GWA Wingfoil World Cup Dakhla 2023 Presented by Armstrong Foils
Dakhla (GMT +1)
22 September – 01 October
Discipline: Wave
Day four: Monday, 24 September, 2023
12.00 That’s a wrap for the wingfoil contest here Dakhla, concluding the first-ever wave discipline for this year.
11.00 W Final. Moona Whyte v Bowien van der Linden. Whyte takes the win with two good wave scores, surfing slight more in the critical section of the waves. That gives our world champion the event win to seal the deal.
10.36 W mini-final. Orane Ceris v Nia Suardiaz. Suardiaz takes the victory with a comprehensive heat win. Riding backside she got the biggest wave score of the heat with an Air 360 on the wave, the first by a woman in competition, that gives her third place here in Dakhla.
10.30 Good morning. We’re going to conclude women’s event here in Dakhla.
Day three: Sunday, 24 September, 2023
19.21 That’s a wrap. We’ll be back to finish up the women’s event.
18.45 M Final Malo Guenole v Cash Berzolla. Berzolla wins the tightest of tight by 0.17 of a point. That’s revenge for his defeat in Brazil at the hands of Guenole. It was a stunning final with both riders with throwing down huge waves.
18.30 M mini-final W Brito v A Gerard. Gerard wins and take the third podium step.
17.30 W S-F2 Nia Suardiaz v Moona Whyte. This one is for the world title as whoever comes out on top wins. Moona Whyte takes the title with a buzzer beater right at the death. Whyte is our first ever women’s Wave world champion.
17.00 M S-F2 M Guenole v A Gerard. Guenole takes it with an 18.40 to go to the final against Berzolla. A repeat of the Rio final.
16.34 M Semi-Final 1 Wesley Brito v Cash Berzolla. Berzolla wins big with a a huge 18.17 that brings our now world champion back to earth with a bump. Berzolla goes to the final.
16.10 W Semi-Final 1 Bowien van der Linden v Orane Ceris. Van der Linden surfing really well takes the win and books her place in the final.
15.35 M Quarter-Final 1 (re-run) Noe Cuyala v Wesley Brito. That’s it. We have our first-ever Wave discipline world champion in Wesley Brito from Cape Verde. He scored a 9.0 wave right at the close of the heat to get the heat win in the most in the most dramatic way. Now Brito advances to the semi-final where he’s still going for the event win.
15.05 M Quarter-Final 4 Axel Gerard v Tom Auber. Gerard wins with a lot of big wave scores that take his total to 15.13 that sends Auber out.
14.34 M Quarter-Final 3 Malo Guenole v Clement Roseyro. Guenole wins with a big heat score of 17.34 and goes to the semi-final. Roseyro needed to win the event to win the title and now he is out of the running.
14.25 The judges have decided to rerun the heat between Brito and Cuyala. After reviewing the video, it was decided that Cuyala had used the power handle on the strut while executing the heat-winning Backflip. That is against the rules of the Wave discipline. As it was missed during the heat, and it could have an effect on the outcome of the heat (and the world title) the rules say it must be re-run.
14.09 AP postponement flag is up while the judges review that earlier heat. Big decision of the judges. They have decided to re-run the heat between Cuyala and Brito after reviewing footage of the heat. It is unclear whether Cuyala used a power handle or strut handle when he executed the Backflip on the wave face that had given him the heat victory.
14.06 Berzolla v Marin. Berzolla wins with an incredible heat and a total of 18.60 with two 9.0+ wave scores. That sends Marin out.
13.52 Drama here. Brito has protested that Cuyala was using the wing in his heat while on the wave. The judges will review the heat and it could change the outcome if they rule in Brito’s favour.
13.40 M Quarter-Final 2 Cash Berzolla v Hugo Marin. With Brito out, Marin will win the title if he can win this heat. But Berzolla is one of the stars of the competition so far. Anything could happen. Berzolla’s on fire again and holds a healthy lead over Marin. But there’s still all to play for.
13.10 M Quarter-Final 1 Noé Cuyala v Wesley Brito. Big heat here with Brito, the world championship contender. Cuyala was on fire on day two, as was Brito. Hold on to your hats. That’s the win for the Corsican 16-year-old Cuyala. That’s incredible as he takes out title contender Brito with a Backflip on the wave for 8.13. Huge.
12.58 W semi-final: Moona Whyte v Elena Moreno. Whyte goes through to the final with a win over Moreno, though it was quite a tight battle. Moreno put on some of the best surfing we’ve seen from her.
12.45 M R3 H8 Marius Auber v Tom Auber. Tom Auber wins by a fraction to go through and take the last quarter final berth.
11.46 M R3 H7 Axel Gerard v Camille Bouyer. Gerard gets the win and goes through with a good heat score of 15.20 that books him a spot in the quarter finals.
