GWA Big Air Wingfoil World Championships Gran Canaria 2024
Gran Canaria
09 – 13 July 2024

Discipline: Big Air

Judging Criteria: Riders take turns in Heats, best 2 moves of 10 attempts  scored, 5-minute transitions. [5 judges, highest and lowest scores removed, remaining are averaged for final Heat score.]

Day Two, 10 July 2024 (GMT+1)

17.45 Big Air World Championships: 1st MACDONALD 19.24, 2nd GUENOLE 18.73, 3rd ESCOFET 18.70, 4th MAY 15.77.

17.43 MACDONALD wins another world title, our new GWA Big Air World Champion!!!!! Waiting for confirmation of rest of podium positions.

17.40 Final jumps of the World BIG AIR Championship while MACDONALD holds the slimmest of leads over GUENOLE. MacDonald ends with a double backflip but, Genome wipes out before an attempt for his final jump.

17.38 MACDONALD kicks off with a double back flip in each of his first two attempts, one being a 9.77!! 

17.14 Men’s Big Air Finals: MAY, MACDONALD, GUENOLE, ESCOFET in the water now!

17.10 SUARDIAZ into first by 0.07 points and is our new WORLD CHAMPION!!! 2nd DE ARCE, 3rd BEHRENS, 4th LIPPITSCH.

17.05 SUARDIAZE is adding a 360 on her landing after a rally air pushing the scores higher and higher. just over one point separates three riders at the moment.

17.00 DE ARCE with an early and strong lead throwing smooth and long floaters, fighting back against SUARDIAZ’s early lofted jumps. Wind is back into the 30s. The riders have 10 attempts to have 2 scores that consider height, difficulty of trick, power etc.

16.40 Women’s Big Air Finals beginning shortly: LIPPITSCH, BEHRENS, SUARDIAZ, DE ARCE

16.38 FINALS are all set! Men’s Semi 2 was INSANE with 8-9s being dropped like rain on Selena de Tenefe. 1st ESCOFET 19.14 (finalist), 2nd MACDONALD 18.17 (finalist), 3rd VAN VUUREN, 4th MARTINS.

16:10 ESCOFET kills it in 52 meters travel on an incredible front flip with a 9.77  so close to the highest score of the event!! He and MACDONALD or well clear of the rest with 18+ points so the other two riders are “combo’d” and they have to score two new maneuvers to get a high enough score.

15.59 We have our first Men’s finalists! M SEMI H1 1st GUENOLE 19.40 (finalist), 2nd MAY 15.80 (finalist), 3rd CORR 15.27, 4th RATTOTTI 13.03. Genome with a sick 9.80 air and trick in the highest scoring heat of the event. Impossible to imagine this group of women and men going any bigger but now we have an incredible finals on our hands…but still two more riders to qualify from Heat 2 ESCOFET, VAN VUUREN, MACDONALD, MARTINS. There’s a pressure never seen in Big Air competition. Let’s go!

15.45 Men’s Semifinals underway to determine who has a shot at the 2024 Big Air title!

15.42 We have a women’s final!!! LIPPITSCH, BEHRENS, SUARDIAZ, DE ARCE after an intense knockout series.

15:08 W SEMI H2 on the water! REPSCHLAEGER, BEHRENS, VAN DER LINDEN, DE ARCE.

15:05 Just completed W SEMI H1 and we have our first finalists for the 2024 Big Air Women’s! 1st SUARDIAZ 12.77 (finalist), 2nd LIPPITSCH 7.96 (finalist), 3rd BLACH 7.80, 4th DEGRIECK 6.13. Crazy close for 2nd and 3rd, heartbreaking for BLACH and definitely more to come from young DEGRIECK.

14.50 SUARDIAZ leading with 12.77, but super close with LIPPITSCH 7.96 and BLACH 7.8.

14.32 W SEMI H1 DEGRIECK, LIPPITSCH, BLACH, SUARDIAZ. It was Suardiaz who had the highest jump of the women yesterday at 6.5 meters, last year winner DE ARCE went more than 8 meters so it’s a perfect recipient to beat world championship records!

