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Nia Suardiaz and Francesco Cappuzzo land consecutive FreeFly-Slalom crowns
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France’s Oscar Leclair is ‘king of Brazil’ with dominant display that earns win
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil 2024
26–30 November, 2024 | Jericoacoara, Brazil
Spain’s Nia Suardiaz and Italy’s Francesco Cappuzzo secured back-to-back FreeFly-Slalom world titles in the thrilling climax of the season at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil in Jericoacoara.
Suardiaz, still 17, added the FreeFly-Slalom crown to her growing haul of world titles. But it was not all plain sailing for the wingfoil prodigy and she only closed out the Brazil event at the second time of asking to land the crown.
“It feels amazing to get another world title,” said Suardiaz. “The conditions here were really tricky; really gusty wind. I fell in the first final because of the seaweed and fell again, and didn’t manage to win. I started to get nervous, but I managed to win the last race. I’m really happy and couldn’t be more stoked.”
Cappuzzo came into Brazil top of the rankings. But he had to battle his way through from the semi-final and did enough to take the third place in Jericoacoara to land a second successive world title.
“Definitely now a lot of pressure is off,” said Cappuzzo. “I made it. I was really a tough one. I would say the hardest event of the year so far; maybe the hardest one of the last two or three seasons, because everything came down to the last heat. It’s amazing. My adrenalin’s still pumping. There’s so much emotion.”
The second day of FreeFly-Slalom action at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil held out the prospect of the finals for the eight men and six women who had finished top of the Qualifying Elimination rounds.
Luxury of ‘match-point’
The women’s final saw Spain’s Mar de Arce face-off against Bowien van der Linden (NED), Zara Maillard (SUI) and Orane Ceris (FRA).
It came down to a battle between De Arce and Van der Linden, who was ranked third in the standings. De Arce fell off in the pump track, but got back on her foil and traded places with Van der Linden. That gave De Arce the win and a place in the final.
Van der Linden got a second chance in the semi-final repechage. But after a tight battle all the way around the course, Maillard got her nose in front of her team-mate Van der Linden. Maillard earned a spot in the final, denying Van der Linden the chance of an overall third podium place.
Maillard and De Arce went to the final, where Nia Suardiaz and France’s Kylie Belloeuvre awaited them. Suardiaz had the luxury of a “match-point” thanks to finishing top in qualification and needed just one more win to take the event victory.
But in the final, Suardiaz uncharacteristically crashed early in the heat and De Arce took the lead, with Belloeuvre in second. Suardiaz pushed hard to get back on terms and fell again, giving De Arce the win and a “match-point”.
The second final saw Suardiaz and Belloeuvre locked together in the FreeFly pump track. But in her effort to hold off Suardiaz, Belloeuvre went slightly wide on a mark and allowed the Spaniard through to take the win. It gave Suardiaz the event victory at the second time of asking and consecutive GWA Wingfoil World Tour FreeFly-Slalom world titles.
‘Bitter-sweet’
De Arce’s “match-point” in the first final was enough to give her second place in Brazil, but Belloeuvre’s earlier record meant she took second place overall for the season.
“Here, I got third place, which is a little bit bitter-sweet,” said Belloeuvre. “I would have loved to have got a first or second. But let’s be realistic, it was a really tough event. Mar de Arce did a great job in the first final. She rocked it. But it’s a little bit tough in my position.”
In the men’s quarter-final, Jose “Gollito” Estredo (VEN), advanced with a good win. New Zealand’s Jeremiah McDonald just missed out, but set the matter right with a win in the quarter-final repechage that saw him progress to the semi-final as well.
France’s Bastien Escofet, who was hoping to move up the rankings from third, was the biggest loser. In the repechage he finished last, ending his run and with it any chance of finishing higher than third for the year.
The semi-final put Estredo against Alan Fedit, Jeremiah McDonald (NZL) and reigning world champion, Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA).
For Cappuzzo finding a way to the final was vital if he was to realise his dream of retaining his crown. But after getting the lead he found himself muscled out by Fedit. Cappuzzo finished in fourth and Estredo capitalised on the Italian’s tussle with Fedit to slip through and take the win to go to the final.
‘King of Brazil’
Cappuzzo was determined not to let the chance pass twice. In the semi-final repechage he hit the pump track first and stretched his lead when Jeremiah McDonald pushed too hard and came to grief. A charging Fedit hunted down Cappuzzo, but ran out of road and the world champion booked his place in the final.
Cappuzzo and Estredo found themselves in the final, up against the waiting French pair of Julien Rattotti and Oscar Leclair. Leclair had dominated the opening day and booked his final place with the advantage of a “match-point”, needing only one more win to give him the overall victory.
Leclair came out of the gate fast and streaked away from his rivals. Rattotti tried to stay in touch with Leclair, but was always playing catch-up and had to settle for second. Cappuzzo also knew he could not catch Leclair and decided to cover Rattotti ahead, safe in the knowledge it would give him another world title.
The Frenchman Leclair took the event win in Brazil for the second successive year.
“I’m super-happy, especially because I like the mood here in Brazil,” said Leclair. “I’m enjoying every moment of my life here. I think it’s one of the key things about winning. Also, I did a lot of hard training before coming to prove I’m ‘king of Brazil’ after winning here last year.”
words: Ian MacKinnon
images: Svetlana Romantsova
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil FreeFly-Slalom results
Men
1 Oscar Leclair (FRA)
2 Julien Rattotti (FRA)
3 Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
4 Jose “Gollito” Estredo (VEN)
Women
1 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2 Mar de Arce (ESP)
3 Kylie Belloeuvre (FRA)
4 Zara Maillard (SUI)
GWA Wingfoil World Tour FreeFly-Slalom World Championship 2024
Men
1 Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
2 Julien Rattotti (FRA)
3 Bastien Escofet (FRA)
Women
1 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2 Kylie Belloeuvre (FRA)
3 Mar de Arce (ESP)
Spot Info
Jericoacoara
Jericoacoara offers great conditions for the wingfoilers. Small wind-swell waves curl around the point, where the wind is cross-shore to cross-offshore. The winds are constant and on all day from August to November. The winds are cross-onshore from the right, but Jeri town it tends to be offshore and gusty, with flat waters.
Weather
November is the driest month in Jeri. The air temperature during day can be between 32°C, the highest temperatures, and the lowest of 24°C. The water temperature of the sea is around 20-25°C, so nothing more than a summer shorty is required. Sunrise is at about 05.30 and sunset is 17.30.
Wind
Easterly winds blow cross-shore to offshore in Jericoacoara, between 20–30 knots, or more. You can find the most accurate online wind forecasts on Windguru.
Event information
- Location: Jericoacoara, Brazil
- Dates: 26-30 November, 2024
- All event information here.
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