11.25 M R3 H6 Alan Fedit v Clement Roseyro. This is a big heat as Roseyro is a title contender. We have a few internet problems so we’ll update you with our scores as soon as we get that started. Roseyro takes the heat.
10.45 W R1 H2 Nia Suardiaz v Orane Ceris v Elena Moreno. The second non-elimination round, with Suardiaz equal first in the title race. Suardiaz well in the lead with a 7.67 wave, but goes down in another and bursts the wing on her foil. She may have done enough already to take the heat. Suardiaz takes the heat.
10.41 W R1 H1 M Whyte v B vd Linden. Interesting heat. A non-elimination round, but Van der Linden takes the heat with a series of strong waves that included a 7.40. Whyte wasn’t that far adrift, the Dutchwoman was definitely stronger. Her wave selection was better than Oahu-based Whyte, who loves surfing rights like those of her native Hawaii. Whyte is a title contender with Suardiaz. Whoever finishes ahead will take the world title.
10.15 Women R1 H1 Moona Whyte v Bowien van der Linden. The red flag is up and we’re in sequence for the first round of the women. The heats will be 25 minutes long with 10 wave attempts with the best two scores to count. The swell is about 1.5 metres with a period of about 19 seconds, giving up faster, shoulder-high waves. The wind 💨 15 to 18 knots and and we’re expecting it to build to 20 knots during the day.
09.49 We’re going to start shortly with the opening rounds of the women.
09.23 Good morning. We’re going to hold the skippers’ meeting shortly. The plan for today is to continue on with the men’s rounds. We hope to get to through all the men’s and women’s rounds and ultimately crown both world champions. The swell looks better today already and the wind is building.
Day two: Saturday, 23 September, 2023
19.45 That’s a wrap for today. Join us tomorrow.
19.05 R3 H4 Malo Guenole v Julien Rattotti. The stakes just keep getting bigger along with the heat. Guenole won the heat and booked his quarter final place, showing why he won the last round in Rio.
18.40 R3 H4 James Jenkins v Hugo Marin. This is a big one. Marin is top seed and in pole position for the world title. Marin just tops Jenkins and keeps his title hopes alive.
18.15 M R3 H3 Cash Berzolla v Vinni Martins. Berzolla takes with the first perfect 10 for a stunning ride, to add to a 9.37. Remarkable performance. His 19.37 is the highest heat total so far for the Hawaii-based 17-year-old who was runner up at the last stop in Rio.
17.50 M R3 H2 W Brito v C Nonnot. Brito was on fire and racked up the biggest wave score, 9.33, to date. That gave him the win and put down a marker to rivals.
17.07 M R3 H1 Noe Cuyala v Finn Spencer. The young Corsican Cuyala gets the win with the the highest heat score so far, 17.24. That included the highest wave score, a remarkable 9.07 for a big one as the conditions improve.
16.50 M R2 H8 B Carpentier v T Auber. Auber just pips Carpentier by half a point to take the win and advance. Carpentier was ranked number two, but that will likely put paid to any hopes of a tilt at the title.
16.10 M R2 H7 Camille Bouyer v Mohamed Ali Beqqali. Bouyer gets the better of the local hero Ali Beqqali. Bouyer made the waves work for him and takes a good win with a 15.57 heat score.
16.05 The women have been released for the day and they’ll have to wait another day. There’s plenty of time as we’re only in the second day of our 10-day window.
15.40 M R2 H6 Alan Fedit v Bastien Escofet. Fedit just took it at the end trailing for much of the heat. His 6.47 wave was enough tip the balance and end Escofet’s run.
15.12 M R2 H5 Xavi Corr v Julien Rattotti. Rattotti was on fire and takes the heat with a total of 15.83 and two great waves scored including a an 8.20. He proved that even though the waves are tricky, they’re building.
14.45 M R2 H4 Hugo Marin v Gregorio Pugliese. Tour leader Marin wins and keeps his hopes of a title alive. He opened with a good wave score and found a second deep in the heat. It was enough to keep his nose in front of Pugliese.
14.35 M R2 H3 F Novaes v V Martins. Martins wins the resumed heat. Neither athlete could improve their wave scores.
14.15 We’re going into sequence shortly. Red flag will go up at 14.30. The plan is complete the abandoned R2 H3 heat with Vinni Martins and Fernando Novaes. They will get seven more minutes. After that the remaining five heats will be 25-minutes duration.
11.30 Good morning. We’ve just had the skippers’ meeting. Right now we have a first possible start at 11.45. But while the wind is decently strong, the ocean is a bit flat at the moment. So, we’ll wait and hopefully the swells will build as the tide drops. Stay tuned.
Day one: Friday, 22 September, 2023
18.40 That’s a wrap for today. Join us tomorrow when the action resumes.
18.12 M R2 H3 F Novaes v V Martins. The race director cancelled the heat. A decision will be taken tomorrow on whether to resume the heat or start again.