14.29 M R3 H4 1st MARTINS 10.59 (advances), 2nd RATTOTTI 10.12 (advances), 3rd GASPERINI 9.25, 4th BOUYER.

14.24 Current highest jump for comp is from VAN VUUREN at 12.2 meters. But everything is going UP at this year’s World Championship: scores, height, risk everything!

14.20 MARTINS holding a slim lead but RATTOTTI, 2023 Big Air Champ, keeps pushing with bigger and bigger airs to hold off GASPERINI. Judges said this morning just big airs will not win it, must throw some risk and technical moves.

14.10 Women’s Big Air Semifinals begin after this Men’s Heat 4.

14.08 Last Men’s heat before semifinals. M R3 H4 BOUYER, MARTINS, GASPERINI, RATTOTTI.

14.00 MACDONALD crushes his heat with high stalled front flip and finishes with a three. M R3 H3 1st MACDONALD 17.53 (advances), 2nd CORR 14.86 (advances), 3rd VUILLERMET 14.07, 4th BOUYER 10.47. Vuillermet just misses out after high airs and attempts for the 14 year old.

13.50 Too close too call for H3 qualifying for Semifinals!!! Big air isn’t enough, big forwards must be BIG!

13.42 o.03 separates CORR and VUILLERMET, then frontside front flip three for MACDONALD giving him a 9.20 and 17.53 matching top score and combo score off MAY earlier. The finals are going to ROCK with these being benchmarks!

13.39 MACDONALD owning Heat 3 with 17.53 with giant air with stalled forwards. It’s a battle with young VUILLERMET and CORR to qualify for Semifinals. BIG jumps but hard to land. VUILLERMET crushes the highest jump with a 12.5 meters…SICK!

13.29 Next up Round 3 Heat 3, has started! CORR, MACDONALD, BOUYER, VUILLERMET. The Frenchman Vuillermet, 2023 Big Air champ, has his sights set on smashing the airs today and said 12+ is the goal! MACDONALD crushed his qualifiers yesterday,, let’s go!

13.26 M R3 H2 1st MAY 15.43 (advances), 2nd VAN VUUREN 11.00 (advances), 3rd BUCKINGHAM 9.80, 4th SOSA 7.90.

13.24 Super close heat wrapping up, MAY in control and VAN VUUREN waiting on scores to see if he makes it through. Fastest jump take off speed so far is 50 km/h. Riders have been running shorter and shorter fuses and smaller front wings = speed and pop! REMINDER: Riders are taking turns following the colored flags ion beach that match their jerseys. 

13.16 Ten meter front flips get 7-8 scores, 11+ meter jumps alone are only 6-7 points so judges rewarding riders going for it with the tricks!

13.14 MAY is dominating this heat with massive forwards but battle is for 2nd too get into Semifinals. VAN VUUREN is holding a slim lead with consistent Floaters. BUCKINGHAM still trying to land solid forwards but he’s in 3rd.

12.58 Hook into the LIVE to watch Heat 2 as the men march towards the finals on World Championship day! They just started, SOSA, VAN VUUREN, BUCKINGHAM, MAY…. MAY just hits highest jump of day at 11.4 meters. BUT judge looking for more than 11 meters if it’s just a jump without a trick, otherwise, just a big jump, unless it’s huge,  scores are in the 5s. MAY got a 6.07 for such a big jump.

12.55 M R3 H1 done! 1st GUENOLE 16.78 (advances), 2nd ESCOFET 15.00 (advances), 3rd ESTREDO 9.90, 4th NONNOT 8.56.

12.50 Only top two riders advance to semifinals. Women up next are into Semis. These riders are using 600-700 front foils. But 500 seems to be the range for the youngest riders, women and men.

