 season. Posted on 8 Dec
2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil day 4
Which Way is the Wing Gear going? One of the trends in equipment in the past year has been for board sizes to increase. On day four of Wingfoil Racing World Cup Brazil we saw part of the reason why. Posted on 7 Dec
2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil day 3
Wingfoilers join battle for the future of Jeri Is it possible to bring tourism to a paradise like Jericoacoara, and do it in an environmentally sustainable way? It's a question that Paolo Piatti, co-owner of Vila Kalango, has been looking to answer over the past 25 years. Posted on 6 Dec
2024 WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil day 2
New girls pluck up courage to compete on world stage It's the oldest cliché in the Book of Wind Sports, but for day two of the WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil, it was yet another case of 'It's not normally like this." Posted on 5 Dec
Sol WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil Day 1
Three long-distance races in a day was new territory for every rider Three long-distance races in a day was new territory for every rider competing at the final event of the season, Sol WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil. Posted on 4 Dec
WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil concludes
New era of Austrian double trouble in Brazil Austrian twins Tomas and Aleksander Acherer launched themselves onto the world stage with a remarkable one-two on the dramatic closing day of the season finale at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil in Jericoacoara. Posted on 2 Dec
WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil Preview
Five days of high speed foiling competition from 3 to 7 December WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil begins in just under a week's time, with five days of high speed foiling competition. This is the third year that the World Cup season will conclude in Jericoacoara. Posted on 28 Nov
Copa Kitley GWA Wingfoil World Cup preview
Tour season closes with big finish in ericoacoara, Brazil The GWA Wingfoil World Tour is set to land in Brazil for the closing call with the title races in the Freefly-Slalom discipline still on the line after the opening rounds. Posted on 25 Nov