17.45 M R2 H2 C Nonnot v H Lopes. Nonnot squeezes out a the win finding a couple of better waves in the flattening ocean. Nonnot’s heat score of 12.25 overhauls Lopes. That’s the Swiss athlete’s wingfoil fun over, but he is also competing in the Kite-Surf competition.
17.16 M R2 H1 F Spencer v J Bouyer. Spencer goes though in a difficult heat winning with a heat total of 13.70. Unfortunately that’s the end of the road for Julian Bouyer.
17.10 We’ll be back again shortly after break waiting for the waves to come back. Some big heats to come with a few big names and title contenders in jeopardy. The heats have been extended to 25 minutes to give the two riders the best chance of catching the swells.
The Maui-based Canadian Finn Spencer was delighted with his performance in the first round when he was just pipped by world champion Malo Guénolé, who had the biggest heat score of the day to that point.
“The waves have been really fun with great wind,” said Spencer. “The sets are a little bit slow, but when they come they peel all the way through and you can make lots of turns. I love the waves. They’re very similar to what I get at home. Right hand waves with the wind blowing the same direction. ”
15.50 M R1 H8 Mohamed Ali Beqqali v M Auber v H Marin. Marius Auber takes the heat with a score of 11.67. He just outpoints the Wave discipline leader Marin.
15.24 M R1 H7 A Gerard v F Novaes v T Auber. Gerard wins with a big wave score of 8.10 and a total of 14.85. Novaes gets 10.33 and Auber in third with 9.53.
15.04 M R1 H6 C Nonnot v J Rattotti v C Roseyro. Roseyro takes the win and go through to R3 with a heat score of 12.80, just ahead of Nonnot on 12.31. Nonnot and Rattotti get to fight again in R2. It was a tight heat as Rattotti was only a point behind second-place Nonnot.
15.02 The heat order has been changed by the race director with the result that the women have been released for the day. It was decided that the waves are just not good enough for the women to decide who will be the world champion. So, we’ll go on with the men and the hope is to get to the end of R2.
14.46 M R1 H5 Finn Spencer v B Escofet v M Guenole. That was one of the biggest heats of the day so far. Guenole takes it with two big waves scores, including the highest score of the day until now–8.40. He backed it up with a 7.97 to give him a total of 16.37. Finn Spencer was unlucky and came in less than one point behind. But he takes second and fights again in R2 with Escofet.
14.23 M R1 H4 J Jenkins v V Martins v B Carpentier. The wildcard James Jenkins from Cape Hatteras takes the win working the small waves to great effect. It put Carpentier into second place and Martins in third. Both fight again round two. Great debut for Jenkins.
14.05 M R1 H3 C Bouyer v G Pugliese v C Berzolla. Berzolla wins the heat with a couple of decent wave scores in the difficult conditions. The waves are a bit few and far between at the moment and require all the riders’ skill and experience to pick up some rides.
13.42 M R1 H2 A Fedit v J Bouyer v W Brito. Big heat to open here. Brito won the opening round in Cape Verde. Fedit is a powerhouse in Surf-Freestyle. Bouyer’s infectious enthusiasm is always reflected in his riding. Let’s see what happens. The riders in each of the 16-minute heats will get 10 attempts each, with two to count. There’s a four-minute transition between heats. It’s gone a little bit quiet on the water right now, but there’s time left in this heat. Brito means business. He wins a heat score of 14.00 to advance to R3. His 8.07 wave at the end, with a Air 360, put him way ahead.
13.15 Men’s R1 H1 X Corr v H Lopes v N Cuyala. We’re underway with the opening round. The wind has picked up a little. And there are a few nice sets coming through. It looks like the youngster Cuyala goes straight to R3 with a couple of good scoring waves. Lopes and Corr couldn’t quite match the Corsican athlete’s wave selection and riding and go to R2.
12.45 The inscription complete. The opening ceremony is complete. Now we have 25 men and five women ready to battle for the first-ever world titles in the wingfoil Wave discipline. We will open with the men’s heats and then, hopefully, move to women’s contest. With five women on the block, it looks as if we’ll crown one of them world champion today. It really comes down to a battle between the US’s Moona Whyte and the Spanish teenager, Nia Suardiaz.
The wind’s already blowing 15 to 25 knots. The swell is about 1.4 metres at 14 second. Game on. Tune in to the Livestream with Jo Ciastula elsewhere on this page or on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJAHES_9iNk. We’re starting very shortly.
09.20 Good morning. We are just about to hold the first skippers’ meeting for the event, with the athletes from wingfoil Wave event and out sister event on the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Dakhla. The plan for today is to begin with the men’s and women’s wingfoil competition. The wind is already blowing here on the edge of the Sahara desert. Stay tuned.