12.47 In 2023 top mens and women’s top heights were just around 11 and 8 meters respectively. Yesterday riders haver already matched and surpassed those numbers in much lesser conditions. Today? GUENOLE setting scale for day with 9.8 meters. No set time, just up to a minute allowed for each attempt so heats can last as long as 40 minutes.

12.45 Riders and Judges agreed this morning to increase number of attempts considered to give more opportunities to explore the ramps and combinations in bigger breeze. Soooooo, 10 attempts allowed with 2 best scores. It was only 8 attempts yesterday.

12.43 GUENOLE and ESCOFET fully in charge of the heat, Biggest, Extreme, Difficulty. Scorfes are out of 20 possible points. ESCOFET with 12.77, but GUENOLE leads with 16.63, more than a point more than yesterday where he had one of the highest point scores.

12.38 LIVE starting up, some 9-point air from GUENOLE already on the board…watch here: https://www.youtube.com/live/63HIzVHVld8?si=Fl6ZcBDA9erqiNhs 

12.34 It’s blowing 28-33 knots and building, riders in the water for the Big Air, top 2 of each heat advance to the semifinals. Four heats. The stronger breeze means we should see some history in the making with potentially double front flips, 1080s and, wait for it, first ever 1440 in Big Air competition!! 

12.15 Wings are getting pumped up! M R3 H1 12:30 earliest start, NONNOT, ESTREDO, ESCOFET, GUENOLE…this heat is HOT! Most won their R1 heats and are in attack mode today. Wind is already well into 30s, kickers not developed fully but let’s see, riders are saying 12+ meters can be the norm when in 2023 it was only around 10 meters. Competition, pressure, pushing, we are going to see BIG numbers today on the Surfr App recordings.

11:20 Four Round Three Heats for Men and two for Women then Men’s Semis and Men’s/Women’s FINALS! Let’s GOOOOOO!

10.55 It’s ON!!! Skippers briefing at 11 here in Salina de Tenefe, salt is drying fast in the historic salt pans and wingfoilers are filling the dusty landscape, vibrating ahead of the BIG day! It’s almost 10 knots windier now than yesterday this time…YEW! We expect even bigger airs, riskier tricks. That’s what it’s going to take to win the world title today. Stay tuned for LIVE starting around noon.

7.45 Good morning from Gran Canaria! The sun has just started to pull in the ocean breeze across the rocky shore of Salinas de Tenefe and Round Three eliminations begin a day that will end with a Women’s and Men’s Big Air world champion being crowned.  Skippers meeting is at 11am and soonest heat start will be 12pm. Don’t forget the LIVE Stream and we will reporting minute-by-minute here on the ticker. Let’s go!

Day One, 9 July 2024 (GMT+1)

18:53 GWA Big Air continues tomorrow, Tuesday, to complete this year’s competition where the World Champions will be crowned, maybe not a new one either as reigning champions are still in the game. The Wingfoilers will wrap up tomorrow and the Kiters of the GKA will charge towards the increasing winds from Thursday through Saturday, boosting to new heights in 40+ knots. Stay tuned, check out all our channels, re-watch the live and see you tomorrow for more action! YEW!

18:52 That’s a wrap for DAY 1! Closing the day was W R2 H2 1st BEHRENS 9.77, 2nd DEGRIECK 4.50, 3rd MORENO 1.17(eliminated).

18:40 W R2 H2 FINAL HEAT of day has three riders grappling with the nuking side shore breezes and slightly longer period swell, MORENO, BEHRENS, DEGRIECK. Top two advance. Local Fuertavebntura rider MORENO leading right now, but all soooooo overpowered hard to land the tricks. 

18:36 W R2 H1 1st LIPPITSCH 9.5, 2nd REPSCHLAEGER 5.63, 3rd MAYER 4.61(eliminated). Mayer eliminated by less than .5 point, heart breaking for women and men eliminated in R2 today.

18:34 Wind is UP intro the 30+ knot range for final two heats of DAY 1!

18:28 NOW Women’s ROUND 2 where top 2 out of each heat advances into ROUND 3.

18:26 M R2 H3 1st ESTREDO 12.20, 2nd J. BOUYER 10.20, 3rd HARBACEK 10.20 [NOTE: 2nd and 3rd tie decided on best trick]; R2 H4 1st VAV VUUREN 13.67, 2nd CORR 12.20, 3rd RODRIGUEZ 7.54.

17.45 M R2 H2 1st Martins 11.70, 2nd NONNOT.

17:30 M R2 H1 1st MAC DONALD 17.00, 2nd SOSA 9.63, 3rd GASPERINI 9.53. The rookie GASPERINI is sent home by a heartbreaking .10 of a point while MAC DONALD  fights back after his R1 loss to build the best combined score of event so far, 17.00.

17.15 M R2 starts! Using a flag system off Red Bull flags on beach, each rider goes one at a time according to their jersey color. SOSA first up, then MAC DONALD then GASPERINI. SOSA start with massive floater, MAC DONALD equaling air then second jump was a huge front flip after a stall on top and got rewarded with an 8.40 highest combination score of comp so far.

17:10 W R1 H4 1st DE ARCE 11.57, 2nd LIPPITSCH.

17.00 Men’s R2 (for those who last in R1) starting after Women’s R1 further down beach for cleaner ramps.

16.58 W R1 H4 Current BIG AIR World Champ De ARCE v. LIPPITSCH happening now! So far highest women’s jump is 6.5 meters by Suardiaz. 

16.55 W R1 H3 1st VAN DER LINDEN 9.07, 2nd REPSCHLAEGER 8.27, 3rd MORENO 7.80.

16.50 MORENO sending it on the spins/hang time but hasn’t been landing them cleanly. 

16.45 Don’t forget to watch the LIVE stream! https://www.youtube.com/live/k9mxKVrpbbU  

16.38 W RI H2 1st SUARDIAZ 11.6, 2nd BEHRENS 10.27. H3 in the water with REPSCHLAEGER, MORENO, VAN DER LINDEN. 

16.36  W RI H2 BEHRENS v. defending champ SUARDIAZ BEHRENS v. SUARDIAZ. Suardiaz has been leading with some big spins. She will advance with a final 720 with still one attempt left.

16.33 W R1 H1 1st BLACH 7.93, 2nd DEGRIECK 5.08, 3rd MAYER 1.33. Winners in R1 go into round three, rest continue to R2 for elimination.

16.10 Women’s R1 H1 getting underway! DEGRIECK, MAYER, BLACH as swell is peaking for best kickers/jumps/ramps of the day! 

15.53 As final H8 is laying down CORR v. Big Air World Champ ROTTOTTI, CORR almost foil-to-foil huge front flip has him in control of heat.

15.50 H7 N. VAN VUUREN, L. HARBACEK, G. GASPERINI, Gasperini leading with a BIG forward but out of jumps. Final Heat of ROUND 1 will have the returning BIG AIR champion J. RATTOTTI.

15.43 M H7 getting started and Men’s ROUND 2 (those who lost in R1) competition area moving town the beach where the kickers are starting to jack up. Each rider must take their turn and go for their jump when their color flag is flown from the beach.

15.40 M H6 1st VUILLERMET, 2nd BOUYER, 3rd RODRIGUEZ. With VUILLERMET winning on some consistent forwards.

15.30 M H6 already a battle of the front flips with J. RODRIGUEZ, J. BOUYER, L. VUILLERMET, after all three wiped out in their first jump attempts, crazy overpowered with building breeze and 4-foot wind swell. 14yo VUILLERMET leading.

15.25 M H5 1st BOUYER 10.30, 2nd ESTREDO 8.67, 3rd HILTENBRAND

15.10 M H5 HILTENBRAND, ESTREDO, BOUYER, wind around 30 knots, kickers/waves/ramps. Estredo leading with max height. Perfect 10 is highest, most extreme with most style!

15.03 M H4 1st MAY 12.33, 2nd MARTINS 9.83. FIRST ROUND winners advance to Third Round, rest go to Second Round.

14.59 Judging looking for height/performance/execution/technical difficulty. MAY leading with 11.37 (6 attempts). MARTINS behind even with frontside 360s and even a table-top 95 attempts). Current highest jump of the day 11+ meters.

14.51 M H4 starting: MARTINS, MAY. B. MAY was second in 2023 World Championships.

14.50 M H3 1st BUCKINGHAM 9.17, 2nd NONNOT 7.77, 3rd SOSA 6.17. BUCKINGHAM’s forwards paid off for the American.

14.44 H3 wrapping up, very few ramps as tide gets higher, NONNOT and SOSA with solid floaters as BUCKINGHAM working on sticking his forward loops.

14.33 M H3 in the water, BUCKINGHAM, NONNOT, SOSA.

14.30 M H2 1st GUENOLE, 2nd GASPERINI

14.15 1st ESCOFET [13.09], 2nd MacDONALD [12.57]. Men’s H2 getting in the water, 3 min between heats. GASPERINI, GUENOLE.

14.10 SICK H1 going on, ESCOFET has 4 jumps in with a massive triple and MacDONALD has topped the height with a monster floater with a 3 at the end and topped off on his 7 jumps with a huge forward and a three at the end. Don’t forget the LIVE https://www.youtube.com/live/k9mxKVrpbbU H1 just about over. 3 min between heats. Top two scores of 8 jumps.

13.45 Women’s Wingfoil Heats 1-4 after Men’s Heats 1-8. ESCOFET and MacDONALD getting in the water shortly for Men’s H1, 4-foot waves starting to stack up for steep kickers to launch to the moon! 13 min Heats, 3 min transitions, 8 big air attempts, best 2 count. ESCOFET goofy footed jumping coming in to shore; MacDONALD regular stance better jumps headed out. Look on LIVE for massive forwards and backflips, newer moves since 2023.

13.37 LIVE stream beginning. FIRST HEATS schedule for 14:00. Men’s H1 B. ESCOFET, C. MacDONALD; H2 L. GASPERINI, M. GUENOLE; H3 O. BUCKINGHAM, C. NONNOT, A. SOSA; H4 V. MARTINS, B. MAY; H5 A. HILTENBRAND, G. ESTREDO, C. BOUYER; H6 J. RODRIGUEZ, J. BOUYER, L. VUILLERMET; H7 N. VAN VUUREN, L. HARBACEK, G. GASPERINI; H8 X. CORR, J. RATTOTTI.

12.55 Going LIVE shortly for first heats of Big Air Wingfoil here: https://www.youtube.com/live/k9mxKVrpbbU . HEATS are 13 min, 3 min transitions, 8 big air attempts, best 2 count. 1pm still first possible start.

12.24 Women and Men wingfoilers wrapping up the competitors briefing, the yellow jerseys have been handed out and conditions are pumping! Chat has been around wing size (3m-5m) considering last year’s world championship 10+-meter jumps winning, now the level and amplitude is higher. The criteria is 70% height and 30% technical freestyle so sick loops are compulsory this year. Riders will be heading to the rocky beach for a first heat no sooner than 1pm.

10.00 Buenos Dias from Gran Canaria for day one of  the GWA Big Air Wingfoil World Championship! This is the one-stop title and it’s already ripping out with a building breeze here in Salinas de Tenefe. The decision was made to run start the Wingfoil Big Air today since the beach launch in the building swell is more manageable for the Wings versus the Kites. Press Conference at 11am, riders briefing at 12pm with a 1pm start. Stay tuned for some massive airs today as women and men aim for a world title!